Mr. Elliott paid a visit to all of the QAE classrooms this week during classroom meetings. He met with us and talked about how this year he has three goals for all students: Growing our brains, our bodies and our hearts. As a class we discussed what each of these meant and how we could accomplish each of these goals. It was a great visit from Mr. Elliott.
On Wednesday, each student selected a “seed” story to publish for his or her first piece of writing. To publish, students reread work and added any missing details, either in the pictures or the words. Then they color the pictures, create a title and a cover page. In first grade, we will not rewrite most of our writing because of the time and frustration this creates for most students. Additionally, when students leave their revisions on the published copied, it leaves a trail of learning with which we can document student thinking and growth.
On Friday we had a school wide fire drill practice. The fire alarm rang at the beginning of our afternoon writing session and I will admit, I feared we would not be able to get back into the flow of writing after a 10-minute disruption such as a fire drill. However, I was wrong, we walked back into the classroom, and everyone sat back down at their writing spot and got back to work. We worked for 25 more minutes! The stamina towards reading and writing this class is phenomenal!
Finally, we have been working on another component of socio-emotional learning. We read the book “Have You Filled a Bucket Today?” (link at the end of the post). This book teaches that each of us can either be a “bucket filler” or “bucket dipper” based on our actions in relationship to one and other. When we are “bucket filler” we are kind and helpful. When we fill others buckets, we also fill our own because it makes us feel good to help others. When we are “bucket dippers” we are unkind and this action takes away from others buckets. When we bucket dip, we do not fill our own bucket. This has been a powerful analogy that we have been referring to frequently in the classroom. This analogy has helped us tune into the impact our own actions have on others and ourselves. I encourage you to read this book with your child.
Upcoming Events:
- PE is on Monday/Wednesday/Friday this week.
- Library is on Thursday.
- Curriculum Night is September 26. First session 6:30-7:10. Second session 7:20-8:00. Hope to see everyone there!
- Scholastic book order is Due September 27. Scholastic book orders are a great way for us to earn books for our classroom library. www.scholastic.com Classroom Code: L44LX
- Please send back the blue Media Release form, I would love to post pictures of students on our site but I am waiting until I have the permission slips.
- Link to "Have You Filled a Bucket Today?" http://www.amazon.com/Filled-Bucket-Today-Guide-Happiness/dp/0978507517