Term 2 has ended. We are officially halfway through the year. Eek! I still have so much to teach them!
It will be lovely to have 2 weeks of no alarm clock!
Today I slept and slept and slept. I think that I am getting a sick. Typical! It's also incredibly cold here and I can see snow on the mountain from my bedroom.
Saturday, 6 July 2013
Tuesday, 11 June 2013
My first Linky!
I am linking up with Castles and Crayons to talk about my morning work!
After reading her post, I realised that my routine is quite different, yet typical for Australian classrooms.
The first bell goes at 8.30am and this is when students and parents can come in and get settled. They play with their friends, show their parents around the classroom, and organise lunch orders. They bring in their Home Readers ready for swapping. At 8.55 the music plays over the PA system announcing pack up time. The bell goes at 9am and children quickly settle on the mat.
First up is attendance. In my class we do this in sign language (Auslan) with the help of our Auslan interpreter for one of my students. Then I check for lunch orders and two children will take lunch orders and the attendance sheet up to the office. Next I go through the day's schedule (I have visual prompts) and talk about what day, date, seasons, etc. Sometimes I have a sentence on a pocket chart that we read together and sometimes we sing a song. Then we do Show and Tell, where 4 children each day bring a book to share with the class. Some teachers allow anything to be brought in, but I don't feel comfortable with the random bringing in of toys (which could get lost!) and I want to link all learning time with the curriculum. It's also a better way for me to get to know about what the children are interested in. I often guide units of work around a book that children have really enjoyed! For example, one child bought a book about sharks in and the whole class loved it so we studied sharks for science. Twice I have had children bring Snugglepot and Cuddlepie by May Gibbs in, so for history we will look at May Gibbs.
By about 9.15 the children are beginning to get a bit wriggly so it's time to get them started on Guided Reading, which lasts until 10am, when we stop for a quick reflection, fruit/water break and a story. Then we do Spelling work until 10.50am recess time.
So morning work for my class is based around oral language, social skills and settling in and preparing for the day.
After reading her post, I realised that my routine is quite different, yet typical for Australian classrooms.
The first bell goes at 8.30am and this is when students and parents can come in and get settled. They play with their friends, show their parents around the classroom, and organise lunch orders. They bring in their Home Readers ready for swapping. At 8.55 the music plays over the PA system announcing pack up time. The bell goes at 9am and children quickly settle on the mat.
First up is attendance. In my class we do this in sign language (Auslan) with the help of our Auslan interpreter for one of my students. Then I check for lunch orders and two children will take lunch orders and the attendance sheet up to the office. Next I go through the day's schedule (I have visual prompts) and talk about what day, date, seasons, etc. Sometimes I have a sentence on a pocket chart that we read together and sometimes we sing a song. Then we do Show and Tell, where 4 children each day bring a book to share with the class. Some teachers allow anything to be brought in, but I don't feel comfortable with the random bringing in of toys (which could get lost!) and I want to link all learning time with the curriculum. It's also a better way for me to get to know about what the children are interested in. I often guide units of work around a book that children have really enjoyed! For example, one child bought a book about sharks in and the whole class loved it so we studied sharks for science. Twice I have had children bring Snugglepot and Cuddlepie by May Gibbs in, so for history we will look at May Gibbs.
By about 9.15 the children are beginning to get a bit wriggly so it's time to get them started on Guided Reading, which lasts until 10am, when we stop for a quick reflection, fruit/water break and a story. Then we do Spelling work until 10.50am recess time.
So morning work for my class is based around oral language, social skills and settling in and preparing for the day.
Sunday, 9 June 2013
Splat the Cat
My first post from my galaxy tab!
Last week we read the wonderful Splat books. The class loved them!
We made a craft and wrote procedural texts. Take a look!
Last week we read the wonderful Splat books. The class loved them!
We made a craft and wrote procedural texts. Take a look!
Thursday, 6 June 2013
What a busy week!
Well, what a busy week! Reading Groups and Spelling Groups are working well and children are much more settled and on task now that they understand the routines. I will get some photos ready soon.
For Numeracy, I have been working on subtraction. Lots of my littlies just aren't ready yet though. They are able to do it with the concrete aides or number lines but they need lots of support and practice. That's okay though - at least I know where I need to start and how I need to help them!
Today we had a lovely parent come and talk to the class about his job - a veterinary pathologist. It was a fantastic way to end out unit of work on Pets. He even bought in a sheep stomach for the kids to look at! Nice and gross :)
For Numeracy, I have been working on subtraction. Lots of my littlies just aren't ready yet though. They are able to do it with the concrete aides or number lines but they need lots of support and practice. That's okay though - at least I know where I need to start and how I need to help them!
Today we had a lovely parent come and talk to the class about his job - a veterinary pathologist. It was a fantastic way to end out unit of work on Pets. He even bought in a sheep stomach for the kids to look at! Nice and gross :)
Monday, 27 May 2013
Emergent Numeracy Skills
I have a bunch of students who are in the very early stages of understanding number. Yes, they can orally count, but subitising and trusting the count? Nope. They need to physically touch and count all.
So one of my goals this year is to better understand the developmental stages and to research exactly how to reach these children and how to guide them to the next step. Ideally, I would like them all to be confident with subitising and trusting the count ready for place value in grade 2.
I am using the Count Me In Too resource and the Professor Di Siemon research.
Here are a couple of photos of number work we did last week:
Ways to represent 7
Representing 8
So one of my goals this year is to better understand the developmental stages and to research exactly how to reach these children and how to guide them to the next step. Ideally, I would like them all to be confident with subitising and trusting the count ready for place value in grade 2.
I am using the Count Me In Too resource and the Professor Di Siemon research.
Here are a couple of photos of number work we did last week:
Saturday, 18 May 2013
Wizard of Oz
We read a picture book version of the Wizard of Oz and then watched the classic Judy Garland movie. The kids LOVED it!
It was a great way to introduce the concepts of character and setting.
For this artwork, I divided up a large piece of cartridge paper in quarters using masking (painters) tape. Then in each quarter the children drew a different setting using oil based pastels. There are a lot of colour themes in the book! Glinda's castle is pink/red, Emerald City is green, the Yellow Brick Road, and the Rainbow.
Then a dye wash over the drawing. Peel off the masking tape. Ta da!
It was a great way to introduce the concepts of character and setting.
For this artwork, I divided up a large piece of cartridge paper in quarters using masking (painters) tape. Then in each quarter the children drew a different setting using oil based pastels. There are a lot of colour themes in the book! Glinda's castle is pink/red, Emerald City is green, the Yellow Brick Road, and the Rainbow.
Then a dye wash over the drawing. Peel off the masking tape. Ta da!
Bilby Photos
The bilbies in the burrow are precut cards found at a local cheap store (a pack of 10 for $2).
We also did some comparing and contrasting of bilbies and rabbits using a venn diagram.
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