Drumming

Every Monday, we have a drum circle to help us make the transition from the weekend back into the school environment. Drumming gives us a chance to lead, to follow, to build community and to make music. It takes a lot of concentration to keep the beat. Notice how focused our faces are in the photos below.

Important Dates
8/17 The Beat begins 9:15 am
8/17 Renaissance Secondary School Information Session 6:00 pm
8/29 CogAT Testing - ask for required paperwork in the front office
8/30 - 8/31 Fall Voyage - we will return around 3:45 pm or so on 8/31
9/1 Day of Rest for First Grade
9/5 No School - Labor Day
9/7 Love and Logic Class for Parents begins 6:00 pm
9/30 Boot Camp
10/3 - 10/17 Fall Break
10/19 Crew Pictures and Individual Re-Takes
11/8 No School - Professional Development for Teachers
11/14 - 11/18 Book Fair
11/23 - 11/25 Thanksgiving Break
12/19 - 1/3 Winter Break

Video Clips of Our Day

To help you get a feel for what it is like in our classroom, I thought I would share a few video clips from various times of our day. (If you get this post by email, you will need to go directly to the blog to view the videos.)

Exploration Stations (in between reading groups):

Working on our sight words:

Stewardship Day - Cleaning and organizing our desks

Reading independently or with a buddy (4th grade buddies come in and read with different students each day):

Cleaning up after Exploration Stations and starting work on our sight words while singing the song Rockin' Robin.

Writing time - various students work with Ms. Wendy at the back table while I work with students at their desks:

Drum Circle led by Porter:

Making patterns with popsicle sticks:

Learning a new math game called Before or After:

Homework
Reading ~ Read a good book.
Math ~ Home Link 3.3 Number Line Hops

Library
We have library tomorrow. Please help your child remember to return his or her books if they have already done so.

Crew News November 7, 2011

Drumming
Below are a few photos of our drumming circle this morning. Enjoy!

Weather Reminder
We go outside twice a day everyday except for Wednesday. Please be sure that your child has appropriate gear for the weather. It is so much fun to play in the snow but not so much fun to sit around in wet clothes/shoes if you didn't have the correct gear on when you were playing in the snow.

Homework
Reading ~ Read a good book or two.
Math ~ Home Link 3.11 Coin Exchange and Home Link 3.12 Counting Coins

Crew News August 8, 2011

Drum Circle
So many new and exciting things happened today that I can't write about all of them. So I will pick one and save the rest for other days this week. My pick for today --- we had our first drum circle. We had some sixth graders come in to facilitate our circle. They got us off to a great start. We had lots of volunteers from our crew to lead us in different rhythms. We will have a drum circle as part of our morning meeting every Monday. Pictures are below.

Our Daily Schedule

 Here is a peek at our daily schedule. It is not exact here at the beginning of the year. We have to ease into it. We have many more unscheduled breaks and activities during our day now that aren't listed. Once we all get back into a school routine our schedule will slowly begin to look more like this. You are welcome to drop in and visit any time - no appointment needed. Kerry, our crew parent, will be getting in touch with those of you who indicated that you would like to volunteer in the classroom.

Monday, Tuesday, Friday
8:30 – 8:40 Get Settled – Backpacks Away, Homework, Lunch Choice, Attendance
8:40 – 9:00 Morning Meeting
9:00 – 9:20 Reading Focus Lesson
9:20 – 9:50 Independent Reading
9:50 – 10:35 Literacy Centers/Guided Reading
10:35 – 10:45 Interactive Writing
10:45 – 11:05 Phonics, Handwriting
11:05 – 11:45 Lunch and Recess
11:45 – 12:35 I.A. (Integrated Arts)
12:35 – 12:40 Homework Folders to Backpacks
12:40 – 2:05 Math
2:05 – 2:25 Snack & Recess
2:25 – 3:00 Expedition
3:00 – 3:50 Writer’s Workshop
3:50 – 4:00 Closing Circle
Clean Up

Wednesday
8:30 – 8:40 Get Settled – Backpacks Away, Homework, Lunch Choice, Attendance
8:40 – 9:00 Morning Meeting
9:00 – 9:20 Reading Focus Lesson
9:20 – 9:50 Independent Reading
9:50 – 10:35 Literacy Centers/Guided Reading
10:35 – 10:45 Interactive Writing
10:45 – 11:05 Phonics, Handwriting
11:10 – 11:45 Lunch and Recess
11:45 – 11:50 Take Homework Folders to Backpacks
11:50 – 12:50 Math or Writer’s Workshop
12:50 – 1:00 Closing Circle
Clean Up

Thursday
8:30 – 8:40 Get Settled – Backpacks Away, Homework, Lunch Choice, Attendance
8:40 – 9:00 Morning Meeting
9:00 – 9:20 Reading Focus Lesson
9:20 – 9:40 Independent Reading
9:40 – 10:25 Literacy Centers/Guided Reading
10:25 – 11:05 Library
11:05 – 11:45 Lunch and Recess
11:45 – 12:35 I.A. (Integrated Arts)
12:35 – 12:40 Homework Folders to Backpacks
12:40 – 2:05 Math
2:05 – 2:25 Snack & Recess
2:25 – 3:00 Adventure Education/Expedition
3:00 – 3:50 Writer’s Workshop
3:50 – 4:00 Closing Circle
Clean Up