The Broken Broomstick Final Performance!

All the students came bouncing in today so excited to perform our play for an audience.  We did a quick practice this morning to work on everything we noticed from videotaping our dress rehearsal: speak loud and clear, stay in character the whole time on stage, and remember your lines.  Our first performance was for grades pre-k through 2nd grade.  Our final performance of the day was for our families.  There was an excellent turnout!  I don't think I've ever had so many family members in my classroom!  Thanks to all who attended!  The students did an excellent job!

Burro Buck Party

At the end of each day I hand out a Burro Buck.  Throughout the day I'm looking for a student who has been kind, or a hard worker, or helpful, or a good listener, or making good choices.  Before the students are dismissed at the end of the day, I call out the name of the student that will be recognized.  The student comes to the front of the room, and I share with the class how this student earned a Burro Buck.  Sometimes the whole class earns a Burro Buck for doing something that is above and beyond my expectations. These bucks go in our Burro Buck bank.  Once we have collected 30 Burro Bucks, we celebrate as a class.  On Wednesday we celebrated by having lunch in the classroom.  The students love eating in the classroom because it doesn't happen very often.  Here are a few pictures from our celebration:

Be a Bucket Filler!

Yesterday we read in class "Have You Filled a Bucket Today?" by Carol McCloud.  This book provides students with an excellent visual of how our actions and words affect those around us.  When we use kind words and actions, we fill up the buckets of those around us and our own buckets.  When we make others feel good, we feel good as well.  This makes us bucket fillers.  When we use unkind words and actions, we are bucket dippers because we are taking out of others' buckets.  Since everyone in our class said that they of course want to be bucket fillers, we brainstormed a list of how we can be bucket fillers.  The students came up with a whole list of ideas which included saying nice things, helping others, using manners, giving compliments, being good listeners, inviting others to play with you, and sharing.  The list could go on and on.  Throughout the day, I heard many kind words and saw students go out of their way to help people.  This is a life lesson that we will be discussing often.  Remind your children at home about being bucket fillers, and let them know when they have filled your bucket!  It sure makes for a great place to be when we are all going out of our way to fill each others' buckets!

Fire Hall Tour

At the end of Fire Prevention Week we went on a tour of the Lanesboro Fire Hall.  It was a great tour, and we learned so much!  The students were able to learn more about the suits that firemen wear in a fire, look at different parts of the fire truck, get a close up look at tools that firemen use, and see how a fire extinguisher is used.  The firemen talked with the students about what to do in case of a fire.  Thanks so much to the Lanesboro firemen!

Small Group Reading

During our Daily 5 Reading block, we have 3 rounds where the students are either meeting with me, another teacher, or making a Daily 5 choice.  When I meet with students in a small group, we begin our time by working on a skill or strategy that will help that particular group of students in their reading.  It might be a word work skill that helps readers to decode words, it may be a comprehension strategy to help the students think deeper about their reading, or I may draw the students' attention to some new vocabulary words they will encounter in the story.

We begin a new book by taking a picture walk or making predictions.  This helps us to activate our "schema" and gets us thinking about what the book might be about.  Each group may read the selected books a little differently.  Some groups read their books chorally until they are ready to read it independently.  Other groups read independently on some days and other days with a partner.  This year we have mini-offices that the students may use while reading their book independently to help the students do their best reading and thinking.

While the students are reading, I go around and listen to each student.  During this time, I am listening for accuracy, fluency, and comprehension.  If a student gets stuck on a word, we solve it together by looking for patterns in the word that the student has learned.  I also will stop the students and discuss what is happening in the story or ask questions to focus on comprehension.  It is so fun to bring a small group together to read, discuss, and enjoy a story together!

The Broken Broomstick Costume and Prop List

The Broken Broomstick

Costume and Prop List

3 Witches Witch costume	4 Skeletons Black long sleeve shirt Black pants (feel free to wear Halloween skeleton shirt if you have one)	Jack-o-lanterns White or orange shirt Jeans Mrs. Howard will provide the jack-o-lantern part to go over your shirt.	Black Cat Black shirt Black pants Cat ears Cat tail We’ll add whiskers with face paint.
Ghosts White shirt Pants Mrs. Howard will provide the white sheet to go over your shirt.	Woman in Shoe Dress Broom	Children Normal clothes Trick-o-treat bag	Mr. Owl Brown shirt Brown pants
Mr. Green Goblin Green shirt Black pants We’ll add face paint in the classroom.			Additional props: Broken boom Leaves Background

**Parents: As a class we talk about the costume and prop list and try to gather the items as a class.  Please do not feel as though you need to go out and buy something new for your child’s costume.  Let me know if there is something on the list that you have for someone to borrow.

**We will perform for our families on October 28^th at 2:30.

Practice Makes Perfect

Today during our reading block I shared the story of a past student who had to work really hard at becoming a good reader.  I shared the secret of this student... practice!  Every time this student was doing "Read to Self" he was doing his very best reading and always tried his hardest when sounding out new words.  We discussed how no matter where a student is at in his or her reading, our valuable reading time must be well spent.  I compared it to playing your favorite sport.  You would never take the football to the backyard, set it down, and just look at it.  In order to become better you have to practice throwing it, kicking it, and running with it.  The same goes for first and second graders as they grow in their reading.  Moving from reading pictures to reading words to reading longer books requires dedication and practice!

Happy Pig Day!

As my students know, I am a huge fan of the author Mo Willems!  I love sharing his books with the class.   Not only are they so fun for the students to listen to, but they are at a level that new readers can read and experienced readers can reread for enjoyment. Today during our reading block we talked about having favorite books that we love to go back and reread just because we love them so much.  What's even more fun than watching the students' faces enjoy an old favorite, is presenting them with what is sure to be a new favorite!  I'm so excited that a new Piggie and Elephant book is out TODAY:  "Happy Pig Day!"  I can't wait to buy this book and share it with the class!