After so many rainy days, the fabulous 5s were super excited to go outside. The weather now is nearly perfect! On this Autumn day we set up lots of fun activities including basketball, hula hoops, and a pretend neighborhood. You can see the kids enjoyed playing with all the activities but especially driving their tricycles and cars along the road. I love that at this age you can really turn any activity into a learning activity. Playing outside is traditionally thought of as "break time" for the kids but they can work on so many things. Just to hi-lite a few on this day we worked on gross motor skills, social play and language, taking turns, following directions, and new vocabulary. Not only that but they got all their wiggles out so they would be ready for lunch and naptime. Another fabulous day in the 5s!
Did you know that first thing every weekday morning the kids in the Fabulous 5s have a meeting to attend? Well, they do and they are super excited to be a part of it each day. This is often hard for me to hi-lite as I am typically the person taking the pictures but am also the one leading morning meeting. Today we had an extra set of hands in the classroom so she graciously captured some moments from the meeting for you to see. In a nutshell it is about 15 minutes of direct instruction coupled with participatory activities for all the children. One child a day is the "helper" and they get to make all the choices during the meeting and be the one to use the stylus and move around things on the Promethean board. This is also a great time for me to assess that student. All of the children help call out different answers throughout the meeting and participate in the different parts of the meeting but it really helps me focus on that particular child for the day and watch how they have changed from the last time they did that job and based on what new topics/vocabulary have been introduced most recently. Each summer, I look through the Individualized Educational Plans (IEPs) for each of my upcoming 10 students. I go through and tweak and add parts to my meeting to ensure I am touching on each child's particular goal areas. Then I go back and add things from the Preschool/Kindergarten standard curriculums as well. Finally, I go through each slide and make sure that there are modifications available so that all children can actively participate despite their physical or mental needs. It is hard to believe so much is crammed into a 15 minute time slot but the children are working on multiple things at one time all while laughing and playing along to the songs and activities. These pictures are just a few snapshots from Willow's day as the helper. Of course we are working on all the children's goals throughout the rest of the day as well for practice but this time of the day is the opportunity for each child to really show what they know and for me to see what things I need to go back and modify re-teach in order for every child to make progress. It has been said that "play is a child's work" and I absolutely agree! Well last week finished up October, our unit on the farm, and trick or treating! Everyone looked absolutely adorable in their costumes and we had so much fun going from room to room collecting candy. Thank you to everyone who came out and helped us safely transport the kids throughout the building as well as get everyone changed back into their regular clothes and out of their costumes. YALL WERE SUCH A BIG HELP! We finished up the day by combining the three classes for a party and watched a movie about Curious George going trick or treating. The children really seemed to enjoy it and I always love when all the kids are in here and watching them all interact together across the different classes. In between the conferences on the family school partnership day, B and I transformed the classroom for our November activities. The children have already been enjoying raking leaves, setting the table for a feast, and using Terrance the Turkey to find letters. I hope to have more pictures of those things posted for you all soon but I was able to capture a couple of pictures of the letter hunt with Ms. Hanvey. The kids were so excited to do this! Hope you enjoy all the costume pictures below as well! This week was a short week with the teacher workday on Monday followed by a Family Partnership day on Friday. Additionally, we have trick or treat and our Fall party planned for Thursday. But even with all that activity Ms. B kept the kiddos busy making spiders to decorate our room and go along with our book, Ms. Spider's Tea Party. I am highlighting kids work this week because they were so excited to make the spiders and really did work hard. I was so pleased with all of them and their perseverance with coloring, adding spider legs, and weaving their webs. That is hard work for our little guys and typically not a favorite activity because it requires so much fine motor control which is often very difficult for our little ones. They are such ROCKSTARS! Ms. B in her usual expertise differentiated the activities for each child's level and still made it fun for every one of them. Also, you all get to see Ms. Schley and her activity with the kids. She is our Meredith intern who will likely become our student teacher for the Spring. She has already learned so much and the children just adore her. You can see her using some of the same strategies of making the work accessible for each child but fun and exciting at the same time. That really is the key to completing any challenging task (even for us grown ups :) Hope you enjoy the pictures! |
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