First couple weeks

I can hardly believe that today was the 10th day of school! While that doesn't seem like much, it seems like it went by pretty quickly. Only 170 more days to go! Looking at our entire calendar and road map quickly reminded me how fast the year flies by.

I have a wonderful group of firsties. We're finally settling into school-mode, and today we all worked very hard (which they know is Ms. Stookey's #1 rule). :) I felt like all my friends were really listening and engaged today. Wahoo! This group is really getting the hang of Daily 5 (or Daily 3 so far... we've been practicing Word Work, Read to Self, and Listen to Reading). I can't wait to finish our DRA testing window so that I can start Guided Reading and Daily 5 with this new group!

Since I've been so behind, this is going to be an update on the first two weeks. We have an "All About Me" unit, so we can get to know one another. Setting up a safe classroom environment is huge to me, and I love developing a sense of community. We talk about our strengths and weaknesses, focusing on how we are going to work as a team all year. I want the kids to know that we all have to communicate and work together to be successful. Trusting one another is very important!

My favorite book that we read last week is Have You Filled a Bucket Today? We have a bucket-filling board that the students can use to write notes to one another throughout the week. I started this last year, and it is one of my favorite things that we do. The kids really seem to love it, too, and it lends itself to many connections throughout the year!

We also read Leo the Late Bloomer and made connections to the text. We discussed things that we can do, and then the students made their precious tigers. A few even thought to add tails with their leftover scrap paper. Gotta love those creative moments!

Our campus is big on Thinking Maps, and our team is pretty amazing at integrating them across the curriculum. :) The first week, we created Circle Maps about ourselves. They're a little unconventional, as the kids draw their face in the middle, write things they like in the circle and people they love in the frame. They come out really cute, and they are great to post in the halls for Open House. It's a great way to refresh the kids on Thinking Maps!

We also read How I Spent My Summer Vacation by Mark Teague and practiced making connections again. My kiddos this year had very exciting summers! They went to Nigeria, Hawaii, Disneyworld, Mexico, and a lot of other places. So exciting! We had lots to discuss, and we got to add a little geography in with our lesson too, so that was a great bonus! :) We wrote about what we did, then illustrated. I'm pretty impressed by the number of my friends this year who really take their time to draw and color nicely.

These are just a few of my favorite things we did last week. We made a fun "I Like Me" flipbook, too, after reading I Like Me! by Nancy Carlson. It was a good confidence-booster for the kids to think about all the things they love about themselves. Sharing them with one another was nice to see, too. These kids are very supportive of their friends!

We've been having fun getting to know each other. The kids seem to love Daily 5 so far, and they are really getting our procedures down quickly. I'm so proud of my new group!

Welcome!

It's about time that I finally get to blogging! :) The beginning of the year is such a whirlwind, and I (unfortunately) completely pushed this blog to the side. I am going to try really hard to stay on a weekly schedule so that I can keep up with this thing!

Please forgive the poor(ish) quality of all these photos. I've been using my phone to take pictures...

I think the best place to start is with a few pictures of our classroom. Now, things have changed a teensy bit since I took these pictures before school started, but it looks more or less the same.

Here is a picture of the room from the door. Pardon the mess on the floor. I hadn't finished unpacking everything yet!

Next we have a picture of our class library, computers, and student work display. Our Daily 5 anchor charts will go above the library. I am absolutely obsessed with my chevron rug, thanks to The Bubbly Blonde!

Here we have a different view to the library. 

This is our main whiteboard. I love the new Daily 5 and Daily 5 Math workboards that I made over the summer. Thank you, Teacher Center! They're very cute, and I am hoping they'll be user-friendly, too! 

Here is my math wall. This looks pretty different now. I've added all the Every Day Counts materials. We were going to do it all online, but we've decided to wait until after Winter Break. I love our Pinterest-inspired "Today's Number" anchor chart. I think that it originally came from this blog. So far it is really helping with number sense!

Here is our Word Wall with Kindergarten words already posted. My objectives go to the right of the Word Wall. I can't wait to start using our Raz-Kids incentive board, too! I've turned those cube-shelf-thingies into storage for math stations. They were looking pretty sad in this picture!

Here is where we're keeping the materials for Daily 5 (things for Word Work and Work on Writing). I love our new transportation, inspired by Beg, Borrow, and Steal. I simply changed the different modes of transportation specifically for our school. 

That's our quick tour of the classroom! I keep reminding myself that it's a work in progress. :) We have to adjust every now and then to keep up with our new needs, but all in all I'm very happy with how everything is coming together!