Have You Filled a Bucket Today?

No, not a real bucket! The bucket you, and everyone around you, carries with them each day to be filled or dipped from by others. Bucket Filling is a character development system based on the concept that your invisible bucket holds your thoughts and feelings. When our buckets are filled, we feel happy; when our buckets are empty or dipped from, we feel sad.When you fill another person's bucket, you fill yours too! And when you dip into someone's bucket, yours is dipped from as well. It's a way of thinking about being kind, caring individuals that children can relate to easily, and in a tangible way.

Yesterday we talked about how it feels when you make a friend feel good by giving them a compliment, helping them with a problem, or including them in a game. We all agreed that our buckets overflow when we are kind to others! We also talked about how it feels to dip from other people's buckets by saying hurtful things, excluding them from games, or tattling on them. We talked about how (myself included) the "easiest" people to dip from are our siblings or our family members because we spend the most time with them. We also decided that dipping might feel like a good response to a problem at first, but in the end we feel really crummy. 

To really make it tangible, we have a new Bucket Filling system! Each child has a bucket (or a pocket on a jewelry holder - thank goodness for TJ Maxx!). When we wish to fill someone's bucket with a kind thought or helpful words, we fill out a slip and put it in their bucket. We also fill both their bucket and ours with a colorful bead to signify our buckets being filled.

Finally, we all took the Bucket Filler Pledge!

Each Friday we will read our bucket slips and take them home. Our beads will be emptied, and we'll start fresh on Monday. Children are encouraged to fill buckets of people in the class they might not be close friends with, and can do it as many times as they wish. I truly believe that maintaining a classroom community allows children to feel comfortable, happy, and successful, and Bucket Filling will become a way to keep it going in our classroom all year long!

For more information, visit www.bucketfillers101.com

Whodunnit???

We have officially kicked off our genre study unit with one of my favorites: mysteries! We will be indulging in all things mystery - reading groups and book clubs, read-alouds, and mysteries of the day. As we continue to read and listen to more and more mysteries, we will discover the important elements that make up a mystery. So far, we've learned what a detective is/does/looks like, and what the importance of a clue is. In the next few weeks, we'll learn more about the culprit, problem and solution, the "red herring", and how predictions can help support our reading of mysteries. At home, you can support your child by reading mysteries and making predictions along the way. Have your child point out the elements, too!

Our Mystery Word Collector is available for reference during reading and writing.

Readers are finding clues in their mysteries!

Math Workshop

In the past few weeks we've begun to change the way we think about math - not in terms of what we learn, but how we learn. We've talked about how, just like in our families and groups of friends, people are experts at all types of things, and how we can use that information to make learning new math skills better!

In Math Workshop, there are 3 different rotations that happen each day: Work with Miss G, Journal or iPad, and Game of the Day. While a group of students are learning the new skill (or reviewing), the other students are either working on the corresponding Math Journal page, are playing a particular game on an iPad, or are playing the Game of the Day. Groups change frequently according to the skill being taught. In each group, we might be reviewing, practicing with each other, or challenging ourselves. It all depends on what we
need!

This group is playing the Game of the Day together, Nests and Eggs.

It's the first exposure to multiplication that students have! Ask us

about it at home :)

 

Students are working together on a tricky Frames & Arrows problem!

This group is working at the rainbow table with 

Miss G finding patterns in odd and even numbers.

 

This group is working in their Math Journals on a new skill learned.

The Daily 5: We're Old Pros

Here we are, the Daily 5 experts! Less than a week after the launch, we are a well-oiled machine in room 9. There is no guesswork - students know expectations, how to access materials, and work successfully every round. 

Listen to Reading

 Work on Writing

 Read to Someone

Word Work

 Read to Self

 Reading Group

Book Shopping

New Changes!

If you have not heard already, we officially have butterflies!!!! This past weekend, our chrysalises began to split, and we came in Monday morning with 3 butterflies already fluttering around the net. As of this afternoon, we have 17 butterflies and only 1 chrysalis left!

If you're wondering what those drippings are on the bottom of the net, ask us what new vocabulary word we learned this week! 

The Science of Butterflies

Since you last saw our caterpillar friends, much has changed in our classroom. Our tiny creatures went from being less than a centimeter long to about 3 in just a few weeks. Unfortunately, they are difficult to photograph. We learned that as caterpillars walk, they spin silk from their mouths. Eventually, their tiny habitat cups become cloudy with silk, making it almost impossible to see through. Just this past weekend, though, our caterpillars went through enormous changes - each and every one molted one last time, hung in a J-shape from the tops of their habitats, and have all now transformed into the chrysalis stage! They were carefully moved to our class habitat where they will hang by their silk buttons and complete their metamorphosis by soon turning into Painted Lady butterflies. 

The Daily 5 Begins!

I am SO thrilled to announce that the launch is complete, and we have officially begun the real Daily 5! As of today, all five choices are available: Read to Self, Read to Someone, Work on Writing, Word Work, and Listen to Reading. Despite a few glitches with headphones and tape recorders, we completed 4 very successful rounds of literacy choices. 

More photos to come later this week, so check back!