The First Two Days of the 2005-2006 School Year

The first two days of the school year were full of meeting and greeting, sharing, and group activities. We had a great time learning each other's names, learning procedures, role playing problem solving strategies, and getting used to working as a group. We learned how to create a rainstorm while teaching team building skills, played "Rare Birds" and "That's Me" to learn some unique information about ourselves, and how to play a group activity called "Do Wacka Do Wacka Do". Our first writing project was creating a list titled, "Here Are All the Things I Know How to Do".

Many of the activities listed above are from the Responsive Classroom Model and are included in our daily morning meetings that we have to start each day. If you would like to attend a morning meeting please feel free to come in at 9:00 a.m. More information on morning meetings can be found at: http://www.responsiveclassroom.org/about/principles.html

Our read aloud book for the start of the year is "Little House on the Prairie" by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Upcoming activities for next week include switching classes for the first time and learning about our fall school fundraiser organized by the PTA.

I will be assessing all students using a computerized test, an informal reading inventory, and a timed fluency to get an idea of all students reading level. The kids will also be assessed on their spelling of the Dolch words. These are the 220 words that kids use in 50-80% of their writing and are imperative to the reading and writing process. A list of the Dolch words can be found at: http://www.nifl.gov/readingprofiles/Dolch_Basic.pdf. I will share all these results at conferences during the week of September 26-30.