Well it has certainly been a busy year with so much learning taking place for both my learners and I. This has been my first year in a junior classroom and I have absolutely loved it. This is just a quick reflection as most of my reflection is either in my blog or on myPortfolio and done during term time.
Next year I am continuing in the same class with some of my kids moving up a class and gaining some New Entrants through out the term/year.
Mathematic - I have enjoyed maths this year. In my class I had Stages 0-5 that I was teaching which was pretty good as I was able to pull kids depending on their needs rather than classifying them at Stage 4 and only focusing on that content. Next year I plan on running my maths programme similar to the Daily 5 where children have more choice. I also had some really good PD in maths from Brenda Walker at Te Toi Tupu through the Waikato University. It was such a great course and I learnt heaps of simple, practical ideas that I use in my classroom everyday. Some which I have referenced in my blog through out the term.
Reading - This has been a steep learning area for me as I haven't had to teach children how to handle a book and start from the basics. My kids made good progress however I believe they have the potential to make even more, and I have a few ideas that I would like to try for my inquiry next year. At the beginning of the year I was running the Early Words programme but found it wasn't working effectively for myself or my learners (this was partly down to time constraints and students not completing activities for homework). I then implemented the use of high frequency words and these can be found in many places in our class. So far it has had a positive outcome on my students learning and I am looking for ways as to how I can adapt it next year.
Writing - In our school writing was a big PD focus so we were working with Louise Dempsey, Lisa from the University of Waikato as well a cluster of local schools. For me personally writing is a weak area so I found the PD that we received very valuable. I still have so much to learn in writing and look forward to developing my writing programme next year.
Topic - For topic at the beginning of the year I was doing a 5-10 week theme however I found that my kids were getting bored as it was going to long. So I changed this to 1-2 weeks long and this has worked much better as their focus is sustained.
Maori - I am not very confident in this area of the classroom however I believe the only way for me to develop as a teacher is to have a go and if it doesn't work then I can reflect on why and change it accordingly. Our last focus was Kai and my class looked at the process of Kai. It was a hands on unit and went well.
Well that is all from me. I have one more term to go until I am fully registered which I am super excited about. Merry Christmas and see you next year.
Wednesday, 17 December 2014
Wednesday, 10 December 2014
Christmas fun in Room 6
With Christmas approaching super fast we have been doing lots of Christmas themed activities.
Monday
We watched a short film of The Night Before Christmas. We talked about the main things that happened in the story and then children had to retell the story in their own words. Each student created their own 'The Night Before Christmas' book.
We then started our draft letter to Santa - we have done a bit of letter writing this term so my kids were good at knowing what was needed. The criteria was:
- they had to say something nice to santa
- why they have been good and should deserve a present
- what they would like
(we will publish them tomorrow once I have checked spelling etc).
In the morning I had played Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer to the class and none of them knew it. So I scheduled some time in to learn some Christmas carols. We learnt Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer and Jingle bells. I found a video for each on youtube and then printed matching words.
In the afternoon we made some Christmas Elves. I was really pleased with how they turned out. I could only find a picture for this activity so I can't link in instructions but here is a photo of some of my kids elves.
Tuesday
Today we did some touch up work for a couple of projects we needed to get finished.
For our writing topic we filled out an elf application. My students has to explain why they think they would be a good elf and draw an image of themselves as an elf - see below for one of them. The following is a link for the activity.
In the afternoon we took advantage of the nice weather and went outside for some striking practice.
Check back each day for more insight into our class Christmas activities.
Sunday, 30 November 2014
Growing frogs
Day 1
Today my tadpoles arrived. I told my kids that I had a surprise for them but we had to get through all our other work done. We got there!
Before showing my students I had them draw a picture of what they thought they looked like and one sentence about them. We shared our ideas, most either thought it was a fish or a little frog.
I then showed my class our tadpoles - they were amazed. So many questions and want to knows about tadpoles and frogs. Love to see their excitement. We ran out of time for more learning. Can't wait to do this unit with my class!
Will frogs bite?
Do they have teeth?
We are starting off with 12 tadpoles however I have a feeling they may not all last.
Day 2
I had a PRT day so I left some activities for my reliever. My students had to brainstorm where frogs live, what they look like and how they change. Below are the photos that they did. After the brainstorm they used some of the class books to answer some of the questions and displayed them on the pink post-its.
Day 3
Today we were looking at the life cycle of frog. We began by sharing our ideas of what we though happened. I then showed my students a video
I paused the video at the word metamorphous and we talked about what it meant.
Once the video finished I had a poster with the pictures missing and my students had to work together to decide on the stages. They then completed their own lifecycle pinwheel.
The book below is also a great teaching tool as it helps explain what happens at each stage.
We are down to 4 tadpoles today!
Day 5
Today my relief teach was in class and I left a labelling activity for her to do. My students were required to talk about the parts of frog and then label them.
Day 6
Today we were learning about camouflage and why frogs have this special ability. We then went and coloured in a frog and had a competition to see who could camouflage their frog in the class.
Today my tadpoles arrived. I told my kids that I had a surprise for them but we had to get through all our other work done. We got there!
Before showing my students I had them draw a picture of what they thought they looked like and one sentence about them. We shared our ideas, most either thought it was a fish or a little frog.
I then showed my class our tadpoles - they were amazed. So many questions and want to knows about tadpoles and frogs. Love to see their excitement. We ran out of time for more learning. Can't wait to do this unit with my class!
Will frogs bite?
Do they have teeth?
We are starting off with 12 tadpoles however I have a feeling they may not all last.
Day 2
I had a PRT day so I left some activities for my reliever. My students had to brainstorm where frogs live, what they look like and how they change. Below are the photos that they did. After the brainstorm they used some of the class books to answer some of the questions and displayed them on the pink post-its.
Day 3
Today we were looking at the life cycle of frog. We began by sharing our ideas of what we though happened. I then showed my students a video
Once the video finished I had a poster with the pictures missing and my students had to work together to decide on the stages. They then completed their own lifecycle pinwheel.
The book below is also a great teaching tool as it helps explain what happens at each stage.
We are down to 4 tadpoles today!
Day 5
Today my relief teach was in class and I left a labelling activity for her to do. My students were required to talk about the parts of frog and then label them.
Day 6
Today we were learning about camouflage and why frogs have this special ability. We then went and coloured in a frog and had a competition to see who could camouflage their frog in the class.
Wednesday, 26 November 2014
Listen to Reading
The following website has some great books that are read to children. I have used this for some of my students who haven't/don't get books read to them.
Tuesday, 25 November 2014
White Ribbon Riders
Yesterday we were very lucky and had the White Ribbon Riders visit our school. We held a powhiri to welcome them. You can view it on our school facebook page. The White Ribbon is a day that brings awareness to violence against women.
After our powhiri we were lucky enough to go and see their motor bikes.
Before the riders came we also had some Zumba fitness.
Saturday, 22 November 2014
Week 6, Term 4 2014
This week has been good after having a hectic week of getting my mathematics and writing data done. I have been gathering my reading data however it hasn't been to bad as most is up to date anyway.
I had Brenda a maths advisor from the Waikato University. She was into observe and guide me in how I can best support my learners when teaching multiplication and division. It was really good to get her ideas and perspective on teaching multiplication and division. She gave me some really great ideas on how I can link my maths through other areas of the class.
I did say that I was going to update you on how my oral language trial has gone - but to be honest it hasn't gone yet as we have had several things pop up at school that took over the time I had set aside. Fingers crossed for next week.
I had Brenda a maths advisor from the Waikato University. She was into observe and guide me in how I can best support my learners when teaching multiplication and division. It was really good to get her ideas and perspective on teaching multiplication and division. She gave me some really great ideas on how I can link my maths through other areas of the class.
I did say that I was going to update you on how my oral language trial has gone - but to be honest it hasn't gone yet as we have had several things pop up at school that took over the time I had set aside. Fingers crossed for next week.
Teddy Bears Picnic theme
This week I decided we needed a really motivating topic in my class. My students are getting extremely tired and its starting to show. I explained to them that on Friday we will have a teddy bears picnic but have to plan what we need for it. I linked this mainly through literacy.
This involved having my students write a shipping list for what we would need, they had to send invites to their teddies and they had to describe what their teddy looks like. The following link has a link to a great unit or two.
We also had the song Teddy Bears picnic which we learnt and looked at the lyrics:
On Thursday we shared our lists of what we though would be important to a teddy bears picnic - as you can imagine, chips, fizz, lollies etc. We have been drying fruit in the class for our Kai study so they were ready at the perfect time. We also decided that bears also like honey so some honey sandwiches were in order. I also thought that we would make fruit skewers as another heathy option.
So Friday came. The night before I made sure I had all the prep done so that our picnic ran smoothly. We started off by sharing our bears and introducing their name (about my of my class ha nameless teddies) and what we loved about them. My students then completed a teddy description sheet where they had to write 4 things that described their teddy.
We then had to get our fruit skewers ready and I decided to link this through maths. My students had to make a pattern on their skewer using their fruit and marshmallow.
Ok so it was time for us to have our picnic. Thankfully the weather was on my side and we set it up outside. It was just so cute seeing my kids excited to be sharing their picnic with their teddies.
One of my kids decided to throw his teddy around and another child came up with a lovely comment:
"If you were little and your teddy was big you wouldn't want him to do that to you."
To top off our week we watch a short story about a teddy bears picnic:
This involved having my students write a shipping list for what we would need, they had to send invites to their teddies and they had to describe what their teddy looks like. The following link has a link to a great unit or two.
We also had the song Teddy Bears picnic which we learnt and looked at the lyrics:
On Thursday we shared our lists of what we though would be important to a teddy bears picnic - as you can imagine, chips, fizz, lollies etc. We have been drying fruit in the class for our Kai study so they were ready at the perfect time. We also decided that bears also like honey so some honey sandwiches were in order. I also thought that we would make fruit skewers as another heathy option.
So Friday came. The night before I made sure I had all the prep done so that our picnic ran smoothly. We started off by sharing our bears and introducing their name (about my of my class ha nameless teddies) and what we loved about them. My students then completed a teddy description sheet where they had to write 4 things that described their teddy.
We then had to get our fruit skewers ready and I decided to link this through maths. My students had to make a pattern on their skewer using their fruit and marshmallow.
Ok so it was time for us to have our picnic. Thankfully the weather was on my side and we set it up outside. It was just so cute seeing my kids excited to be sharing their picnic with their teddies.
One of my kids decided to throw his teddy around and another child came up with a lovely comment:
"If you were little and your teddy was big you wouldn't want him to do that to you."
To top off our week we watch a short story about a teddy bears picnic:
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