News From Our Classroom

     You know the expression "The best laid plans of mice and men. . . "?  Well, when I wrote last week's blog, I had the best intentions, but it's been a little hard making them a reality this week.  I DID start reading groups and gave each child his or her own sight words this past week, but did not have the chance to get to penmanship.  I did work on subitizing AND PATTERNING with the children, but did not spend enough time on our first science unit (the life cycle of an apple). . . . Oh, well, that's how it will have to go for a time, adjusting WHAT we do while I teach the children HOW to do WHAT I am asking them to do.  We DID all get our NWEA tests done for the fall, so "Woowhoow" to that!
       These students are all working hard to meet my expectations,  quite admirably.  In fact, they have been earning "Coyote Coupons" (slips for being responsible, respectful, and safe), stickers, and prizes from the prize box left and right!!!  They are still a little "chatty", but they are learning when "chatty" is okay (snack, recess, "free time"), and when it's NOT (when Mrs. D. is talking or during quiet work time).  The children are learning that it's okay to make mistakes, but then we have to go back and fix them.  They are learning that it's good to work together and help each other during work time (in a "whisper voice", of course), but that we must work by ourselves when it is "test time".  We have "reading buddies" within our classroom, and we have "Math partners").  Some people are learning that they do better at getting their work done when they sit by themselves, and EVERYONE is learning that if Mrs. D. gives us work to do, it MUST be done, but that she is there to HELP us if we don't know HOW to do it or just need some help.  If we make mistakes on a paper, for instance, we must "repair" it, but Mrs. D. will help us do that if we can't do it by ourselves.
         The first sight words of the year went home this past week.  They were in the kids' "book bags".  Remember, these cards are to stay home in the shoe box your child saved.  That way, they can be collected and studied throughout the year for reading, and then for spelling.  They are in your child's book bag so you can practice them each night for just a few minutes.  The more words your child can read "on sight", the less he or she needs to struggle to "sound out", and the more fun reading becomes.  I have also started reading simple readers with the children, and they are coming home overnight with the fairy tale books (which we should finish up within the next week or two).  I am not sending them home in bags marked FAMILIAR and UNFAMILIAR yet, since they are all books we read that day, and are therefore FAMILIAR.  I discovered that enough of this class is really unsure of beginning and ending sounds, so we're going to spend a few weeks "getting solid" on those before we start working with vowel sounds.  So far, we have reviewed the sounds of /t/, /f/, /b/, and /h/.  Extra time on phonics and folk/fairy tales is cutting into our writing and penmanship time right now.  The balance will shift again as the children show me they have learned those beginning sounds, and are able to work a little more independently.
          I did introduce the 'rekenrek' this week--we learned how to show the numbers from zero to 10 on the "20 rekenrek" (two lines of beads).  We are getting better at being able to SEE numbers in patterns (dots, rekenrek beads, fingers, tally marks, and ten frames) without  having to count EVERYTHING out.  If you have a tablet at home that your child can use, you can have your OWN rekenrek for FREE--download the app Number Rack from the Math Rack company.  It is a terrififc app your child will be using here at school.  It is one of those that can GROW with your child as his/ her skills advance.  : )  Right now, we can swiftly recognize 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, and 10 in dots, ten frames,, tally marks, fingers, and on the rekenrek without having to count each and every item.  Some of us "trust" our ability to recognize the numbers, and some of us still need to "check" by counting.  We have also been working with patterns during Math time, and have made AB, ABC, AAB, ABB, and AABB patterns.  We are almost ready to take our district test on patterns!!  Yeah!!
           NWEAs are over for the fall.  I will not have results for a few weeks, but will share them with you when we meet for parent-teacher conferences in the fall (November-ish).  The kids kind of zipped through the test on the first day, but most took their time on day 2.
          Since we didn't accomplish it this week, next week we will be working on Penmanship.  At first, we will concentrate on the children's first and last names written correctly within the three-line system.  In general, all capital letters will fill the space for all three lines, while the lowercase letters sit within different locations, depending on the letter.  This coming week, we will do penmanship every day for 20 minutes:  On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, the children will work on their first and last names.  On Tuesday and Thursday, we will work on the numerals from 0 -10.   After next week, we will only have Penmanship two times a week, and writing class will happen the other three times.  Our first writing goals are to make sentences that begin with a capital letter, that end with a punctuation mark, and that have spacing between words.  For the month of September we will only work on creating "stories" of from 2-4 sentences, but really focus on these "convention" goals.  Then, in mid- October, we will continue to work on these goals while developing our writing stamina a little more.
        I think that is all I have for this week.  I am so pleased at how well our class is "coming together".  Kids are trying hard, are helping each other when they can, and are treating each other and me with kindness and respect.  We are starting to be comfortable in the routines we are establishing, and are finding that while school can be hard work, it can also be a lot of fun!
         Have a wonderful week!  I will be in touch again next weekend.