Day #2

Today we were able to begin some of our regular structures - in particular, independent reading and writing. The kids were incredibly good about grabbing a few books, finding a comfortable spot, and focusing their attention on their books. They also did a wonderful job during writing. Mrs. Klosterman seems to have really established some strong classroom habits to supplement all you do at home. It makes for a great place to begin second grade!

We also did some strategizing and computing in math. We created a class bar graph showing how many pockets each of us had on our clothing. I then challenged the kids to come up with a strategy to figure out how many pockets we had all together. Some counted the pockets and others divided the numbers into subgroups and added those together. We'll continue working with these numbers tomorrow.

As far as easing into the new school year and classroom, the kids are beginning to respond more and more to my requests to transition, quiet their voices, etc. That said, as expected we are still working through some rough spots here and there. After all..they are seven years old and don't feel the same urgency I often do when putting something away or directing their attention toward me. That will come in time. When someone does struggle to settle in or follow a direction I redirect them. If it happens more than a few times I have a conversation with them. If it continues I often ask them to write a small letter home to you explaining what has happened in hopes you will continue the conversation at home. Please know these letters are meant to help you know what we're working on at school (I'll often send an email letting you know the context of the incident as well). If it were something that was truly a concern I would make that clear to you. Otherwise, know these occasional letters are only for the purpose of keeping you in the loop so you can support us from home.

And finally, here are a few pics from the room today...

Each morning there are a set of Morning Procedures on the board. Today was the first
time the kids were asked to read and follow them. We sat and read these together before
everyone set off to complete each task. I'll continue supporting them in such a  way until they
are ready to take this work on for themselves.

Sharing our writing with partners

This was the graph we created with Post-Its during math. We had 51 pockets in all.