Welcome to my Classroom!

Well I think it goes to say that with the lack of posts on this little blog, the start of the school year has been crazy.  Crazy in many ways - both personally and professionally.  But I'm still standing and am excited to hopefully be posting on this blog more often that I have been in the past little bit. 

My class of 1s and 2s this year are absolutely wonderful.  They are just so, so cute.  I couldn't stop saying that on the first day - and it still rings true.  They are a loving bunch full of hugs and such positive words.  They are definitely big bucket fillers and know how to absolutely make my day!

I am still getting used to the new grade one curriculum and trying to wrap my head around how I am going to integrate both curriculums as much as possible.  In the past two and half weeks we have gone full swing into the Daily 5.  Although I have to say it has been a bit of a rocky road.  We have experienced many challenges in building our stamina.  But we finally have reached a level of stamina where I am able to take small readings groups which makes me very, very happy.  And the kids are LOVING their reading time.

I have quite a wide range of learners this year.  I know that every classroom has a wide range, but I find that with the split the range is that much greater.  We have been working hard on our printing for the past little bit.  My school requires us to implement the Handwriting Without Tears Program.  So that is a focus in writing right now, as well as personal writing in our journals.

In math we have been focussing on the hundreds chart, counting, dot patterns for numbers as well as ten frames!

Here is a look at what my classroom looks like this year.  It is not the most ideal layout but it works for what I am given.  It also is quite old and excuse the mix matched tables.  I had desks my first year at this school and had to scrounge to get tables.  Therefore they are of all different sorts.  But they work!

 

 

 

I hope to post a math freebie soon!  I am in the process of creation.

I hope everyone had a great Monday!

Lauren :)

2D Shapes, Spring Art and a Freebie

Hey All,

Just wanted to keep you up to date with what was happening in my room last week.  We just finished up our 2D Shapes and 3D Objects unit.  If you are interested in what we did for our 2D Shapes unit, you can find the unit I used by clicking the picture below. 

In Writer's Workshop we have been busy with our story writing for the past few weeks.  Tomorrow we will be doing a spring rebus story.   I am sure the kids will have so much fun with it!  This past Friday afternoon the kids and I made spring plasticine art.  We created beautiful spring flower portraits.  It was a very step by step process.  We started with a 5x6 piece of cardboard.  The first instruction was to warm up the plasticine in their fingers and then spread it onto the cardboard.  After we finished the sky and soil we got to creating our flower.  I told the kids that the stem was like a little worm and the leaves were like eyes/teardrops.  For the flowers it was a very similar explanation as to the leaves.  The students had a choice as to what type of petal they were going to make and the colors they were going to use.  For this project I gave very small pieces of plasticine to the student to ensure that there was no waste and that their portraits did not start to overflow with plasticine.  I think the flowers turned out beautifully and it was a great way to end the day before a long weekend! 

I have to say I am very jealous of those of you who are off of school already or are off in the next week or two.  Jeanine and I still have five weeks left.  With that being said though I am most definitely positive that they are going to fly by with the many field trips and special activities planned.

Please enjoy a freebie from my 2D Shapes unit!

Have a great week!! :)

Lauren

Mother's Day in Lauren's Room and What a Week!

Hey Everyone!

All I can say is WHAT a week!!! Sooo busy!  My kiddos and I were busy preparing for our spring musical Go Fish which was showcased this past Wednesday.  There were lots of practices, decorations to be put up,  dress rehearsals, and last minute things that needed to be done.  The kids and I were so wiped Thursday morning after all was said and done.  We then quickly had to switch gears and get to work on our Mother's Day presents.  No time to waste!

This year my class wrote cute little mini-books about why their Mom is excellent.  We used the Mother's Day Mini-Book that Jeanine created and which can be found at our Teachers Pay Teachers store.  Let me tell you - these books turned out beautifully!  I just know that the moms will love them!

I also found a cute idea on Pinterest that I thought the kids would love to make for their moms.   The idea can be found here: http://funhandprintart.blogspot.ca/2011/05/handprint-fingerprint-flowerpot-with.html   

You must check out this blog - it has the cutest ideas for hand and footprint art.

Our mother's day gifts wouldn't be complete without a card.  We were lucky enough to have an origami specialist come into our classroom about a week ago.  She helped us create the beautiful origami hearts that you see in the above picture.  We used these hearts as the cards for our moms.

It sure was a busy week in our classroom!  I am looking forward to getting back into routine and our regular schedule this week!

Happy Mother's Day to all of the moms out there! 

Lauren