Monday's Message

Remember that moment when you moved into your first apartment? The one that was all your's? Remember how excited you were to decorate and have friends over to share in your happiness? This is how I feel about my new blog!  I know...it's crazy!
  
Cannot.
Stop.
Thinking about my blog!

I think about this blog the way some people think about scrapbooking. I get to have all the creative fun with none of the mess!  
It's going to be so great to share even more of what goes on in our classroom with you here in a way that is more reflective of my personality. Hopefully it'll feel like we sit down and have a coffee every afternoon.
  
So, what did we do today?  

Well, it was a busy one.  In Math we're done, done, done with those "find a diagonal on the hundreds chart and write about it" type-questions.  We are still going to work with the hundreds charts, but we'll use it in a more practical way.  I'm also going to warm up the kids over the next few days by practicing two-digit addition and subtraction at the start of each Math lesson. It would be great if the boys and girls could practice this at home as well. 

Oh, one more skill that would also be beneficial to practice are the doubles facts (2+2, 3+3, etc.) up to 9. I'd like the  boys and girls to have these memorized by the end of the week. 

In our Literacy Block, we talked about how good readers relate to the text. They make what we call "text to self" connections.  I read the class a book by Maribeth Boelts called Those Shoes and asked them to think about something they've always wanted. The boy in the story really, really wants those shoes.  The students are completing their very first writing about reading task where they have to write about the connection they have to this story. They are also asked to complete a writing checklist to see that their work meets expectations before handing it in.

It's Monday.
It's Week 3.
It's going to be another fabulous week in our class! 

Those Shoes by Maribeth Boelts