Body issues aside, the first few days have gone well. I have a difficult class this year so we've taken it quite slow. Most of our time has been dedicated to discussing character, establishing rules, discussing character, practising routines, and discussing character ... you get the idea. They'll come around ... I hope. I had a GREAT moment today when I asked for some volunteers to help in the JK/SK classroom during lunch time - every single student volunteered! I made a BIG deal about this, gushing about how they filled my bucket with their display of great character and leadership. I also made them all a character rocks card, and filled the bucket with them. I can't wait to hand them out tomorrow!
We have accomplished a few academic tasks these past few days. We started our space unit in science. Today we made our KWL chart (one student "wondered" if it was possible to get pulled into a wormhole - lol), and they started on their title pages. I haven't taught this unit for a few years, and our resources are so limited and outdated. I've been doing some internet searching, but if anybody has any great ideas, I'd love to hear them.
I started our writing workshop unit - Personal Memoirs. I'm really excited about this unit I made. Yesterday we read Eve Bunting's The Memory String, and we discussed it using a question string (OK - it was more like a chain, but the students got the connection). Today we started to make our personal timelines - we'll have to finish them tomorrow.
We also started to make our math journals today - we made our first entry and started decorating the covers. Tomorrow we'll finish decorating them, and add a layer or two of homemade mod podge (equal parts white glue and water) to the cover to make it a little more sturdy. We're going to make foldables for each entry. Today we made a four-corner foldable for operations. They students had a lot of fun with this, and I am VERY excited about our math journals this year (something I've never said before). Here are a couple of pictures from our journals today:
So, it's been a LONG three days so far, but there's only one more day to go. Hopefully the antibiotics kick in, and my eye starts to heal. We have Spirit Day tomorrow, and I have to get busy writing a cheer for the class ...
Happy Thursday!!!
