And So It Begins.....

What a wonderful group of children we have in Room 14 this year!

Everyone seems to enjoy school and each other. Here is a pictorial tour of our experiences so far...

Our day usually starts with Daily 5. Daily 5 is a literacy platform that allows children to engage in their own preferred literacy choices, while the teacher works with small groups. Done in small chunks of about 15 minutes, we are building to several rounds per period. Our choices are Work on Words, Read To Self, Partner Reading, Writing, and Listen to Reading.
Here are our intrepid friends discovering places around the room to cozy up with a book....

We especially enjoy partner reading.






After our literacy period, we use the facilities, wash our hands and have a quick snack. It helps us get the chats and wiggles out before we go to our specialist teachers.
Mrs. Gonzales is our destination on Mondays and Wednesdays.




 










On Tuesdays and Fridays we visit Mr Kirby.  The day I stopped by, they were playing turtle tag...it's like freeze tag, andwhen you are tagged, someone has to crawl under you to get you unfrozen.

(BTW...it's almost 2 AM and this blog has been wiggin' out on me.  My apologies for however the above prints..I have tried......but sometimes you just have to say UNCLE.)



On Wednesdays, We visit the Mrs. Ridge in the Library. We return our books on Tuesday so we can be ready to check out or renew.


When we return from our specialists, we crack out the math books! Our beginning lessons have focused on place value and addition strategies. 
We also have been supplementing with logic problems, problem solving, and of course, games!





 We had a great time exploring patterns too. We each created a pattern and our friends had to come and tell us how the pattern would continue. I saw some really good ones!








Steilacoom has a new diagnostic tool for math and science. It was a really fun experience for the children. It included "brain break games" so they could relax before starting the next level.





We were lucky to have Abigail's dad stop by for the start of our plant studies. He helped us wrap our seeds in a damp paper towel which we carried around all day.

When we unwrapped it, it was quite a surprise. the seed  had "grown" and the seed coat was peeling off. 

We used a magnifying glass to see the tiny seed inside.

Our studies continued for 10 more days . We planted the seeds, tended them and watched them grow.








And that brings us up to date!

Thank you for your warm welcomes!
Here's to an excellent year in Room 14!