Storytelling - the gingerbread man

Story: The Gingerbread Man The school where I am working has a focus on Storytelling at the moment. This focuses on oral language and writing where children engage with one chosen story and pick apart in-depthly. The children learn more language features and this helps them to sequence their writing as well as add more detail to their writing. The first story I tried this with was the gingerbread man.  With storytelling you begin with the process of Hear, Map, Step, Speak.  Here are some things I did for this story:  ·         Acted out the story multiple times, sometimes used children to help. ·         Mapped out key parts of the story. ·         Went outside to step out the story. ·         Imitation: Retold the story in writing. ·         Invention: Missing posters for the gingerbread man.

Managing the feelings in the Classroom

I have found that many children are really struggling to manage their feelings. When they are frustrated some children are responding by hitting their friends.

To prevent this and to help the children to manage their feelings I have put a few new routines in place in the classroom. I have put a red bean bag in the classroom as a cooling down area. This is where the children can sit if they need some quiet time.I also have created a rocket out of cardboard and tin foil. This is another place the children can go if they need some quiet time. This is a more private place if they do not want to be noticed and want privacy.

 The children at the moment are not very comfortable using the calming area as they feel that they are being naughty and will get negative attention for using it. I have been trying to promote this use by prompting children to go there if they are frustrated. I am praising those children who use it. I am using a puppet 'Stanley.' He makes lots of mistakes. I am using role play with him to model when it is a good idea to use the thinking spot.

However, when the children do hit, they have broken the classroom rules and they are sent to the timeout area. This has a visual traffic light where the children can read it for some prompts to think about their actions. They can also use the Calm Down Thermometer to mark how they are feeling.

The children are aware of the routines of the cal down area and the time out area. I need to continue to promote the calm down area.

Treaty of Waitangi

This is such an important part of history for the children to be aware of. It something that I wanted children to know and have an accurate understanding of this history.

I found on line on a site called Teacherspayteachers a book that explains the story in a simple form that is great for Juniors.

I also found a scavenger hunt that the children really enjoyed running around the playground and trying to find the answers to the questions. I did this with the other junior class. Only issue that I found was that some children did not know how to read the information so next time I do this I might do it with my buddy class. Will be a great way to start the year!

Promoting Self Management!

I am trying really hard to promote self management this year and encourage children to take responsibility for their choices.

 Here is an image of a wall that is easily accessible to the children. They refer to this wall to help them to get themselves ready for the day. There is also photos of each child that they move onto the rocket to 'sign in' for the day. I am trying to remind children to complete these tasks before the 8:55 bell.

I found last year that my shelves were at total mess. Therefore, equipment was going missing and it took me a long time to tidy and reorganise each term. I have now created a classroom jobs chart. Each week the pegs change and each child has a job to complete at the end of the day. I play a tidy up song to encourage them to stay focused and to get tidied up within a time frame. It sounds silly but after the song the children quickly turn themselves into a pencil shape. This give me their full attention and prevents any children sneaking off to pack their bags. Once again - promoting self management from the children!

Term 1 Week 3 - Class Treaty

What a start to the Term! I have forgotten how hectic things can be.

Room have finally created our treaty and, of course, this is space themed. I had this structured with words to help the children think of rules they may have wanted in their classroom. This looks great. However I have not been referring to it very much. I may have to move it to a more central part of the classroom. Therefore it will available as a more visual reminder for myself and for children.

Reading Eggs

At our school, all children have a Reading Eggs log in. This is accessible through the use of an ipad or a computer. My classroom has two of each available.

This programme is great as the children can read age appropriate books and then answer comprehension questions about the book. The teacher can assign specific books for reading groups to read. There are also many different word games where the children can practise their letter-sound association skills, high frequency word spelling skills and many more.

Big Books are available and I have used these before and put them up on the data projector to read as a whole class. This is more visually accessable for the children.

I utilise this best at Reading time as it is a rotation for the children. I record those children who have had a turn so that each child hopefully has an opportunity to use this programme if not once a week then once a fortnight.

The children enjoy this programme very much and it is great to see their focus during reading time. The children can also access this at home as a home learning activity.

Term 1 2017!!!!

Whooo Blasting off into my second year of teaching. I have had heaps of fun .... maybe too much... decorating my classroom as a space theme this year. Some children were excited about this and have even given me the nick name - Rocket Teacher.

This last image is the behaviour rocket. It works the same way as the weather chart I had up last year. The children move their names up for when they are making GREEN (good) choices and they move their name down if they are making RED (bad) choices. The children self manage their rockets. At the end of the day if they reach the top they get house points.