Back in the Classroom – A Creative Christmas Week

2013-11-29 | puppy1952

All this week I have been striving to keep the routine as normal as possible – difficult when you have to take in the reading books and start sending home exercise books and artwork – a clear indication to the little ones that the year is fast drawing to a close. To soften the blow we have stopped working in exercise books and instead concentrated on Educational and Creative Christmas activities. The girls have enjoyed the cutting and sticking, dot to dots,fun sums, word searches, crosswords and creative writing that we have done in various forms.

Of course the Grinch who tried to steal Christmas has continued to be our focus.

The Grinch Pops out of the page

A very good interpretation

Stunning Santas

I really don’t like this time of the year. It’s not that it’s the silly season – it’s the approaching parting of ways that is so hard. Of course the children must move on and there is another class waiting to be welcomed but somehow that doesn’t make it easier. The emotions are just there! The children are excited about next year but at the same time anxious about leaving what they know and it is my job to reassure them that all will be well when what I really want to say is – Don’t leave me Angels – and some dark part inside me says – the new teacher won’t love you as much as I do. But of course that’s not true – she will and my angels will continue to grow and I will start again with a new lot!

When I look at this photograph I felt so enormously proud – look at them engrossed in their books. That is what teaching Grade One is all about – they come illiterate and leave reading and loving books. They have learned the most important skill necessary for further learning. They have learned to READ!

A class full of readers

Enjoying the process

Deep into the stories

On Wednesday I will do my last Back in the Classroom Blog of the year. I look forward to seeing all my parents at the Awards Ceremony on Monday. Your little ones will make your proud!

Back in the Classroom – Reading to Children

2013-09-07 | puppy1952

“Whose mommies and daddies read to you, everynight before bed?” I asked my girls . A sprinkling of hands went up. “Whose mommies and daddies read to you before you started Grade 1.'” Just a few more hands went up. I noticed that most of the girls who were still being read to, were good readers themselves. Those who never had stories read to them were making slower progress.

The mistake that many parents make is – Now that my child is reading – I needn’t read to her any more. She must read on her own – she needs to practise.

We talk to our babies before they can understand the words we say – and very soon they’re talking too. It’s the same with reading – first we read because they can’t read themselves but we must continue. Read books to your children that have a more advanced vocabulary and watch how their use of language improves. There are many advantages of reading to your child.

It’s a wonderful way to get your child into bed and settled for the night.
It’s a special togetherness time – sit close to your child and let her see the words and pictures as you read.
Your child will be hearing well-written English which will contribute to her gaining good language skills.
You can use the story for life lessons and discussions.
Books, both fiction and nonfiction, teach general knowledge.
New worlds are opened for you both to share.

Let reading to your child become part of her bedtime routine. Make sure radios and television are off when you read to your child and make it a special time – do not let any digital devices interfere with this time. Put your phone on silent!

What should we be reading to our children? Take them to the library and show them the array of books in the children’s section and let them choose! Some children really love nonfiction so don’t neglect that. Let them browse through a nonfiction book and let it be more of a question and answer session rather than reading it from cover to cover.

There are many modern children’s authors writing wonderful stories with fantastic illustrations but don’t forget the old fashioned fairy tales. The girls in my class love The Three Little Pigs and Cinderella as much as the children who I taught from past generations did. Alice in Wonderland, Peter Rabbit, Winnie the Pooh – just never go out of style.

Here is my very short suggestion list – there are so many books out there but in my book these are compulsory reading.

AA Milne –Winnie the Pooh

Beatrix Potter – Peter Rabbit + all her other books

Kenneth Graham – The Wind in the Willow

The Brothers Grimm – All their fairy tales

Lewis Carroll – Through the Looking Glass

Ludwig Bemelmans – Madeline

Rudyard Kipling – The Just So Stories

Enid Blyton – The Wishing Chair and The Faraway Tree

I read to my girls at school as often as possible. I read stories that we as Grade One teachers have decided on together as well as books the girls bring that they want to share. We all enjoy the stories. But this is not a substitute for Mom and Dad reading to a child. There is not the same intimacy, bonding and sharing. Start the habit now. If time runs out – leave the homework – Read to your child!

Back in the Classroom – Work, puppies and party time

2013-06-09 | puppy1952

Love is a warm puppy! Two of the little girls in my class have recently each acquired a dachshund puppy. These little cuties co-incidentally came from the same litter. I was delighted to be introduced to the two cuddly bundles last week.

Two cuddly bundles with their proud owners

The most important thing we learn in Grade 1 is Reading. If we don’t grasp this skill all other learning will be seriously compromised. Everything possible is done to improve our reading and writing vocabulary. A good way to revise our reading words is to work on cards based on our Reading Scheme.

Here are the girls busily working at their tasks.

We seem to have lots of May and June birthdays and we had another birthday girl on Friday! And wow were we spoilt – a party pack each and the most beautiful cup cakes! Luckily it was Friday and P.E. for the last part of the day so the sugar high was worked off before home time!

The birthday girl handing out the treats

Things are as busy as ever at school. The older children are busy rehearsing for their Pantomime – Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. As I am the prompt I know its going to be good – so if you haven’t got your tickets – don’t delay and don’t miss out on this hilarious take on an old favourite.

Back in the Classroom – Building Sentences, Valentine’s Day and Our First Project

2013-02-14 | puppy1952

Forgive me if I enthuse about everything that happens in Grade 1 but really it is the most exciting and rewarding grade to teach. The little ones have been at school for less than five weeks and yet already they have come so far. Yesterday they used their Reading words to build and write their very own sentences. Many of them made up completely new sentences using the words from the vocabulary learnt so far while those learning at a slower rate reconstructed the sentences they know from the story they are learning. This is all part of the process of learning to read. I still get excited when I see the children getting to grips with the written word; there is nothing more thrilling.

Valentine’s Day – what does that mean to a six or seven year old. Well its all about Love isn’t it. And at my school we believe that children learn well when they feel safe and when they feel loved. So celebrating Love is important and fun. Children and staff came to school dressed in red and white, we made Valentine cards for our friends and family and the whole atmosphere of love just seeped into us. The was an atmosphere of joy throughout the whole school.

My girls looking cute in red and white

Late yesterday afternoon the staff all received a text message – Meet in the Staffroom at 7:30 a.m. Prizes for the best dressed teachers! Oh my – what shall I wear? I guessed the idea would be to go fun and funky – so on my way to gym I dropped in at the local super market and bought rose clips for my hair and in the morning put on my best red dress and raided my jewellery box for something red! Sure enough on arrival I was in fits of laughter at what some of my colleagues turned up in. The young men cross-dressed and one even donned fairy wings. The principal wore a jester’s hat and the deputy had hearts on her cheeks. The staffroom was decorated with bright red hearts which read – Your are Loved. It seems a small thing but it really did build morale and made one feel appreciated. Photographs were taken and senior staff announced that Chocolate Cake and Cream would be served at break when the winners would be announced. At break I joked that I only taught at this school because the food was good! My principal said – there aren’t many perks but this at least was one of them! While we indulged the prizes were announced. We cheered for our funky, fun loving colleagues and then my name was called – for the most beautifully dressed staff member! I actually blushed. My prize wrapped in red tissue paper in a red carrier bag – a bottle of win and a PS chocolate! And wow – it made me feel good. Thank you Leadership – it was a really fun day.

My girls just loved the roses in my hair

In Grade 1 – ME is very important. Today the girls did their very first school project which was all about who they are, why their parents chose their names and why they were special to Mom and Dad. They brought photographs of their lives thus far, information that Mom and Dad had prepared with them and bits and pieces to decorate their presentations. What fun they had putting it all together and what fun I had finding out all about them. Well done parents for your special involvement in the preparation and well done girls for your beautiful presentations.

Hard at work with a little help from our GAP

Altogether it was a very successful Valentine’s Day but it was not yet over. When I got home there were a dozen red roses from my Romantic Husband and to end a wonderful day he took me to my favourite Restaurant, Just Sushi, where we were treated to a free glass of Bubbly and a starter platter of Salmon Roses. And Dessert was rather special too.

A perfect end to a lovely day – sushi followed by chocolate coated strawberries

* A GAP is a full time learner teacher. (Guided Approach to Pedagogy)

Back in the Classroom – Learning to Read

2013-02-02 | puppy1952

What I just love about Grade 1 is the way they learn to read. How do they learn to read? Each child has a different way – for some it’s visual – for others auditory then again it may be a combination of both – tactile comes into it too. They use picture cues, contextual cues and a dozen other cues. Some children learn easily for others it takes longer and some might even need specialised help. The good news is that almost every child does learn in the end. I try to make each reading lesson fun and so far the girls seem to be enjoying it.

But before a child learns to read she should have had many many stories read to her. Parents and other adults in the child’s life should not stop reading to the child when she begins to learn to read to herself either. She will be gaining so much from having books with richer vocabulary read to her; books she can not yet read to herself. Hearing language builds language. I cannot emphasise enough how important this is. Then when it comes to helping your child at home the key is – no pressure. Do not ask her to sound out a word – or say things like – you know that word – you’ve just read it. It takes time for the new words to sink in. Make the reading session fun – read with your child – tell her the words she gets stuck on then come back to that word later.

Many parents say to me – my child doesn’t really know the words – she is reading the book off by heart. Or If I cover the pictures she can’t read the story. Please, parents – all of this is part of the learning process. Do not cover the pictures – they give important clues as to what is happening in the story. Learning by heart is also part of learning to read – eventually those words will be recognised. Let her read off by heart and then point to random words and see how many she eventually learns to read! Let her work out the word by its position in the sentence. Referencing is also a way that gets that word embedded into her head.

Over the past few weeks we have had fun doing lots of different activities.

We learned a new word – Symmetry – and filled in details on a face.