Monday, August 29, 2011

Every week the children go to IAs (Art, Music, or P.E.). The schedule rotates all year long.
This week is P.E. Next week is Art, and the following week the children go to Music.
Please support your child in choosing good clothing for P.E. e.g., comfortable shoes for running around (not dress shoes or open-toe shoes). If your little girl loves to dress up, help her choose shorts rather than dresses or have her wear shorts underneath. This way children don't feel embarrassed.

We continue to learn new, ryhming songs such as On Top of Spagetti. I found an official, government web site site that gives the words to the songs and sometimes has the music. Here is the address of the site in case you would like to enjoy this literacy activity with your child. 
http://kids.niehs.nih.gov/home.htm
Just click on Sing-Along Songs and use the index to go to On Top of Spagetti.


Every day we write in our journals. First, I model telling a short story from my life and then I draw a picture and stretch out the sounds I hear in the words. The children help me to hear and identify sounds. Next, the children tell what they will write and then everyone goes to their table, draws a picture plan (a picture which shows what they will write about), and writes the story.

 I am VERY careful to praise every child for his/her efforts and to stress that everyone is a writer.

The children love to share their work with each other!

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Our first semester expedition is titled, From Me, To You, To Us.
The focus is the development of a crew community. The All About Me books are one of the ways children get to know more about each other and make connections e.g., similar interests.

Each day we do an activity called, Mystery Person. I give clues and the children guess who the mystery person could be. Then the child shares her All About Me book with the crew.

Every day we take turns with our Name Game. Children volunteer to walk around our circle naming crew members. Children are always excited to see how many more names they know compared to the last time they attempted the activity.

This week, for the first time, children are starting to name ALL crew members.
This makes a huge difference in relationships when children know each other's names.

The following children know everyone in our crew by name: Adin, Ashlyn, Caleb, Grace, Sophia, Tessa and Sydney. Wow!!!
I am sure we will have more children be able to do this every day.

Monday, August 22, 2011

Hi Families,
Today I observed how comfortable children are feeling in the classroom. They know the daily routines and eagerly volunteer to show their new learning during the day.

IMPORTANT!
We continue to have new cases of strep throat in our crew. One little girl has had it twice since the start of school. Strep throat can be easy to miss. Children often look very tired and may complain of headache and possibly stomach ache. Children may not feel that they have a sore throat. They do escalate to having a fever. Please watch for these symptoms.

Photos of Rachel's birthday celebration:

The wind wanted to blow away the "sun" so Rachel had a friend help.

Rachel gave the crew yummy fruit leathers.

A Sample of Today's Activities 

Language Workshop included a rhyming song, our name song, looking at children's names.

Reading Workshop - we listened to the story, Chrysanthemum, and learned about the comprehension skill of making connections. Ms. Lisa connected the story to her own life and shared that she was teased in first grade because her middle name is unusual. A few of us made similar connections. Children also engaged in independent literacy activities.

Math Workshop included creating a Crew Birthday Graph and analyzing the graph. We looked at which months have the most birthdays, which month has the least, and discussed the months in between.

This week we go to music with Ms. Cheryl.

Thursday and Friday

Hi Families,
On Thursday for the first time we conducted a crew survey (part of our ongoing math activities).
This is a math routine to help children collect, record, and discuss data by surveying their crew members.
This was a "yes/no" survey designed to introduce children to the activity.
The children were asked if they liked apples or not.

As you can see, all children like apples. What a healthy group!

On Thursday we also celebrated Owen's birthday.

Thank you for the delicious fruit kabobs Owen!

Today we celebrate Rachel's birthday. Pictures will be posted on the next blog.

This week the children have been learning a number of independent literacy and math games/activities.

These activities strengthen basic skills such as phonemic awareness, phonics, number recognition, counting, identification of greater than/less than. While children are engaged in these activities I am able to rove, observe, and conduct quick assessments of a child's understanding. In addition, I can work with small groups in pre-reading, reading, and math skills.

Homework:

If your child sometimes buys school lunch and cannot yet say and input his student I.D. number into a calculator, please practice the number with your child until he can enter the number quickly and correctly. This will really help your child to become independent in the lunchroom.

Thank You!!!!

Thank you to all the volunteers who have assisted in the lunchroom. You are a HUGE help to us!

Have a great weekend,

Kathy

Wednesday Photos

Hi Families,
Roy celebrated his birthday by walking the earth around the sun one time for every year of his life. We talked about what Roy might have done when he was 1,2,3,4 years old. He stopped at 5 years.
Then we gave Roy a "Texas Cheer."

Birthday treats are enjoyed after our birthday ritual.

Solitude is a favorite time for children when they can relax after lunch and recess. Children may choose to rest, read, or draw.

More photos and news tomorrow.

Enjoy!

Kathy

Welcome Families!

Hi Families,
Hurray!!!
Welcome to our crew blog.
All families have returned the technology permission slip to me.
We can now take and post photos of our crew working and playing during the day for you to enjoy.

This is also where I will write our daily news (often with help from the children).
I  am very new at this so please be patient as I learn how to use and improve our blog.

Thanks,
Kathy