Here's a sneak peek of what reading time looks likes in our class. I'm so happy to see these kids become independent little workers! During this block I meet with different reading groups and introduce new stories. Next, I have them read their story to themselves...ask your child about the "telephone " they read into! Finally, they choose a buddy to read their new story to. The children are also working on skill activities during this time. 

Last week I introduced the whiteboards to the kids during writing time. We read the story Freight Train. I talked about the how the author, Donald Crews, was very interested in trains when he was growing up. As a writer, he chose to write about trains. I asked the kids to think about something they were interested in. As they shared their interests I asked them to write it on their whiteboards. This was a great opportunity for me to observe writing habits as well as modeling proper sentence structure. 

How cute are these kids?!?! 

"Over the River" became a very popular song in our classroom throughout the past two weeks! This storyboard is one of my favorite holiday projects. I hope you enjoyed your child's presentation of this well known classic!

Teddy Bear Day!

Friday was a fun and furry day as the kids proudly introduced their teddy bears to the class! It was so sweet watching the kids read stories to their bears, play word wall games with their bears and write stories about their bears!

We started our week with a wonderful visit from local author Cathryn Falwell. She captivated the children with her amazing storytelling and insight into her unique illustrations. I felt very lucky to be part of the audience!  I was so proud of my class with their behavior during the presentation!

On Wednesday I introduced the concept of sorting objects by similar attributes. Partners worked together looking at different materials and decided on ways to sort them. I made sure they were able to justify their ideas. This was an excellent activity for the kids!

We ended the week with a fantastic fall observation walk. The kids were amazing as they made observations and truly appreciated the beauty that was all around them!

After our walk, the kids came inside and drew and wrote about what they saw. The kids brought in a few treasures to "study."

Apple Observations!

We were little scientists last week! The kids had so much fun making observations on their macintosh apples. The big excitement was when I cut their apple in half... a star appeared!