Thank you for answering the call for backpacks & spare clothes! I think the backpacks have really helped the children get organized when it's time to leave. The children are bringing corrected work home daily, so it's great to have somewhere to put that work as they head for home.
Leprechaun Traps
It's St.
Patrick's Day week, which means it is nearly time for our trap-building
activity on Wednesday. I wanted to let you know that I prefer these
traps to be really designed and built by the children as a
design-thinking/STEM project. These are not "Pinterest-ready" designs
that involve lots of store-bought accessories. It is ok to buy those
things if your child wants to add them, but I really do want the design
process to be led by your child. This is normally an activity that we do
in class, and the things the children come up with on their own are
amazing! However, this year, in the interest of not having a lot of
things traveling to & from school, we have decided to keep this
activity at home. I do want to see your child's design and hear him/her
talk a bit about it in a video posted to SeeSaw. There will also be a
recording form coming home with your child on Tuesday so that they can
write about the process and how their trap will work. I'm looking
forward to seeing & hearing all their great ideas!
Emergency Work Packet
This
week, I will be sending home an emergency work packet. This is to be
set aside in a safe place at home in the event that we have to
quarantine due to a COVID exposure. I am simply planning ahead so that
your children have work available and their learning is not interrupted
in the event of a quarantine.
This Week in Class
Phonics Focus: "ck" ending sound digraph
Sight Word: back
Math: Subtraction
Theme: Leprechauns/St. Patrick's Day
A Peek at Our Day
Since
you are unable to come to class and see our day in action, I wanted to
give you a peek at the schedule we've settled into. Things are really
going well!
Arrival-8:30/12:30: Morning Tubs focused on
fine motor skills-- pin-poke pictures, coloring activities, sight words
with sticker dots, pattern blocks, and geoboards are some of the
activities during this time.
8:30/12:30-8:50/12:50: Opening: we do phonemic awareness activities, watch sight word & letter sound videos, and do calendar, led by "Person of the Day."
8:55/12:55-9:55/1:55: Centers: We
rotate through 3 centers a day, covering all six centers in two days
(either Mon/Tues or Thurs/Fri). Children are in differentiated groups
similar to the groups we had on Zoom, but there are five groups now
instead of six. The centers they go through are: meeting with me
(usually for reading and writing, but sometimes for science or math);
math center, writing center (they choose from a variety of papers &
booklets to write to thematic topics or topics that they pick); a
craft/art project; "word work" (a wide variety of literacy games &
activities); and reading to themselves using books at their level that
are in an individual book bag. We spend about 15-20 minutes at each
center. Most of the work you see coming home is from center time.
10:00/2:00-10:15/2:15: Outdoor Recess
10:15/2:15-10:45/2:45: Story, Choice time
(which usually includes a choice of an art project with me that they
can complete by Friday-- a couple of kids per day paint, for example), and our closing GoNoodle.
As
you can see, we are packing in a lot in our 2.5 hours! Thank goodness
we have a classroom aide, Mr. Tim, who runs around during center time
helping all the children so that I can focus on my lesson when they are
meeting with me.
Upcoming Author Visit
Please
mark your calendars for Wednesday. 3/24 at 1:00 for a virtual author
visit from Jory John and Erin Kraan, highlighting their new book, Something's Wrong: A Bear, A Hare, and Some Underwear. This is sure to be an excellent event as Jory John books that I read on SeeSaw to your students (The Bad Seed, The Good Egg, The Cool Bean) were definitely always a hit. I am excited to add his new book to our library!
Upcoming Events
Wednesday, 3/17: Special asynchronous work project: Leprechaun traps (start saving boxes and materials for these)
Wednesday, 3/24: Virtual Author visit at 1:00. Jory John & Erin Kraan will talk about their new book
Friday, 4/2: "Spring Fling:" Special spring-themed centers
April 5-9: Spring Break
