Today MAY be...

one of THOSE days...I'm having technical difficulties!  Videos not wanting to publish and camera's batteries going dead with no replacements in SIGHT!!! So, hopefully, things will turn around this afternoon and I can get at it!

Our morning routine is coming along.  I try to have a morning slide up so that the littles can come in and be independent! First and foremost...I ask that they come in with a smile on their face...nothing worse than starting the day of sad or angry!  Then there is a reminder to have unpacked their backpack...red folders, lunches and water bottles.  And finally, it gives them directions on what to get started on! The littles are allowed to come to the rooms beginning at 7:30. I ask that they are quiet after the HAPPY song plays so that I can take attendance and we can let the FUN BEGIN!!! ;)

Today we reviewed a little about schema...

and then read a story about Chrysanthemum.  We used this story to help build our classroom community!

We did a little preview of the book and noticed that this little mouse was very happy at the beginning then something happened...So to represent Chrysanthemum's  happiness I gave the class a big pretty smooth heart! I told them that whenever they heard someone do or say something mean to Chrysanthemum I wanted them to crumple up the heart... Soon we had a wadded up piece of red paper.  Then Chrysanthemum's music teacher explains that She, too, was named after a flower, Delphinium. She loved the named Chrysanthemum so much that if her baby was a girl that is exactly what she would be named...well at that point we started to open up our heart because Chrysanthemum was feeling a little better! HOWEVER, once we opened it up there was NO WAY to smooth it completely out and look like new.  We discussed how our words can WRINKLE someones heart and although they will probably forgive you their heart will never be the same!

While we were outside practicing...I asked the kiddos to think about ways they could make someone's heart happy and not wrinkled.  As they told me things like...you have a pretty smile, I'd like to play with you, that was a great goal you scored and your a great reader I handed them a bandaid.  Those are the kinds of things that helped to uncrumple someones heart!  So, now we have a visual reminder to be more like bandaids than crumplers!
Then as you can see at the top of our blog there is a section called I can...This is where you will be able to see what we are learning and what is expected of your child...This week you can see that we are working on listening and following directions. I gave some directions on how to make a Chrysanthemum mouse and showed everyone how to fold their paper so that the tracers would fit!  Well...we had some that needed extra paper BUT HEY it's only the first week! We will continue to work on that one!

 During Writer's Workshop, we continued with the  Chrysanthemum theme...I asked them to write a sentence or more about what they remembered from the book, or what they learned....

Chrysanthemum was happy at home but she is not happy at school. And at the end of the book she is happy.
I like this little summary.

Chrysanthemum was sad because she got bugged.
This one just has VOICE already!

When Chrysanthemum went to school on the first day of school she was excited. Then she started to hear mean words. they made her heart crumble.
A little cause and effect here! WOW!!!

We learned to play a new game today. Race to 20.

Here are our reflections...

The goal is to fill a doubles 10 frame first.  The words I was looking to hear were... I have ______ and I need ______ more to make 20.  

These two groups are great examples!  What smart littles we have!

Science time was all about equipment.  First we talked about what equipment was and who besides scientist need equipment...Lucas said, "P.E. coaches use balls and cones!"  Braeden said, "Doctors use things to look in your ears and eyes and things to hear your heart." We decided that equipment were things you need to do your JOB.  Then we saw some pictures of science equipment we would be using this year!

Another good day in room 312!  I'm looking forward to tomorrow with my sweet littles and am SO thankful
it's a LONG WEEKEND...this is one TIRED first grade teacher.  (I wouldn't have it any other way!!)

Love,

Ms. Guy