La Vie Est Folle

Monday
Today we took a pre-assessment in math; I wanted to see how much the kids knew about graphing before we started in on the unit. The material on the quiz wasn't too hard and I figured they would do well on it; however, even though the assessment was straight from the website we use everyday, it still wasn't the most clear worksheet I've assigned. The kids had a rough time with it because the

sheet wasn't clear. The shading needed for some of the problems was too light so it was difficult to see and the kids didn't really understand what was being asked of them. After some explanation, they did alright. I still wasn't too happy with the quiz overall, though. I decided I wouldn't depend too heavily on it to tell me what the kids knew. And for the post-evaluation, I would either use a different sheet altogether or shade in the squares to help the students better understand what I was asking them to do.

In reading today, we read a book about recycling. After, I had the students write a letter to the character from the story. They seemed to enjoy it and they did well overall. It's been important to get some writing in; I'm hoping to keep focusing on this a lot in the next few weeks.

Tuesday
Today in math, we did an activity about graphing. We've been talking a lot about picture graphs and bar graphs so today I used the Pantheon board to make an empty picture graph for an activity. I asked the students which of two objects/pictures (heart, star, soccer ball, moon, etc.) they preferred. This helped me illustrate my competence in my ability "to integrate technology into classroom instruction" (IPTS 4: Planning for Instruction). Then, we graphed the data and I asked them questions about the graphs. This was a good activity because it was more hands-on than some of the worksheets we usually do in math. The kids really enjoy the videos we watch, but everything ends up routinized after doing the same thing everyday. So, I try to come up with new ways of making math exciting for the kids.

In guided reading, my cooperating teacher wanted me to start working with the other groups as well
as my two groups. So, I started pulling the other kids during centers today. We did just some basic group reading since I only had a bit of time with each group today. However, it was nice to be able to work with each of the kids on reading and to see where they're at and where they need help. It might take a few days to figure out which students are at what ends of the reading levels, but I'm starting to figure out which students need more help and how I can go about that.

During reading, we learned a new word family today. After practicing the words, I used the magnetic letters on the board to help us form the words and practice saying them, spelling them, and using them in a sentence. I think it was helpful to give the kids a little background of the words instead of just flying through them.

Wednesday
In math today, I gave each student a worksheet and a folder to put up in front of them. This isn't our final assessment of the unit, but I wanted to give it as a way of determining how much the students are grasping and what we can go back over and what I should re-teach. Overall, the kids did really well with this. This helped show me that it's okay to move on to a slightly new topic in the unit.

In reading, we read another Eric Carle book called Rooster's Off to See the World. To accompany
this book, we are making roosters as an art project that will hang in the hall on a bulletin board. We will also do a writing activity that will incorporate this topic. I've found that the kids really appreciate consistency, so finding ways to include reading, writing, and social students will be really cool. Although we started the project today, we will definitely need to finish it tomorrow or Friday.

Thursday
Today was a great day. In math, we started a slightly different topic that branches off from graphing. The kids didn't quite get the idea at first, but by the end they were right on. We watched the accompanying video first to give them some background knowledge. Then, I put several of the same objects in a bin (markers, for example), but some were different colors. So, for one part, I had five green markers in the bin and two yellow ones. I then had a student come to the front, turn around and choose a marker. With this activity, we talked about the idea of most and least likely to be chosen. We then did a little worksheet that went along with this. By the end of this lesson, the kids really had the idea. After taking a look at those worksheets, there were only a few kids who got mixed up on a problem or two.

In guided reading, I started by pulling a student who needed to re-do a phonics worksheet. Almost the entire thing was wrong. My teacher had mentioned to me that she wanted to know if any students were really having trouble so I did. She said to re-do the assignment with them and then staple the two pages together before sending it home. That's exactly what we did. The student seemed to understand the topic but he needed that extra guidance and occasional  reminder about what needed to be done first.

My Eric Carle bulletin board so far

I then pulled a few different groups for reading again.

In reading, we continued our rooster projects. We also read a non-fiction story about roosters and chickens. The kids always seem to enjoy these kinds of books and ask a lot of questions and get into them. It's fun to watch.

Next week we will definitely need to switch topics in reading. Every classroom at Lawn Manor has been given a cup full of caterpillars
that will eventually become butterflies. I am going to start a unit of this topic to help kids understand the process a bit better. They are already really excited about it!


Friday
Today was busy! And a little crazy.

It was a half-day for preschool and kindergarten testing. And it was Cinco de Mayo.

Kids were dismissed at 10:45 so we just did math and guided reading. For math, I gave them the last worksheet in the unit -- it was a pre-assessment and then a 'test'. I didn't use the test as a test, but rather as a way to see how they were doing with the material. We will take a final assessment on graphing this coming week. Based on the worksheets today, there are a few things I need to reteach and focus some attention on before then.

I pulled a couple of groups for guided reading today. It wasn't
much out of the norm. I decided that I would go through all of the groups' logs and books after school to get organized and be fully ready to focus some major attention on promoting progress for future weeks. It took a while, but it was definitely worth the effort!

After this, we had a presentation put on for us about Cinco de Mayo. So, I took the kids down to the gym and was responsible for keeping them focused and quiet. They did a really good job. Everyone seemed to enjoy the presentation. Very cool.




It was also someone's birthday today so we celebrated with cupcakes right after the assembly. Because it was so close to lunch time and we had little time before the kids headed home, we decided to bag the treats and send them home.

What a busy half-day.

After the kids left, I gave two assessments to incoming kindergarteners. I had observed the tests being done when the assessments happened last week, but now I was the one in  charge of administering them. It went really well! The kids did great. I definitely tried to remember to build some trust and engage them in conversation in order to help them relax. They didn't need much help with that though; they were both very chatty.

What a long half-day. Very fun, though :)