Stamina:

All week we have been talking about building stamina. We defined this word as “doing something for a long period of time without getting too tired, quitting or giving up.” We discussed how it is usually easy to have stamina for things that we want to do and are fun – such as soccer, talking to friends and playing video games. However, it is much more difficult to have stamina for listening and learning. However, just like everything else, it is something that gets easier with practice! We have begun practicing “Read to Self” and we’re graphing stamina. So far, our best time was two and a half minutes! It will get easier!

Writer’s Workshop:

We launched our Writer’s Workshop this week! We began with a beautiful poem called My Hair is Long by Loyen Redhawk Gali. The poet uses adjectives and similes to describe herself. The kids used this poem as a model and worked on writing their own poems throughout the week. Using a recording sheet, they listed the body parts they wanted to include. We then added adjectives that described these body parts. Next week we will move on to the trickiest part – adding in the simile, or comparison. The completed poems will eventually be hung up in the hall with their self portraits.

Math:

We have had two main math focuses over the past two weeks. The first has been to explore our math materials during “Work Places,” as well as learn our routines. The Bridges math program uses math centers, or Work Places, for independent work. There are 7 activities at a time and they usually last for about two weeks, although we don’t work on them every day. For the first cycle, the students were able to freely explore a variety of math manipulatives. Some of these materials were familiar – snap cubes, geoblocks, tiles and pattern blocks. Others were new – geoboards, buttons, glass “blobs” and even plastic bugs and frogs. It was fascinating to observe the students work with these manipulatives. We have already begun the second cycle, which includes a variety of math games and patterning activities.

The second focus was on sorting and classifying using a variety of attributes. On Tuesday we made beetle glyphs. (I was a bit worried that the kids who were with me last year wouldn’t be too excited to do this again, but I was wrong! They were thrilled and enjoyed being the “experts!”) Each child made a beetle that represented themselves. There was one shape for girls and a different shape for boys. Each child could choose from four different colors to represent their favorite season. Hat color signified their favorite sport; dots represented what month they were born in and stripes told us how many people live in their house. Using these beetles we can learn more about each other, as well as practice sorting and classifying skills.