Work on Writing

The second week of school was jam packed with testing, testing, and more testing. Luckily for us, the heat advisory finally let up and we were able to go out on the "big" playground...FINALLY! Let me tell you, being trapped inside all day for the entire first week of school was not fun for anyone. I was so happy that they were able to get out and run off some energy, especially when we had so much sitting to do with all the testing that had to be completed. Even though testing weeks are never very fun, the kids thought it was super cool that the math test was done on a netbook, and the reading test was done using remote control "clickers". I will admit, technology makes for less work on my part too which I won't complain about. When we weren't testing, we were continuing to build stamina for Daily 5. I am so ready to have the whole system up and running and I can't wait until we are out of the "baby" stage and I can finally take the training wheels off! For right now, students are increasing stamina in reading and writing independently so that when we are finally ready to implement all 5 choices, they will be able to work independently for extended periods of time. This will allow me to work with small groups that need additional support. It also also students to work at their own level, learn about making choices, and take control of their own learning. I will get around to posting a more detailed explanation of how Daily 5 works at some point, but I am still trying to keep my head above water with the beginning of the year craziness, which is even more crazy when you are in a new school AND a new grade. Ahhhh! Well, this is going to be a short post and run because my son is about to get into trouble any second. I hope that now our testing is finished we can really dive into all the fun of first grade and I will start having some more exciting things to post about! For now, here are some shots of us practicing "work on writing". This week we learned how to make lists and we made a variety of lists to add to our Daily 5 writing journals.