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

Reading Rocks!

We read a lot this morning. -Taylor
We did read to self. -Kendall
We did read to someone. -Alexander
Today we started word work during Daily 5. -Lindsay

Here are some other things we did today:
Today was our first day of math centres. We started Inquiry too. We talked about ourselves and had to answer questions.-Tristan
We did counting by 5s in math centres. -Brandon
We had the grade 5s and 6s in gym with us. -Jadyn
We did our jobs. -Nicholas
We had an awesome day! -Taylor

Watching young children grow as readers throughout the course of a school year is an awesome experience. Listening to a young child read a book that they couldn't read just a few short months or weeks before is rewarding, but watching their faces as they realize what they've just done is magic. :)

First Day in the Computer Lab

Today in the computer lab we went on our blog. (Kendall) We had to log in. (Alexander)  We had to type lots of letters to get to our blog. (Peyton) We added it to our favourites. (Cameron) We went to our wiki. (Sydney R) We played some games. (Ashley) We used our headphones. (Jadyn)

The Daily 5 and Open House!

Tonight our Mom's and Dad's are going to meet our teacher (Madeline). We can look at books at the Book Fair too (Rhianna). Open House starts at 6:00 (Petyon).

Today we started the Daily 5. We learned about Read to Self (Lindsay). When we read to self we have to remember:
-Keep our eyes on the book (Sydney H)
-Read for the whole time (Cameron)
-Look at our books slowly (Nicholas)

-Don't talk to your neighbours when you're reading your book (Taylor)

-Pay attention to your book (Peyton)
-Whisper if you're sounding something out (Jolene)
-Read your just right books (Ashley)

-Pick 1 spot and stay there (Jadyn)

-Get started right away (Jolene)
-Treat books right (Rylee)

Today we also had Run Club and Gym. (Aliegha)

It was another busy day in Grade 1 & 2. Today we started the first component of The Daily 5, Read to Self, and it was a big success! This summer I read The Daily 5 and The Cafe Book  and plan to implement this program in my classroom this year. At our school there are 5 teachers that hope to do the same. We are working together to share, discuss and celebrate with one another as we grow our professional practice around literacy. What I like best about The Daily 5 is that it fosters literacy independence and provides children with choice. I will be blogging a bit about how things are going as we learn about the other 4 components of The Daily 5. Stay tuned...

New Everything!

Today we had a lot of new things happening in our classroom. Here are some of them:
1. We drew self-portraits and we liked each other's faces. -Rhianna
2. We had our first assembly. -Rylee
3. We picked our first home reading books. -Kendall
4. We had our first library class. -Jadyn
5. We had music with Mrs. Green and Mrs. Lobay's class. -Alexander
6. We did our first spelling test. -Lindsay
7. We got new home reading folder. -Nicholas
8. We got our classroom jobs. -Ashley
9. Mrs. S was in our room this morning.

Reaching for the Stars!

Today we read the book "How to Catch a Star" by Olilver Jeffers. The message in the story is an important one to remember: Reach for the stars and never give up, keep on trying. When we finished the story we talked a little bit about some of the things we're trying to get better at. Here's what we said:

Reading! -Kendall

Iwant to have nice printing and spell words right and math. -Lindsay

I want to draw better. -Tristan

I want to write better, like get all the words right. -Jolene

Sports! -Sam

Soccer! -Nicholas

I want to get better at crafts and swimming. -Madeline

I want to get better at working. -Alexander
Get better at reading. -Sydney R
I want to get better at hockey and soccer and swimming. -Taylor
I want to learn how to catch a star! -Sydney H
I really want to learn how to draw some animals. -Rylee
I want to learn how to do my pictures better. -Jonathon
I want to write good and get all the words right. -Peyton
I want to write my name in handwriting better. -Jadyn
I want to get better at reading. -Cameron
I want to get better at math. -Ashley

Have a wonderful weekend... we'll be back on Monday!

The Second Day of School

Today we made a glyph. A glyph is when you draw your answers to questions. -Tristan
We went to Music. -Sydney H
Mr. Chan has a new school. He goes back and forth to each school. -Tristan
We finished our dragonfly chart and we finished our dragonflies. We put our heads on them. -Madeline
We did our morning message today. -Aliegha
We took pictures outside. -Jadyn
One of our 3 Be's is Be Responsible. -Nicholas
Be Respectful is another one. -Rhianna
We drew a picture and wrote sentences about summer. -Alexander
We played on the play structure. -Cameron
We read the pictures in our books. -Kendall
We also read the words. -Lindsay
We caught a grasshopper today. -Tyson
I've learned almost all of the names of the children in our class. -Ms. Anderlic

We had another busy and exciting day at school today. We continued reviewing expectations and figuring out what we want our classroom community to be like this year. The children worked together to fill in our dragonfly chart which is part of our Schoolwide Positive Behaviour initiative. Here's a picture of their thinking:

Over the past two days I begun to realize what a gift it is to be able to teach the same children for two years in a row. The 9 students that were in my room last year and have moved on with me have been a tremendous help to me and the children that are with me for the first time. These kids know the routines of our classroom, where to find (and put away) supplies, how our classroom library is organized and many of the other small things that happen in my classroom... and in one of our discussions today they showed just how much they know about me!

Today I watched one of these 9 children show another child where to find the markers and I saw one of them teach another child how to use the hole puncher. These seem like simple things that don't take much time or effort, but they allow me the time to sit and listen to a child read and help another with a word they're trying to write. I'm leaving here tonight feeling very lucky and extremely proud of the children in my classroom. -Mrs. Malkoske

It's a New Year!

It's our first day of school! Here are some things that happened today:

I made a new friend. - Rhianna
I played with Cameron. -Nicholas
I'm happy to see my friends. -Aliegha
I saw Kaelan. -Peyton
We painted dragonflies and I played with Aliegha. -Madeline
We had fun. -Ashley
We took a picture outside of our class. -Jonathon
We had gym! -Jadyn & Sam
We had fun in gym. -Rhianna
Me and Tyson found a grasshopper outside. -Cole
Me and my friends found a ladybug. -Taylor
I played with Kai. -Cameron
We got to meet new people. -Ashley

It was a wonderful first day of school for me too! We spent the day together learning some of the routines of the classroom and getting to know one another. Today we welcomed Kaspir and Sydney H into our Dr. Hamilton Family and look forward to learning with them this year. For many of the younger students in our classroom, today marked a very important milestone in their school lives... it was the first day that they got to have 3 RECESSES! There were many tired faces at the end of the day (including mine) but they still had smiles on them. :)

In my last post I talked a little bit about why I love doing what I do. Today I would like to add another reason to the list: Magic. Everyday I get to see something magical happen. Not the pull-a-rabbit-out-of-a-hat kind of magic, but the magic that happens when kids are being kids. Today I saw one of my older students get up quietly from storytime and walk over to a younger student (who was quite nervous and had arrived a little late), show him where to put his things, and invite him to sit next to him on the carpet. No one asked him to do it, and might seem like a small thing, but to me it's magic. Later in the day I watched another student from our classroom notice a child from another classroom playing alone on the playground, walk over to her and invite her to play. This afternoon I was able to sit down and listen to a couple of younger students read from books they had never seen before. Magic. Kids. Everyday.
-Mrs. Malkoske

One More Sleep!

Tonight is the last night before the first day of a new school year! For me that always means a restless night full of anticipation and nervous excitement for the day and year ahead. One of the reasons I love teaching, and can't imagine doing any other job, is that every year is different and new... new beginnings, new opportunities, new students, new colleagues, new classrooms, and new learning. I can't wait to see what this year will bring!

As some of you know, and others will find out soon, I am an avid reader of all kinds of books, articles, blogs, and magazines. I'll read just about anything from fiction to biography to business to technology to environment to pop culture, and of course, the occasional People Magazine. On the weekend I was looking through a couple of books that I usually revisit at the beginning of the school year and came across a passage in one of them that I had flagged a couple of years ago. The book is called "The Last Lecture" and was written by Randy Pausch. (You may have seen him on Oprah or on Youtube, talking about his book and sharing his story.) There are a number of passages in this book that I connect to as an educator, but none more than this one (from Chapter 36 - Look for the Best in Everybody):

"This is beautiful advice that I got once from Jon Snoddy, my hero at Disney Imagineering. I just was so taken with the way he put it. "If you wait long enough," he said, "people will surprise and impress you." "

This is another reason I love my job. Young children tend to surprise and impress more quickly than adults, and usually on a daily basis. :)

And with that I wish everyone a good night's sleep. See you in the morning!
-Mrs. Malkoske

A Sneak Peek!

Our classroom is ready and waiting for you!