September 19-23, 2016

In our letter review and lower case handwriting practice, we got to the letter "m." We had our first "words of the week" and began reading morning messages from me that use those words in playful ways. Our first set of words focus on the vowel sound "a," so one morning all the "a" sounding letters had disappeared!

We sang our vowel song some more, and learned the hand gestures for the vowel sounds including é and è. Then we tried putting different consonants together with those vowel sounds, making the hand gesture for each as we read it. The hand gestures are helpful to give as hints when kids are writing, to draw attention to the vowel sounds in a word that they are trying to translate into letters. 

We began to practice "free" writing, where the students write on a topic of their choice. Because most students have such limited French, I encouraged them to write a sentence from one of the rhymes ("comptines") we've been learning these past few weeks. We have 3 comptines that the kids know, and some were familiar already from SK: "Voici une tasse"; "Moustique 1 moustique 2"; and "La terre est ici." I told the kids that if you can say it, you can write it! "Si tu peux le dire, tu peux l'écrire!" Many of them want to know the correct spelling for a word before writing it. In grade 1, invented spelling is what I want to see because it helps the kids solidify their knowledge of phonics and it allows them to be independent writers. I taught them the writing method I first observed in Tools of the Mind classrooms, where they say out loud the sentence they will write, then draw a series of lines on the paper to represent the words in their statement. A longer word gets a longer line, a shorter word gets a shorter line. So if the child wants to write "voici une tasse" they start by making 3 lines: ________ ____ ____.  I ask them to "read" their lines several times, pointing at each one as they say the word it represents. Then they can work at stretching each word out and getting down the letters for the sounds they hear in order, without the (otherwise frequent) problem of forgetting the words they were writing. They're often writing French words that are new to them so it's a lot to remember!

One day the kids started telling stories of seeing cats or squirrels in parks or yards, and we retold the stories in French and they wrote them down. We used our feelings and needs vocabulary in various ways, and used our Everybody Wins game to work out a conflict between two students in the circle. We read books about feelings, and told stories of times when we have gotten angry. 

The kids practiced silent "reading to self" every day for 10 minutes, and I continued to read 1-on-1 with them at that time. I've read with almost every student now, so that next week I'll be able to give them books at their level and put them into levelled reading groups. 

We celebrated the 10th day of school! Part of our morning routine is to add a "petal" to the flower each day, and when a flower has 5 petals it goes on the board. When two flowers are completed it means we're at a decade number, and those are the days that we bring our collections to school to count up. The flowers fill a 10 frame on the board which will be filled on the 100th day of school. 

The kids used a counting mat to count their collection objects by 2 and by 5. Then they found as many ways as they could to add 2 numbers to make 10.

The rest of the week we focused on saying, reading and writing simple addition and subtraction equations, which we call "les phrases de math." Many students are still constructing their understanding of what addition and subtraction mean. So we acted out addition and subtraction situations and I asked students to use counters to make addition and subtraction sentences independently. Many still need support with this, especially with subtraction. 

We looked at the relationship between addition and subtraction, and tried reversing a simple addition equation to make the corresponding subtraction equation. I think that understanding this relationship is key to addressing the common difficulty students have with subtraction. We read books with simple addition scenarios and came up with equations to represent them. We will need lots of repetition on this material, and it would be great to practice making simple plus and minus equations at home.

With some common language in place, we tackled our first story problem (often called word problems). I showed the kids the steps I would like to see: using math materials to help, we draw the problem, then make an equation to answer it and circle the answer. After all working on a problem, we looked at some of the kids' solutions together and gave feedback on the parts done well and what could be improved the next time.

We ended the week with another art project, this time decorating a frame with coloured tissue. The kids used watered down glue to set the tissue in place. The frames are to go with their weavings, so again we talked about the colours of feelings.

September 12-16, 2016

We began the week with a look at our new classroom book,"The Agreements of Room 308." I projected each page on the board, and we read the agreements aloud together. For each one, the child who had illustrated that agreement explained their illustration to the class.

We continued to review the alphabet letters, getting to the letter "i" by Friday. I talked about how there are 3 kinds of lower case letters, the small ones that stay on the ground, the tall ones that reach up to the sky, and the drop-down ones that put their toes in the lake. 

In Daily 5, we continued to practice "read to self" and by the end of the week the kids could do it successfully for 8 minutes. Each time we do it we review the expectations. We also talked about how to choose a "just right" book. The kids are encouraged to choose a book they're interested in, that they can read (mostly) and that they can understand. 

We spent the week talking about feelings and needs. During read-alouds we guessed how different characters were feeling. I introduced French feeling words and the kids practiced using them. We had a "talking circle" in which we passed a "talking piece" and the person with the talking piece told the class how they were feeling just now. 

I asked the kids to choose one feeling and illustrate it, completing the sentence in French "je me sens..." 

We worked more with the feelings vocabulary in our visual art project. The kids made weavings using strips of ribbon. I asked the kids to choose a feeling, and make their weaving reflect that feeling. It was a tricky connection for some, but we talked about how some feelings have colours associated with them, and how certain textures suggest one feeling or another. I told the kids that as artists they would be making choices about colour and texture, and to try to keep their chosen feeling in mind with those decisions. The weaving technique also meant using vocabulary for over/under.

The learning around feelings and needs culminated in a special event on Friday morning: a visit from author Melanie Whitham. 

Melanie is a teacher and trainer in non-violent communication for parents, educators and youth. She read her book to the class, in which the child and mom learn to listen with "magic ears," that is to listen with empathy. Using empathic listening, they are able to guess the feelings and needs behind each other's (not so nice) statements, and connect in points of conflict. Then Melanie showed us her game, "Tout le Monde Gagne" (Everybody Wins). This game board guides players through a discussion of any problem or conflict they have, where they place tokens and share in successive steps: observations about what happened; how each was feeling at the time; the needs behind those feelings; any requests they have for each other; and how they're feeling now. She told the kids that she would help us make our very own Tout le Monde Gagne game. The kids got a feeling or need card to colour, and then they pasted them onto the game board. They also coloured in the board.

Then we got in a circle on the carpet, and Melanie showed us how to use the board. She asked for 2 student volunteers, who had recently had a problem that they were willing to talk about in front of the class. Two kids volunteered to talk about a disagreement they had had this morning over soccer rules. Melanie guided them through telling what happened, how they had felt, and what needs were behind those feelings. They finished by asking each other to talk about the rules first and to play games they both like. When asked how they felt at the end, they both felt happy. I explained that we will keep this game in our class, and use it when people have problems or disagreements together. 

In math, we continued to work with 10 frames and number names, and began comparing numbers using "greater than" and "less than." We did more 10 frame flash activities, with kids trying to recognize the numbers visually rather than needing to count. The kids practised filling 10 frames for given numbers. Using a timer, we tried to get everyone's 10 frame filled as fast as we could. We did this first with numerals on the board, and then with just the number name given orally. 

I introduced a new math game, Terrific Ten Snake. Taking turns in partners, the kids roll a ten-sided die and then cover that 10 frame on the board with their coloured token. It provides good practice recognizing 10 frames. Next week I will add the strategic element of the game, which is that the person with the most tokens in a line wins the game - the choice of which 10 frame to cover becomes important. If you would like to play this game at home, the board can be printed at this link: http://k1pte.weebly.com/uploads/1/3/7/5/13759413/terrific_ten_snake.pdf

We also learned the symbols for "greater than" and "less than" (>, <). We compared sets of dots in our carpet circle, and then compared actual numbers. We looked at our classroom number line, and talked about which direction has the numbers getting bigger or smaller. Then the kids worked individually, comparing numbers with these new symbols.

September 6-9, 2016

Welcome to the blog for room 308! If you would like to be notified whenever there's a new post, you can subscribe. I usually post once a week, but I may do shorter posts more frequently this year. This blog is to keep you up to date with what your kids are doing at school. Your kids will enjoy seeing the pictures posted too. Hopefully the blog will help you and your kids talk about school together and follow up on the themes and ideas being discussed, at home. I will also be posting our "words of the week" here for study at home, and offering other suggestions for homework activities.

Our first week was a whirlwind! I took the kids through our various routines and transitions, getting them familiar with the rhythms of the day in grade 1. I familiarized them with the new classroom so they know where to find things. I asked the kids to draw and write about what they're hoping to learn and do in grade 1. The kids presented their pictures and ideas and we compiled a list of what we want to learn. Our read-aloud books were by Dr. Seuss (Green Eggs and Ham, and 1 Fish, 2 Fish), familiar books to most of the kids. We recited nursery rhymes ("comptines") they knew from last year, and I taught them a new one ("Moustique 1, Moustique 2"). 

We began reviewing all the alphabet letters in order. This week we did a, b, c and d. For each letter, we talk about what sound it makes, and brainstorm French words beginning with that letter. I write each word on the board and illustrate it. Then I teach the proper (most efficient) sequence and direction of strokes to form the lower case letter - in grade 1 the kids will be shifting to writing in lower case and learning when to use capital letters. The kids practice writing the letter on whiteboards on the carpet and I give corrective feedback. Then they go to the tables and practice the letter more on a letter practice sheet. Once that's done, they choose one of the words from the board to write and illustrate. We make a poster of all these words to hang on the wall over each letter for the school year.

I will be teaching the gestural phonics system of Borel-Maisonny. This system has a hand gesture for each sound in spoken French, and was introduced to me by Mme Alma. It helps kids isolate the sounds in language (phonemic awareness) before proceeding to choose corresponding letters. The gestures also relate to certain letter shapes. For a quick idea of the system, check out this link:http://ecolereferences.blogspot.ca/2011/10/gestes-borel-maisonny-gestes-bm-tableau.html.

This week we learned the gesture for the sound "ah." We will be learning the vowel sounds first. We talked about what vowels, consonants and syllables are, and began learning this little tune for learning the vowels: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXPUmC51wGc. Beware: this tune is very catchy!

We began learning the routines of "Daily 5", the reading program we use at Lord Lansdowne. It's a great approach that promotes choice and independence for the kids, but demands a high level of responsibility in terms of managing themselves. We learned how to do independent reading, which involves choosing books, finding a spot to sit ALONE, reading quietly to yourself the whole time, and then returning to the carpet at the sound of the bell. We practiced this as a class for 3-4 minutes at a time, and next week we will build our stamina to be able to do it well for longer. While the kids were reading, I had a chance to read with some of them and gauge their reading skills. 

In math, we reviewed the number names to 20. We named numbers on the carpet, we played a circle game rolling a ball and naming numbers, and we played number bingo. 

I reviewed "10 frames" with the kids, and we talked about each number in relation to 5 and 10. I flashed the 10 frames quickly and asked the kids how they knew the quantity without counting (subitizing - an important skill to develop). We did an activity where the kids each had a card with a number from 1 to 10, and I flashed a 10 frame and those kids with that number had to quickly stand up. We did the same with numbers to 20, where I projected images of a collection of dots and the kids with that number stood up. At the end of the week we played the card game "war" in partners, which requires the kids to identify which number is the larger of two numbers. 

We had a long discussion about how we want our classroom to be, and the kids agreed that we come to school to learn and that we want a safe and calm classroom. For this discussion, I took the kids into a different classroom and we spoke together in English. I will do this occasionally when we are talking about subjects that are important for everyone to clearly understand. The kids suggested a number of different rules to keep our classroom safe and calm. The next day I suggested we make a book of classroom agreements (a term I prefer to "rules") so that we can remember them and all give each other friendly reminders about them. I had translated the ones we had discussed, so we reviewed them and the kids each chose an agreement to illustrate. These will be pages in a book we can refer to and add to throughout the year, as things come up. 

The week ended with "heure de jeux", an hour of free play time at the end of every Friday. The kids look forward to it all week and it allows for more social bonding to happen among class members. It also gives me some leverage, because that play time must be earned and I take away minutes of play time when people don't follow our agreements! It was lots of fun to see the kids exploring the new-to-them toys and games in the classroom.