What does reading time really look like in our classroom?

What does reading really look like in our classroom? Well, it is certainly a busy time and what's taking place in the room varies from day to day. Here are some images that capture an hour in our room during  one day of reading!

Ian works on work from spelling while Callan and Julia use the ipads to work on Lexia.

Julian and some other students are reading to themselves (and snacking!).

Here I am working with a reading group. They just read a non-fiction book about sharks and are creating a flip chart with facts about 3 different sharks. (I had some second graders take these pictures :)

And here is a group working on a paper mache project. They just finished reading a book about whales and are creating a 3D whale that will hang in our room with facts dangling from its belly!

First Aid with Deirdre

Once a month, Deirdre, our nurse visits our morning meeting. Her topics range from stopping the spread of germs, to lice, to first aid and more.  This time she introduced the kids to some stuffed turtles and a specific injury for each. The students brainstormed ideas of what to do for the turtle and then practiced on the doll. We practiced how to stay calm, not panic and think about what the best thing to do is when an accident happens!

 

This poor turtle got kicked in the shin during soccer at recess. Julian and his group bandage it.

This turtle got sand in her eyes. The students are putting some saline in.

This turtle has a bloody nose.

This group works together to bandage their turtle's arm.

Schema

We have been learning about schema in reading.  Schema is all the information you have in your brain. Readers use it to make connections and deepen their understanding of what they have read. We worked in groups to record the schema that kids had about fireflies. Then we read Fireflies! by Julie Brinkloe.

Schema is always growing and changing!

ipads

Many amazing apps have been loaded onto our school ipads and we have been using them! We use them for spelling word practice, reading fluency, sight word practice, listening and reading books. More in depth posts about each app to come.

We all signed a contract about how we will treat the ipads.

BINGO

While our class enjoys number bingo, we also play a lot of word bingo too. The students 'build' their own boards giving them a chance to practice writing each work. Then when we play they are practicing reading each word. Double the practice in one activity! Plus lots of fun. If you are the winner, you get to be the next caller! This would be a fun way to practice words at home too.

Math Facts

All primary unit students are working on math facts. In first grade the students are working on learning the +1 facts and completing as many as they can in one minute. Then we graph the results, each time trying to increase our score. We will move onto other facts after the + 1 facts.

Charades

Each week we have a chunk of time that is dedicated to playing games.  What a wonderful time to learn new games, practice turn taking, being a good sport, and many more skills! Some favorites are Rat-A-Tat-Cat, Uno, Sorry, puzzles, Spoons, and Witches Cauldron.One week we used the time to play charades all together. We had such a great time!