My kiddos are starting to get into routine again and I couldn't be more excited to get past procedures and all those not so fun items that are needed at the beginning of the year. This week we started our first Jill Eggelton book during shared reading - Ratty Tatty Cat.
It's one of my favorite because the rhythm in the book is so great for kids to catch onto. I follow her day by day schedule pretty well for now as we build routine but eventually I'll need to focus more on the standards and how those can be incorporated with her book. On Monday we read the book and focused on digging deeper into the text with comprehension questions. Tuesday we found WOW words and added them to our wall. Wednesday we looked at punctuation and how to change your voice when you see those marks. They did this cute little activity where they got to pick a punctuation mark to use and then they got to practice writing a sentence and talking with a partner. At first, my kids struggled so we had to do a lot of modeling but after a few times where I modeled and then we did some guided practice, they got really good at it! It was cute seeing them come up with a sentence to use and watch them practice reading it with a friend.
Thursday, we looked at a word family - AT and found them in our book and added words to the word wall. I had the kids do an interactive activity where they were able to brainstorm words and put them in the -AT family "house". They thought it was so neat and were really into it - even calling the words "brothers and sisters". Love their little firstie brains. Friday was the last day - so we read the book all together and then they got to illustrate a picture and pretend they were the illustrator of the book. Lots of them focused on the part int he book where ratty tatty cat gets stuck in a cage - they can be so creative with their speech bubbles. We hung their work on our "Art Wall" and picked our favorite lines from the book to add to it as well. Loved doing something more interactive for them this week. Next week we focus on Setting's in book - I'm excited to see how they will do with that!
My low of the week was getting literally NO time in my classroom to plan this week. It was ridiculous how many meetings and things we had to be at. Monday we had professional development on Lucy Calkins writing since our district is committing to her Common Core books this year, Tuesday I had a math training after school, Wednesday we had a staff meeting, and by Thursday I was completely fried. I know that we need meetings as teachers but how in the world are we suppose to get anything done? Our little chunks of planning time in the day are not usually enough so I end up taking a lot of it home. Hopefully these next few weeks won't be as bad and I can find a rhythm of how to get everything done. I know I'm not the only teacher that struggles with this! :) Husband had a fantasy draft on Tuesday night, so I went back to school - snuck the puppy in so she wouldn't have to be alone at home again - and worked until 9:00ish that night. Wednesday I was there late as well to get everything done so I don't have to go back this weekend. Life of a teacher!
What are you highs and lows from the week? Link up!
Until next time.
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