Numbers

From 9:00-9:45 children are doing math throughout Summers-Knoll.  The 1st and 2nd graders are divided in 3 groups working with me, Mrs. Carpenter, and Marshall.  The children are grouped together with others who have similar skill sets.

The children who come to my class for math, work in their Singapore Math books for the first 15 minutes.  The remaining time, we do a variety of more interactive and hands on activities.  Currently, we are working on writing addition/subtraction mathematical sentences and number bonds.

This is an example of how to make number bonds.

Today I told a story about one of my friends who has lots of cats.  I drew a picture of their house with 7 cats and their studio with 3 cats.  Then the children told me the sentences we could write about the story.  Next, we put the numbers in a number bond.  Using a real life story and situations in math, helps the children understand that math has a useful purpose in everyday life.

At home, you might try to make up some number stories with your child and then put them in the  number bond format.  For instance, pick 2 rooms in your house and count the windows in each room.  Put these at the bottom of the bond and then find out how many all together.  Try to write the 4 equations that go with the number bond.  Remember: have fun!

Poems

A tree house, a free house,
A secret you and me house,
A high up in the leafy branches
Cozy as can be house

A street house, a neat house
Be sure to wipe your feet house
I not my kind of house at all-
Let's go live in a tree house.


By Shel Silverstein


An important part of the literacy curriculum in our classroom is reading and learning poems.  The past 2 weeks, the children have been reading Shel Silverstein poems.  I copy a poem on big paper and the children take turns reading it to the class.  We read the same poem all week.  By the end of the week many of the children can say the poem from memory.  There are many benefits to reading poems, but my personal favorite is learning a love of language and play with words.

Tree Houses

As part of the "Our Backyard" theme, we have been talking about tree houses.  The children have been drawing plans for tree houses, writing lists of words to describe their houses, and making models of tree houses.  Construction of their models is coming to completion.  The next phase is to go into the woods and find branches to put their houses in.  (Normally, you would find the "tree" first and build the house in it but when you are constructing with glue, the process has to be reversed.)





In order to stabilize the branches I plan to "plant" them in a buckets of sand.  I have several containers at home, but unfortunately not enough for 12 children.  If you have any old buckets (without holes or cracks) empty paint cans, cat litter buckets, or large coffee cans you can donate to the case, they would be greatly appreciated.

Watching the young architects at work was quite a thrill for me.  I had no idea how intent they would be making these models.  Their concentration, tenacity, and problem solving skills were palpable.  

Reading to children

In our class, reading occurs throughout every day.  I read to the children and they read on their own.  We read instructions, poems, and stories.  We read for information and for pleasure.  The children look at books and read by themselves or with friends.  

Every day, I try to find time to read from a chapter book to the children.  Even when children are competent readers, it is still important for them to be read to.  Reading to children exposes them to stories that are beyond their reading level and introduces them to literature they might not choose on their own.  As more sophisticated stories are read to them they become acquainted to more advanced vocabulary, story lines, and characters.

I began this year reading the first book in the "Magic Treehouse" series.  In this story the children venture into the woods, past their backyard, and discover a treehouse full of books.  They look at a book about dinosaurs and are magically transported back into the Cretaceous period.  Many children are already familiar with this series but their has definitely been an increased interest in these books since reading this book.

Currently, I am reading The Secret Garden to the class.   In the beginning of the book, the main character, Mary, is in India and everyone she knows, including her parents, die from cholera.  The children were curious about cholera so I got on the computer and read to them about the disease and we looked at a microscopic photo of the bacteria. The children decided the bacteria looked like worms. Since, 1st and 2nd graders, are already fascinated with bodily functions, this lead to a lengthy discussion about how you get the disease, and why so many people died ,and how in present day, people can now take antibiotics if they contact cholera.  

When you read a novel to children, you can never be sure where the discussions will travel.  Hopefully, we will have some lighter discussions as the story progresses and Mary  finds a neglected, locked garden in the backyard of her uncle's house.  One can only hope.

To learn more about reading aloud to children , click here.

Snacks

The children have lunch and two snack times, everyday; once in the morning and once in the afternoon. Lunch and snacks are an important part of the day.   Healthy food through out the day help sustain healthy minds and bodies.

Each week a family will provide snacks for the class. Currently, there are 12 children in the class.  When it is your turn to provide snacks, please keep in mind:

SK is a "NO NUTS" school. Please remember to check for peanuts and tree nuts, including snacks made in a shared facility. Also, check labels for transfat and high fructose corn syrup and avoid those foods whenever possible.

Please avoid snacks with eggs and dairy, due to allergies of a couple children in the class.  If for some reason, you bring something with one of these ingredients in them, please let me know so I can provide an alternative snack for these children.

It is important to encourage children to form healthy eating habits while they are young so please provide healthy snacks.

Here are some snack suggestions:

      -fresh fruit

 -fresh vegetables

 -apple sauce

 -crackers

 -popcorn (we have an air popper at school so there is no need to buy microwave popcorn)

 -bagels

  (find more suggestions here)

Mark your calendar:

Sept. 6-9...Elaine

Sept. 12-16...Dominic

Sept. 19-23...Kit

Sept. 26-30..Andres

Oct. 3-6...Andrew

Oct. 10-14...Viola

Oct. 17-21...Varvara

Oct. 24-28...Niko

Oct. 31-Nov.4...Arwyn

Nov. 7-11...Gabe

Nov. 14-18...Oliver

Nov. 21-22...Elaine

Nov. 28-Dec. 2...Noah

Dec. 5-9...Kaden

Dec. 12-16...Dominic

Dec. 19-22...Kit

Jan. 9-13...Andres

If for some reason the date assigned your family does not work for any reason, contact me and we can switch weeks with someone.

A few snap shots from Wednesday

During math, the children worked together finding out how many squares it took to cover a sheet of paper. First, they estimated how many squares they thought would fit on the paper and then they tested their suppositions.  There were two goals with this exercise: one to hone the children's estimating skills and the other to practice working as part of a team.  To learn more about some of the math skills your child will be working with this year, click here. 

The second half of the morning was spent with Imogen learning about where in the world the Latin language originated.

After lunch, Dr. George came to our class.  He talked to the children about maps.  The children tried to make maps of our classroom using a "bird's eye view".  In this photo, George is answering a child's question about his arm brace.  He takes this opportunity to explain the ergonomics of the brace and how it helps him from further damaging his wrist.  This is an example of following the children's interests and making them "teachable moments".

Next; on to music, with Cara, where the children played with rhythms and patterns.  

If you went to the link above, you have read how this study is not only important to building an understanding of  music,   but also in building mathematical skills.  

Stay tuned, I will be writing more about our integrated curriculum in a future blog. 

First Day

The day, and new year, began with a meeting on the playground.  Each child and adult came to school with there own set of butterflies in their stomachs, but I think everyone felt a positive level of expectancy and exhilaration as they approached something new and exciting.

Joanna, our fearless leader, led the call to start the day and lo,  school year began.







As we entered our classroom the children settled themselves
on the rug and we started to learn each others names and faces.  Then we started the September's theme, "Our Backyards", by sharing things from our backyard.  There were flowers, vegetables, a rock, and a golf ball, photos of basketball playing and a trampoline and a deer antler.  It was a wonderful collection.


In the afternoon the children went to P.E. with Shan and Madame came in for French class.  Everyone said, "bonjour" and "au revoir".


I apologize for not having as many pictures of the children as usual, but my hands were a bit busy with other things. 


I am looking forward to spending the year with all of you.
Elaine