Community Field Trip

On Tuesday we took a wonderful field trip around the Wilanow community. It was a great day (we were lucky the sun was out and there was no rain!) We started with a bus ride into Wilanow--the kids had a great time on the bus and were each able to validate their own ticket. Once in Wilanow we saw the post office,a few local shops, and a church. Then we took a little walk to the Wilanow Palace where we played in the big piles of leaves out front. After some fun fall time we wandered around the beautiful Palace gardens and around the river. Each group had a digital camera to share and the students took many wonderful shots. After the Palace we went to the bank and breaked at McDonalds for lunch. After lunch we headed to the fire station where the fire fighters shared a lot of great tools with us. The kids got to try on helmets, the oxygen pack and each got a turn to go inside the fire truck. They even turned on the siren for us! The kids loved it! Finally we ended the day at the cemetery where families were preparing for All Saints Day.

It was a wonderful day and the kids were tired by the end of the day. A big thanks to Mrs. Broner, Mrs. Rekhani, Mrs. Cywinski, and Mrs. Dart who joined us as chaperones.

Here are some of the pictures the students took throughout the day...

Monster Mash Movies

Happy Halloween! We have enjoyed getting ready for Halloween all week in 1J. The students love listening to my Halloween CD and a class favorite is the Monster Mash. As a special surprise, I made 5 small movies for the kids. It's super cute and quite funny!

I was unable to connect the links directly, so to see the movies you must:

1. Highlight the internet address below (http://----)
2. Copy the link
3. Then paste it into a new internet browser window (address bar)


*Movie 1. Gustav, Alisha, Guy, Katia, Malu

http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/13bS2zKyytYwecfb

*Movie 2. Jan, Dawid, Sara, Maks, Nina

http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/mTBT2PYZ99wL6Dua

*Movie 3. Johan, Zosia, Keahi, Noa, Basia

http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/1vbQ5sypfsDFBtlD

*Movie 4. Lucas, Shamolie, Nienke, Olivia, Ksawy

http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/Tv6nPdxOjuxYcqee

*Movie 5. Ms. Johnson, Ms. Lucy, Mrs. Hammond, Mrs. Leishman, and Mr. Gamble

http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/lQJWtJetuq0HxQvB

Here are some pictures from today's Halloween Celebration.











Have a wonderful vacation. See you in November!

UN Day Presentations

This week the students each presented their Country Poster to the class. What a wonderful experience! We learned so much about all the places we come from. The kids all did a wonderful job presenting and the posters they created were amazing. I was happy to see so much kid work go into the project. A big thanks to all the parents who were able to come in and listen.






















*Gustav was home sick this week, but we were happy to see him show up at the end of the day. We are excited to hear about his country next week.


More pictures from UN will be coming soon...

Reading Workshop

Our Reading Program is up and running smoothly. We practice reading everyday and are learning how to be successful during Reading Workshop. Over the summer I attended a wonderful reading conference with a few other teachers from ASW. We attended the 'Teacher College Reading Project' in New York City. We learned many great new ideas on how to have a balanced literacy program in our classroom. One part of a balanced literacy program is Reading Workshop. Below I would like to walk you through what Reading Workshop looks like in 1J.

On Monday and Wednesday we gather together for Reading Workshop. During this time there is a mini-lesson, student independent reading time, partner reading time and a teacher share time.

*During the mini-lesson, I clearly state the teaching point for the day and then demonstrate exactly what I want students to learn as readers. An example of a teaching point: "Readers learn to attend to print by moving their finger under the words as they read." I then model this teaching point and ask the kids to practice, too.

*Then the students are sent off to their reading spots to read independently for 5-10 minutes. During this time the students read a variety of books from a bin of books at their reading level. They get to choose what books to read or re-read. While the students are reading independently the teachers are moving around the room conferring with students and working on specific reading skills.


*Pictures of Independent Reading time:





*When independent reading time is over the students begin partner reading. They simply turn their chairs around and take turns reading a book to their partner. They read to each other and discuss their favorite part of the book. The students use partner time to support each other with decoding, comprehension, fluency, and stamina.

*Pictures of Partner Reading:





*After partner reading time the students choose a book to take home and then report back to the carpet for teacher share time. At the end of the workshop I bring closure to the day's work. During this time I share the different ways in which students have incorporated that day's minilesson. I also share new insights and discoveries.

Reading Workshop is just one piece of our balanced literacy program. In future blog posts I will explain how guided reading, word study, and shared reading are integrated into our reading program.