What a great week we've had in the Aalva class! Our schedule is in full swing and the kids transitioned into it smoothly. We spent this week introducing the rest of our classroom routines and letting the kids take ownership of their classroom. We believe that allowing the kids to have a say in our how our classroom runs and what it looks like will enable them to feel a sense of pride and comfort in our classroom community.
One thing we did this week was draw self portraits. This went along with the family posters that we sent home to be worked on. In order to build a sense of community, we need to get to know one another better and feel comfortable sharing who we are with our peers. In drawing self portraits we were able to talk about our similarities and differences as well as talk about what we like about ourselves. We allowed the kids to create the portrait however they wanted. Some chose to draw their whole body and others just their head. Some used heavy details while others chose a simpler approach. We feel that each of the portraits show a small glimpse of all the different personalities in our classroom. We encourage you to take some time to check them out in the hallway and talk to your kids what they drew. It was an insightful activity!
In building a classroom community, Michelle and I felt like it would be a good idea to get a classroom pet. This is a great way for the kids to learn responsibility in taking care of a pet and could be a gateway into becoming interested in animals and how they should be treated. We let the kids have complete say in their pet of choice. First, we all sat down together and wrote each child's pick of what animal they'd like as a pet. We had a wide range of answers. We heard gerbil, bird, frog, puppy, cat, turtle, fish, tiger, elephant, monkey, etc. After everyone stated their animal of choice, we went through our list one at a time. We talked about the sizes and needs of each pet and finally cut our list down to only pets that would be practical to care for in a classroom setting. After that we voted on our top 3 choices. They were tortoise, fish aquarium, or gerbil. At that point we wanted the kids to have clear picture of what they would be voting on. We all went to the computer and did some research on all 3 animals. We looked at pictures, asked questions, looked up answers, and read articles. When we felt like everyone had a good idea of the animals and had all their questions answered, we did a final vote. As I'm sure you've already heard, the top pick was gerbil! We learned that gerbils are very social animals so we thought it would be best to get two. They will be welcomed into our classroom early next week. I'm predicting you'll hear about it when it happens because the kids seem extremely excited about this new little adventure!
In keeping with the idea of community building and responsibilities, we also came up with several ideas for classroom helpers. We feel that this will add to the ownership of the classroom as the kids have jobs that help to keep our classroom safe and successful! Each child will be able to choose their job throughout the week. We have the job chart hanging up in the room if anyone wants to talk about that with their child during drop off or pick up times.
Another thing we did this week was introduce workshops. We currently have a reading, writing, and math workshop that we rotate throughout the week. During reading workshop the kids pick books of their choice which can be read in any part of the room that they choose. During this time Michelle and I will walk around the room and spend some time reading/talking with each child. This is a great way for kids to become familiar with how books are to be handled. They will become familiar with the different parts of a book and their functions, as well as introduced to pictures walks and new words. During writing workshop the kids will be working in journals. They are able to write and draw about anything they choose. This is a great time for them to develop new writing and fine motor skills. They will become more comfortable in their writing and will have the opportunity to tell stories through their words and artwork. During math workshops we set up the room into stations. Each table will have a different activity that help to develop a different math skill. We use a timer to let the kids know when it's time to switch stations. They go to any station they chose and make sure that they visit each one. For this first week we started with 5 minutes per station. Afterwards, we met together on the carpet and I asked them to give me some feedback about what they thought about math stations. Each one of them told me they wanted more than 5 minutes at a station. Wonderful news! I'll never turn down a request for more time learning math skills! For each workshop, we adjust the time according to the interests and needs of the students. As the year processes, so will our workshops. As the kids master more skills, we will change up our strategies and expectations. This is a great way for us to be able to spend one on one time with the kids. It gives us a clearer idea of what skills they've mastered, what they are still working on, and what direction we need to take them individually.
As I will do each week, here is a list of just a few standards we've covered this week:
Approaches to Learning:
- Show creativity and imagination using materials in representational play.
- Demonstrate eagerness and interest as a learner by questioning and adding ideas.
- Show increasing ability to maintain interest in self-selected activities and play despite distractions and interruptions.
Social & Emotional:
- Demonstrate self direction by making choices among peers, activities and materials.
- Demonstrate confidence by participating in most classroom activities.
- Follow classroom rules and procedures with reminders.
Language and Literacy:
- Respond to elements of colorful language in stories and poetry.
- Begin to identify significant words from text read aloud.
- Begin understanding how print is used to bring meaning.
- Identify several letters and their general order in the alphabet.
Mathematics:
- Begin to show an awareness of numbers in the environment.
- Identify and copy a simple pattern.
- Sort and classify objects by one attribute.
Reminder for the week to come:
1) Family posters - We are still discussing our family posters so bring them in anytime they get ready. Michelle and I will be bring one in next week as well :)
2) We now have our monthly snack schedule for September hanging up outside the classroom door. Sign up for any week you'd like! Let me know if you have any questions about what's allowed.
3) If you need us to give your child any medicine, creams, or sunscreen, please give written permission to the front office.
4) Forms - Remember to turn to in your Soccer Shots, Sports Skills, Dance, and/or Gymboree Creative Art forms if you'd like your child to participate.
Here are some pictures from our week. I hope everyone enjoys the long weekend!
We are writers...
We are mathematicians...
We are creative...
We are readers!
