Hello again! I wanted to take a chance to share a few things that we have been doing in the classroom. I know a lot of work doesn't come home and I wanted to show you what we are working on.
Interactive Notebooks
As you can see in these pictures we have been doing a lot of hands on work with manipulatives for adding, subtracting and making 10. You also can see our interactive notebooks. What is an Interactive Notebook? It is a way for students to input teacher directed notes and or ways to solve problems and then allows them to practice the skills in a nontraditional worksheet fashion. The students are engaged because they get to cut, glue, color and write which is great for those who are visual and hands on learners. The notebook also becomes a tool that they can go back and refer to if they need help with a strategy or vocabulary. We have interactive notebooks for Math, Reading and Science/Social Studies. I believe in making learning fun and interactive, in place of boring old worksheets.
Growth Mindset
Last week I introduced the class to the Growth Mindset. The growth mindset is believing that your basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work. Many times children have a fixed mindset where if they struggle with a concept they truly believe they cannot do it and never will. No one wants to see children think this way, so teaching them the growth mindset allows them to stop and think about what they can do before just giving up. Also the first day of school I told my students that there is one rule that I take very seriously, and that rule is that they can't say "EASY." Why you may ask? Well I noticed my first year teaching that I have a wide range of students ranging from Kindergarten level to third grade level and too many times students will say "That's so easy" and there are many students who are struggling and this makes them feel bad. So I have decided to make the word "easy" a four letter word. haha The students have been very good about not saying it and if they hear it they are not affraid to let them know. This bulletin board in our classroom reminds them to never give up and keep trying. We went over things that we may usually say and how we can change it. Such as "I made a mistake" to "Mistakes help me improve." We have also been working on setting reading goals based on their reading assessment. I am sitting down one on one with them showing them how they did and talking about areas we can work on. They are making a goal of what level they would like to be on by the end of the year. These too will be posted in the classroom to remind them that dedication and hard work will help them succeed with their goals.
Read for a Bead
Since we are working on our reading goals I want to stress how important it is that they read as much as they can in and out of school. We sent home a yellow packet that had different ways to help your child with reading and I also sent home a sheet that explained the importance of reading 20 minutes a night. I am sure some of your kids have been bugging you about reading this week because on Friday I introduced them to our "We Read for a Bead" motivator. For every 20 minutes that they read and you as a parent sign that they have in fact read, they will receive a bead on their necklaces. On Fridays they will get to wear their necklaces to show all their hard work and feel proud of what they have accomplished. When they fill the necklace they get to take it home and have lunch with me one day. They are so excited to pick out the colors and some are even making patterns. Reading logs are still due on Fridays, so when they turn them in they will receive their beads. I am so excited to see them fill up and hang on our beautiful board.