Birthday Book Brigade

One of our classroom traditions is called the Birthday Book Brigade. We put two special things together, books and birthdays, when we celebrate that special day. The parent of the student celebrating comes to read a book to the class and we sing for our classmate in all the languages we know. Every student is also encouraged to share the love of reading by giving a book to our chosen charity. A celebration for everyone!

Questions and statements

These questions helped us find out who are as a class.

The Blazing Orange Pancake Dogs

Watch this fiery red video to introduce our class name!

Choosing a name

Today we chose our class name. First we broke into small groups to think of suggested names. To guide our thinking, we reviewed the data that we gathered about our class. We also asked ourselves if the name describes who we are as a class. After voting for the top three choices, we wrote our votes for the name that we like.

Reflection

Reflection is a skill and we use this for our learning, Below is one form of reflection called, PLUS MINUS IDEA. We used this tool to share our thoughts about our first time at the Media Center.

Learning Style

How do you learn best? Today we needed to create our boxes for our good fit books and Ms Montilla asked us how we learn best. There were four styles to choose from: demonstration, listening to instructions, looking at a photo or reading instructions. We chose the way that we thought we learned best and put the idea to the test! 

What makes a good speech?

Ms C asked our class to think about joining the student council. Quirijn and Jonas had been student reps the year before so they helped explain the job and the responsibilities. Those who were interested to join showed their intent, and we came up with half the class wanting to serve! Today we asked, "What makes a good speech?" because to vie for the position you would need to say a speech to the class who will then play a role in choosing the student rep from our class. We paired up today and wrote the first draft of our speeches. We will refine it over the weekend with our families and begin delivering them next week.

It's wonderful to see students willing to serve and help out.

Number Talks

Number Talks are fun and interesting because it gives us a chance to share our thinking about numbers, and solve problems together. We tried it for the first time today so we learned the signals needed to show our thinking, and then we shared our solutions. In the end, we identified the strategies and tools that helped us solve the number problem.

Gathering data and getting to know each other

What questions would you ask to get to know your classmates?

To aid in choosing a class name that describes our class, we gathered data about each other through questions that we formulated. After everyone had a chance to reply, we broke into groups again and tried to make sense of the information. We organized the data in a way that can be shared and summarized what we found out by writing statements. We will use this information when we choose a class name on Friday.

Parent Reading

We had our our first Parent Reading in our classroom. We like to start our week with books! We are happy to have the support of parents in spreading the love for reading.

Searching for Books

On our very first visit to the media center, we met Ms Walshe. She explained the changes that we could expect and encouraged us to explore. We were delighted to discover the new ways that books are organized and we tried searching for books on our own. The next day we returned and applied our skills for searching. We are allowed to borrow four books per week! We reflected about our first time and agreed to make changes needed to make our experience better.

Housekeeping

We share our classroom and this will be our home for a year! We broke into committees and planned on how to build our classroom. The committees were a mix of posters to be made, and guidelines for use in our classroom. This is our classroom!

Conversations

Using a thinking routine called Chalk Talk, we wrote our ideas about the three primary agreements we have about school - being safe, responsible and respectful. In this thinking routine, we practiced the back and forth nature of conversations and emphasized how our ideas are connected.

Thinking about skills

Each of us shared a skill that we have. We thought about what skills are and how they are connected to the skills that we learn and practice in ISM.

Names

What do you get when you mix students and magnetic letters? Personalized desks! Students are building a home in their classroom.

Questions

Ms Montilla read the story of Owly, an owl who started asking questions when he was two years old. He was relentless and curious. After the story, third graders wrote down their own questions about third grade. We have this entire year to inquire and possibly find answers!

FOCUS

Today we spoke about the role of focus in our learning. We thought about what the word means to us and tried to share images that came to mind. We used the letters that make up the word to create those images. Mr Campbell joined us and he made binoculars out of the "O" and "U". We all had a go at it and shared our thinking about the connections we make to "Focus". One student created a three-dimensional model of a soldier ready for combat and wrote, "Focus means aiming at a target."

Dispositions

Working in pairs, we thought and agreed on a disposition that described us on our first day of school. We connected these dispositions to the ones that we have learned at ISM and found that they are all connected. Dispositions guide our readiness for learning.

Swimming

We had our first session of swimming today. It was a fun mix of games and assessment and we met the PE team with whom we will be working this year.

First Day Fun