Some great things have been happening in our class lately! Last week was the first "real" week of school. We had all 5 days, and everyone is now pretty much used to how things run in our classroom. I was able to really see a lot of progress.
This year, Deerfield has a school-wide goal to improve in writing. I am going to be doing a lot in class to improve our writing. One way I am trying to do this is through daily journal writing. At the beginning of each track time I give the students about 10-15 minutes to just freely write in their journals. During the first week of school this time was a little like pulling teeth. No one could "think of anything to write about". On Friday when I told the students to put away their journals I suddenly heard whining because they wanted to write longer! It made me so happy. They are starting to really enjoy it. They have written some amazing thing. Their journals are like small windows into their minds-pretty hilarious.
You have probably also heard that we got a gecko. He has brought some life and excitement into our room. Some of the students have been begging to take him home. I am not sure what you are hearing on your end of things, but for now he is going to stay in our classroom. In the coming months, we could make a schedule for people to babysit him on the weekends...but I am not sure. I have never had a gecko before and we are just figuring things out as we go. We voted on names and Geckster was the winner-very original. Other choices were Pizza, Captain Underpants, and Templeton. You have some funny kids.
We have been working on money during math time. Money is a difficult concept for kids to really grasp. I am also finding that some students have it down, and others can't yet differentiate between a nickel and a quarter. I am doing my best to meet every one's level, but feel free to work on it at home. If you are at the store, help them count out the money you need. Discuss each coin and what its worth, discuss how many pennies are in a dollar, etc.
Spelling was amazing last week! There was a small handful that missed one word, but the majority got almost all-including the bonus words. We have taken the words up a notch in difficulty this week and added some more bonus words. Keep up the practicing, it is paying off!
Picture day was today and there were a few of you that forgot money. If you would like to order pictures you can call and go through the company but it will cost more to do it individually. You can also wait until picture re-take day and send your money to the company then. If you choose to send it on re-take day you can get the original picture or a new one.
Have a great week!
Miss Jensen
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