I LOVED the second day of K1 Prep Camp. It was amazing. So many factors go in to why the second day of school is always better than the first. We've all been together in a group, have been exposed to expectations, and are ready for routine to kick in. We started off our day with writing, mostly because it's a fantastic skill that kids can get started on as they trickle in without missing a lesson.
Tip for your toolbox: Our young writers are still learning how to hold their writing tool correctly and the reality is that it requires an amount of fine muscle skills that develop just like other muscles. They cramp and get easily tired. Students that struggle often find that a crutch can help a ton to ease into the strength building while still having proper placement. Use the lid of a marker or a small Lincoln Log inside the child's fist (last three fingers) while pinching the pen. Have them hold the lid or Lincoln Log the whole time they are writing. It works like magic if you're consistent and you'll find they don't need the crutch rather quickly.
I wish you could all be a fly on my classroom wall. In fact, I was telling this to my husband this evening. There is a teacher side of me that is only brought out when a class is in a groove and would benefit from an incredibly over exaggerated teacher response. I'm dramatic. And loud. And quiet. And, I tend to fall over and proclaim, "OH NO! HE SAID HE CAN'T DO IT! That's what takes away super powers!" And then, do you want to know what happens? Kids laugh, they think it's ridiculous, and they try the task at hand. It ultimately makes the notion of "I can't do it" ridiculous.
We had an awesome win in our writing today. Using the concept of "Growth Mindset" we talk all day long about how we learn and grow by trying and sometimes making mistakes. Our class is talking about drawing people. The skill level varies and we have students drawing heads with stick arms and legs coming out of them all the way to students drawing amazing looking people. We've talked about the shapes of our body parts (not sticks, rather circles and rectangles and ovals). The sweet gal (pictured above) was really trying and when we conferenced we talked about how on the previous page the head took up the whole white space, so where would the body fit? We talked about sizing and I offered a simple smaller drawing of a person. I encouraged her to aim for that approximate size, and she did it! We shared the success with the whole class about how sometimes we just need a little direction from a teacher and with some effort we can succeed.
We headed outside for snack, recess, and math. We counted to 100 by ones and tens. We used the 100 chart to talk about how we read two digit numbers. The first is usually the number name followed by "ty" (think "forty") and then we say the second number in its usual way.
It appears that we don't have any pictures of our reading, but I sure got a lot of video of it. After I pair it down I'll put together another post featuring some of our reading lesson. We had an amazingly successful day. Keep up the great work!
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