You didn't scare me!

We have been reading, writing and creating pattern books. As emerging readers picking up patterns in books is a foundational skill. We have been pointing out the repetition of high frequency words in the text we read. Here is an example of one of the pattern books we read to tie into our scarecrow theme. the students had to fill in the missing words. This activity practiced the use of using the reading strategy, "eagle eye." This means that you look at the picture to help you figure out the word. The words that were missing matched the picture on each page(example, cow, pig, etc,). They then had to stretch and sound out the missing words to write them out.

Investigating properties

In science this quarter we are learning about investigating properties. This unit focuses on how to sort objects based on size, color, shape, texture. We began our investigation using leaves and now are going further sorting objects based on the material they are made out of. We've also noticed that some objects are made of more than one material.

Purple Thursday!

The staff took purple Thursday to a whole new level today! We had a blast with the kids. Some things we did for bully awareness day were; we watched a brain pop jr video on bullying, listened to the Katy Perry song Roar and discussed the power of the lyrics, and set goals for the day to be super leaders!

Hands on learning

Here's a glimpse at some new literacy center activities. Sight words with magnet letters, matching upper and lower case letters with cupcake toys, and fiddle sticks. Fiddle sticks is a sight word practice game. Students pull out a Popsicle stick and read the sight word, if they get it right they keep it, if not the group figures it out and then puts it back. There are also sticks with red dots on them. If they pull them they have to put them all back. It's a semi competitive game to get them motivated to learn sight words.

Buh bye nap time

No more nap time you say?? That's right! You may think teachers enjoy this time but instead it's the complete opposite! This now means more time for whole group literacy. After recess we are coming back and unwinding by partner reading. I assign a pair of students with a leveled book and they then find a quiet spot in the room to read it together. I am teaching reading strategies prior to buddy reading to then apply as they go off on their own. This weeks strategy is using "eagle eye" this means to look at the pictures to figure out words we don't know. They are also pointing out sight words that they know. After monitoring their buddy reading I have them come back to circle to share what their book was about. This is an opportunity to synergize and build reading skills.

We are back!!

Hearing the sounds of children fill the hallways was a wonderful sound after a quiet week of training last week. It was so great to be greeted with their hugs. Seeing their excitement to be back was wonderful! I will try to keep that excitement alive through out the second quarter:)

Pep talk

We can all use a pep talk sometime! We watched this video the first day back and we've been talking about being proactive and being in charge of your mood and choices. Watch this video for a little inspiration.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=l-gQLqv9f4o&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dl-gQLqv9f4o