Busy First Week of School

David Shannon wrote a series of books about himself as a little boy.  The first is called 'No! David!' and features all types of situations where a mommy would have to say 'No!' to an adventurous little boy.  David is also featured in books about starting school and about getting into trouble.  They are wonderful books to bring home the point that reading is more than just reading the words.  Without the pictures, the stories of David would not be funny!   These stories became the basis of our lesson on how we should behave in a school.  Here is the anchor chart that we created.

The lesson progressed to a discussion on 'peacemakers' and 'peacebreakers'.  Those who think of others, are more likely to be peacemakers in our school.  Each student created a model of David and thought of a way that they will be a peacemaker in our classroom and school this year.  

Taking turns is part of being a peacemaker.  In pairs, the students practised this skill as they played 'Clockominoes', which allowed them to recognize the number of pips on each domino.

The students are working hard toward reading the goal of being able to read to self for 20 minutes, which is one the DAILY FIVE components that will feature prominently in our Language Learning classes.  In the first four days, the students are already up to 9 minutes!  I love that they are using the toobules.  These low tech devices allow the children to hear themselves as they read, without disturbing those around them.  Many students still need to hear themselves and are not completely ready for silent reading.  That is a skill that they will work towards achieving as the year goes on.