Flexible Seating, Picture Day, and iPad Learning

I have been looking into the research into flexible seating for awhile now and have been wanting to make my classroom more open to make it work better for students. I have often let the children work wherever they were comfortable as long as they were on task. This week I decided to get rid of the desks which took up a lot of space, and replace them with tables. I love the amount of open space this created in the classroom. It enabled me to create a designated reading area, a small independent work area with two desks and the netbooks, and lots of space for the carpet area in front of the Smartboard. I purchased quite a few clipboards which the students can use to do their work if not at a table. I also finished getting our Visual Arts bulletin board ready in the hall for this year's art work.

In Language this week, we read "Le lutin" and "Les crayons" for our shared readings. We looked at the different spellings for the "in" sound. We looked at how "ent" is silent at the end of plural verbs. We also looked at the images that we had in our heads when reading "Les crayons".

While the students were doing Daily 5 centres, I was able to get through most of the GB+ assessments that I began last week. I have three more students to read with next week to finish up this initial assessment. I have begun creating guided reading groups based on which skills/strategies students need to work on, be it decoding, fluency, learning or reviewing sounds, comprehension, or retelling.

We finished up practising the 5 steps of problem solving in Math. We will continue to practise this in guided groups when we begin the Math Daily 3 centres over the next few weeks.

We spent some more time creating geometric patterns. This week, they could create any pattern they wanted with the manipulatives, as long as they had two changing attributes each time. It was great to put different attributes at each table and just have the students move from table to table every few minutes to experiment with the manipulatives on that table.

We also pulled out the iPads this week for the first time. The students tried out Prodigy Math on the app or on the netbooks. For most, it was the first time playing Prodigy. Prodigy is a math game that is set up as an adventure. When the characters battle, they must answer math questions. Although it is not yet available in French (I have contacted the company about expanding it to French eventually), the company is based out of Hamilton, employs Ontario teachers, and is based on the Ontario Math curriculum. I am able to log in and input the math unit I'm teaching and pick the types of questions I want included in the game for that unit. It's the third year I've used this game and the students love it.

In Science, the grade twos worked on an activity where they had to place animals in the correct category. They will continue to work on this next week. The threes learned more about the parts of plants and the role they play in plant growth. They also learned about the parts of flowers.

We continued to work on our Minion Self-Portraits and will be finishing them next week. I'm hoping they will all be done and on display in the hall for the Open House.

In Drama, we returned to the story we used last week. This week we did a follow up activity where students had to glue sentences from the story in order and then draw pictures to go with the sentences. The goal of the activity is to get them collaborating and working in groups, essential in drama activities.

Thursday was Picture Day. For those who were away, I will send information about Picture Retakes when it becomes available.

If you haven't already signed up for Bloomz, please consider doing so. It is one of the methods I use to send out important information to parents or message parents if there is not time for me to call for whatever reason. It also enables me to share pictures of students with their parents from time to time.

If your child has not brought in headphones, these are important for when we do "Listen to Reading" during the Daily 5 Language Centres. All of the stories they listen to are available on various websites and accessible on the iPads and netbooks. The headphones then allow them to listen without disrupting others around them when groups of 4 or 5 are all listening to stories at the same time. They also use the headphones when playing Prodigy Math. Headphones are available at a reasonable price at Dollarama or Dollar Tree. All headphones will be returned at the end of the school year. They are stored in drawers in the two desks so they are in a secure location when not in use.

I'm looking forward to seeing many of you next Thursday at the Open House!

Settling Into Our Second Week

This week, we got right into working. Each day, we start our French Literacy block with our words/sentences of the day. At the beginning of the week, the students will be given a group of words that focus on a particular sound or writing pattern. Each day after, they get two sentences to copy that contain some of the words. This not only allows them to practise the spelling pattern, but also allows them to build vocabulary and internalize French grammar structures. 

In our French Daily 5 Centres, we practised Read to Self and Work on Writing. We began to have choice where students could choose which of the two they wanted to do as long as both got done during our centre times. During our group writing lessons, we looked at three different toes of writing: les rébus, les comptines, and les invitations. 

Each day, we start our Math. Lock with our Daily Math problems. Each day has a series of questions relating to one of the five Math Strands. Monday is Number Sense and Numeration. Tuesday is Measurement. Wednesday is Geometry. Thursday is Patterning and Algebra. Friday is Data Management as well as one word problem from any one of the five strands. 

The students also continued to work on problem solving steps. They practised step 4, draw a picture to represent the problem and step 5, resolve the problem with a number sentence and a written sentence. 

This week, we also practised the strategy of using a hundreds chart to do addition and subtraction problems. The grade two worked on adding three numbers while the grade threes worked on doing simple addition more quickly. 

We also began geometric patterns this week. We reviewed the attributes that can change in a pattern and the students practised creating patterns where colour, shape and position changed. 

In Science, the grade twos began a unit on animals. They looked at the different categories of animals. The grade threes began a unit on plants. They looked at the different parts of plants. 

In Social Studies, the students began to do some mapping activities. We discussed how to appropriately colour maps, why we use them, and cardinal directions. 

In Physical Education, we are focusing on cooperative games and safety rules in the gym. 

In Drama, we did a dramatic reading of a fall book (since fall starts next week). The students then took turns getting in correct order when they heard the words on their vocabulary cards.

For Dance, the class dis a series of movement activities from GoNoodle. 

It's been a very busy week! Have a great weekend!