Our first two sessions of ECO have been fantastic.  Much of our time has been focused on learning ECO routines and expectations that will be in place for the whole year.   We always stop in the field when we get off the bus to play a game and have a whole group meeting, which includes thinking of something we are thankful for and singing a song.  Then we quietly make our way into the forest where we settle in for snack and hear a story.  This is followed by our main activity for the day.  Finally, children visit their sit spots, where they write or draw in their journals before we come back together for a closing circle.  The success of this is built on several important expectations.  These include staying within the designated boundaries and making sure we can always see an adult, respecting the safety circle when we are having having snack, and following the three cares:  take care of yourself, take care of each other, and take care of the earth.  Ask your child to tell you about these!

Last week we met with our third and fourth grade learning partners for the first time.  This is a really nice way for kindergarteners to build a connection with older students.  We will continue to meet on a regular basis, often to read together, but sometimes to engage in other activities across content areas.

One of our daily routines is reading independently.  During this time children spread around the room and find a space by themselves where they can focus on reading quietly.  This will be especially important when I begin direct reading instruction.  We began this routine by talking about three ways to read a book- read the pictures, read the words, or retell a familiar book.  While children are not yet able to read words, they do an amazing job of using the pictures to tell themselves both familiar and unfamiliar stories (sometimes their versions are even more interesting than the actual story!)  This has been a time when the class has been completely engaged and we have been reading to ourselves for up to 15 minutes.  Several children have also expressed a great desire to learn to read words, so this week I also introduced reading bags, which will become an essential part of our independent reading routine.  Right now children have two books in their bags, Children in Mrs. Beattie's Class, and another book called I See with just three words on each page and a predictable pattern.  With these books they are able to practice reading each other's names as well as some simple sight words such as "I" and "see".

We have finished sharing artifact bags.  While many of the children in the class already knew each other quite well, I now feel like I have a much deeper sense of the class.   As the bags were shared we worked on speaking with a loud clear voice and listening with our whole bodies, making sure we were really focusing on what the speaker was saying and trying to think of thoughtful questions.  We will continue to practice these skills through regular sharing time as part of our morning meeting.  Because our class is small I don't think it is necessary to assign a sharing day, but I ask that children share no more than once a week, and it is fine to not always share in a given week.  I strongly encourage shares that aren't toys, for example books, objects of special significance, or telling shares.  However, I have had really interesting conversations with past classes about what constitutes a toy (legos are toys, but may involve some really creative building), so children may share anything knowing that most shares will then spend the day in backpacks.

Sharing an artifact bag- great practice in speaking and listening.

This week we welcomed several monarch caterpillars into our classroom.  These will serve as a catalyst for our first science unit, which focuses on sorting and classifying plants and animals and the differences between living and non-living things.  We spent some time observing the caterpillars and drawing scientific pictures of them (trying to draw exactly what we see).   Some of the things we noticed were they are quite small right now, but eating constantly.   They have black, white, and yellow stripes and two antennae.  Sometimes they eat upside down, and they can hang their bodies out off of one leaf while they munch another- they must have sticky feet!  We also talked about what it means to take good care of them while they are with us including making sure they have plenty of fresh food and always using calm, gentle bodies and voices when we are near their house.

Our growing caterpillars.

Making and documenting thoughtful observations.

On Thursday morning, Lindsey Vandal, who will be our ECO leader, came for a short visit to introduce herself and meet the children in our class.  We spent some time outside searching for bugs and  learning a few of our ECO routines and expectations.  ECO will begin next Wednesday, September 9th and continue every Wednesday morning through November 11th.  There is a more detailed letter explaining the ECO program in your child's green folder.   We are very excited to spend time in the forest!

Searching for bugs!

Today we began our Writer's Workshop routine.  We read a book called Library Mouse, by Daniel Kirk.  In this book a mouse named Sam writes books for children who visit the library.  He helps them realize that writing is quite fun and not so hard if you write about what you know.   I modeled for children by writing about something I did this weekend and we talked about the many ways of writing including telling a story with pictures, writing with pretend words, or writing any words we actually know.  Children helped me think of ways to add more detail to my story before they went off to write about their own weekend.  Most children chose to tell their story with a picture, letting me scribe for them when they were done.  We were able to share everyone's work, noticing specific details of each child's writing and hopefully spreading good ideas for next time.  Look for these first pieces of writing in your child's green folder.

We had a wonderful first week of school!  Much of our time was spent establishing routines and exploring materials that we will use throughout the year.  With such a small group it seems we are quickly learning basic expectations and moving through our days efficiently.  Beginning next week I am going to switch our morning recess and choice times so we can be outside with the first and second graders during their recess.  This will give our class an opportunity to mingle with other children on a daily basis and spend time in a larger group.

Thank you for doing such an amazing job of getting your children to school on time each day- I appreciate how challenging this can be, but it really makes a difference when we start the day with the whole group. Also thank you for returning red folders so promptly- this is a huge help to Kathi. Have a wonderful weekend!

Exploring math materials.

Looking at books independently...

and partner reading.

Working on "Hopes and Dreams" for the year.

Playing outside.

Happy first day! 

Your children were fantastic today, from sitting quietly through the assembly first thing, to maneuvering the lunch line and cafeteria routine, and everything in between.  The first day is perhaps the most challenging because everything is new and needs to be explained.  Your children were wonderfully patient and respectful as they began learning our classroom routines.   They received many compliments as we made our way through the school.  Despite the light rain at the start of our morning recess they were very eager to go outside, so we did.  Generally unless the weather is really inclement we will go out, so rain coats and puddle boots are a good thing to have on potentially wet days, although I have quite a few extras that I will happily let children borrow.  Our special today was library and each child has a library book in his or her backpack.  These can be returned anytime directly to the library or to the classroom collection basket.   I took many pictures today and will post some soon.  I expect all children will be quite tired this evening- this is to be expected!