Week 6: I am Thankful
Each week I am amazed with the creativity and the curiosity that the girls bring with them to school. They come in from the weekend eager to share their experiences, and quickly are already asking "how many minutes until learning centres?". I love listening to the girls' conversations with each other, watching them appropriately (or sometimes not as appropriately) navigate social situations, and hear about the acts of kindness they have experienced throughout the week. This week's photo journal shares some more information about our classroom routines, which the girls are already very comfortable with. Enjoy the snapshot of our week together:
Z notices the words on her shirt and uses her word reading strategies to help her find out what it says. She identifies the sight word "to", and then uses her sounds to help with the other words.
G uses the letter stamps to spell out some sight words. She is solidifying her letter recognition skills, as well as matching the letters to the appropriate words when she's done.
G uses the q-tips to paint pictures of fall tree landscapes. She takes her time observing where she notices certain colours in the pictures, and then thinks about where these should be placed on her page. This is a slow, careful process.
M also paints pictures of fall scenes. She is working here on adding lots of falling leaves to her painting. M does a good job sharing the paints with the other artist, G, and only moves the colour she currently uses closer to her.
M points out that no one who we have asked to answer our morning question bikes to school. As a class we discuss that we could talk to each person at Linden about how they get to school. Each morning we read the morning question, and write our name neatly to answer it.
G is immediately inspired by the artwork on the wall in the Art Centre, and jumps at the opportunity to create her own picture. She references the drawing above her when she needs an idea about what to include in the picture.
Z and M work together to re-read our weekly poem. This week's poem was about being thankful, inspired by the Thanksgiving holiday. Our sight words of the week are in pink to stand out and be easily recognized. Images are used to replace words to aid in reading and poem recall.
Z and her reading buddy, F, enjoy some time together during our weekly Reading Buddies time.
After practicing her number printing she is ready for tower-building! Z tells me that she is making this stick (using linking cubes) as long as she can.
M and G look closely at the beautiful fall leaves we have collected from the park as well as those I brought back from my cottage. First they carefully draw the outlines of the leaves, then add in the details to the inside, and finally add the colours. M sticks more to the colours she sees, but G chooses to make a "rainbow leaf".
In preparation for the Social Justice Data Fair, the class conducts a survey asking "How do you get to school?". They practice their presentation on Martha before going to survey each class.
M, C, and G celebrate being girls. Linden welcomed Plan Canada and Because I am a Girl this week, and then as a school we celebrated the accomplishments our girls have made so far, as well as all of the amazing things they will do in the years to come!
Beth shows the girls her pneumatic robotic arm, which is operated by syringes pushing and pulling water through tubes. The early learners are in awe of this, and enjoy having a turn controlling the arm.
G carefully traces the shapes in the ruler. Although she's in Drama, she is hoping to make something for her family.
G explores the ramps in Building. She enjoys adding more and more marbles and watching them roll down the windy hill.
M and Z collaboratively sort the pictures into the correct column based on starting sound. Their speed and letter identification is quick! The only ones they debate the appropriate columns are the "c" vs. "k" words - the sound is the same, but the starting letters must be different.
Our math game today is Roll the Dice. The girls continue to build their abilities to immediately recognize the amounts on the dice, and then are asked to colour in a bar in the appropriate column. It is a race to the top. This game sparks math talk about ties, most and least, and comparing numbers they roll.
Z carefully colours in a square after rolling a 2.
M has designed a person (with a face) using pattern blocks. In the background you can see all of the patterns she's already finished.
Inspired by the fall leaves, Z draws some leaves/plants, and tells me she wants to give this to M.