Observational Drawings

During our first Art session with Ms. Camilla, we did an observational (or scientific) drawings of butterflies. Since then, we have been making observations of our classroom animals! Dulce the bird, and Taffy the turtle posed for students during our thematic choice time. The students noticed many details in color, shape, texture…. others embellished with smiles and included a happy polliwog!

 

Thematic Choice: Power

The most popular choice by far at the beginning of the school year has been the block area. Children working independently, in pairs, and in large groups to build museums, railways, and marble runs. The addition of white beach rocks, silvery gems, and more window blocks embellish the structures. In the middle of the session, I asked about POWER. They responded, “We have the power to build! We use the power of gravity! We can build structures that are strong, stable, and beautiful! We have the power to walk around structures without knocking them over.”

 

 

Math Group

Each day this week, we have been warming up using the book Each Orange has Eight Slices by Paul Giganti, Jr. and Donald Crews. In the book, we have to use addition, subtraction, multiplication and division to solve the problems. The use of pictures and using multiple strategies to get the same answer has led to interesting conversations. This week the children were able to explore their interests in numbers more individually with the addition of several more materials. One child “built” the number 1,000,000+99= and them we were able to have a discussion about the use of zeros and place value. This led to an exploration of even bigger numbers.

 

Writing Workshop

 

Writing notes to friends, sorting vocabulary cards, dictating and acting out stories, drawing and writing in hardcover books, and practicing handwriting have made writing workshop very dynamic!

Upcoming Events

• Thursday, October 4: APPetizer Social 6:30-8:30pm
• Friday, October 5: ILP Writing Day (no school)
• Monday, October 8: Columbus Day (no school)
  
• Thursday, October 11: Gifted 101-Robbins Library, Arlington  7:00-8:30pm
• (tell a friend!)
• Thursday, October 11th at Parlee Farms(https://parleefarms.com)

 

Learning New Skills and Using Real Tools

The last two weeks the children in LE have been becoming (re)acquainted with tools of all kinds in the classroom and throughout adventures in Art and Wood Working. We demonstrate the careful use of classroom tools and materials, and over the last 14 days children have painted with watercolors and tempera paint, the careful way to build and steps in  block structure demolition, and how to use applications on the iPad to reinforce knowledge acquired from the use of manipulatives.

Creativity Morning

After two introduction sessions,  your child made Creativity Morning choices. This past Wednesday we started the day in the LE classroom, and at 9:00am the students traveled to Architecture, SEEDS, Yoga & Free Build, Circus & Drumming, and Wood Shop. I was able to be with the children during the snack and recess transition, and the longer blocks of time allow our LE kids to experience the morning with depth.

Morning Work

Each morning the LE students make choices from a widening group of literacy-related activities from letter and word sorts (discriminating between letters, letter sounds, and letter combinations), handwriting on dry erase boards, handwriting books, and on the iPad, and metal insets which are designed to build sequencing and coordination of movement.

Math

Our small groups have been focusing on base 10 blocks, adding and subtracting numbers 1-10, and 1 to 100, multiplication number stories, dice games, and measuring. Children are also noticing patterns in numbers, particuarly when they are using the 100 grid. We are beginning to differentiate the flexible groupings based on interest, ability, small motor skills, and comprehension.

LE Schedule 2018

We have a wonderful schedule again this year, giving the youngest students at Acera a balance of work/play, practice/mastery, exploration/discovery. Your children have been doing so much in the last 13 days, and that can explain the tired behavior at the end of the day. “My Mom has snack in the car at pick-up” was declared at the end of the day this week. A little susitnance might be needed on the way home to avoid the before-dinner-melt downs that can occur before dinner/bath/book/bedtime.

Listening Conferences

This Friday, September 21st, the whole school will be closed for Parent/Teacher Listening Conferences. This is time set aside at the beginning of each year to hear about your hopes and wishes for your child’s year ahead both academically and socially.

It is a wonderful opportunity to catch-up on your child’s experiences over the summer, share important aspects of your family life together, and for me to ask questions about your child’s overall development. You can expect all kinds of questions with the aim of gleaning as much knowledge I can about your child in the short time allotted.

My questions could include:

• How was your summer?
• What are your child’s current interests?
• Are there any current stresses in your home life such as parent travel, sibling relationships, schedules, etc?
• How has the start of the year been for your child, and what has your child communicated?
• What are your worries, hopes and wishes for the year?
• How is your child’s overall health/eating/sleeping?
• What are your child’s current strengths and challenges?
• What are the reading/technology/writing/math habits at home?
• How do you like to hear about your child’s life at school or is the LE BLOG helpful?

Of course, you may ask any questions that you like about the LE classroom and your child’s experiences thus far. We are just in the process of getting (re)acquainted and setting classroom norms, but each day brings exciting events! I suggest writing your most burning questions down prior to the conference to make sure that you leave our meeting with the information that you need. I have been taking notes to share as well!

The Listening Conferences are also an important part of what I will use to build your child’s Individual Learning Plan. Unlike other schools, Acera creates ILP’s for each child. This living document changes and grows with your child during their years here! It can also be updated during the school year as necessary. You will receive a draft of your child’s ILP in October, and we can also meet at that time to review goals.

LE Listening Conference Schedule 18-19

See you tomorrow!

Jen

First Week: Welcome to Lower Elementary at Acera!

 

Teacher Favorites

When chatting informally this week, a student asked me “Who is your favorite kid in LE?”. I replied, “Good teachers never have favorites, that would be unfair. ~Very Long Pause~ But, great teachers treat all students as their favorites.” Observing individual strengths, recognizing talents, and encouraging emerging abilities in young children has been a big part of the week, for this year we will be leading with those strengths to help the students learn and grow in developmentally appropriate ways.

It is such a privilege and pleasure to work at Acera where teachers have the ability and freedom to customize each day to the students intellect and ability. In the coming weeks we will be engaging in many activities that will allow the children to emerge as learners, and to establish an environment where individual students are seen, heard, appreciated, and challenged.

Routines

It is hard to get into routines after a summer full of camps, vacations, and free time! If I can feel the adjustment, I know that the Kindergarteners, First Graders, and Second Graders are highly sensitive to the changes the fall brings. Establishing predictable and appropriate routines at home and school are essential to academic learning and social/emotional health. This is why I have been very focused on routines at the LE classroom at Acera.

Warm welcomes, organizing stuff (back backs, indoor and outdoor shoes, and outerwear), reading the morning message, sign-in, and checking the morning work basket, are quickly becoming comfortable routines. While children are now given gentle reminders, these systems will become second nature. The goal being that children can engage in creative thinking when the classroom environment is automatic. Please see the weekly schedule attached in your email.

Math

We had a school-wide math assessment yesterday. Because the LE students were just getting warmed up from the summer away, we will continue to review and assess prior knowledge in the coming weeks. Although math groups will start next week, expect some changing and shifting before we find the “Just Right” group of learning peers. Each math group throughout the school also individualizes for the students, and we appreciate your support while be balance the complex learning needs and social of your child(ren).

Reading: Rest and Read

The time of day where children practice reading skills is called “Rest and Read“. I have just begun to give every student in the class an informal reading assesment, establishing the current decoding, comprehension, and stratetegies with which each individual has begun the year. There has been so much growth over the summer! When reading a book today, a child read a word that was incomprehensible. I paused to explain the word (law students in their first year study this word). The student said, “I don’t need to know what that means to read the book”. I said, “If you are reading the words, the MOST important thing is to understand what you are reading.”

Please continue to read-aloud at home, pausing occasionally to explain vocabulary. choose one word per page, or ask your child to stop you when there is a word that they don’t understand. In the classroom we will be making lists of new vocabulary words.

Writing

We have a classroom of storytellers! Even before we officially started Writing Workshop, children asked where the writing paper was stored and started stapling pages together. Our Literacy Block is composed of vocabulary, handwriting, creative writing, and spelling patterns. We also write about events that have happened over the weekend or during the week in school. Many of the children are writing quite fluently, others will rely on teachers taking down dictation while they build the skills and knowledge needed to build words. We will be guiding the children gently along the vast continuum of abilities, while we learn from each other.

Thank You’s

 

Thank you to our pillow and cushion makers, Tracey (Noah’s Mom) and Lisa (Harper’s Mom) for helping with getting ready for the first day of school outfitting our cozy cubes with the essentials! Thank you to Roman’s family for making customized trays for our math manipulatives. Parents from last year gifted plants for our windowsills, bringing the green leafy outdoors in. We also had a parent volunteer to do some work from home (paid by employer) in evenings, which is very valuable when it comes to entering the children’s writing into word documents. We are so grateful for the support from our parents at Acera. There will be an opportunity to discuss other opportunities to support the LE Classroom at our Back to School Night on September, 13th.

Creativity Morning

 

I was able to take lots of pictures of the class during the Creativity Morning sample classes! They went to Circus Arts, Yoga/Free Build, Drumming, and Woodworking on Wednesday morning, and next week they will sample several more classes. There were lot of laughs, some challenges, and enough time to understand the nature of the classes.

Suggestions for a Great Year

• Early Bedtime: 7:30/8:00pm
• Food: Hearty Breakfast, Substantial Snack & Lunch, Water Bottle
• Read Aloud to your child each Night for at least 1/2 hour