Sequencing - Where The Wild Things Are

Today we began working on a new comprehension skill. This skill is sequencing. 

I chose to use one of my all time favorite books, Where The Wild Things Are, to teach this skill. 

Where the wild things are begins with a little boy acting like a wild boy in his house. His mother sends him to bed with out dinner and while he is in his room his imagination runs wild. 

Before we read I told the students to be thinking about what their favorite part of the book is. 

After we read I asked them to illustrate their favorite part of the story.  The illustrations were great. We were able to create a time line of events in the story using their illustrations. 

The series of events moves from top left to top right, bottom left to bottom right. 

This set of illustrations moves the same direction as the previous set. 

These are now displayed in the hallway. Tomorrow we will use order of time words to captions each group of illustrations. 

Alabama History Diamantes

This week we began learning about our state to prepare for our year long investigation of the state of Alabama!

We began by creating a Diamanté Poem about Alabama. 

I gave each student an outline to follow in making their poem and we headed off to the computer lab to find the answers. 

Line 1:  The name of our state

Line 2:  Two animals that are native to our state

Line 3:  Three cities in Alabama

Line 4:  Four agricultural products of Akabama

Line 5:  Three birds in Alabama

Line 6:  The state insect and the state bird

Line 7:  Fill in the blank:  Alabama is known as the _______ state. 

Once they had collected all of their information they transferred it onto a per-made diamanté diamond template. 

Then, they cute it out and glued it onto construction paper. 

Finally, they trimmed the construction paper leaving only a small border/outline. 

Now they are displayed in the hall for everyone to read!

Predicting - The Mitten

Wednesday we read The Mitten to practice our comprehension skill, predicting. 

Prior to reading each student was given a mitten template. I showed them the cover of the book and asked them to predict what they thought the book would be about and to provide reasons based on the illustration as to why they made their prediction. 

As I read the book I would pause occasionally and ask the students to predict what they thought would happen next. 

They added all of their predictions to their mitten. 

We finished the book, which we all enjoyed, and cut our mittens out to use as a decoration in our room. 

Predicting -Henry's Freedom Box

This week I used the book Henry's Freedom Box to teach the skill of predicting. Predicting falls under the C on our CRAFT board because predicting helps us understand what we read. 

Prior to reading the book I showed the cover and gave each student a piece of paper.  On their paper they drew what they thought a freedom box was. We shared several predictions and then read the book. 

As we read we checked for understanding to continue practicing our previous comprehension strategy. 

After reading we discovered that many of our predictions were correct. Ask your child what a freedom box is. 

Launching Read to Self

Monday morning we began our Daily 5 and CRAFT reading skills.  We began by learning 3 ways to read a book. First, I told them the story of The 3 Little Pigs and then I told them the story of Cinderella. The students learned that there are times that we tell stories by word of mouth only. Next, we took a picture walk using the book Koala Lou. We were able to figure out what was happening on each page based on the illustrations. Finally, we read the book. 

Did you know there were 3 ways to read a book?

We read Koala Lou to learn our first comprehension strategy, checking for understanding. We talked about how sometimes our minds wander while we read. When this happens we often forget what we have read.  We learned a way to help solve this problem is  to think back over a chapter, or a few pages, once we've read them to be sure we've comprehended the information. 

Following Koala Lou we began talking about what a visitor should see and hear if they were to come in during our Read to Self time. We made a list of what students should do and a list of what I should be doing. 

After we compiled our list we modeled the right and wrong ways to read to self. Ask your child about my modeling :). They got a big kick out of it!

After we learned ALL about how to read to self it was finally time to practice building our stamina.  The students scattered around the room and began practicing our new read to self behaviors. 

LEGOS

Last week we had a chance to use LEGOS in our classroom. We will use these throughout the year to add to our learning in Alabama History, science, reading, and sometimes math. We will also use them for fun sometimes :). 

The students were given time to free play when they first received their LEGOS. Following their free play they were given a building task. They were to build their favorite part of their first week of school. There were many creative pieces of construction. 

Save Fred!

We are preparing to begin our first science unit of the year. Before we begin our unit we must first learn the scientific method and know exactly how to set up our science notebooks. 

Friday we took some time to learn about the scientific method. 

We began by creating a flip book with each of the components we will be using in our notebook entries. 

Then, we conducted our first investigation, Save Fred. 

Fred is a worm whose boat capsized. Fred does not know how to swim and his life preserver is stuck under the boat. 

The students had to save Fred (a gummy worm) by using only 4 paper clips. They could not touch Fred with their hands, and if Fred fell overboard 3 times then he was dead :(. 

To save Fred students had to retrieve his life preserver from underneath the boat and put it around him. 

They had a BLAST with this activity!

Close to 100

We played a game called close to 100 for math on Friday. 

Students draw 6 numeral cards and use 4 of those cards to create 2 two-digit numbers that will add up to get close to 100.  

Students then subtract their sum from 100 to find their score. 

The player with the lowest score wins. 

Example :  numeral cards = 3, 4, 7, 3, 6, 2

I would make my numbers 63 + 37 

63 + 37 = 100 so my score would be 0. 

Miss Mendenhall

We had our first counseling session today and had the opportunity to meet our new counselor, Miss Mendenhall.  I had heard WONDERFUL things about her but wasn't quite aware of just what we had in store for us until she began her first lesson in my room.  She is REMARKABLE.  FABULOUS.  ENERGETIC.  ENGAGING.  PASSIONATE.  CARING.  FRIENDLY.  KNOWLEDGEABLE.  Simply the most wonderful counselor I have ever had the privilege of working with.  

The way she communicated with the students was amazing.  She was on their level, literally, she would squat down and get on their level.  Her intonation grabbed, and kept, each person's attention.  Her sense of true interest in each student had each of them eager to share their passions with her.  I was on "break" yet I couldn't disengage myself from her lesson!

She shared about herself, learned about each child, shared the "Get-As" {Get Ahead, Get Along, and Get A Job}, and taught them about various listening styles.  

Before she left she taught them a fun song about ways they can listen.  The video is posted on our Instagram account.  Check it out!

Building Stamina

Following the STAR Reading Test, students headed to the Book Nook for a little Independent Reading.  Next week we will begin calling Independent Reading time Read to Self time.

Each student found a cozy little place to begin reading and read independently for about 10 minutes.

I know 10 minutes does not sound like a long time, but many students need to build up their independent reading stamina.  We took a few minutes to learn about the word stamina and what it means to our reading ability.

 I used my marathon training as an example of stamina.  I explained that if I went out on week 1 and was expected to run 26.2 miles that I would be setting myself up for failure.  Running 26.2 miles takes a lot of training and practice.  I must start out with low mileage and slowly increase my distance, or stamina, until I reach my goal.

Students must do the same thing when reading.  I cannot sit them down during the first week of school, following months of summer vacation and freedom, and expect them to read independently, silently, and still for 45 minutes.  If I expect them to do that then I am setting them up for immediate failure.  In order to build confidence in their ability to read I must first provide them with opportunities to feel successful!

Today most of us read for the full 10 minutes without moving or becoming distracted.  We will try again tomorrow and Friday until we master the art of reading for 10 uninterrupted minutes.  Next week we will begin increasing our stamina by 2 minutes every other day :)

STAR Testing

Each student in the school system, K - 12, is taking the STAR Assessment this year.  The STAR tests students in both reading and math.  We took the reading portion today so that I will know what books are appropriate for your child, and which strategies and skills I need to focus on when teaching.

Ships & Sailors

This week we are beginning each day with an ice breaker activity.  This morning's activity was called Ships & Sailors.  This game created community in our classroom and made us immediately become comfortable with one another because no one wanted to have to exit the game.

I began by yelling the commands of, "Ships!" and "Sailors!"  Each time I said ships the students would run to the left and each time I said sailors they would run to the right.  While they were running back and forth I would yell other commands at them.

This command was Mess Table.  Mess table required 4 people to get together and pretend to be eating. You group had to have 4 members, no more and no less.  If you were not a part of a group then you were out.

 Another command was Sea Sick.  When I called sea sick each student individually began acting like they were sick.  They walked around "sick" until I yelled, "Pepto Bismal!"  If they followed any other commands that were given following the sea sick command, before they were cleared with the Pepto Bismal command, then they were out!

 4 Men Pointing North is another command.  This command, of course, required 4 members.  They gathered together in a circle and pointed up.

Man Overboard required 2 group members.  One member would get down on one knee while the other placed their hand on their partner's shoulder and began looking out over the seas to locate the man overboard.

 Crows Nest was a 3 person command.  Students would turn their backs to one another and link arms together.  Not in a group of three?  You're out!

Commands not pictured:  Hit the Deck!  3 Men Rowing!  and Captain's Coming!

When Hit the Deck is commanded students must immediately hit the ground!

3 Men Rowing, students get in groups of 3 and pretend to be rowing a boat.

Captain's Coming, students stand at attention until At Ease is called.  If they follow any commands prior to the at ease command then they are out!

They absolutely LOVED the game and did not care who their group members were as long as they got to continue playing!  They ran, sweated, and got plenty of exercise all while begging to play again and again!

Name Maps

Tuesday morning each student began working on a name map.  This is the first piece of work that will make its way to the hallway so that others in the building can learn about us.

Each name map includes the students name surrounded by pictures of things they enjoy.

 Bakarri and Micavela worked hard at making their name maps perfect!

 Reagan completed her name map and began working on an All About Me book that she did not have the chance to complete Monday morning.

Our First Day of Fourth Grade

As I said in the e-mail I sent out, this was the fastest first day in the history of my career!  I will say that even though it was a fast day I can still confidently say that I have the sweetest fourth grade class in the entire Decatur City School District.

This morning I met the students in the Little Theatre to walk them down to the classroom.  When they entered they unpacked, placed their backpack on the back of their chair, and began working on the back to school packet on their desk.

While they worked on their first day of school packet I took care of first day of school house keeping business in the classroom.  I think the packet was probably more fun :).

At 8:30 they learned where they would place their back pack each day and how to make a lunch choice in their new classroom.  My bet is they enter the room and take care of unpacking, placing their back packs in the hallway, and making a lunch choice like fourth grade pros tomorrow morning!

At 8:45 we began an M & M get to know you activity.  

Each M & M colored represented a topic.  Reds were their favorite TV show or movie, Orange was something they like about school, Yellow represents hobbies, Green is books/authors/series they enjoy reading, Blue is words that describe them, and Brown represents places they like to visit.  

They sorted their M&Ms and began making their lists because each M&M they had of each color was one item they had to list in that category.  At 9:00 we began sharing our interests.  Many of us learned of others in the room that share many of our same interests,

At 9:30 we began setting up our S.O.A.R. Binders.  Each student received their S.O.A.R. Binder Cover and a few pieces of the Procedures Manual for our classroom.  We began working our way through the pieces of the Procedures Manual that we needed to line up, travel down the hallway, use the bathroom, and function appropriately in PE.  Once we finished reviewing those pieces of our manual it was time for PE, so off we went!

After PE we stopped by the bathroom and then made our way to the cafeteria so that we could review lunch procedures prior to the cafeteria filling up.  All of these little procedure reviews took up valuable classroom time, but by taking the time to review the procedures in detail now we should save time later.

We returned to the classroom to discuss being nut-free this year and why we needed to make that accommodation.  After answering a few questions it was time for lunch!

Following lunch we reviewed 2 other pieces of our procedures manual, reviewed our newsletter and behavior log, and received a first day of school snack.

We snapped a few first day of school group shots and then it was time to begin packing up :(.

Students completed their Behavior Log and then met me in the hallway for individual first day of school photographs.

Their day ended in S.T.E.M. with Mrs. Davis and Drama with Mrs. Knox.

I hope your child's first day was great!  I know mine was, it was just entirely too quick.