Weekly Wrapup!

What a great week we had!  Even though it wasn't quite a full week, it still managed to be a FULL week! 

In skills:
Each skills group picked a name for themselves.
The first grade skills group decided to name themselves the Organic Squirrels.  They spent the week working on short vowel sounds and nouns.  They haven't started reading their book yet, but it will start soon!
One second grade group's name is the Zesty Wombats.  They reviewed double consonant sounds and suffixes.  They began to read the story The Cat Bandit.
Another second grade group chose the name the Screaming Mustaches.  They reviewed magic e and alternate spellings for long e (e_e, like in Pete; ee, like in bee; and ea, like in leaves).  They began to read the story Bedtime Tales.
The chapter book group chose the name the Ice Dragons.  They are reading a Jigsaw Jones mystery.

Be sure to ask you child which group they're in!

In writing:
Each week the kids write in their project journals.  They summarize what they did in project that week and write about how they felt about what they did.  The first graders wrote 1-2 sentences and the second graders wrote 4-6 sentences.  We also started goal journals this week.  In it, the kids chose a goal for something they can do to make the class a better place.  They will be keeping track of their progress toward their goal in their goal journal.  Ask your child what their goal was!

In Project:
This week the kids made mashed potates in project.  It was an overwhelmingly positive experience for the kids, and most of them enjoyed eating the potatoes, too!  When we make things in project, nobody is required to even taste what they made, but everyone does help to make the food.

In Social Skills:
This week we focused a lot on what we're calling "expected" and "unexpected" behavior.  Sometimes we also call unexpected behavior "rubber chicken behavior."  The basic idea is that expected behavior is doing what's expected from your teachers and peers.  Unexpected behavior is doing things that people don't expect - like having a rubber chicken in school.  We'll put up a whole post about expected and unexpected behavior, but be sure to ask your child what they know about it.

We also spent a little time talking about letting people be who they are.  We read Ferdinand and after discussing it everyone traded shoes and we talked about how uncomfortable it is to wear someone else's shoes.  Then we likened that to trying to be someone you're not.  It's awkward and squishy to try to be a different person than you are on the inside, and the kids agreed that they'd do their best to respect each other for who they truly are.

Lastly, we spent a little time talking about different ways to ask for help.  Everyone agreed that not knowing how to do something is frustrating and can make you sad or grumpy.  Everyone also agreed that when they get help or understand things, they're happy and accomplished.  Sometimes it can be embarrassing to ask for help, but we came up with a few different ways to ask:

"Help please!"
"I don't get it!"
"Can you explain?"
"What does that mean?"
"I don't know how!"
"I don't understand!"

My goal is to get the kids to ask for help and never say "I can't!". 

In all, it was an incredible week.  Everyone is doing well, and each day is better than the last.  I'm excited for our first full week next week!