Mornings>Afternoons

Our mornings are so much better than our afternoons. Actually, we do well until about 2:15. I'm not sure what it is-if they are just done or what. The second quiet time has helped. I also think that the more we work in groups for Science experiments/labs, the better it will get...? Oh! We earned a potato head piece this morning for awesome collaboration during Reader's Workshop. They were talking but it was a good talking because they were on task and working together!

We began our morning by choosing a seating option that was different than usual. They did NOT like this idea. I explained though that I wanted them to be sure that they were being the best me they can be and that in choosing something different, they might find a better way to focus. We'll see how it went by where/how they choose to sit tomorrow. In our meeting, we complimented each other. This was a little awkward at first but when they saw how good it made the person feel, they kept it going. I even got a compliment! Then, in word study, we acted out some of our words-which was wonderful to watch! :) Afterwards, we continued writing our small moments stories. Ask your kiddo to read their story to you and give them some plus/deltas. We are almost finished with Wonder. Today, Auggie reflected a little on his year and decided that his highs far outweigh the lows he's experienced. It is always very bittersweet to finish a book. I'll miss Auggie! In Reader's Workshop, we read the drama, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and worked on the main character, Ichabod. **If anyone has a DVD of the Disney version, could you let me know? We may watch it...they are very into this story!** We had Music today and then lunch and recess--which was beautiful! After our first quiet time, we practiced multiplicative comparisons (comparing numbers using multiplication) and then worked to develop some strategies for solving multi-digit multiplication. After we shared our strategies, we played, "I Have, Who Has" with our basic facts. We finished up our Wind and Water lab for Science after our second quiet time. Our day ended with Wonder/I-time which is always so stressful for me because they are so ready to go and be done and I am still trying to individualize time...we may need to go to a more specific activity for this time instead of it being so open ended. We'll see...