Joyful Learning

This week we have settled in to our routine and academic structures. Reading groups are in full swing, Orton-Gillingham is up and running, writing notebooks are filling with words and pictures, and students are actively involved in math problem solving and experimentation. Our classroom is abuzz with the joy of learning!

Circles of Learning

This week we engaged in a rich and empowering discussion about learning. In groups with our companion classes, students and teachers alike thought about learning as a circle, ever-expanding and constantly evolving. In the center of our learning circles are those things that we feel are strengths of ours. Usually these are skills that we have practiced for a long time, but they may be things that come easily to us because of own natural predispositions. On the edge of our learning circle are those things that are less easy for us, skills that require more work and attention. We call these things our growing edges. After discussing these circles of learning, each child and teacher created their own individual learning circle. Once everyone had completed this activity, we came together as a group to share our learning circles. The children's respect and care for each other was palpable as they responded and supported each individual and their brave statements. And thanks to all the parents who are openly engaging in this project by completing their own learning circle. Please return them and we will hang them along with ours!

Parents' Night

Thanks to all for your heartfelt participation during our Parents' Night this week! We so enjoyed getting the chance to share our classroom and program with you. We invite you to come to our October 6th Curriculum Overview night for more discussion. And don't forget to check out The Dunn Institute's Learning Difference Awareness Conference for fabulous offerings, www.dunninstitute.org.

Ask us About . . .

*Our Learning Circles.

*Making posters with our Buddies.

*Independent reading.

*Fact bracelets.

*Our reading books, "Shortcut", "The Man Who Walked Between Two Towers", "Sheila Rae the Brave" and "Poppleton".

WELCOME!

Welcome to our blog! We hope you find this an informative and fun way to learn about your children and their school lives. Here we will post words and pictures that give you a sense of our classroom curriculum and philosophy. In addition we will share important practical information about dates and events. It is our hope that you will interact with this site, adding comments and thoughts that you would like to share with our classroom community.

Off to a great start . . .

We have spent the first two weeks of school creating a caring community of learners, establishing rules and routines, and sharing our hopes and dreams for our year together. We have also established important connections with our companion classes, sharing lunches, recess, and Morning Meetings with them. Friends Academy and The Sally Borden School jointly embrace the philosophy of Responsive Classroom, a social curriculum that guides our interactions within the community. We feel that only when children and adults feel safe and connected are they open and ready for learning. To that end, we strive to take care of social needs throughout our day, and coach our children in communication skills that allow them to establish strong connections within our community. To learn more about the Responsive Classroom, please visit www.responsiveclassroom.org.

Academic Components . . .

Throughout the past two weeks, we have spent time getting to know your children as learners, as we will continue to do throughout the year! With the help of Jamie Ross-Cory, we have done some formal and informal assessments of student skills to get an understanding of where we are individually and collectively as learners. We have also slowly begun to introduce some curricular components. We have begun Writers' Workshop, focusing on using drawing as a method to get ideas for our writing. Using the inspiration of Donald Crews and his narrative Big Mama's, we have explored how drawing a picture before writing makes it easier to find the words we wish to choose. Each child drew and wrote about a place that is very special to him/her and had a chance to share this work with the class in a Sharing Circle. Today we went for a walk with clipboards and paper in search of inspiring images. Each child is collecting their work in a personal Writing Notebook. We have also begun Readers' Workshop and have been learning about our classroom Math materials and games. Next week we will start our Orton-Gillingham work in groups.

Ask us about . . .

*. . .our "Specials" and how they are going.

* . . .our Writer's Notebooks.

*. . .our 5th Grade and Kindergarten buddies.

*. . .what we do during Morning Meeting.

*. . .our routine for packing up at the end of the day.

Have a wonderful weekend!!

Mrs. MacGregor and Ms. O'Brien