North Pole Party

     Despite the forecasted green Christmas, we were able to bring a little of the "arctic chill" to our classroom with a North Pole Party.

     The children visited four stations (Santa's Workshop, Mrs. Claus' Kitchen, Reindeer Games, and Winter Wonderland) where they participated in a fun-filled activity at each stop. “Elves” (parent helpers) were available to punch their cards and assist as needed at all stops along the way.

Math Tubs

   

     If you are old enough to remember a program called Math Their Way, then you might remember “tubbing time.”  Last year, I created a set of math tubs for each module of our math program that was organized in a similar fashion to the tubs in that program. The advantage of this system is that the manipulatives for each of the tubs stays the same, but the task changes with the introduction of each new math unit.  So the children are using pattern blocks, snap cubes, geoboards and other manipulatives to explore number, geometry, measurement, etc.  This has simplified the storage of the centers since the bulky manipulatives stay in the tubs throughout the year and only the task cards need to be stored elsewhere when not in use.

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     Here is where the tubs are stored. I have two of these shelving units and they are secured back-to-back so kids can easily access them.  Each tub has a number that correlates to a work space in our classroom.
     The children use these tubs at the beginning of our day after they complete their morning jobs.  In the first round, they are allowed to free explore the manipulatives. Currently, they are working with the number 1-10 tubs. They may work in these tubs for several rounds until I begin to slowly introduce the tasks for the next unit, which is geometry.  Here are some pictures of my students working with the number tubs.

Snap Cube Staircases from First Grade Blue Skies

Birthday Cake Counting Mats from Twinkl

Pattern Block Numbers from Making Learning Fun

Magnetic Chip Numbers from Tot School

Magnet Board Staircases

Play dough Numbers/Sets from Homeschool Creations

Ipads - Line 'em Up App from Classroom Focused Software

Truck Counting Mats from The Measured Mom 

Geoboard Numbers from Making Learning Fun

Pattern/Design Numbers

Treasure Box Numbers from Confessions of a Homeschooler

     The kids really enjoy working at these tubs and it gives me a few minutes at the beginning of the day to pull students for assessments or interventions.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jackie

Five and Some More

     What I love about teaching is that there are always opportunities for learning something new.  In our math program, numbers 6-10 are taught as 6 is 5 and 1 more, 7 is 5 and 2 more, and so on up to 10.  For me, this was a new way of teaching these numbers and I could easily see the benefits in working with this base of 5 to teach subitizing, counting on, and addition. Here are some of the tools I used to teach the numbers 6-10 as 5 and some more.

 felt board pieces in a ten-frame configuration

 counting hands and trees with a color change after five

 counting hand math mats

 counting paths using manipulatives and white boards

 rekenrek

 counting book

How have you worked with “five and some more?”

Thanks for stopping by!

Jackie

Halloween Happenings

Here's what we did for Halloween this year. I added some Halloween-themed materials to a few of our centers for the children to enjoy during our party.

                   Spider Exploration in the Science Center  

         
                     Making Faces in the Play dough Center 
          

        Haunted House Building in the Construction Center

Pumpkin Painting in the Art Center

Thanks for stopping by!

Jackie

Work Spaces

     A few years ago, It occurred to me that I was devoting a large portion of my classroom space to a small portion of my day. So, I began to use the discovery centers as work spaces for more than just Discovery Time.

     Each day as the children arrive, they look at the chart below to see where they will be working for the day.  

our work spaces chart

Here are some of the ways the work spaces are used throughout the day:

     After completing their arrival jobs, the children do math tubs in their work space to explore number concepts. 

     During reading workshop, the centers become "book nooks" for reading. 

     

     Math lessons are often taught using floor mats in their work spaces.

     While we currently are working at the tables for writing workshop, the work spaces are available for those who might prefer to work there. They also can be used for sharing our writing with partners.

     Three times a year, I collect samples of their work such as word dictation, alphabet writing, or number writing to show their progress over time.  We also use the work spaces to complete these tasks. For these purposes, I need to separate them a bit within the space but I find this is easily done.

     The children do not go to their assigned work space during Discovery Time.  During this time, they get the opportunity to choose where they want to work and who they would like to work with. 

    In each work space, the children are working in pairs. Their partner stays the same for 11 days, which is the number of work spaces that I use. Once they have been through one round, I change their partner. 

     The partners are also used for turn and talk in our meeting area.  When they come to the rug, they are asked to sit in close proximity to their partner, in case I want them to talk or share during a lesson.  We refer to these as our peanut butter and jelly partners and we use these to identify who talks first or gets to take the first turn in a game.   

     How do you use the spaces within your classroom?

Thanks for stopping by!

Jackie

     

Balloons, Geese, and Worms, Oh My!

     I'm a newbie when it comes to inquiry-based/Reggio-inspired learning, and while I don't know if I'll ever be able to say  "I'm doing it," I do know that I've experienced a big shift in thinking. I'm looking through new eyes, listening with new ears and this has changed everything!

     Today, our PTA organized a hot air balloon assembly, and we gathered outdoors.  I found myself watching and listening to the children closely. I wasn't wondering how long this would take, or contemplating what I should cut from our ELA block. I was really listening and genuinely interested in their reactions.  The "balloon man"  released a helium balloon as a way of signaling that he was ready to begin. The kids were fascinated watching it move through the air. Where will it go? they kept asking as they cheered it on. They followed it with their eyes until it was pin-sized and then disappeared. Some claimed to be able to still see it, even though I know they couldn't (cue up I Believe from The Polar Express).  Meanwhile, the hot air balloon was being inflated and while there was definitely some interest here, it was soon diverted when the geese flew over in a v pattern.  "They're going to Florida," one child said. The hot air balloon continued to get bigger and was almost ready for launching when someone spotted a worm.  Several gathered around to see it. 

They began to place grass over the worm and when I asked why, they said because the worm needs to be underground.   Then, they found another worm and were cautioning others to be careful where they stepped.  The interest in the worms endured. I was hoping to take them back to the "worm spot" in the afternoon, but there was an inside portion to the balloon assembly that didn't make this possible.   At the end of the day,  I asked a student, what "small moment" did she want to remember about September 25, and she drew a tiny worm on the calendar card.
     Today they had front row seats to a hot air balloon. There was fire and they saw their principal being lifted off the ground. But in the end it was the worms they found most captivating.  I only know this because I was really listening, not telling them to simmer down, or get back in line, or stop picking the grass.   The joy, the wonder, the curiosity, the possibilities for learning - I'm loving my new view!

Thanks for stopping by!

Jackie