For our second week of school we began to focus on rules and routines in the classroom. We read five fun stories that were great springboards for our classroom discussion on the rules. By this time we already had great examples in our own classroom.
Our Comprehension strategies for the week in large group were characters and setting. All week long we reviewed them with our stories as well. We used the posters from my comprehension packet as well as some the the worksheets to teach and review both characters and setting. This packet is the bases for all of the strategies I will be teaching throughout the year. If you continue to read this series, you will see which books lend themselves to the strategies.
The first book we read was “The Recess Queen”. We discussed Mean Jean and her character change. We also listed good choices you can make in school and at recess. I love how open ended the activity is. I have some students who can write sentences and some who draw pictures and label. Each option allows them to be successful and get their point across while still showing me what they learned.
On Tuesday we read, “Officer Buckle & Gloria”. Again a great story to focus on character and setting. We discussed safety tips for our classroom and school. Each child made a star to show a safety tip for the school year.
Next we read, “David Goes to School”. The kids love this story. It actually reminds me of my childhood and how school used to be, not so much anymore. (Especially the chalk erasers!) We made these cute David crafts.
Then we read “Miss Nelson is Missing. The children are so engaged wondering where she went. The ending is perfect. Some years my students don’t seem to get it that it was her the whole time. This year they got it right away! We compared Viola Swamp to Miss Nelson using words or pictures. We also discussed how the students were acting and why the teacher had to leave.
Some of these goodies are offered in my Rules and Routines Packet!
Finally, we ended the week with one of my all time favorites, “Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse”. Lilly reminds me so much of Junie B. Jones. They are both so silly and full of personality. We looked at both Lilly and Mr. Slinger and sorted things that each character loved. We also enjoyed making Lilly. I wasn’t going to do the purse/pack too but my students wanted to so we did those too! They listed what they would keep in their purse/pack. They turned out soo cute. I just love how different they all are. I couldn’t replicate them if I tried. The craft and activity for Lilly came from my Kevin Henkes Author Study, not my rules and routines although I do have some activities in there too. It just fit in perfectly for our week.
For word work, we began our study on Short a. Our spelling words all had this pattern and the children worked on a few activities each day. I’m super excited about our spelling focus this year too! Here is a peek at a few of our activities. We will make our way through the short vowels and then focus on different hunks and chunks.
Gearing up for week 3, Friendship! Stay tuned.
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