math journals

We have used our morning message and out outdoor classroom time to count and represent numbers in different ways. On the fifth day of school I invited children to show 5 on a sticky note and attach it to our morning message. We did the same for the tenth day of school, noticing the many different ways we can show 10. During that week we also collected 10 things in nature, using a 10 frame to guide our work. These three experiences are the children's first entries in their math journals. Our journals are for important work. When I shared the prompts and sticky notes that I had glued in, we noticed that our journals were missing something- a beautiful front cover and names!

We read Triangle a math storybook by one of my favorite authors, Jon Klassen. We used what we know about the attributes of a triangle to draw in the same style as Klassen. We used ovals and circles for the eyes and rectangles for the legs.

The children's math journals now have a beautiful front cover. We have worked a lot with our names this week, connecting our name work to our learning about letters and sounds (literacy), social emotional learning (our names are important, we are important) and to our developing counting and cardinality skills.

On Wednesday the children counted the letters in their name and recorded how many. We talked about sharing our thinking, because mathematicians always show how they solved a problem using pictures or words. I love working in our math journals and will continue to provide problems that connect to our community, learning, and experiences.

 

 

 

 

readers read the world

This week we launched our reading workshop. This is a time in our day to learn about being a reader; to learn about the different strategies readers use, the different books readers read, and the different ways to read.

It is important to recognize that the children are readers before we launch the workshop and they are reading all day long. They are readers on the first day of school when they look at our sign in board, think about the names, and read their name. They are readers when they notice the labels in our classroom and the signs in our school. They are readers when we talk about the zones of regulation and they point to and discuss the different zones. They are readers when we read and engage with our daily morning message!

We are readers. This is essential for children to embrace. We look at signs, labels, or pages in a book. We think about the pictures and words and what they might be teaching us. We read the pictures and then we can read the words.

As we continue to dive deep into the rich and challenging work of developing literacy skills and knowledge, it will be important for me to support children in transferring the strategies and skills we learn during reading workshop. For example, when Ivy excitedly noticed that Outside was next on our schedule, I responded with, you are a reader- you look, think, and read. You can read our schedule, Outside is next.

Readers read the world- our classroom!

 

Readers learn about the world by reading books that teach us.

 

 

Readers read and learn with a partner. There are different kinds of books to read and there are different ways to read- privately or with a partner. The children discussed the word partner during our morning meeting share and we later reflected on being a green zone partner during our morning message work.

We practiced reading with a partner; sitting elbow-to-elbow and knee-to-knee with one book in the middle. We practiced taking turns and talking about the pictures, labels, and words on the pages with our partner. The following day we practiced transitioning from a private read to a partner read. We will continue to learn, practice, and reflect throughout their journey as growing readers.

 

 

 

 

the letter t

Can you find the letter t in names or words you know?
Can you build the letter t?
Top starts with a t. What other words start like top?

Using what we know about straight lines, the children practiced printing lower case t's in their first letter book. As we explore the alphabet this year, learning all of our letters, we will devote essential time to naming and printing letters as well as practicing and learning letter sounds. There will be a little book for each introduced letter. In the past, many children have eagerly collected all of the little letter books!

On Friday, the children wrote their first letter book. It is important for children to explore letter sounds. We noticed that t is in the word Today in our morning message. We noticed the word tent begins like top, but it also has a t at the end!

Do you have a t in your name?
Does anyone in your family have a t in their name?

You might want to go on a t search with your child this weekend. Listen for the t sound in different words. Try to make a t with your body or with sticks! If your child would like to bring in any of their work or play with t from the weekend, we will make sure to have time during our morning meeting for them to share.

 

 

connecting it all together

We have had a living document in our classroom; community expectations. Our conversations, reflections and representations of our school rules have shaped this document. When children noticed how careful their peers were with a math manipulative, we wrote we are careful. When children noticed how safe their peers were, we wrote we have calm bodies.

We added labels and Solveig wrote the word love. I printed pictures of the children working together and glued them to the document. As we neared the end of our week we revisited our rules again, ready to sign them. With our middle school reading buddies present (they are important members of our community) and a collection of fancy pens to choose from, the children passed our rules around the oval.

All of the children were patient and every member had the opportunity to carefully print their name. These community rules and expectations will live in our classroom. We will revisit and remember, we will continue to connect our community work and learning to our expectations. The children are the voice of our classroom.

 

 

With this important community work comes more responsibility and new experiences. On Wednesday we were ready to develop a check list for our open house, to plan and prepare for visiting families. We were also ready to have our first academic choice on Friday.

Open House

The children thought of the important things they wanted to share with our families. I wrote down their ideas and later took pictures of the spaces and things they wanted to share. We talked about a check list. Alice explained that a grocery list tells you what you need. A check list tells you what you need, too! Our list was important things the children wanted to share with their families.

On Thursday we practiced holding clipboards with our check lists and walking through our classroom. It was important and exciting work. Zoey had suggested we share our community rocks representing acts of kindness. We have already collected- and counted- 90 rocks!

 

 

 

 

Academic Choice

We had our first academic choice on Friday. Using our community expectations to guide our work and interactions, the children's choices were a reflection from our beginning of the year learning;

keva planks
small building (with rocks)
drawing lines
cutting and gluing shapes (Henri Matisse)
shape puzzles

Following our choice we needed to write two new labels for our classroom, creating a home for our keva planks and small building materials. The children found the words on our choice poster and carefully printed the words keva planks and small building on sticky notes. Our first academic choice was rich with exploration, expression and discussion.

 

responsible

This week we connected our exploration and definition of responsible to the introduction of new classroom materials and experiences. This important community work directly connects to and influences our learning.

We are responsible when we are careful with new art materials. 
We are responsible when we unbuild our keva plank structures. 
We are responsible when we take care of our own needs. 

As I introduced new materials this week, we focused on the ways we were responsible as a community. Children reflected on how it feels to make powerful choices and shared how they would be responsible at school; listening, helping, or being in the green zone.

Introducing a new building material, keva planks.

What do you notice about this material?

Keva planks are rectangles, they have straight sides. They are all the same length and height. They are made of wood. 

Watch as I build. How was I responsible with this material?

You were careful when you took it out of the basket. You had an idea. You shared. You unbuilt your structure after.

What else can I build with it?

Shapes, letters, names, or faces!

 

 

The Share

Sebby shares a rocket ship he made. He explains that the rocket ship is going to the moon and that it has special parts that come down for when it lands. Brennan asks about the keva planks on top, making a square shape. Are they stabilizers? Are they a window?

 

When we are responsible in our classroom, we begin to work with more challenging materials and our classroom spaces begin to fill. Our once empty math shelf is now full of materials for exploring shape attributes, counting, and building patterns. Our art shelf is beginning to fill, too. There is paper, scissors, and glue from our Henri Matisse work. There are black pens, colored pencils, and crayons from our representations of kindness, listening, and being responsible.

Connecting back to our line work I introduced two new art materials; sharpies and water color paints. The children used water color paper as their canvas and drew a variety of lines across with a sharpie. They added color with water colors. Their colorful line portraits now live in our classroom as part of our shapes and lines art. Drawing lines will be a choice during our first academic choice.

Again, I named and introduced the materials. We talked about how we are responsible with these materials. We talked about how we can use them and what is important when using a special material, like water color paints. We named and practiced different lines, supporting our growth as printers and artists.

 

 

The Share

Following our active engagement, Myra shared her line portrait with her peers, naming the different lines she used. Perhaps the most powerful part of her share was when she said, "There wasn't pink, and I love pink and wanted pink, so I used red and I'm pretending it's pink!"

Myra and her peers are working on being flexible. When a small problem happens, like not having any pink, we have to be flexible. When we take a moment and think about how we can solve the problem, we are being responsible learners and community members. We celebrated Myra's line portrait and her growth as a responsible problem solver!