This week has been all about learning routines and procedures for our classroom. A big part of our math curriculum focuses on using manipulative to learn concepts. Before young children can use these manipulatives with a purpose, I've found that they need to be able to openly explore with them first. Here are some students exploring shapes, cubes, buttons and more with a partner:
Very early on we learn to "write" in our journals. At first many students were resistant, saying, "I don't know how to write." We encourage students to represent their thoughts in whatever way they can at first. This may be with pictures, scribbles, letters or phonetically spelled words. All of these are acceptable at this point! As the year goes on, students will learn skills that will enable them to move toward a more traditional form of writing. (Writing time is also our snack time.)
Throughout the week we learned about how to care for the various supplies in our pencil boxes: crayons, pencils, scissors, glue. We used all four of these to create "Davids" based on the book David Goes to School. I didn't get a finished project photo, but they turned out very cute! They'll be coming home soon in red folders.
One of our most important topics this week focused on how we can be "GREAT kids." The students learned about the difference between helpful words that keep our heart happy and hurtful words which can crumple or break our heart. They decided on a classroom promise that says: We will listen. We will be kind. We will not hurt feelings. What more could we want?!
Next week we will continue to learn how to be GREAT kids by learning how to handle disagreements, share classroom items and be problem solvers. We will also continue to explore our math manipulatives and build routines of daily reading and writing. Have a great week!
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