August 23

Math Games

I love to teach the children games to reinforce the math concepts we are learning. We are working on missing addends, so we learned the game Salute. Three children play together. Two children pick up cards and place them on their foreheads without looking at the number they picked. They may look at the card on the other person’s head. The third player tells the two the total (sum) of both cards. The object is to determine the number of the card on your head.

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August 22

Just Right Reading

“Just Right” Reading During the First Week of School

Reading is taught through a “Reader’s Workshop” approach in our classroom. We read and interpret stories together, but a portion of each day is spent reading self-selected books from our class library on each child’s individual reading level. We believe that reading is a skill developed through use. As the children read, I conference with them to check comprehension and to validate that they are successfully applying skills and strategies. I want reading to be a pleasurable time, so they are allowed to get comfortable at their desks.

Comparing Reading to Riding a Bike

Comparing Reading to Riding a Bike

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August 21

Top Ten

We will take some of our writings through the writing process this year. The steps are prewriting, rough draft, revise (organization and word choice), edit (punctuation, spelling and capitalization), and final draft. The first project that we have taken through the writing process is “My Top Ten”. Our prewriting activity included reading Wallace’s Lists. We brainstormed that favorites might include such things as food, places, activities, animals, and people. We discussed our ideas with a classmate and then wrote our rough draft. I had a short editing conference with each child to correct spelling. The final drafts are hanging in the hallway.

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August 15

Redecorating

It was time for a change!  It all began because I needed a larger space for my classroom library.  I’m always on the hunt for new books and I just didn’t have any room for my library to expand. Of course, one change always leads to another. So, when I moved my library, I had to move my math and science center. I’ve wanted a well-defined area for my word work center, so Mrs. Dailey kindly agreed to forgo her own desk and I purchased a new table. I also moved all the electronics that were in the front of my room beside my desk, and I found a perfect cubby to put my resource books. It’s a work in progress, but redecorating is always fun!

My New Library Corner

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August 13

Time Capsules

Each year, my students make a time capsule on the first day of school. They complete a list of all their favorites and then place the papers in decorated tubes. We put the tubes on a shelf and open them the last week of school.  It’s fun to see the changes in each of us in only a year. We also discussed how time capsules are used in other ways. It might be fun to make a time capsule at home when your child is eight. Open it ten years later when they turn 18 and graduate from High School. (Be sure to include letters from grandparents and a piece of artwork.)

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August 11

Building Community

I tell all my classes that my most important job is to keep them safe. Their parents entrust me with their care, and I will always do my best to protect both their bodies and their hearts.

Our words are powerful, and they can tear others down or build them up. We should taste our words before we spit them out. Are they sweet?

Then we discussed the poem in this picture. We shared how words have hurt our hearts and our hearts take longer to heal than our bodies.

I cut out a large paper heart. We passed the heart around and as each child recalled a time his/her heart was hurt, he/she crumbled a piece of the heart. In the end, the heart was all wrinkled and even had a few tears. We passed the heart around again and as we stated encouraging words, each of us tried to smooth out the heart. Although it looked better, we realized that it would never be the same as it was when we started.

We finished by reading the story, Heartprints by Hallinan. The author explains that we leave a heartprint behind each time we do something kind.

  Therefore encourage one another and build each other up.
1Thessalonians 5:11

August 10

Can-Do Kids

We learned that the children in our class are can-do kids. We read the story The Little Engine That Could. Nate amazed me when he stated that this story was like the Good Samaritan. What a connection!  We also read Philippians 4:13- I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Did you read the silly poem, Bad Words, that came home on Friday?  The bad words are “I can’t”!  We also listened tp the song, Strong Enough, by Matthew West.