More lessons on Gratitude

Today was a fine example of always being prepared for the unexpected! It was a good thing that I was feeling over prepared for today, because I thought we were going to the public library. After talking to the Grade One teacher, I realized that we are actually going next Wednesday! Oops! :) We got in a lot of great reading and lessons today and still did not get through everything I had ready for the students. :) I love productive days!

This morning, we continued with our Thanksgiving theme of "Giving Thanks". We read Curious George Says Thank You, where George makes thank you cards for people who have helped him. So, our class made our own Thank You cards for the special people in our lives! I loved seeing the combination of creativity and sweetness that ensued. The students used blank cards that I had bought at a craft store and decorated them with pictures and stickers. They had the choice of trying to write "Thank You" in their card and then they dictated to me a specific message of thanks. My two favourites were thanks to a sister for her snuggles and thanks to parents for the hamburgers they make!

We also made a few more leaves for our bulletin board that shared our thoughts on what we are thankful for:

Most of the leaves express gratitude for friends, family, and toys.
 

For ELA we tried our first See, Say, Spell to practice our PWIM words. I also read The Mixed Up Alphabet, we practiced singings the Alphabet Song, and tried to think of different ways that we could make letter shapes with our bodies! We even got into groups to make different letters. It was a lot of fun! I'm also finding the students practicing the alphabet recognition game I Have, Who Has during their free choice centers! In Phys. Ed. we practice throwing and catching balls individually and in partners.




This afternoon we worked on creating and representing patterns using bears. It was VERY exciting today because the students discovered that they have patterns on their shoes and clothes!! We are realizing our 'big idea' in math: Patterns ARE everywhere! We also began to discuss fire safety, as it is Fire Safety Week. We read Clifford The Firehouse Dog and discussed what we already knew about what you do in case of a fire. We learnt about "Stop, Drop, & Roll." Then, we worked on a fire truck craft, where students had to colour shapes, cut them out, and the paste them onto another sheet that had an outline of a fire truck. I think they turned out great!

 

 

We will be learning more about fire safety on Friday, with a special visit from the Fire Chief!

As my students are learning, I hope that everyone expresses gratitude and says thank you to someone today (and everyday)! That's how we fill one another's buckets, including our own.