Last Day of August, 2015

This has been a GREAT day. The cube chairs were FULLY funded. In record time. Thanks to everyone for getting the word out and for making donations. I am so excited!!!

Back to school...

Lips the Fish arrived at school today. He is Stretchy the Snake's friend. Lips says "get your lips ready" and then use Stretchy. The kids are getting it. I am really able to see who know their sounds and who needs more practice.

I know that in Kansas (and probably more of the USA) kids are "encouraged" to read by the end of Kindergarten. For some kids that is just unrealistic. I see so many kids blossom into readers in First grade, and others need more time. If they need more time, I will add more instruction and more time to read/practice. I will not let them flounder (I hope), but provide assistance to help them see the reader they are.

Back to school...

So, reading was great today. Some kids got to read to the toy they brought in because of the bead party. And everyone is enjoying the centers I have around the room. The goal is NOT busy work. Centers are engaging ways to practice reading or spelling. Some may even choose to read during this time by the end of the year.

Science with Mrs. Smith is starting on light and shadows. I am eager to see what fun labs she does with the kids.

For our character education time today, the kids practiced sitting with a partner and speaking/listening. I gave a prompt and they took turns. It's evident that this is something they have practiced before, because they were good at it.

In math, I was trying to get in a few more individual assessments while the rest of the class played some math games. Not ideal, but we do what we need to do.

And we ended the day with a fantastic photo of the kids and their toys!

Cube Chairs

We are loving our Hokki stools!

My next step in creating an inviting and engaging environment is to get some cube chairs and a bench. These will be great for working and learning, and a great option for alternative seating.

I have posted a grant proposal to Donor's Choose for these chairs and bench. The total is $296, and have already received $100 toward them. Thanks so much to the anonymous donor!

If you know of anyone who has a heart for young learners and would be willing to donate any amount ($10-$25 or more), please send them to this link:

Donor's Choose Cube Chairs for Mrs. Bartel

Remind them that if they donate by September 1 and enter the code SPARK at checkout, their donation will be matched up to $100.

Thank you so much for spreading the word about this project and helping to make our classroom feel like a living room/Barnes and Noble place that is pleasing to work in.

In Appreciation,
Mrs. Bartel

Friday, August 28, 2015

We just blew through the day!

Mrs. Brunk led the kids in their morning lessons of reading, handwriting, and comprehension. She said they did a good job. It is nice to hear a sub say that the kids did well--they are little kids, but do know how to treat people with kindness and courtesy. :)

My order of book boxes arrived. The kids had a fantastic time of finding books that they want to keep in their box to read during read to self. During math they kept asking, "can we read now?" They are amazing!!!

And math... Can we talk about number sentences and number bonds? I think they are getting it. Today we made story problems and put them into number bonds and number sentences. GREAT JOB!!!

I sent them all home with papers from the office in their backpacks and a "smelly" on their hand. (I bought a pack of lip smacker lip stuff and smear some on their hands. They think it is great.)

See why I love them? They work so hard for me to learn the lessons and are super proud when they "get" it.

Happy weekend to all of us.

Thursday, August 27, 2015

As I sit and write about today I get a little teary-eyed.

Every challenge, every activity, every expectation that I set out for the firsties has been met or exceeded.

I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the wonderful class that I have this year.

More pictures of complete focus during reading/center time today.

We have a short, special time of our day called "Imagination Time." It is an opportunity for the kids to practice social skills while doing a very imaginative activity. Some choices are: Legos, the train set, K'nex, a car mat and cars, or paper and scissors. During this time I travel the room, extending the imagination or suggesting friendly ways of talking. It is a fabulous time and we ALL enjoy it.

In math we worked on partners to 10. Now to mix it up and really get going on facts.

The day ended on a fantastic note. I read a chapter of Roxie and the Hooligans. We are loving this book. I think reading aloud is an important part of the day, because it allows for me to expand vocabulary, and interest the kids in books that in a year or two they could read on their own. That's motivation!

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

This was a successful day!

We ran two quick center times, and everyone got to be at a center. At the other time, they did silent reading. We went for about 5 minutes. See the kids working? It was pretty great!

We started an art project that goes along with our weekly fluency passage. I'm eager for you to see it.

The entire district is using a social skills curriculum for k-4 called Caring Schools Community. Today our lesson was--when you are in a group, listen to the speaker, and it helps to look at them at the same time. We practiced that by telling what our favorite part of the day was.

In math we discovered what addition facts add up to 9. We even played a counting game.

Then it was time to go home. A very full day.

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Today we ventured into the Land Of Centers.

The kids practiced using our Reading centers while other kids read books. We will continue to practice and include choices so the kids have lots of opportunity to read.

Going to Art with Mrs. Hageman is usually a highlight of the day.

I read part of a book about beef cattle on our quest to learn about our soon-to-be project.

And during math we discovered what makes 8. (1+7, 2+6, 3+5, etc.) And continued with the Rise-N-Shine binder.

Fun for all!

Monday, Day 7 of School

It felt like every one was ready to be back at school today and learn. What a good feeling.

As a way of practicing fluency we will have a poem/story every week. We will read it every day in different ways. We will also do a writing lesson related to it and an art project.

We started talking about what we need in order to get a calf back at school. We have some more ground work (questions answered and materials/feed gathered) before we are ready, but it was fun getting started.

In math we used two sided disks again to make combinations of 6. I was blown away by how many kids understand the number bond and can figure it out. That is the first step to addition fluency. The more we do concrete, the easier the abstract will be in second grade.

Hope you have a lovely evening.

Friday Funday!

Who wouldn't have fun wearing pjs to school? We did nothing special, did not even take a picture, but the kids were sure happy to just be wearing pjs. :)

And--The bead jar is nearly half full AGAIN. You know what that means? These kids are doing great with learning school expectations and being learners!!! I love them so much.

They now have assigned spots to sit at on the floor in front of the smart board. That really worked great today to get them used to how much space they need to feel comfortable.

Our ELA time was cut into a bit because of the fundraising assembly, but no worries, we still practiced handwriting and connected the letters s and r to the sounds and the written form.

The BIG news is that we pulled out the water colors and colored the fish that we drew. Since we read Swimmy by Leo Lioni this morning, drawing a kind fish just made sense. After lunch there was a quick writing that went along. Soon our bulletin board and hallway will be swimming with fish.

It was an enjoyable time to finish reading Junie B. Jones, First Grader at Last. Next week--new book. Another favorite of mine. Haven't chosen yet, but I'm sure we will enjoy it together.

Quincy the Questioner got a friend today... Meercat the Connector. The kids do this naturally, so it was easy to give this comprehension strategy a name and use it quickly.

I have put some math practice pages in their binders and today we used them for the first time. I'll tell you what... If I tell these kids to write neatly, they do it, I am so impressed!

Off to enjoy my weekend, I hope you do also!

Thursday, August 20, 2015

The highlight of the day is definitely earning enough beads to have a party tomorrow. If it's not too much fun, I'll remember to snap a photo or two...

With cards I taught the kids to play Top It. (Think war from my youth.) That was a no brainer for them, they all can figure out who had more and do it quickly.

More practice Reading to Self. Today they made 6.5 minutes. Let's celebrate that. When they can work for about 15 minutes, I will start pulling small groups to give specific reading instruction. That is what I'm looking forward to. I wish that could happen sooner. We continued our discovery and practice of open and closed syllables for reading.

I snuck a peek in at science today with Mrs. Smith. She had the busiest kids making rafts for pennies. I wanted to stay and engineer my own raft.

After lunch we had our first birthday celebration of the year. Again, that took twice as long as I expected. I teach the kids a great song called "On the Day You Were Born" by Red Grammar. By the end of the year they are pros at that song. Then the birthday kid passes out the treat (if there are any) while the rest create a letter for the birthday child. Look for that to come home around the birthday.

During math we began to explore combinations that make 6 using 2-colored disks. As well as adding one to a number.

Watching the kids at recess is a joy for me. They are carefree, creative and learn so many skills. Today they watched some maintenance guys fix our "bus."

Bead Party!!!

During the read aloud the kids listened and asked questions and did a fantastic job. They earned a handful of beads. And now the jar is full! Time to decide on a PARTY!!!

See how excited they are?

They have decided that tomorrow will be a pajama party. 😊 Please let them wear school appropriate pajamas. Thanks.  

Well done first graders!!!

Reading, Writing, Arithmetic

A quick update...

We did several math activities, but I forgot the pictures. Go figure!

I created a BIG number line on the floor and kids got to act out some addition. Yep, you are right. Easy. We are going to have to increase the difficulty of our math. They did not forget much over the summer.

One lesson that I thought would go fast actually went slow. We cut and made a little book about ourselves. The part that I liked is that they had a chance to talk a little. The part that was tricky is that some talked more than worked.

The lesson on reading included Mrs. A., a pretend dumbbell and the door. I will explain it in person at Parent Information Night (Thursday, August 27). The kids seemed to get it and after more days of practice will be pros I'm sure. :) No photos, we were too busy reading.

A routine that we are working on is Read to Self. We created a chart together that lists expected behaviors and today they were able to read independently for 5 minutes. Super excited!!! The way to become a better reader is to READ. At this point in the year reading may be: 1. read the words, 2. "read" the pictures (tell the story) or 3. retell the story. All are acceptable, and we will move into more reading the words as we get better at reading words.

Have a great evening!

Day 3

How can I even think of anything we did, besides opening the boxes for our new stools? However, I will try...

We are working really hard on our names (neat and correct capitalization--first letter only) and I think we've got it. The alphabet review continues, today with short o and m.

Then we dove into a comprehension strategy called Ask and Answer Questions. To make this more concrete for the kids, I introduced them to Quincy the Questioner. He begins his questions with "I wonder..." It is a wonderful way to interact with books and really know that we understand them. I will model this strategy a lot this year, and soon they will use it while they read their own books. :)

And then the stools arrived. Lucky for us the playground was a bit wet, so we had recess inside and the kids got to "create with a box." Some decided to play with Legos instead.

We ended the day with some great math. We practiced making number bonds (and that will help us soon with addition and subtraction fluency).

I am so excited about what I learned today:

1. These first graders are SMART.
2. These first graders are eager to learn even more.

Guess I better rest up and read up, this is going to be a big year!!!

Hokki Stools!

They came!!! We are so excited to get started using the fabulous stools...

Waiting to see what they look like...

AAANND the verdict is in... Thumbs up!!!