No School Today!

I hope you are all enjoying your weekend after such a week filled with hard work.
I took my kids to Bay Beach today.

CJ is 11 and Ellie is almost 6.


Have you ever been to Bay Beach?  What is your favorite ride?

First Week Completed!

We had an excellent first week.  (As a secret side note to parents only:  it went much more smoothly than I anticipated!)

We got settled for Writing Workshop after the minilesson on stretching out sounds, and I realized I just had to share this video with you.  What hardworking kids you have!  I highly recommend that you show this video to your children so they can reflect on how serious they were about their work today.

We will be making lots of projects this year in first grade, so we had a guided discovery with glue sticks and construction paper.  I started by sharing my expectations for working with and caring for these materials, and the students were able to explore and discover to see what they could create.  They were proud of their creations and did such a good job taking care of each other as each shared their work.

At the end of my blog posts, I usually add a question and encourage students to respond.  Feel free to let the students type their answers in the comment box and we will share these in class.  They can stretch out their words and write the sounds they hear when they type--spelling doesn't have to be perfect.  I will be sending home a list of "fast" words next week to keep at home so they will have a resource when spelling in homework and writing on the blog.

What other kinds of materials would you like to use when you create?

Workshops

At LEADS, we teach most of our lessons in a workshop model.  Teaching in a workshop model is much like an artist's studio. We start the workshop with a quick 5 minute minilesson, followed by a crafting time where the teacher guides the student learning based on individual student needs.  At the end of workshop, students share their learning.

Today in Writing Workshop Brianna and Logan S. shared their writing pieces and received feedback and comments about their work.

During Reading Workshop the kids got lost in some good books.  Here is a video snapshot of us hard at work, reading!

Students:  Which do you like better, Reading Workshop or Writing Workshop?

A Day of Literacy

We have been singing the "Good Morning" song each day during our Morning Meeting.  The kids are a bit shy while singing, but throughout the day I have been hearing them humming the catchy tune, and I think singing is growing on them.  Here are the words and maybe you can get your child to sing it to you!

I have been noticing a lot of teamwork among the students. Teamwork always makes me think about the book Swimmy that I enjoyed when I was little.  Enjoy the reading of Swimmy in this video!

 Today our literacy coaches, Mrs. Going & Ms. Bowdin, come in to talk to us about reading every day at home and at school.

They read the book Pete the Cat Rocking in My School Shoes.  I thought the kids might enjoy this video when you look at the blog together as a family:

We had our first reading and writing workshops today, and the kids worked very hard!

What is your favorite book? (Kids & parents can answer!)

Our First Day!

I know you are all dying to know how it went today. :) We had a great day, a few "take a breaks" by several, and lots of questions about *everything*. I guess we have been training them well to question in our inquiry-based school!
We explored lots of math manipulatives and even got to use the ipads. Here is a video of some of our learning from the first day of school.



Don't forget to subscribe to our blog (at the right) so you can get the latest info when I update it with a new post.

 Did your child mention anything about today? What stuck with your child?

Snack Survey

One way that I can use my blog is to collect data from parents about various topics. This week I will provide snack for your child in class each day.

Beginning next week, I'd like to know what you prefer as a parent, with regard to organizing snack for the year. I want to make sure that first grade this year meets your needs, as well as your child's needs. You will notice a survey on the right hand side of the blog. Please take the survey and click the submit button.

Getting Ready...

Our classroom inquiry signs have arrived!

We have all moved into the same wing, so now all LEADS students are easily within reach of each other.

I have been busy getting our classroom ready for our Back to School Fest night. It looks pretty spare now, but I need LEADS first graders to complete the picture.  I can't wait to see everyone!