IPS/Butler University Laboratory School

This year, we will add Word Work to our daily schedule. Basically, word work is focusing on the reading, writing, and spelling of words. I like to think of it as differentiated and meaningful spelling. This will also assist in phonics. Many days during Word Work time, we will do sorts. For example, a child may be asked to sort words with ING and ED or words that end with s and words that end with N. Today to practice word sorts, we practiced sorting our names. Some friends spelled their names to match their model and some friends sorted vowels and consonants. Next, we will sort friends’ names to build our community and learn about one another. Within about a  month, the kids will have letters or words that they are responsible for working on for the week. In the meantime, I am working to make sure that all friends will have words that are appropriate for the level they are working at.

Cariah and Addie work hard.

Tags: word work

Cooperation was the theme for us today.  As I shared yesterday, we have been focusing a lot on working as a team to build our classroom community.  Today, I have a story to share from Math Workshop.  This afternoon, the kids were given base ten blocks to work with and explore.  I challenged them to find a way to use the new material mathematically.  What would a mathematician do with these things?  As I moved around the group, I noticed that Oliver and Melina were working together with their base ten blocks.  Both Oliver and Melina were counting their blocks separately and I challenged them to work together to add them up.  As I watched, the two worked together to figure out how to maneuver  their blocks and work together to solve the problem.  They were kind, helpful, and overall happy to be working together.

While this is only one snapshot of the day, our classroom was filled with these!  I feel like each time I listened in on a conversation kids were working together and helping others.  They were genuinely happy to work with new friends and took on the challenge to do so.  I am so proud of our friends and cannot wait for another day to witness more stories like the one above!

Few things make me as happy as seeing children develop new frienships and caring for each other at the start of the year. That was definitely happening at school today!

Our morning started with a delightful morning choices time.

Faith, Chloe, and Celisha read a story together during morning choices.

 In the puzzle space of the classroom, students played with rhyming words during morning choice time. One student used the alphabet puzzle pieces to make the words “log.” Another student saw this and declared, “If you change the ‘L’ to a ‘D’ it will say ‘Dog’!” Together, the two made the change. Once the rhyming began, it didn’t stop. They made the word “frog” together and then began making up their own rhyming words like “wog.” I’m sure there will be much more rhyming and words manipulation in the future.

Another exciting part of our day was getting our new reading bags. On Monday and Tuesday, we practiced readers workshop procedures and decided what a good reader looks and acts like. Because everyone did such a nice job with this the past two days, we all recieved our very own reading bags today. Each bag was filled with three special books for the students to look at during independent reading time. In the future, students’ bags will be filled with books selected for their specific reading needs. Some of the books will be chosen based on the child’s reading level. Other books will be chosen based on the child’s interests. Those books will be changed on a weekly/biweekly basis. For today, the three books in the students’ bags were both exciting and engaging!

Tyrese reads his Toy Story book

DayTwon find a cozy spot under the table to read his “I Spy” book.

I wanted to share something new that we have in our classroom this year- The Cool Down Spot. This is a place where friends can go if they are feeling angry or upset and would like some time to calm down. I may ask friends to go there from time to time or they may choose to go there themselves. The Cool Down Spot is a tool we will use in our classroom throughout the year to self regulate our emotions and learn coping skills. This week, we talked about why have a spot like this and what we may need to do when we are there. We made a list of three options for when we are at The Cool Down Spot. 1. Take deep breaths. 2. Shake the ball. 3. Read a book. The kids have enjoyed trying out the options this week (and are doing so when not upset) so they will know what to do should they need it.

 

Messi checks out the cool down spot to see what its all about.

Choices for the cool down spot.

Tags: capable, problem solving, responsible

This morning, after Reader’s Workshop we had a wonderful conversations about our individual strengths.  As we build our community, it is important to realize that everyone brings different strengths to the table.  Today, to start this conversation, each student focused on themselves. After a few minutes of talking as a class, each friend was asked to draw and write what they are good at.  We had talents ranging from reading to running!  I am excited to see how we can build on today’s conversation and grow our classroom community tomorrow.

Ruth said she is good at puzzles.

David shared he is good at running while Melina feels her strength is playing the piano.