5M Highlights:
- I am so enjoying getting to know your
students. This week I learned that many are artistic, several are
interested in Greek Mythology, one loves to tell knock-knock jokes, three
to want to be veterinarians, and so much more!
- The group is coming together as a team
quite well. This week we began working on our Classroom Constitution
Projects. One group of students is working on writing a constitution that
can govern us. Another group is in the process of building a class mascot
for us out of clay. A third group is designing a welcome poster for the
classroom door. Additionally a group is creating a class flag that will
symbolize our unique groups. Lastly, one group is working on a secret
class handshake/chant so that we can always recognize our own. These
teambuilding activities help the students to feel connected as one large
team. Please visit our classroom website in the next few weeks for
pictures of the finished Constitution Projects.
- Have you ever heard of the elusive
Pandicorn – half unicorn/half panda? Well, this is what the kids have
voted will be our class mascot this year. We spent some time thinking and
talking about the qualities of the magical pandicorn that we would want to
emulate. Here is what we came up with so far…careful, playful, magical,
and strong.
- Ask your student to tell you about our
first read aloud book, Loser by Jerry Spinelli. The kids are loving
this book and beg daily for “one more chapter, please!” The book is full
of opportunities to discuss how we are all different and how important it
is to appreciate these differences.
- We have begun Math Workshop this week
by practicing how the workshop model works. We start each workshop with
Shared Math. This is a chance for kids to share ideas and talk about math
strategies. This is followed by a lesson from the teacher. The last
component is lab time, where students are working on a variety of things,
including practice, games/activities, and projects. At times they will
work independently and at times in small groups. So far the kids are
excited about the opportunity to have some choice in their learning.
- In addition to Math Workshop, we have
also practiced Language Arts Workshop. It is similarly organized in that
we do some shared reading, have a lesson, and then have lab time. This
week our goals have been to do a few reading assessments, including a Book
Report and a Developmental Reading Assessment. These two assessments are
designed to let me know what they kids already know and can do. In
addition, we have been working on building a writing community. This
entails beginning to collect ideas for writing, meeting writing partners,
and building the trust it takes to be a community of writers.
- Can you believe all that we have
packed into a week?! Please visit our classroom website to see pictures
from the week.
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