Patterns

Patterns, patterns and more patterns!
 
One of our groups in maths is working on consolidating patterns.
 
Not just colour patterns, but patterns that are pig, rabbit, horse, pig, rabbit, horse......
 
I just loved taking these photos from the angle of my Preps.
 
My Preps thought I was mad. Asking questions like Why was I was crawling around the floor?, What was I looking for?, "Did I lose something?".
 
When they realised what I was doing they they then took the photos for me.






 

Sensory Garden

I know I have said this on a number of occasions - I love my workplace.
I have not been involved in the behind the scenes work, but will definitely benefit from the work and dedication of this group that are putting together this sensory garden.
 
We currently have a team of parents, teachers and students who are working together to develop a sensory garden.
 
This has meant many hours of work, applying for funding external to our school, planning, meetings, buying goods and getting sponsors. AMAZING!
 
These lovely paintings have been done by our Preps (5 year olds) and are the culmination of the hard work by one of our Prep teachers.
 
They are amazing and this teacher is amazing, thanks Pascale.
 
These paintings will be lacquered and added to the walls of our flower garden.
 
We are seeing daffodils grow and in summer will see sunflowers.
 
One daffodil and one sunflower for each Prep. planted by a Prep and loved by a Prep!


As we walk around this sensory space we see huge mushrooms, lady birds and plants that we love and care for.

End of term - staff reflection

Our last staff meeting for the term was this afternoon.
 
The coaches (me and 3 others) and our Principal felt that it was important for staff to celebrate and acknowledge the learning that we as a staff have done and how that has impacted on our students.
 
So we came up with two questions....
 
1. What learning have you been most proud of this term?
 
and
 
2. What impact has this had on your students?
 
We asked all staff to bring on two sticky notes the answers to these two questions. We had drinks and nibbles and shared in a circle - all 4 Prep teachers, 8 Year 1/2 teachers, 8 Year 3/4 teachers, 7 Year 5/6 teachers, 5 specialists and our leadership team bought their sticky notes as prompts and shared.
 
Each staff member was prepared, shared and spoke from the heart. Our staff cared about the impact of their learning and the effect on students. It was an amazing staff meeting and one that was clear about why we are here!
 
We also asked for feedback on our two curriculum groups - English and Maths and used a PMI to record this. We will act on this early next term. A PMI is about the positives, negatives and interesting facts.
 
I do work in what we consider to be a learning community.
 

Teen Numbers

We have been working on consolidating what we know about teen numbers.
Just saying them can be tricky.
When you listen carefully you can hear - twelve, thirty, forty, fifty, sixty, seventy, eighty, ninety, twenty....
As teachers we need to count everyday with our students to encourage fluency of counting and we need to go to 120. More about that in another post!!!!!!
 
 
 
We have been sequencing and showing collections to 20. I have so much more work to do......


 
 
We will be using my teen number pack this week in Discovery Learnng to consolidate our teen numbers. I will post more photos about teen numbers this week.
How do you teach and consolidate teen numbers?

Picture story book linky

Deanne at http://firstgradeandfabulous.blogspot.com.au/ shares a passion of mine - picture story books.
 
Check out her post and as I did - I thought WOW, as this lady is sitting on a floor in a book store in the USA, on the other side of the world I am doing the same thing!
 
We both engage and use our love of books and hooking kids in - there is no better way.
 
So join in and share your favourite picture story books about starting school.
 
 
These are just a few of my back to school books. I can recommend each and every one of them to you and you will not regret having them on your book shelf. Some are about the Mum/Mom finding it hard to settle in, some are about being nervous and then of course working out that there is nothing to be nervous of.


 
 




Happy buying, reading and sharing everyone!


Throwback Thursday

Cara from 'the first grade parade' is  hosting this flashback linky
 

My flashback is to a post I made in November 2012

'Work on Writing' has been an amazing addition to how we work in our Literacy Block. Our Preps have enjoyed the independence that this creates and the writing that is produced is amazing.

As outlined in 'Daily 5' it is important that our students know what their role is and what our role is. They need to know what the teacher does to understand why we confer and why they cannot interrupt that important time - as their time will come too! We make these anchor charts together and it makes a real difference to how learning occurs.

As stamina increases for writing and the urgency of writing takes place the atmosphere changes. These examples are from students who have been at school for only 9 months.

The set up of the room is important. If you want independent writers they must know where the anchor charts are and where all the equipment is kept.

We have a shared meeting space where the timetable is kept, groups are listed and tasks are identified for students.

Our Preps are able to choose how to write using a variety of formats. We provide some proformas like alphabet keys, rainbow words and checklists to extend and challenge our writers.

Our checklists are for point of need, so each cohort group has a colour and there are different expectations for each group. Our Preps know which is 'best fit' for them and will check what they need to do and work independently.

We also have books in our book stand that are waiting for authors. Children take a book that interests them and plan by drawing a picture, writing, read to someone to get feedback and then make changes if needed. While they are working on them they stay in their locker.
 
Here are some examples of writing from our learning space.

Writing goals

Our Prep Team have decided to use these booklets to record writing goals for our writers.
 
Each booklet stays with their writing folder and is accessible each and every time they write.
 
If we record that they need to have spaces in their writing, then each time they do this we put a sticker or tick on the page.
 
When they have shown that they can do this 5 times - the page is then added to our 'I can' wall for all to see.

Keep your eye out for more photos of our wall as we develop it.
 
I will also post writing samples and goals next week.
 

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