CHEERS TO A GREAT BEGINNING!

It's hard to believe that it's September already and that we just finished our first full week of school!  This year we welcome many new friends and families to our school community, as well as Jen, our amazing 3rd, 4th and 5th grade teacher!

Our first days of school have been filled with community activities galore...friendship building games, brainstorming classroom agreements, meeting our reading buddies (yippee!), thinking about what we'd like to learn about this year, learning routines, and lots of socializing!  This year we have been (and plan to continue) spending a lot of time together as a whole school community!  It has been really nice seeing kids of all ages interacting, helping one another, and playing together at recess!  Everyone seems to be transitioning into the new school year well.  There have been some tears here and there (it's hard being in a new place all day!), and it is heart-warming to see the love and caring that students show in comforting each other!

Make Kind Choices is one of the 3 OCS agreements.  What does this mean?  

See what our class had to say!

 Helping a friend learn to pour water!

An art project to help us get to know each other a bit better!  What are your favorite things?

What an enthusiastic group this is!  After many requests from returning students for Writing Workshop, we jumped right in!  Everyone did some writing at a "just right" level.  We continue the tradition of having Writing Workshop on Mondays and Wednesdays from 11 to 12.  If you are ever interested in seeing what it's all about, feel free to stop by!  The hour is filled with mini writing lessons, writing about self-chosen topics, and sharing.  One of my favorite things about Writing Workshop is that it allows students to participate and grow as a writer at a level suited perfectly to them...that, and I love reading the stories!

Our Tuesday/Thursday Language Arts time is typically set aside for centers.  Our first practice run went quite smoothly!

Putting together an alphabet puzzle.

The handwriting program we use, uses just four strokes to build all of the capital letters!   Perhaps we can build our names!

 Coloring alphabet charts that we will use during Writing Workshop to help us with sounds.

Our classroom has become filled with patterns, as we delve into our first math unit!  I feel like I'm in a Dr. Seuss book...patterns here, patterns there, patterns everywhere!  Aside from math, I am seeing patterns emerge in art projects, with the kynex and in dramatic play!  It's been lots of fun learning and practicing our first math games!  If you ask, your child may be able to show you how to play What's Missing? at home!

Building a pattern with bears!

A very "fancy" pattern!

                         

 Reading a pattern...blue, white, blue white...

Friday workshops are already a very popular time!  And for a very good reason!  Thank you teachers!  I love watching (and participating) as the kids teach each other!  

Fun with Perfection! 

UNO!

Each day we end our time with Investigations, which is a time for  less structured play and socializing.  It has been fun watching play evolve as friends get to know one another!  At times everyone plays together and at others there are smaller groups or even individual play.  One thing I've noticed so far is that the groups seem to be very fluid and inclusive!  Folks are getting along well and using respectful words to make request!  Yippee!

 Tinker Toys!  

The horses have been popular!

Working together to dress the baby!  We have a very well taken care of baby!

This year we have classroom jobs!  The jobs will rotate weekly.  I have been ever so impressed with how seriously the kids are taking their jobs!  There's been vacuuming galore (yay for the new vacuum!), lots of table wiping, shoe straightening, timekeeping, spiffying, plant watering and pencil sharpening!  Leaving early one day, Ruby, concerned that her job wouldn't be done, took it upon herself to ask a friend to fill in!  So sweet!

It has been a remarkable beginning to the school year and I feel blessed each day that I get to spend teaching, learning and growing with your fabulous kiddos!  I'd like to leave you with a tip I learned  this week... 

If you are going to fly a paper airplane outside, be sure to check which way the wind is blowing!