Aalva Class 2015-2016: Classroom Community

Hello family and friends!

We have had an amazing week in the Aalva class! Our schedule has been set and is in full swing this week. I am so impressed by how smoothly everyone has transitioned into it. We spent the week letting the children take ownership of their classroom by allowing them to have a say in how our classroom runs and what it looks like. We feel that this helps them feel comfortable and gives them more pride in our classroom community.

One thing we did this week was introduce workshops! We currently have writing and math workshops that we rotate throughout the week. Our goal is to have two math and two writing workshops each week. During writing workshop the children will be working in journals. They are able to write and draw about anything they choose. This is a great way for them to develop their writing. They will soon be more comfortable in their writing as they have the opportunity to tell stories through their words and artwork. During math workshops we set up the room into stations. Each table will have a different activity that will help them develop different math skills such as counting, number recognitions, patterns, and sequencing. We use a timer to let the children know when it’s time to switch stations. For the first week we started with 5 minutes per station. For each workshop, Ms. Rachael and I will adjust the time according to their interests and needs. As the year goes on I’m sure our workshops will grow and develop as the children master more skills. One thing I love about our workshops is the one on one time with each child. It gives us a clearer understanding of what skills each child has mastered, what they are still working on, and what direction we need to take them individually.

In keeping with the idea of building a classroom community we came up with several ideas for classroom helpers. Ms. Rachael and I feel that this will add to the ownership of the classroom as the children have jobs that help to keep our classroom safe and successful! Each child will be able to choose their job throughout the week. We have the job chart hanging up in the room if anyone wants to talk about that with their child during drop off or pick up times.

Another thing we did this week was draw self-portraits. First we read the book I Like Myself! by Karen Beaumont. After reading the book we broke up into small groups, looked at ourselves in the mirror, and discussed what we looked like and the things we liked about ourselves. We allowed the children to draw their portrait however they wanted! Some chose to draw their whole body and others just drew their head. Some decided to use heavy details while others used a more simple approach. We feel that each portrait shows a small glimpse of all the different personalities in our classroom. We encourage you to take some time to check them out in the hallway and talk to your kids about what they drew. This activity also goes along with the family posters we sent home to be worked on. In order to help build a sense of community, we need to get to know one another better and feel more comfortable sharing who we are with our peers. I cannot wait to see how each individual child chooses to decorate their poster!

Have a great weekend! Love,

Ms. Michelle

Approaches to Learning:

•Show creativity and imagination using materials in representational play.

•Demonstrate eagerness and interest as a learner by questioning and adding ideas.

•Show increasing ability to maintain interest in self-selected activities and play despite distractions and interruptions.

Social & Emotional:

•Demonstrate self-direction by making choices among peers, activities and materials.

•Demonstrate confidence by participating in most classroom activities.

•Follow classroom rules and procedures with reminders.

Language and Literacy:

•Respond to elements of colorful language in stories and poetry.