International Dot Day

Just wanted to show you that not ALL of the classroom ideas that I try with the students are actually successful!  Here's one that wasn't so perfect.  Who knew that in the box of Alphabets cereal, all 26 letters don't appear?  Hard to spell when s is missing!  The idea was to spell the child's name on the 'coconut tree'...one of those I won't try again!

Friday brought out a wonderfully dedicated group of parents who were making pancakes very early for the school's Welcome Back Breakfast.  Elected members of our community, church members and community service people were also there to lend a helping hand.  THANK YOU ALL!

Here's some of my happy students with their families...

Did you notice that pancakes look a lot like dots?  That's perfect because all the Grade Two classes celebrated....

Watch this video to see the story written by Peter H. Reynolds:

THE DOT by PETER H. REYNOLDS video

We all took our hand at creating some lovely artwork, based on the story to proudly sign and then display.

The finished pieces were 'framed'...

..in the corridor just outside the classroom.

This year we will follow this great advice: "Make your mark and see where it takes you!"

Oh No! David teaches the students to think further than the story!

I really did try, but somehow this picture wants to stay laying on it's side!

David Shannon wrote stories about another little boy named David, based on a book that he had created as a little boy.  Throughout his book he wrote the only words he knew how to spell: no and David.  We looked at three of the books in this series.  There are few words, and wonderful illustrations, but we used the stories to learn about a comprehension strategy that we will be practising throughout the school year.

First the students made their own David, following both oral and visual directions.

They turned out so well!  The real learning happened as we looked at the illustrations again.  I asked the students what they could tell about the story, really what they were thinking, as I showed the pictures and read the words.  For example, on one page, David is chewing food with his mouth full....quite gross!

The students shared their thoughts, which I scribed in green.  All of their thoughts were not on the page either in word or illustration, but their ideas are very valid.  

They are learning how to recognize when they are 'inferring' which means that they are using what they  saw and heard to deduce information from the evidence.  Pretty cool for the 7th day of school!

Pete the Cat helps us learn!

There are SO many wonderful books available that it will take all year for me to introduce my children to them all.  We are adding the Pete the Cat series to our list of favourites.  It's important to know that literature is always linked to curriculum in my classroom.  I use the stories to engage the children, so that they learn, without even knowing it!  In his first story, Pete lets the children know that when things go wrong (like when his white shoes turn red after he steps in a pile of strawberries) he just keeps walking along and Goodness No!, he does not cry!

I used the second book about Pete's groovy buttons to focus on the concept of addition.  Using buttons, the students demonstrated their ability to independently manipulate the buttons to find five different equations that use two addends to make four. Through this simple activity, I am able to assess which students need to practise this concept before moving on to a new concept.

By having the students make Pete (by the way the pattern was shared by another teacher on her blog, so cute and so generous of her) I am able to see which students are able to follow directions, can manage more than one task on their own, and even who may need special assistance with fine motor co-ordination.  Nothing is ever done in class without an educational purpose behind it!  Even picking out the buttons involved seeing if the students could distinguish between colours.

Another teacher shared these darling posters which now are displayed in our room.  Pete is cool!

                         Here's a cute video for Pete the Cat and his four Groovy Buttons

Hope to see many of you at the early morning (7:00 a.m.!!) Welcome Breakfast on Friday morning!

It's Day 5!

The students are getting into the swing of things in the classroom.  When they come in, they are now trying to independently work on their "Rise and Shine" binder, a wonderful idea that I got from another teacher named Reagan Tunstall.  The binder works on basic math understandings that children need, that are usually reinforced through calendar work.  They tell me, using a dry erase marker, what day of the week it is, what month, what year and how many days we have been in school.  

Using that number, they also work on tally marks, the numbers that come before and after, how that number is created in ten frames and how it can be created in part-part-whole sections.

The binder allows for daily practise in a fun manner, without duplicating paper for each day's work.  After it's done, the students just use their little dry marker erasers and they are all set for the next day!

Today we began a little alphabet review using a wonderful book called "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom."

In the story "a told b, and b told c, "I'll meet you at the top of the coconut tree."  The students searched for their own alphabet letters and made them climb up their coconut trees.

Finding the letters was quite the challenge!

Here's our first little birthday girl with her special cupcake chair, her special glasses, her sticker that tells everyone  that she is celebrating a birthday attached to her shirt and the balloon that she will take home with a twisty drinking straw.  She also got to take home our first literacy bag, that includes a game and a journal to complete.

Classroom Tour 2013-2014 School Year

WELCOME!

This is the Grade One and Two corridor at the new school that I will be teaching at this year.  I am delighted with the changes that our school division has implemented.  This is a Kindergarten to Grade Four site and I couldn't be more pleased to be here!

From the doors to this corridor (and up the small ramp!) you will find my classroom, first one on the left.  The next two on the left are the other Grade Two classes.  After all these years, I will have grade partners.  It will be a welcome change.

Now how could I lose the middle of a palm tree?

This wall is to the left of my classroom door.....

which you see here.  Look!  Windows!

This is the view from the door.  Immediately to the left is one of our rugs for collaborative work, with benches for meetings and bins for storage, mostly math manipulatives.

Here is our math wall, which will hold our new math vocabulary, and allow student hands-on interaction with a variety of materials to solidify concepts.

This is looking towards the east wall, and gives a better perspective of the classroom arrangement.

Just turn around and this is towards the west wall, from the same location.  This is the table that small groups of students will meet me at for guided reading, assessment and mini lessons, based on their needs, especially in reading.  The bookshelf to the right houses about half of my classroom library, which is levelled according to the criteria of the researchers Fountas and Pinnell.  It is from these book tubs that the students will be choosing their books for nightly reading.

The students will be engaged in a researched based model known as 'Daily Five' and 'Cafe'.  These are their 'book boxes' that they will have a variety of reading books to choose from at their own level, many different language learning materials and this is also where they will keep their earbuds/earphones.  Each child will need to bring a set in and these will not be shared, to ensure cleanliness and safety.

I am super excited to have tables this year instead of desks.  The students chose where they would like to sit for the first day but this model allows for continual changing of groups to meet the needs of the activities.  All of their materials will be kept in bins on the south wall of the classroom, which has built-in shelving. 

You can see the bins in this photo, along with one of my many teaching stations.  The students will gather on our second classroom rug which is in front of the SMARTBoard.  This location allows the students to focus on me when I am on the chair, actively teaching or turn towards the SMARTBoard for an interactive lesson.

What are Popcorn Words?  They are the little words that keep 'popping' up in our reading.  Often it's these little words that children stumble on the most because they are easy to confuse with others.  Look at /saw/ and /was/.....or /they/ and /this/.  Early readers have not always learned to look with reading eyes, and this will be an area to focus on very early in the year.

There are many 'pocket' charts in the room and they will be used for many lessons.  Often, the schedule of activities for the day will be displayed to assist the little ones in knowing how long it will be before recess or lunch!

I have many years experience with the SMARTBoard, but did not have one at the last school that I was at.  I am sure that I will be a bit 'rusty' and will need some time to get back up to speed in using this amazing tool for 21st century learning.

A view from the back of the room....

..and now to the north, where there is another little table available for collaborative work.

The view out of our classroom window....I'll be able to see this equipment full of happy children next Tuesday!  Can't wait.

This is a room where we share everything, so this area is right below the windows.  It houses supplies to share, including hand sanitizer, tissues, extra crayons, markers, scissors, rulers, and just about anything a classroom full of learners would need.  You'll see other areas in the pictures as we begin posting all the learning that we are doing in the class.  I hope your child will be joyfully engaged in our classroom this year!