What our Classroom looks like while we are learning different things!

We have come up with a lot of great ideas as we are learning to work on different things while all in the same space.  It’s important that everyone knows what they are supposed to be doing, and who they can ask if they aren’t sure.  I won’t always be available, as I could be in the middle of teaching another group – so it’s especially important for kids to listen, and ask others for help.  This is a work in progress.  We will continue to improve it every single day! 

Hey!  You’re a FUNGI!

Mushroom humor.  I’m full of ‘em.  We were lucky enough to find a huge array of mushrooms while in Waterloo.  Kids found mushrooms that surprised our naturalist, and he’s the best EVER!  After finding so many mushrooms on our trip, kids were excited to read about FUNGI and learn even more about it.  They were asked to answer questions after reading our Student Reference Books, and then illustrate a mushroom.  Wow.  Such amazing illustrators among us!

Writing!

Mrs. Miller, our BLE (Building Literacy Expert) visited our room last Friday, starting the kids on a writing activity that will help us know where kids are, which then helps us move forward as we start our writing unit on informational writing.  She led them through the directions (see post-it notes on the board), and then started them writing…for 45 minutes!  It was so fun to sit back and watch, rather than leading the way.  My job was to observe how they were doing, taking notes on my observations, and then spending time wrapping up our thoughts at the end.  45 minutes is a LONG time and I was really impressed by how well they did, and how on task they were!  Bravo!

Steve Jenkins is my FAVORITE nonfiction author.  He writes INCREDIBLE books!  Check him out!

These books are amazing.  Remind me to never work on a railroad, or on skyscrapers.  They are done really well, and have wonderful illustrations and are full of great facts, told with humor.  Fab books!

This past week, we looked at informational text.  In order to write great text, you must READ great text!  Kid choose books from a variety available in our room and read, paying close attention to how the writer got their attention, and the facts they learned while they read.  What were things you noticed?  Headings, bold words, interesting pictures/photographs, maps, glossaries, boxes around text…these are just some of the things they noticed after reading for 15 minutes.  We will write about something (they will choose), and bring that piece through the entire writing process.  I can’t wait to share the process with you!