Day 2 in Room 25

I can not begin to tell you what a wonderful class we have! The children are working very hard already! We are reviewing letters, phonics, basic math skills, and getting back into the swing of school. I am assessing the children's skills in order to best meet each of their academic needs.

We began Writer's Workshop on Monday. Today I read the story I Like Myself. I shared a secret about myself with the children and then wrote about it. Ask your child what I like about myself! The children love watching me model the lesson, write my journal entry, and then illustrate what I have written. After all, the pictures help tell the story. They are then given the opportunity to create their own piece. 5 children a day share what they have written. Imagine my joy upon hearing a child say 1st thing this morning, "Are we going to write in our journals again and then share them today?" ABSOLUTELY! I use this time to stop and work with each child. I also assess the needs to direct future instruction.

During my daily teacher directed small group time, I am asking the children to perform various activities in order to gauge the level of all students. Upon the conclusion of this, I will be creating small groups based on strengths and weaknesses. This way, I have the opportunity to meet the needs of all students and give individualized instruction to each child daily. These groups will be constantly evolving and changing based on needs.

Has your child told you about the "exercise tub" yet? It is filled with "out of the ordinary" things that force the children to exercise their small motor(writing) muscles. They think they are "playing". But, I know they are working and gaining strength in their hands which will make writing so much easier for them!

Seat work is an opportunity for the child to practice the lesson that was just given. Of all the lessons of the day, this is the most difficult for the children. There are many skills that need to be implemented by them in order to be successful at seat work. They must: listen to instruction, follow multiple step directions, manage their time wisely, stay on task, problem solve on their own, be motivated enough to complete the task that is expected, among many other skills. This requires independence on the part of your child. You can help your child in this area by assigning more tasks at home for them to do. Resist the urge to do it for them because you are in a hurry or impatient. The time you give them will pay off in huge dividends here at school!

Show and Tell has begun. I am sending home three Target bags a night. Children are randomly chosen. They are to come up with three clues and the children try and guess what they have in the bag. Who can resist a microphone for speaking and all eyes on them? We had some really cool things in our show and tell bags today! Shells from the Bahamas, a Build a Bear dinosaur that made noise, and a sea star and sea horse that washed up on Sanibel Island!

One of the greatest challenges of teaching first grade is to motivate the child. I do my best to bring fun and something different to the table in order to get the child interested.
This week we are working on getting acquainted, learning the rules, and reviewing the prior skills. Your child is gaining confidence in themselves and the class routine.

Next week we begin reading, spelling, math, social studies using the first grade curriculum.

You are welcome to contact me with any concerns or questions. My email address is jessica_carter@scps.k12.fl.us .