Friday, September 16, 2011

Choice Time!

Today during Choice Time...
We played in the sandbox. -Brandon
We builded the biggest Lego house in history! -Alexander, Peyton, Tyson
It had a patio and two hottubs and a lake. -Jonathon
We played with the straws. We made a hotel and a wall and an entrace to our library. -Tristan, Cole, Aaron
I played with marble stuff and made a big marble party. -Cameron
We did a puppet show! -Kendall
Me and Ashley made crowns out of paper. -Sydney R
I read a book with my earphones. -Nicholas
We opened the sand table. -Ashley
I played in the sandbox. -Aliegha
I went on the computer to Seussville. -Madeline
We had an awesome puppet show. -Brandon
It was hot lunch today. -Ashley
We played on the play structure (at recess). -Sam
We had fun! -Rylee

PS- It's Mrs. Malkoske's birthday! -Syney H

Today was a great day in Room 9. For some of our younger classmates (and a few of the older children too) it was a long first full week of school. The transition from summer to school and from half days to full days takes a bit of time and all of the kids are doing the best they can. I appreciate their smiles, kind words to one another, and willingness to help each other out and cheer each other up when needed.

This afternoon we had Choice Time. Choice Time is a time of day when the children are able to choose from a variety of activities in our classroom. Today they chose from activities like painting, puppets, listening to stories, exploring author websites, building, and sand. To the kids, Choice Time is all about playing. When we were writing this post the children listed the activities they chose, and said things like "We had fun!" and "I played with ________". To me, Choice Time  is about so much more than playing. As I observed and interacted with the children during choice time I saw more than a really cool lego house and a quirky puppet show. I saw children cooperating, using kind words, encouraging one another, and sharing as they played Lego. I saw children solving problems, making a plan, organizing themselves, inviting other children to join in, and using their imaginations to create a story as they played with puppets. I saw children being creative, sharing, working together, being resourceful, and making cards and pictures to brighten someone's day as they painted, drew, taped (lots of tape!), glued and sparkled their creations. I saw children changing their plans, organizing a large group, sharing, helping each other, and doing something to make our classroom more interesting as they built with straws and connectors. I saw kids quietly enjoying a story when they knew they just needed a break. All of these things happened within our four walls in a matter of 30 minutes. When children are given choice and the opportunity to explore their passions, magic happens. Have a wonderful weekend!
-Erin
The 25 Faces of Room 9

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great post! I love how you really let those who don't have the privilege to teach what choice time is really all about - I'm glad your class had a great Friday!

Mr. H.

Anonymous said...

Your positivity and true sense of wonder in interacting with our children is inspiring!!! We're so thrilled that Kendall has you as her teacher!!! :)