Thursday, September 23, 2010

Homework Time!

Homework has finally started!!  I don't know who is more excited, the students or me!  This week I have sent home two math homelinks and a reading log. Each day I will teach a math lesson that will reinforce the topic of the homelink.  Nothing will ever be sent home that is unfamiliar to the children (they just might not remember what we learned that afternoon)  I will go over each math homelink at school before I send it home and I expect it completed and back at school the next day.  Reading logs, on the other hand, go home on Monday and aren't returned until Friday.  Each child should be reading at least 10 minutes a night, but I would love to see everyone read even more than that!  Next week, I will also send home the spelling skill that we are working on.  I do not want children to memorize any list, just practice the skill and try spelling it in different words.  This week we reviewed short vowels and digraphs (ch, sh, wh, and th).  Next week I will introduce words that have double ll, zz, ff, and ss such as kiss, fuzz, doll, and cuff.  There is no homework assigned for the weekends.

I am still waiting for a few more permission slips before I begin writing more entries and posting pictures on our class blog. I am also waiting for my new camera to help me in this endeavor.  My goal is to post something at least once a week! I appreciate your patience as I get this blog "off the ground"!

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Off To A Great Start!

I can't believe that we are almost done with our second week of school!  We are all much more comfortable now that the heat has finally broken!  We have been very busy in Room 9 getting to know one another and working together to create our classroom community.  I feel like I do a lot of talking during the first few weeks of school, but it certainly pays off as the year progresses because everyone is clear on the routines and expectations. 

I am slowly introducing academics such as math and reading.  I think that the students are actually pretty excited to get back into the swing of things!  During math, we spent the first few days just reviewing the compliments of ten (these are the number pairings that add up to ten such as 4+6 and 8+2).  We even made our own abacus to help us learn these facts.  This past Tuesday, we started Unit One of the Everyday Math series.  During math time, everyone has the opportunity to work in a small group with me, complete a workbook page, play a math game like "Egg Head" or "Compliments of 10 Memory", or try a challenge paper that takes the math skill of the day a step farther. 

Reading time is always a big hit!  We have read many wonderful books in the past few days and we even had the opportunity to create our own class book!  We have spent some time talking about how we treat books and I hope to open my Book Nook soon.  We also played many rhyming games which gave us the opportunity to practice our rhyming skills and how to work cooperatively.  We also worked as a team to generate our classroom rules - make sure you look at the list when you come for Open House!

We have all had a wonderful week and I thought of a great way to bring things to a close.We are going to walk to the Village Scoop for some much-needed ice cream! I think everyone deserves a treat after all of their hard work!  I hope this blog gives you some insight into what we do on a daily basis. I am new at this, so please be patient!  Don't hesitate to email me with any questions or concerns!  Thank you for letting me spend each day with your child; I am truly blessed!