Author's Chair

We introduced Writer's Workshop today and the girls' first step was learning how to illustrate a beginning, middle, and end of an event that personally happened to them.  We also had our first Author's Chair today.  The girls will get a chance to share and celebrate their work with their peers after every Writer's Workshop.

Ending Sounds

In language arts, we focused on ending sounds.  The girls pulled a secret object out of a bag and had to say the name out loud.  The girls sitting in the audience had to write the letter of the ending sound on their iPads using Doodle Buddy.

We then completed a chart sort using pictures that had the ending sounds t, l, and n.

In math, we have been working with the girls on sequencing numbers as well as sorting objects by what they have in common.  First, the girls worked in pairs to sequence number cards in ascending order.

Then, they moved onto a sorting activity with their partner. This was both a math review lesson as well as a "secret" lesson to prepare them for their word sorts, which will start next week.  

Afterwards, the girls worked on writing their numbers while they completed a worksheet where they had to fill in various missing numbers, from 1-50.

Donald Crews and Ten Black Dots

The girls were introduced to their first author of the month--Donald Crews.  We gave the girls some background on Mr. Crews and showed them many of his books, including Night at the Fair, Parade and Harbor.  Their favorite fact was that he called his beloved grandmother "Bigmama"!  

After the girls explored some of his books, we read 10 Black Dots. Donald Crews incorporates black dots in funny and creative ways throughout his book.  After we read the story, the girls had to create their own picture using mini Oreos as their black dots.  The girls had a great time creating their own unique pictures.

More and less, and Sneaky Weasel

In math, the girls went on a Lego Hunt! After they found all of the Legos, the girls put the numbers in order from least to greatest and wrote down the number that was one more and one less.

We continued talking about one of Bryn Mawr's core values--respect--and what it means to be a good friend.  We read Sneaky Weasel to the girls and they used a Venn Diagram to compare the story to our class.  We also added a new word to our Vocabulary wall--boast.  

Parent Night 2016

Here is the link to the video from last night.  Thanks so much for coming; Erin and I loved seeing you all again.

Telling Time

We started our mini-unit on time today.  The girls learned the differences between an analog and digital clock, as well as how to use the hour and minute hands on an analog clock.  At the end of the lesson, the girls were shown the time on a digital clock, then had to make that time on their own analog clocks.  The girls did a wonderful job grasping these difficult concepts in a short amount of time.

Writer's Workshop

We started out our Tuesday playing Word Slap with our Word Wall words.  The girls love this game and always look forward to playing it with a partner.

The girls have been learning about transition words and phrases such as first, in the beginning, second, then, after that, next, finally and last.  They are currently incorporating these words and phrases into a How-To book, which they planned out using the iPad app, Popplet.

We also had a chance for our students to listen to a peer's story through our Author's Chair.  The girls loved hearing this particular How-To book about how to write a letter to Santa.