I apologize for the lack of an update yesterday. It was a very busy day, and I somehow couldn't sit down at the end of it to write to you... it was one of those days where all you can seem to bring yourself to do is to crash! [[Hopefully you know what I'm talking about... although I'm sure that many of the parents out there have some pretty amazing strategies for holding onto energy (green tea with ginseng and honey works wonders, I'm told... :)). Feel free to share any of your helpful secrets with me!!!]]
We began yesterday with some quiet activities and a little exploration of the literacy centres that I had set up at the tables (Cc comme citrouille pages, Cc livres, C'est l'halloween livres, letter beading and playdoh). I have observed that a few of the SKs seem to require additional challenges, and that - although freedom of choice and time to play are very important - the students all seem more at ease when they are provided with a visual schedule of the day's events and a sense of structure in smaller group settings. Keeping these things in mind, as soon as all of the students had arrived, I had them meet me at the tapis, and we discussed what we were going to do today. I showed examples and went over the expectations for each centre before sending them off to explore the centres. I also made it clear that the students were to finish the activity that was set out at at least one of the tables before going on to select their own play activities. I was happy to see that most of the students stayed engaged in the centres, and I was particularly impressed with many of the SK girls' "c'est l'halloween" books! They turned out very well. :) I enjoyed the opportunity to interact with the students at each of the tables. I hope that you have a chance to read your child's "Cc" livre with him/her. Many of the vocabulary words happen to be in the first level Alphajeune reader, which is what we will be using to assess the progress that students have made in reading this June. Not every child chose to create a Cc book on mercredi, but I will do my best to ensure that they all take one home for extra practice.
At around 9:40 AM we met back at the tapis and talked about la lettre Cc, in addition to a review of Aa and Bb. We played a brief circle game with Monsieur Squelette (who was a white balloon with a skeletal face drawn on by yours truly). I then taught the class the basic steps to 'The Monster Mash.' (This was good for French counting practice, as we counted the number of steps that we were taking in each direction, etc.). The students then prepared for their first nutritional break.
When they returned from recess, I met briefly with the whole class to discuss 'sorting rules.' I used examples taken directly from the environment, by having different groups of students with one thing in common stand up (e.g., all girls; all wearing something black). It was up to the class to determine which "rule" I was using to sort the students in this way. I went on to provide another example using different shapes and colours of buttons, and asked them to guess what "rule" I was using to sort them a few different times. I then allowed the JKs to play at the sorting centres, and discussed les nombres un, deux, et trois with the SK students. I introduced a little bit of addition using seasonal objects (e.g., pictures of ghosts, pumpkins, etc.)and was happy to see how well they were catching on to "c'est combien?" Afterwards, I sent the SKs to play at the math centres, and had the JKs meet me at the tapis. I was rather amazed at how many different stages of development are represented in the classroom! Splitting up the class like this is really telling of that fact. With the JKs, we practiced un, deux et trois, and I had them count seasonal objects to tell me combien de choses etaient la, before returning to play.
As the students played, I called small groups over to create "les mains des monstres" (monster hands), by filling plastic gloves with 5 Smarties (pour les ongles - nails) and popped popcorn, all tied together with a ribbon. :) I think that these turned out very well, and if your child did not get the chance to make one on Wednesday, please inform him/her that they will have an opportunity to make one on Monday (Halloween Day!).
Maintenant... a little report on today...
The Grade Ones were full of energy, as per usual. :) It was nice to see, and I was a little jealous today! We watched the video that I put together of them performing our dance to 'The Monster Mash,' and we came up with a short list of things that we liked and that we wanted to change about our performance before it was re-taped. (Some of the students seemed to find it difficult to come up with something they didn't like! :)). Following the nutritional break, we sang the "Purple People-eater" song (sans guitar, as I didn't realize it at the time, but some of the students who were playing with my guitar left it in a rather un-tuned way... and I didn't want to hold up the class as I re-tuned it!), and rehearsed our "new and improved" dance twice, before I recorded it. I had the kids make "The Monster Mash" headbands, and I was planning to make one more recording of the dance with everyone wearing their headband... but we ran out of time. :( Oh well! You have to be flexible with these ideas, I suppose. :)
I hope that everyone has a wonderful weekend, and that you're all getting ready for the best Halloween yet!
Mlle Craig
During second nutrition break, I assisted with the Primary Choir, who will be performing at our school's assembly on the 11th of November. Yesterday was their first practice and they are already sounding incredible! Mrs. Lehman and I selected a song called "Let There Be Peace," and I think it sounds like there are a bunch of little angels singing it so far! :) I am really looking forward to working with the choir on some winter/holiday music, as it is my favourite. :) There has been some mention of a possible holiday Drama, which is very exciting to me, and is definitely something that I would like to be a part of!
After the second nutrition break, the class enjoyed some quiet time with les livres de leur choix au tapis. We cleaned up the coat room and got everything ready to go home fairly early on so that the students could enjoy some free play time at the end of the day.
I am looking forward to our Halloween festivities on Monday! Our parade throughout the school will begin just after 12:00 PM, and the students could use your help with putting on costumes... so if you can make it, we would love to see you around 11:30 AM. :) Following our parade, there will be a party in the classroom with some special centres, games, treats, etc. Please feel free to bring in a treat as long as it is nut-free! There are 19 students in the class, now that the re-organization has occurred.
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