Fabulous Friday

It's really hard to believe that this is only the end of the FIRST week of school!  Your children have been so wonderful to work with that it feels like we've been doing this forever!!!  What a great feeling!!

Just wanted to share a couple of ideas I try to impart on the children...some things to think about, perhaps...
1.  Mistakes are GOOD...when we make mistakes we learn!
2.  Stop my teaching!  If the students are confused at any point during instruction it is THEIR job to raise their hand and ask questions or ask me to repeat something.
3.  Take risks!!!  Risk taking leads to learning!!!

After music, Mrs. Benson reread Crow Boy to the class and they practiced making inferences to identify the main character's point of view.  Then the students participated in "Finish Up Friday".  They had the chance to finish any independent reading/writing work they had left over from earlier in the week.  While this was going on, I continued informal reading assessments.

In math, following our warm up and reviewing our homework, we continued using number lines to round to the nearest hundred.  However, today the children learned how to construct their own number line.  After practicing this skill using white boards, the students returned to their seats to practice rounding numbers to the hundreds independently.  They were allowed to use either of the two strategies they have learned in school this week.  I encourage the students to use the strategy that works for them.  I will teach as many strategies as I know to learn and perform a skill.  They should use what works for them!

Following lunch and outdoor recess we looked at a personal narrative entitled, Grandpa".  Our purpose was to identify words, phrases and questions that the narrator used to "speak" to their audience.  Basically, we looked for words that painted pictures in our heads.  

The children used the iPads to do this lesson!  Instead of copying the story using the Xerox machine, the children used an app called Penultimate.  The took a picture of the text and highlighted the words and phrases directly onto the picture they had taken with the iPad camera. 

After sharing the words and phrases that the students identified, they were expected to go back to their planning chart that we began yesterday and add or improve their ideas.  Finally, we gathered on the carpet and began sharing the ideas they had captured on their charts.  AS they shared, I asked questions to help improve their writing.

Good news and not-so-good news...
Good news:  We integrated technology and writing!  YEY for us!
Not-so-good:  Time ran out, again, and we missed social studies!

Keep in mind this is only the first week of school.  We will be covering all of the curriculum!  It takes longer in the beginning, as it is  imperative that I take time to clearly explain expectations and procedures!