Day 17- Short blog today

I had to take a half day today so I could take my son to the doctor. But never fear! The kids were in good hands with Ms. Hubbard!

I explained the classroom to her while the kids were in lunch and she said, "I really like it here. It feels like a good classroom." I'm betting she had a really good afternoon. :)

This morning my students had music in the classroom. Our music teacher, Ms. Harris, is working with first grade in following directions, beats and rhythms, and singing. I'm sure she could tell you all the technical wording for everything she is doing, I just know I like what I saw! She had my soldiers marching around the room, singing on key, moving to the beats, and enjoying music!

I wonder if she knew that that song also went with our comprehension and writing skills for this week: sequencing and organization! The ants were marching in an organized fashion. That song also goes with our math lessons for this unit: sequencing numbers using number lines; they were marching in numerical order! Great job, Ms. Harris!

After music we were introduced to our school's Guidance Counselor, Mrs. Barnes. (I didn't get a picture, sorry!) Mrs. Barnes let the students know what a School Counselor is for: a good listener, a caring heart, a helper. The kids should have brought home a coloring sheet that Mrs. Barnes sent home with them.

We practiced having our small group reading groups today. I can tell the kids are getting better with their centers. I got to give out lots of tickets today during small group time. Every time I looked up, I saw teams doing their work with no distractions! They were helping each other and using respectful voice levels. Great job, soldiers!

If you would like to see some of the activities they are using, check out the blog 1+1+1=1. Their blog is full of easy activities that go along with reading strategies, and a lot of their stuff is free to download and print!

For whole group reading we read the book The 3 Little Pigs.

Unfortunately, we ran out of time before lunch and didn't get to do the second half of our activity. Tomorrow we are going to sequence the story. After sequencing, we are going to read a different version and compare the two.

Now, even though I wasn't there, I can tell you what the plan was for the rest of the day. In math the kids had a test over unit 2. After the test Ms. Hubbard was going to play math games with manipulatives- using unifix cubes to make numbers and practice adding and subtracting.

In science they were going to read Chapter 2, Lesson 2 in the text book then have a mini art activity making and labeling a flower and its parts. Homework was to take it home and get it signed!

In writing the students were going to write me a letter about their day without me. Hopefully it was eventful and educational!

I can't wait to get back to school tomorrow to see how well my soldiers did without their General. I know I'm going to be impressed!

p.s. There is no Daily Brain today. I wasn't there to get a picture of it all full. Sorry!