Another week begins!

I cannot believe that it has been almost a week since I've posted last . . . it seems like yesterday that I was on the blogging world!  The end of last week had a couple of ups and a couple of downs, but for the most part was "normal."  (Which I definitely can't complain about!)

Some updates/highlights:

Velcro
When we were outside for recess today, I was helping a student tie her shoes; they were the kind that reminded me of the Keds I used to wear as a kid--you know, the kind with the thin laces that are too short to actually tie well.  After I sent this little one on her way, I overheard one of her girlfriends say to her on the playground: "you know, that's really why Velcro's the way to go."  As I type this, I realize that without a voice recording of these girls, that wasn't really that funny, but the tone of voice/attitude that this friend gave with her little nugget of advice about Velcro was really somethin'.

"So sad!"
During one of my reading groups today, one of my kiddos looked at a guided reading "teacher" book (basically a textbook) that was near me on the table.  He said to me, "Ms. W, is that the book you're reading in your reading group??"  (Little does he know that I do not have a reading group at school . . . )  Regardless, I told him that yes, it was a book that I was reading as a teacher.  He asked me what it looked like inside, so I obliged and thumbed through it, showing that all it was was a bunch of text and tables.  Straight-faced, he looked at me and said, "Wow, no pictures.  That's really sad, Ms. W . . . "  I hear ya, kiddo--this is why children's literature is my favorite genre :)

Goal(d)s
Our class marble jar is almost full!  I don't think I realized how small the marbles I am using are, because we are seven weeks into school, and the thing is still not full--and I give away a lot of marbles!  Anyways, I'm really excited for my class to fill it and get to vote on a prize to enjoy as a class :)

This morning, I pointed this out to my students, and I said to them, "How about we make it our class goal to fill the marble jar by the end of the week?"  With that, one of my students asked me what a "goal" was.  The most popular student responses:
- "It's when you score points playing a game!"
- "It's what happens when you kick the ball into the net in soccer!"
- "It's the metal-stuff that your watch is made out of, Ms. W!" (my watch is gold . . . )

So I guess we'll just think of the marble jar as a net and we're trying to score?

Books :)
I think chapter books are so valuable to read to children, so along with our current author study of Frank Asch (who has written some "older" books, but classics that my kiddos love), I started reading a Magic Tree House book to my class called Good Morning, Gorillas.  We are learning about animal habitats in science, and just finished learning about the rainforest, so I thought it appropriate!  Here's an update on some books we've read (or at least started, in the case of Gorillas) since my last posting:

 

 

Hope your weeks are off to a splendid start--fingers crossed that I will be better about posting this week than I have been in the past couple of weeks!

Love from Room 106,
Allie