Good communication is definitely a learned skill... as seen through the writing of a first grade student:
This comes directly from a note written to a best friend. I will omit names for protective purposes.
You are the best! You are kind to me. You can be a little unkind. But I like you still! Best friends forever! Love.
Then again, there is a refreshing genuineness in this note.
Sunday, December 8, 2013
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Profound Thoughts in First Grade
Last year because I was a first year teacher I was always nervous that I was going to offend a parent if I allowed certain discussions to occur. This year I have grown more comfortable in my teaching style and with discussion, so we've had lots of great Biblically based discussions. My main goal this year has been to teach the truth of God's word and the grace of who He is so that students can have a better understanding of the world in which we live.
This plays out in two ways in my classroom:
1. We are having more discussions on what the Bible stories actually mean, and the characters in the Bible. We talk about the things they did wrong and the things they did well. We talk about what we can learn from them constantly. Last year I just avoided discussing the negative things about Bible characters. But the Bible has many flawed characters, and they can teach us valuable lessons as well.
This brings up my favorite prayer that was spoken in the walls of my classroom just yesterday afternoon. We have been praying for a certain student's grandmother who is in the hospital. This was one student's prayer, "I pray that her grandma won't be scared like an Israelite, but that she would be like David."
2. The second way that this plays out in my classroom is that we talk about the hard stuff in a first grade appropriate way.
Today when I was reading a Max Lucado book that includes many great stories, the topic of divorce was mentioned in the very beginning of a story. I think this was the first time I actually said the word divorce this year.
This topic first came up when I was retelling the story of Jacob and Leah and Rachel. The look on the kids faces when I mentioned Jacob's extra seven years that he was going to work for Rachel was confusion because he was already married to Leah. So I stopped and I reminded them that God is perfect, and when he created marriage he created it to be between one man and one woman. Then I reminded them that we live in a broken world where people steal, kill, break the 7th commandment, and sin. I love to explain it as the brokenness of man and not of God, and then I love to point out that God is SO GRACIOUS to man! So that's what we discussed in September.
When I said divorce today, a child blurted out, "What's divorce?"
I took a deep breath.
And a student decided to explain it before I even had a chance. They shared, "It's when two parents fight and argue so much that they have to live in separate houses so that they won't argue anymore."
I reminded them this is not how God designed marriage to be, but He gives so much grace. And divorce can be hard, but God will always provide great comfort and strength!
I'm learning so much! I am getting a little glimpse into my inadequacies and spending more time asking the Lord for wisdom in how to teach and instruct these little ones. I hope that it's okay that I've shared this here. It is not intended to offend, but to tell you what I'm learning in first grade. :-)
This plays out in two ways in my classroom:
1. We are having more discussions on what the Bible stories actually mean, and the characters in the Bible. We talk about the things they did wrong and the things they did well. We talk about what we can learn from them constantly. Last year I just avoided discussing the negative things about Bible characters. But the Bible has many flawed characters, and they can teach us valuable lessons as well.
This brings up my favorite prayer that was spoken in the walls of my classroom just yesterday afternoon. We have been praying for a certain student's grandmother who is in the hospital. This was one student's prayer, "I pray that her grandma won't be scared like an Israelite, but that she would be like David."
2. The second way that this plays out in my classroom is that we talk about the hard stuff in a first grade appropriate way.
Today when I was reading a Max Lucado book that includes many great stories, the topic of divorce was mentioned in the very beginning of a story. I think this was the first time I actually said the word divorce this year.
This topic first came up when I was retelling the story of Jacob and Leah and Rachel. The look on the kids faces when I mentioned Jacob's extra seven years that he was going to work for Rachel was confusion because he was already married to Leah. So I stopped and I reminded them that God is perfect, and when he created marriage he created it to be between one man and one woman. Then I reminded them that we live in a broken world where people steal, kill, break the 7th commandment, and sin. I love to explain it as the brokenness of man and not of God, and then I love to point out that God is SO GRACIOUS to man! So that's what we discussed in September.
When I said divorce today, a child blurted out, "What's divorce?"
I took a deep breath.
And a student decided to explain it before I even had a chance. They shared, "It's when two parents fight and argue so much that they have to live in separate houses so that they won't argue anymore."
I reminded them this is not how God designed marriage to be, but He gives so much grace. And divorce can be hard, but God will always provide great comfort and strength!
I'm learning so much! I am getting a little glimpse into my inadequacies and spending more time asking the Lord for wisdom in how to teach and instruct these little ones. I hope that it's okay that I've shared this here. It is not intended to offend, but to tell you what I'm learning in first grade. :-)
Monday, October 21, 2013
Poetry & Song
Two of my favorite ideas that we are doing this year in first grade are to incorporate Poetry and Songs into our classrooms. We got the idea from Debbie Miller's book Reading with Meaning, and many of our resources come from both of Maria Walther's books- Reading Instruction for the Differentiated Classroom and Month-By-Month Trait-Based Writing Instruction.
I was disappointed to discover last year that my students did not know the Mother Goose poems. These were little poems that I grew up knowing such as "Old Mother Hubbard", "Little Bo Peep", "Humpty-Dumpty" and other classics. So this summer, my co-teacher and I planned to bring this in to first grade.
The greatest asset about using poetry in my classroom culture is that the children memorize so many poems, and then when they look inside their specially made poetry binders, they can practice saying and reading them while pointing to the words. It's a great way to indirectly get them to learn new vocabulary and thus improve their reading.
The songs that we are learning have been numerous and fun. We've learned songs like "Frere Jacques", "Baa Baa Black Sheep", "Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho", "Kookaburra", and so many more. These are fantastic to use during transition times. I start the song, and the students join in singing. By the time we're done with the song, they need to be ready to learn. I have copies of the songs in bins at each of the tables, and students are allowed to practice reading these as well. Why is this valuable? *Ding *Ding *Ding. This is another valuable source of indirect vocabulary instruction!
I was disappointed to discover last year that my students did not know the Mother Goose poems. These were little poems that I grew up knowing such as "Old Mother Hubbard", "Little Bo Peep", "Humpty-Dumpty" and other classics. So this summer, my co-teacher and I planned to bring this in to first grade.
The greatest asset about using poetry in my classroom culture is that the children memorize so many poems, and then when they look inside their specially made poetry binders, they can practice saying and reading them while pointing to the words. It's a great way to indirectly get them to learn new vocabulary and thus improve their reading.
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| I love finding poems that relate with the current units we've been studying. |
The songs that we are learning have been numerous and fun. We've learned songs like "Frere Jacques", "Baa Baa Black Sheep", "Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho", "Kookaburra", and so many more. These are fantastic to use during transition times. I start the song, and the students join in singing. By the time we're done with the song, they need to be ready to learn. I have copies of the songs in bins at each of the tables, and students are allowed to practice reading these as well. Why is this valuable? *Ding *Ding *Ding. This is another valuable source of indirect vocabulary instruction!
Friday, October 18, 2013
Renovating Basal Readers
When I was a child in first grade, teachers used things called Basal Readers to teach reading to children. These were thick textbooks with collections of popular children's books all assembled inside. We would turn to the same page and the teacher would have students volunteer to read each page outloud, and then he/she would guide us through the questions at the end of the story and that was what we did for Reading time.
In my classroom today I teach reading by sharing a story aloud as well as teaching a specific word family or phonemic idea. I have easy books, medium level books and hard books, and I differentiate by putting my students into a book that suites their specific needs. It has been said that this is a much more effective way of teaching reading than using the "old" basal readers.
What should I do with all of those old basal readers in my cabinet? By the way, they still have wonderful stories assembled inside of them, and these stories are still relevant, but I can't teach each student the old dis-engaged way of how I learned to read because this generation needs more hands-on experience in books.
I got the following idea from a good friend and previous classroom teacher. I cut off the covers on some old basal readers and used the binder combs to assemble each story into a book. I have dozens of books ready for my students to read.
The other thing that I do with "old" basal readers is that I send them home with my good readers that need more practice with fluency because they can keep them for a few weeks and practice reading and re-reading the stories to ramp up their fluency and reading voice.
In my classroom today I teach reading by sharing a story aloud as well as teaching a specific word family or phonemic idea. I have easy books, medium level books and hard books, and I differentiate by putting my students into a book that suites their specific needs. It has been said that this is a much more effective way of teaching reading than using the "old" basal readers.
What should I do with all of those old basal readers in my cabinet? By the way, they still have wonderful stories assembled inside of them, and these stories are still relevant, but I can't teach each student the old dis-engaged way of how I learned to read because this generation needs more hands-on experience in books.
I got the following idea from a good friend and previous classroom teacher. I cut off the covers on some old basal readers and used the binder combs to assemble each story into a book. I have dozens of books ready for my students to read.
One of the students that read one of these books actually thought I had written it because of the binder combs. These books are just as great as the books in our library, but they are also easier to send home because if they get ruined, I don't even have to worry about them. I have so many, and I didn't spend lots of money buying nice hard copy books to send home.
I love that some of them include skill pages to give the child something to do with their mom and dad when they are reading it at home.
The other thing that I do with "old" basal readers is that I send them home with my good readers that need more practice with fluency because they can keep them for a few weeks and practice reading and re-reading the stories to ramp up their fluency and reading voice.
Challenged and Refreshed!
Over the past few weeks, I have just felt busy and a little bit drained of my fiery passion as I felt bombarded with paperwork and keeping track of student assessments, as well as pleasing the parents, and making sure my room is clean. I could keep going, but you get the idea. It's easy to get lost under the pile of things to do.
These past two days I have been encouraged and refreshed attending the Nexus ACSI (Association of Christian Schools International) sponsered conference. Our school had a live satellite video that showed the event taking place in real time. It was an encouragement to be challenged from the Word of God. I was reminded to think back to the time that I was first called by the Lord to go into teaching. I was encouraged to give my best in the classroom, and focus on continually speaking the Word of God on a daily basis... and even before I had time to reflect today, I was encouraged by a woman I don't even know in the ladies' bathroom today. She encouraged me to share my ideas, even though I explained to her how I often feel too new to give anything to the field of teaching. She encouraged me to take the time now to blog and share my ideas with teachers who are stuck in the staleness that may come with years and years of teaching the same grade.
I will have you know that I always view seasoned teachers with admiration, and I desire to soak up everything they can share. I am humbled by their expertise.
And the truth is, I'm not afraid to share my ideas, I just don't think that they're always worth sharing. But who am I to judge? I have a rhyme and reason that I do the things that I do. So going forward, I will try to share the little things that make my classroom special and the things that I do with intention to inspire others. Please know I do this with the most humility. I know that I have so much to learn.
Suz
These past two days I have been encouraged and refreshed attending the Nexus ACSI (Association of Christian Schools International) sponsered conference. Our school had a live satellite video that showed the event taking place in real time. It was an encouragement to be challenged from the Word of God. I was reminded to think back to the time that I was first called by the Lord to go into teaching. I was encouraged to give my best in the classroom, and focus on continually speaking the Word of God on a daily basis... and even before I had time to reflect today, I was encouraged by a woman I don't even know in the ladies' bathroom today. She encouraged me to share my ideas, even though I explained to her how I often feel too new to give anything to the field of teaching. She encouraged me to take the time now to blog and share my ideas with teachers who are stuck in the staleness that may come with years and years of teaching the same grade.
I will have you know that I always view seasoned teachers with admiration, and I desire to soak up everything they can share. I am humbled by their expertise.
And the truth is, I'm not afraid to share my ideas, I just don't think that they're always worth sharing. But who am I to judge? I have a rhyme and reason that I do the things that I do. So going forward, I will try to share the little things that make my classroom special and the things that I do with intention to inspire others. Please know I do this with the most humility. I know that I have so much to learn.
Suz
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
IT'S CHESTER!!!
It's Chester!!!
Chester is one of our favorite characters. We have read all three books written by Melanie Watt- oops, I mean Chester! You'll have to check these stories out if you haven't read them. This cat is quite the comedian and has a precious mouse sidekick to add to the appeal. Ever since we have read these stories, the students quote Chester constantly.
So I have reasoned with my students previously that I can't possibly be the one painting the characters onto the desk because I'm not a good artist.
Well... this is how one child's logic worked as he tried to crack me.
Student: Mrs. MacLeod, I think you're the one painting the desk.
Me: Really? Well, it can't be me because I'm not a good artist.
Student: Well, actually the characters aren't really that good. I see smudges, so I don't think it could be the real authors sneaking in here... I mean, they don't look exactly like the book characters.
Me: Oh Really? (with a big grin)
I will make a general announcement soon that I'm the artist, but until then the logic of my students has been quite amusing.
Sunday, September 29, 2013
What if there are robbers?
On Friday I asked my students if they thought an author was going to sneak into our classroom this weekend and paint another character onto the desk. They threw out quite a few guesses as to who might appear, but then a student asked how the artist will get in if the door is locked.
Me: Well, I can leave the front door unlocked so that an author can sneak in and paint.
Student: But what about robbers? We don't want any robbers to steal our stuff.
Me: I know what to do. I will write a note that says if you're a robber, don't come in. If you want to paint something onto our desk, please come in.
Student: That's a great idea.
I'm glad we made a plan. Who's it gonna be?
Me: Well, I can leave the front door unlocked so that an author can sneak in and paint.
Student: But what about robbers? We don't want any robbers to steal our stuff.
Me: I know what to do. I will write a note that says if you're a robber, don't come in. If you want to paint something onto our desk, please come in.
Student: That's a great idea.
I'm glad we made a plan. Who's it gonna be?
Sunday, September 22, 2013
Our Debt Story- God at Work!
I have always used this forum to share things that I am doing in my classroom or great children's literature that I am reading, however, today I am going to use it to share our story for the glory of God. It includes lessons I've learned through the process of paying down our debt.
I have learned so much since turning 20 about money and God's amazing ability to provide it. I truly know the King of the Universe, the owner of the cattle on a thousand hills.
I am starting my debt story when I was twenty because it was at this time that God provided my first semester of funds to attend Emmaus Bible College. I found myself led to this place, even though it was a 15 hour drive from where I grew up in Pennsylvania, and I couldn't possibly figure out how I was going to pay for four years of a private college education. God gave me all that I needed to attend my first semester there, and laid it on my heart to seek part-time employment and earn any scholarship that I could to provide for this education for the next 3 1/2 years. My part time employment allowed me to earn about $12,000 a year, But GOD provided the rest through so many avenues. I wouldn't have finished my fourth year in 2011 without various provisions from the body of Christ, and ultimately from the owner of the cattle on a thousand hills. I learned quite a bit through this experience including lessons in trust and reliance upon the Lord.
Shortly after I graduated from college, I married my best friend, Colin MacLeod. God had convicted both of us about how to handle the money that God was providing for us. This included a conviction about the principle in Proverbs 22:7 that states that "the borrower is slave to the lender". We knew that we were enslaved to our debtors. Colin's debt became my debt when we married, and my debt became his debt as well. We made a plan, and I know that God honored that plan, but he also wanted to teach us a few things along the way.
During the course of paying down our debt, we had a few expensive incidents occur. We had a big hospital bill from when I got sick one spring, we had various car expenses, and another bill came from a time when Colin had been employed in Iowa. It was easy to allow discouragement from unplanned bills to get us down when our plan was to have our debt paid off quickly, but early on we noticed how God provided the extra that we needed to pay these bills so that we could continue to pay down our debt at the same rate. We gained greater faith through this. I remember thinking that if I did my part, I needed to leave the rest of it in God's hands, and he would honor what we did to get this debt out of our house.
Last fall I was going through our toiletries while making a grocery list, and I asked Colin how he was on his shampoo supply. He was still into a first bottle of two that I had gotten on a special buy one, get one free deal. Men use much less shampoo than women, for sure! I felt relieved that I didn't have to worry about his shampoo supply for a while because he had a second bottle under the sink. He told me, "I'm going to use the rest of the bottle I'm using until we're debt free." I knew it was more than a year away, so I laughed because we were fine, we had another bottle under the sink. God is in the details, however, because Colin used the last of this shampoo the day before we became debt free. It's not about me, and my ability to provide even shampoo; it's about God and his great faithfulness!
Through this time God also started to produce in my a generous spirit. I was able to give out of what I thought I needed, and He always provided the extra when that conviction came to give. God opened my hands which before had been closed around my money. He thoughtfully pried them open so that I would be willing to yield to his plan for my money.
About two months ago, we were praying one night, and I prayed for the faith of David for both Colin and myself. David is such a great example of someone that faced unbelievable opposition, but did not waver in his trust in the Lord. I knew at this point that our debt would be paid off in a few months, so I expected testing, but I wanted David's faith. Well, the very next morning we were awakened with a text from my neighbor telling me part of the tree in our front yard had fallen on my car. I knew before we went out there we must proclaim God's goodness to us. After I said, "God is faithful!" I just felt like a peace from the Lord wrapped around my heart. Then we went outside to survey the damage, and as we picked each branch off of the car, there appeared to be only a few scratches on the hood, no real damage. God was teaching me trust! Big time!!!
As we paid our final bill last Saturday, I felt such relief, and there is so much praise in my heart for what God has shown and taught to me through this time. I am writing this story to share with you in case you are not sure what God can truly do with the debts in your life. He is a redeemer!
1. God transcends unplanned bills.
2. God is in the details, even the provision of shampoo.
3. You can't out-give the Lord!
4. God is faithful!
He was faithful when we couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel, and he was still faithful when I was worried about shampoo. He was faithful when a tree fell onto the car, and he was faithful when we clicked "Make payment" last Saturday morning! He will always be faithful! That's who He is!
I have learned so much since turning 20 about money and God's amazing ability to provide it. I truly know the King of the Universe, the owner of the cattle on a thousand hills.
I am starting my debt story when I was twenty because it was at this time that God provided my first semester of funds to attend Emmaus Bible College. I found myself led to this place, even though it was a 15 hour drive from where I grew up in Pennsylvania, and I couldn't possibly figure out how I was going to pay for four years of a private college education. God gave me all that I needed to attend my first semester there, and laid it on my heart to seek part-time employment and earn any scholarship that I could to provide for this education for the next 3 1/2 years. My part time employment allowed me to earn about $12,000 a year, But GOD provided the rest through so many avenues. I wouldn't have finished my fourth year in 2011 without various provisions from the body of Christ, and ultimately from the owner of the cattle on a thousand hills. I learned quite a bit through this experience including lessons in trust and reliance upon the Lord.
Shortly after I graduated from college, I married my best friend, Colin MacLeod. God had convicted both of us about how to handle the money that God was providing for us. This included a conviction about the principle in Proverbs 22:7 that states that "the borrower is slave to the lender". We knew that we were enslaved to our debtors. Colin's debt became my debt when we married, and my debt became his debt as well. We made a plan, and I know that God honored that plan, but he also wanted to teach us a few things along the way.
During the course of paying down our debt, we had a few expensive incidents occur. We had a big hospital bill from when I got sick one spring, we had various car expenses, and another bill came from a time when Colin had been employed in Iowa. It was easy to allow discouragement from unplanned bills to get us down when our plan was to have our debt paid off quickly, but early on we noticed how God provided the extra that we needed to pay these bills so that we could continue to pay down our debt at the same rate. We gained greater faith through this. I remember thinking that if I did my part, I needed to leave the rest of it in God's hands, and he would honor what we did to get this debt out of our house.
Last fall I was going through our toiletries while making a grocery list, and I asked Colin how he was on his shampoo supply. He was still into a first bottle of two that I had gotten on a special buy one, get one free deal. Men use much less shampoo than women, for sure! I felt relieved that I didn't have to worry about his shampoo supply for a while because he had a second bottle under the sink. He told me, "I'm going to use the rest of the bottle I'm using until we're debt free." I knew it was more than a year away, so I laughed because we were fine, we had another bottle under the sink. God is in the details, however, because Colin used the last of this shampoo the day before we became debt free. It's not about me, and my ability to provide even shampoo; it's about God and his great faithfulness!
Through this time God also started to produce in my a generous spirit. I was able to give out of what I thought I needed, and He always provided the extra when that conviction came to give. God opened my hands which before had been closed around my money. He thoughtfully pried them open so that I would be willing to yield to his plan for my money.
About two months ago, we were praying one night, and I prayed for the faith of David for both Colin and myself. David is such a great example of someone that faced unbelievable opposition, but did not waver in his trust in the Lord. I knew at this point that our debt would be paid off in a few months, so I expected testing, but I wanted David's faith. Well, the very next morning we were awakened with a text from my neighbor telling me part of the tree in our front yard had fallen on my car. I knew before we went out there we must proclaim God's goodness to us. After I said, "God is faithful!" I just felt like a peace from the Lord wrapped around my heart. Then we went outside to survey the damage, and as we picked each branch off of the car, there appeared to be only a few scratches on the hood, no real damage. God was teaching me trust! Big time!!!
As we paid our final bill last Saturday, I felt such relief, and there is so much praise in my heart for what God has shown and taught to me through this time. I am writing this story to share with you in case you are not sure what God can truly do with the debts in your life. He is a redeemer!
1. God transcends unplanned bills.
2. God is in the details, even the provision of shampoo.
3. You can't out-give the Lord!
4. God is faithful!
He was faithful when we couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel, and he was still faithful when I was worried about shampoo. He was faithful when a tree fell onto the car, and he was faithful when we clicked "Make payment" last Saturday morning! He will always be faithful! That's who He is!
My Wink Gave Me Away
I have an antique desk that I found this summer through a friend from college. I had been looking for an inexpensive one for a few months to pursue an idea that I saw back in April that another first grade teacher had in her classroom.
She had an old desk that she allowed her "Student of the Day" to sit in, and it was covered with hand-painted Dr. Seuss characters. I fell in love with it and began to dream big, but all of the desks that I found were over $100. When I saw a $10 old desk at a friend's garage sale, I knew that this was the one.
In August, my husband and I worked on sanding it and repainted it with a white primer. The plan for the year was to paint on book characters each Friday, and allow the students to discover the new characters each week. I started two weeks ago.
I am including pictures of my first book character.
We read a book called Al Pha's Bet by Amy Krouse Rosenthal during the second week of school as we were reviewing our letters and sounds. This is a made-up story about the man that put the alphabet letters in order, as we know it. His name was Al Pha, and he made a bet with himself that he could please the King with the sequence of the letters that, at that time, did not have any particular order. The king loved his sequence that he created, and therefore named it the Alphabet because Al Pha made a bet with himself. It was a cute story full of puns and wonderful illustrations.
And then I painted him. I chose an easy first character to make myself feel more confident. I am not an artist, by any means! But I was very pleased with how he turned out.
On Monday morning, I could hardly contain my excitement. I was hoping the students would notice him quickly, so that I wouldn't have to keep his existence a secret for very long. They did not let me down. It was less than a minute before they were proclaiming that Al Pha was on our "Student of the Day" desk. I feigned surprise, and proclaimed that Amy Krouse Rosenthal must have come in our classroom over the weekend and painted him onto the desk. They laughed and smiled with excitement. I did not trick them however, they knew that I must have painted him. I proclaimed that I wasn't an artist, so how could I have done that?! I proceeded to wink at a particular student as I said this fact. To which he replied, "Mrs. MacLeod, I know what this (he winked at me) means!" I smiled.
She had an old desk that she allowed her "Student of the Day" to sit in, and it was covered with hand-painted Dr. Seuss characters. I fell in love with it and began to dream big, but all of the desks that I found were over $100. When I saw a $10 old desk at a friend's garage sale, I knew that this was the one.
In August, my husband and I worked on sanding it and repainted it with a white primer. The plan for the year was to paint on book characters each Friday, and allow the students to discover the new characters each week. I started two weeks ago.
I am including pictures of my first book character.
We read a book called Al Pha's Bet by Amy Krouse Rosenthal during the second week of school as we were reviewing our letters and sounds. This is a made-up story about the man that put the alphabet letters in order, as we know it. His name was Al Pha, and he made a bet with himself that he could please the King with the sequence of the letters that, at that time, did not have any particular order. The king loved his sequence that he created, and therefore named it the Alphabet because Al Pha made a bet with himself. It was a cute story full of puns and wonderful illustrations.
I decided to make Al Pha our first character. I started by roughly sketching him onto the front of the desk.
And then I painted him. I chose an easy first character to make myself feel more confident. I am not an artist, by any means! But I was very pleased with how he turned out.
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| Here he is compared to the copy of himself that I pulled from the book. |
On Monday morning, I could hardly contain my excitement. I was hoping the students would notice him quickly, so that I wouldn't have to keep his existence a secret for very long. They did not let me down. It was less than a minute before they were proclaiming that Al Pha was on our "Student of the Day" desk. I feigned surprise, and proclaimed that Amy Krouse Rosenthal must have come in our classroom over the weekend and painted him onto the desk. They laughed and smiled with excitement. I did not trick them however, they knew that I must have painted him. I proclaimed that I wasn't an artist, so how could I have done that?! I proceeded to wink at a particular student as I said this fact. To which he replied, "Mrs. MacLeod, I know what this (he winked at me) means!" I smiled.
It's going to be a rather fun year, as the characters on this desk continue to appear.
Sunday, September 1, 2013
AGAIN! AGAIN!
Below are two favorites from this week that I highly recommend you read with your child. These books go hand-in-hand.
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| I recommend reading this one first. |
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Enjoy!
Our Class
Last year I had a job bulletin board, and a class bulletin board. I decided to combine these two needs into one board this year. So I wrote my jobs on little stars, and I decided I am going to hang the jobs beside each student's self-portrait when it is their turn to work on that job.
That meant that I needed each student to make a self-portrait... so I started by making my own and hanging it up on the board. My job is teacher, and that's kind of permanent, so I wrote it across the bottom of my picture.
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| This is what the board looked like when the students came in on the first day of school. |
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| Here I am eagerly awaiting 21 little people to arrive. |
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| Notice the green headband she was wearing, and her glasses actually look like that. |
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| This boy had written "I Love" and the name of a student on his shirt, but I had to cut that for the blog. So sweet! Love the top hat. Those are not allowed as part of the school uniform in case you're wondering. |
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| This child really wanted to give himself crazy colored eyes. I talked him into giving himself the brown eyes that he actually possesses. |
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| This is a true likeness of this child. She did a fabulous job! |
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| Unnatural colored hair is also not a part of the uniform. I just love this one! It speaks volumes about this child. |
You can see that my class is full of personality and zest. I am excited for a new year with new kiddos!
Below is our final product, save two students that have not completed theirs yet.
Sunday, August 25, 2013
This Year's Classroom
I put streamers up for Meet the Teacher Day and took them down for the first day of school. Enjoy!
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| This is the view from my desk area. My students sit in groups of four to start the year. |
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| My classroom library contains 2500 plus children's books. The library was "under construction" until I could teach the kids about proper care for our books. |
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| The carpet area where we have our morning meeting and regular read-alouds. The crate stools are homemade. I got the idea from another first grade classroom. They will hold our tools that we need for mini-lessons that take place on the carpet. |
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| My Art Center and Buddy Reading located behind it. Notice the bags hanging in the background. Each one of those contains two of the same book so that kids can practice reading together. This picture is a little bit dark because it was taken facing the huge windows in my classroom- another amazing blessing. |
My Guiding Principles
I was recently inspired by Debbie Miller after reading her book, Reading with Meaning, to type up my guiding principles of classroom reading instruction into a list. These, in turn, will guide my instruction each day in my classroom.
1. Learning is Thinking. "The one who is doing the reading, writing, and talking is also the one who is doing the thinking and the one who is getting smarter!" (Miller, 12)
2. Students need to spend lots of time in literature in order for them to learn.
3. My thinking can be revised because I'm a lifelong learner.
4. Children need skills and strategies to actively engage with literature.
5. Know where I am going... having both a big picture in my head as well as a day-to-day plan will help my students to learn the targets of instruction.
6. Plans are adaptable. I need to maintain flexibility to help my students to learn what is relevant and most helpful to them in their current skill level.
7. I believe in a gradual release of responsibility. This means, I teach, then guide, then allow for students to complete their work independently with lots of feedback.
8. I believe that in order to grow as a learner, both my students and myself, will need to engage in regular reflection.
9. Our classroom community is one of kindness and care.
10. I need to give intentional and specific feedback to my students to help them grow.
11. I use assessment for both myself to guide my planning as well as to show my students how to reflect their understanding.
12. This is not my classroom, it's ours.
13. We read because it is an amazing blessing to learn and grow. Ultimately my students will be able to read God's Word, and be effective followers of Jesus Christ.
1. Learning is Thinking. "The one who is doing the reading, writing, and talking is also the one who is doing the thinking and the one who is getting smarter!" (Miller, 12)
2. Students need to spend lots of time in literature in order for them to learn.
3. My thinking can be revised because I'm a lifelong learner.
4. Children need skills and strategies to actively engage with literature.
5. Know where I am going... having both a big picture in my head as well as a day-to-day plan will help my students to learn the targets of instruction.
6. Plans are adaptable. I need to maintain flexibility to help my students to learn what is relevant and most helpful to them in their current skill level.
7. I believe in a gradual release of responsibility. This means, I teach, then guide, then allow for students to complete their work independently with lots of feedback.
8. I believe that in order to grow as a learner, both my students and myself, will need to engage in regular reflection.
9. Our classroom community is one of kindness and care.
10. I need to give intentional and specific feedback to my students to help them grow.
11. I use assessment for both myself to guide my planning as well as to show my students how to reflect their understanding.
12. This is not my classroom, it's ours.
13. We read because it is an amazing blessing to learn and grow. Ultimately my students will be able to read God's Word, and be effective followers of Jesus Christ.
Friday, August 23, 2013
We Re-read a Great Book... 3 TIMES!
I read Open this Little Book to my students today...
3 TIMES because they loved it so much!
Check out this great book. It's one to own. I promise; a real crowd pleaser.
3 TIMES because they loved it so much!
Check out this great book. It's one to own. I promise; a real crowd pleaser.
Thursday, August 22, 2013
The Real First Day of School
Officially yesterday was the first day of school, but it
wasn’t what I expected the first day of school to be like. Truly, I only got
about 2 hours with my students. This meant I only had time to read a few books,
work on a craft, and enjoy a snack with them. Then I spent twenty minutes
teaching them how to leave my classroom, and then they actually left my
classroom.
I left the day feeling a little sad.
But then my significant other pointed out that the kids that
came into my room yesterday, well you see, I was expecting them to be like the
first graders that left me in May. They only left Kindergarten in May, and I
get to help them transition into first grade.
And my expectations affected
my mood when I came home. This was something I needed to fix.
This morning is likely the only day this year that I woke up
before my 5:30a.m. alarm. During my time reading my Bible I discovered my promise
for today:
“Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles; They will run and not get tired;
They will walk and not become weary.” Isaiah 40:31
This spoke to my heart today. I was reminded that the Lord
wants great things for my classroom. He promises me new strength as I wait on
him and do my best to teach these kiddos.
And it was a great day filled with some wonderful moments.
Here are some of my favorite ones:
*Random hugs from a few of my students. Let’s be honest,
when a six-year-old makes eye contact with you from across the room, and then
walks over to give you a hug, it is a precious moment!
*One student who seemed lonely and a little sad yesterday
announced at 2:30, “Mrs. MacLeod, I don’t want to leave our classroom.” What a
change from his sad expression yesterday.
*A few students offering to help me with organizational
things around the room instead of playing. What sweet girls!
*Students fighting over books. This just speaks to my heart. I mean, duh!
*A shy student who I expected to take at least a month to raise her hand to share, raised her hand to contribute more than once. I called on her every time!
*A shy student who I expected to take at least a month to raise her hand to share, raised her hand to contribute more than once. I called on her every time!
So now I sit, the real first day gone by… (my scratchy
throat is reminding me of that). I must say, I will wait on the Lord for
strength for each day. This is going to be a fabulous year!
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
A Lesson that I will Never Teach the Same Again
I learned a lesson in Israel, and it's been rolling over in my mind this summer. As a teacher, it has corrected my way of teaching the story of David and Goliath. As a follower of Jesus Christ, it has changed the way I trust in the Lord.
When I first started studying how to study the Bible I learned three main things from a book entitled Living by the Book by the well-known Howard Hendricks.
1. Observation
2. Interpretation
3. Application
These three sporadically pop up in my mind as I'm reading and studying different passages in Scripture. What these guiding principles have shown me (if completed in order) is how to truly interpret the meaning of the passage of Scripture at hand. I've gone on a tangent... this is not the point I'm trying to make today.
There are passages of Scripture that I've never really done this with because they are stories that I already know. For instance, the story of David and Goliath.
In first grade, when it's time for David and Goliath, I do a dramatic retelling of this story trying to conjure up the feelings that may have been floating around in David's head as he goes into battle... but what I did was completely ignore some of what Scripture says he actually did when he went into battle against the giant. I skipped observation. You see I had been teaching my students to apply this story by trusting in the Lord when they come up against giants in their lives. This is not the correct application of this story. There are some things that I have missed because I jumped straight to trying to apply this to my life and my students' lives.
Here is what 1 Samuel 17 says:
The Philistines gathered their troops for battle. They assembled at Socoh in Judah. They camped in Ephes Dammim, between Socoh and Azekah. Saul and the Israelite army assembled and camped in the valley of Elah, where they arranged their battle lines to fight against the Philistines. The Philistines were standing on one hill, and the Israelites on another hill, with the valley between them.
When I first started studying how to study the Bible I learned three main things from a book entitled Living by the Book by the well-known Howard Hendricks.
1. Observation
2. Interpretation
3. Application
These three sporadically pop up in my mind as I'm reading and studying different passages in Scripture. What these guiding principles have shown me (if completed in order) is how to truly interpret the meaning of the passage of Scripture at hand. I've gone on a tangent... this is not the point I'm trying to make today.
There are passages of Scripture that I've never really done this with because they are stories that I already know. For instance, the story of David and Goliath.
In first grade, when it's time for David and Goliath, I do a dramatic retelling of this story trying to conjure up the feelings that may have been floating around in David's head as he goes into battle... but what I did was completely ignore some of what Scripture says he actually did when he went into battle against the giant. I skipped observation. You see I had been teaching my students to apply this story by trusting in the Lord when they come up against giants in their lives. This is not the correct application of this story. There are some things that I have missed because I jumped straight to trying to apply this to my life and my students' lives.
Here is what 1 Samuel 17 says:
The Philistines gathered their troops for battle. They assembled at Socoh in Judah. They camped in Ephes Dammim, between Socoh and Azekah. Saul and the Israelite army assembled and camped in the valley of Elah, where they arranged their battle lines to fight against the Philistines. The Philistines were standing on one hill, and the Israelites on another hill, with the valley between them.
Then a champion came out from the camp of the Philistines. His name was Goliath; he was from Gath. He was close to seven feet tall. He had a bronze helmet on his head and was wearing scale body armor. The weight of his bronze body armor was five thousand shekels. He had bronze shin guards on his legs, and a bronze javelin was slung over his shoulders. The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and the iron point of his spear weighed six hundred shekels. His shield bearer was walking before him.
Goliath stood and called to Israel’s troops, “Why do you come out to prepare for battle? Am I not the Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose for yourselves a man so he may come down to me! If he is able to fight with me and strike me down, we will become your servants. But if I prevail against him and strike him down, you will become our servants and will serve us.” Then the Philistine said, “I defy Israel’s troops this day! Give me a man so we can fight each other!” When Saul and all the Israelites heard these words of the Philistine, they were upset and very afraid.NET
So this first part of the story is pretty hard to mis-understand. There is a battle between the Philistines and the Israelites, and the Philistines have a giant that is taunting Israel. The Israelites are afraid. The ESV version uses the word dismayed. They are quite upset about the possibility of becoming the Philistines' slaves.
So this is where David enters the text of this story. David's three older brothers are fighting in Saul's army. He is spending his time traveling back and forth to feed his father's sheep and check in on his brothers. David comes on this battle scene just in time to watch Goliath taunt the Israelite army. Verse 24 tells us that the Israelites were greatly afraid and fled from him. David's response to their fear is the key to interpreting this story with accuracy.
The next verse says:
David asked the men who were standing near him, “What will be done for the man who strikes down this Philistine and frees Israel from this humiliation? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he defies the armies of the living God?”NET
David doesn't fear this giant. His trust in God is un-compromised despite the circumstances. We all know the rest of the story of David's defeat of Goliath and Saul's army chasing the Philistines out of the Elah valley.
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| The settlement pictured is located at the top of the Elah Valley. This may have been the place where David found the Israelites encamped as they spent each day dismayed and afraid of Goliath. |
But how I am teaching this story to future students has changed. David's trust in God's ability to deliver Israel from the Philistines in this battle is based upon his knowledge that God had a plan for his people. In the previous chapter of the Bible, David was anointed to be the next king of Israel. "Who can defy the armies of the living God?" David knew his God had a plan. He had a promise from the Lord in his heart that kept him from wavering in trusting God to deliver his people.
How does this apply to me: I don't have a promise that I will be the next king of Israel. And I'm not going into a battle against a massive man. However, I do have other promises from God's word that are applicable to my life today. My favorite two come from Psalm 84:11 and Matthew 6:25-34. I can walk around this life with these promises bound up in my heart and rely on them just like David relied on the promise of being the future king of Israel. So when I face challenges in my life, I can go back to the promises that are in my heart from the Lord, and my trust in God's fulfillment of these promises means that I don't have to waver. "Who can defy the armies of the living God?"
I used to tell students to not be afraid of the Giants in their lives. Now I'm going to show them passages of Scripture that offer them hope and truth. And I'm going to tell them to remember these promises as life unfolds. They too can have the trust that David had in the God of the Universe. This story means so much more to me now!
Saturday, July 27, 2013
Field Mouse, Holocaust & Friendship
I have had some enjoyable book experiences this summer. Too many to share, but a few blog-worthy.
I recently read Poppy by Avi in hopes of finding a new chapter book read aloud to begin the fall school year. I fell in love. A sweet and adorable field mouse does a nobel deed in standing up to Mr.Ocax the great horned owl. She is on the hunt for a better place for her family to live because they are running out of food at their current dwelling. As I encourage students to overcome things that may seem frightening to them such as going to a new place or beginning in a new classroom with a teacher they haven't met, I think this book will help me re-iterate that quite well. I expect Poppy to become a class read aloud hero. What I also love about this book is that there are other books in this series, so if my students really like it, we can delve into another story written by the same author. It's always nice to have that available.
I recently read Poppy by Avi in hopes of finding a new chapter book read aloud to begin the fall school year. I fell in love. A sweet and adorable field mouse does a nobel deed in standing up to Mr.Ocax the great horned owl. She is on the hunt for a better place for her family to live because they are running out of food at their current dwelling. As I encourage students to overcome things that may seem frightening to them such as going to a new place or beginning in a new classroom with a teacher they haven't met, I think this book will help me re-iterate that quite well. I expect Poppy to become a class read aloud hero. What I also love about this book is that there are other books in this series, so if my students really like it, we can delve into another story written by the same author. It's always nice to have that available.
When I was in Israel in June, I got the opportunity to visit the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem. I was impressed with the amazing tribute that the Jewish nation has put together to honor their people and the lives given during this dreadful time. I appreciate that so many high quality books have been written about this period of history because it is something that I hope we as a human race never forget. And it shows just how dreadfully evil man's heart really is if is is allowed to manifest any sort of prejudice. What I also appreciate about literature highlighting this period of history is that there are such a wide variety of perspectives to learn about when studying the Holocaust. Someone Named Eva by Joan M. Wolf is a story about a girl from Czechoslovakia. She is taken to a special run German camp to be trained to be a good German girl to help grow this country that desired to rule the world. Throughout the story this girl does her very best to remember who she is despite all of the psychobable that the Germans are trying to brainwash over her. What a powerful story! I highly recommend this for fourth grade and up if you know a reader that is interested in this period of history.
The View from Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg, I originally picked up because the spine was my favorite color. Then I noticed that it won a Newbery so I knew it had to be well written. Well I was not disappointed. This is a story about the friendship of four children despite their obvious differences from one another. It would allow for great discussion about divorce as so many young people have been through this terrible experience. It would also be a great book to help teach your child how to be a true friend when they might want to judge others based upon the way that they look. If you know a young reader that enjoys random facts, this book contains many. You see, it is appealing for such a variety of reasons! I recommend this book for fifth grade and up.
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Waiting with Expectancy
I've been here at school since this morning, and I can't leave...
not because there isn't plenty to do at home or a good book awaiting me in my purse, simply because I'm looking forward to the first day of school. Being in this room brings it all back to me.
I compare it to dating someone new and intriguing, except that phase is over for my life as I am happily married now for two years. But that feeling you get when you date someone new where you just can't stop asking them questions about themself, and you love figuring out how they are emotionally wired or what just makes them tick.
I have the best job! Each year I get to begin the school year by getting to know 20 little people. I get to figure out what they have decided they already enjoy in this life, who makes them the happiest; I love to figure out how they emotionally respond in new social settings, and I get to make them feel safe in my classroom. And of course, they are young learners, so I get to teach them things they have never heard before and gauge the look on their faces when they discover something just completely amazing!!
I will treasure these things up, and I continue to wait with expectancy to see what God will do this coming school year!
Suz
not because there isn't plenty to do at home or a good book awaiting me in my purse, simply because I'm looking forward to the first day of school. Being in this room brings it all back to me.
I compare it to dating someone new and intriguing, except that phase is over for my life as I am happily married now for two years. But that feeling you get when you date someone new where you just can't stop asking them questions about themself, and you love figuring out how they are emotionally wired or what just makes them tick.
I have the best job! Each year I get to begin the school year by getting to know 20 little people. I get to figure out what they have decided they already enjoy in this life, who makes them the happiest; I love to figure out how they emotionally respond in new social settings, and I get to make them feel safe in my classroom. And of course, they are young learners, so I get to teach them things they have never heard before and gauge the look on their faces when they discover something just completely amazing!!
I will treasure these things up, and I continue to wait with expectancy to see what God will do this coming school year!
Suz
Monday, July 1, 2013
Compare and Contrast
I love compare and contrast projects especially with stories that are very familiar to students. I discovered a wonderful new book this week entitled Goldilocks and Just One Bear by Leigh Hodgkinson. A poor bear gets bored all by himself in the woods, so he travels into the city and finds an apartment to rest in because he's feeling tired. But guess who's apartment he just so happens to fall asleep in...
Thursday, June 27, 2013
I Found Two Really Cute New Books
This week I discovered two truly adorable books. Any child would enjoy these! A fifth grader was closeby when I was parousing these, and she became enthralled with both of them.
One of my new favorite authors is Amy Krouse Rosenthal. Some favorite titles include Spoon, Chopsticks, Bedtime for Mommy, This Plus That, and...
One of my new favorite authors is Amy Krouse Rosenthal. Some favorite titles include Spoon, Chopsticks, Bedtime for Mommy, This Plus That, and...
Plant a Kiss
A little girl invents a wonderful idea to plant a kiss. Enjoy these illustrations as one small kiss grows and grows. Your child will ask you to reread this sweet story again and again.
Open This Little Book
When I first opened this little book, I came upon the cover of another book, then another cover, then another cover, etc. Each little book inside this book becomes another little book, then each book closes and becomes a bigger back of a previously mentioned book. Okay, okay, I know you're confused. I did my best. Trust me, you'll just have to read it!
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Worth My Time Read Alouds
This summer, my favorite part of professional development is pre-reading many of the read alouds that have been recommended to me all year long, and creating a running list including my analysis of each book for us to use in first grade this fall. It is a wonderful aspect of teaching first grade!
I have learned a few things:
1. The library doesn't let you put more than 20 books on hold at one time. Bummer. I always get a little red warning pop-up when I feel like I've just got started.
2. Some books are not worth my time to read aloud to my youngsters next year. I'm glad I discovered them this summer. I will not be sharing these titles with you.
3. Some are worth my time! I'm excited to share a few of them with you today:
The illustrations in this book are phenominal! There are very few words, but it teaches a valuable lesson to look for opportunities to help those in need.
Being in American culture makes it easy to feel entitled. Children don't value their education like so many children do in developing countries or in a time before everyone received one for free. Both of these stories open our eyes to just what it means to live in a country where everyone is able to learn to read and write.
Here's to the power of literature to spark worthy and meaningful discussions! Happy Reading!
I have learned a few things:
1. The library doesn't let you put more than 20 books on hold at one time. Bummer. I always get a little red warning pop-up when I feel like I've just got started.
2. Some books are not worth my time to read aloud to my youngsters next year. I'm glad I discovered them this summer. I will not be sharing these titles with you.
3. Some are worth my time! I'm excited to share a few of them with you today:
How to Heal a Broken Wing
The illustrations in this book are phenominal! There are very few words, but it teaches a valuable lesson to look for opportunities to help those in need.
Amber on the Mountain and The Royal Bee
Being in American culture makes it easy to feel entitled. Children don't value their education like so many children do in developing countries or in a time before everyone received one for free. Both of these stories open our eyes to just what it means to live in a country where everyone is able to learn to read and write.
Here's to the power of literature to spark worthy and meaningful discussions! Happy Reading!
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