We have successfully finished our 13th day of school and boy have we accomplished a lot in such a short amount of time! There is lots below to keep you up to date on all the things we've been up to!
Special Visitors:
The start of 5th grade means getting to know key support staff. Both of our counselors came to visit our homerooms and did a getting to know you activity. Ms. Scharff and Ms. Hempey are invaluable resources for our students' mental and emotional well-being.
Hillary and Hunter, our Student Support team, came to meet the kiddos and played a charades game based on our school values of Curious, Caring, and Connected.
Team Building:
One of our many goals on Wizards is to help our students develop lifelong skills. For the first few weeks of school, we use our Science and Social Studies block to work on these critical skills. We've done a variety of team building activities that are fun but are truly setting us up for success when they have to work in groups on academic tasks as well. The kids are placed in random groups so that they have to work with different people each time. After each activity, we debrief and ask three questions.
What went well? What were the challenges? What skills did you need to work successfully together?
So far the students have identified the important skills needed in working with others such as compromise, communication, flexibility, problem-solving, and the list goes on! Here are some pictures of our team-building activities.
This one is called "Crossing the Great Divide." Students had to make it across the field while keeping their feet touching. You'll note the variety of strategies that were employed. There was lots of falling down, giggles, and smiles.
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| They were all winners when it came to perseverance but this group did have the tallest tower at 61 inches! |
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| Most creative marshmallow holder. (Tape hammock) |
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| Most structurally sound base. |
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| Winners for tallest tower |
Islands of Personality:
After watching Inside Out, students made their own Islands of Personality. A few kids have brought theirs home for the weekend to finish up. They should return them on Monday because next week we'll have a gallery walk and they'll make connections with their peers. It is a beloved project where we learn so much about each individual student's values.
Upcoming Field Trip
We recently sent home a form about our upcoming field trip to the Audubon in Huntington on September 27th. Please return them by 9/16. Thanks to everyone who already sent this in AND to those of you who sent in a little extra money. We appreciate your generosity!
Cafeteria Acrostics
The first week of school the students made acrostics about the expectations in the cafeteria. They are now adorning the stage in the cafeteria as a colorful reminder to everyone about the expectations when in that space.
Language Arts:
This past week we have continued learning routines such as using the talking piece and appropriate use of all the flexible seating in my room. I've also done several read-alouds of the first chapter of some of my favorite books and then had a lottery to give them away. This is a great way for me to expose kids to great books, different genres and get them excited about books. They finally got their snazzy LA folders choc full of mini anchor charts that we will use on repeat for two years. During our read-alouds, we focused on a different "Reading is Thinking" skill each day. Be sure to ask your student which books they are interested in reading.
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Reading Skill: Making predictions  Reading Skill: Making Connections |
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| Reading Skill: Visualizing |
On the day we worked on inferencing, the whole class had to work together as a group to sequence the pages from a book called Zoom. This required using visual context clues. I was pleasantly surprised by how well and quickly they helped each other figure out the sequence because this activity can be a bit challenging. However, they used their cooperation and problem solving skills to succeed. GO WIZARDS!
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