Miss. Neilson is Missing! Cross-Ciricular Activity

Back to Grade 1!

   I didn’t get any calls today, but that meant I was able to re visit a class I spent a lot of time in last year. The teacher and I organized this really great cross-curricular activity that involved: literacy, math and art that I want to share!

   We started by having a read aloud if Miss Neilson is Missing. We then talked about the book; big idea, characters, setting and some words we didn’t know for our word wall. We then introduced the students to the poem:

Miss. Nelson is Missing!!! I wonder where she went…

How long will she be gone and what was her intent?
All I see are ____ pattern legs that stomp, stomp, stomp
from that mean, horrible, and nasty Miss. Viola Swamp!

   The students are learning about rhyming words – so this was an aid to that.

In math the students are learning about pattering; so the student’s had to create and colour a pattern for the leggings as part of their visual arts/math component.  They also had to identify which type of pattern it was using letters. Students had to cut out Viola’s stockings and glue them onto the paper with feet and a skirt. I thought this was a great idea and wanted to share! Hopefully you can use it in your class somehow!  

The First 20 Days...

    This week I truly realized the importance of the First 20 Days! The First 20 Days is working with the students to establish routines and authentic tasks. This is especially important when it comes to The Daily Five in York Region. Allowing students to become conditioned.  Allowing them a gradual release of responsibility is also important for them to feel somewhat independent when it comes to working.

    I was very fortunate to substitute in a classroom that had little structure from the beginning of the school year. I feel as though everything I envisioned for my own class I was able to let shine while being in this class. I stayed late and came early; making displays and creating structure for a class I knew I wouldn’t be staying in, but to me that didn’t matter one bit.  In the end, I felt like a real teacher in my own classroom and I hope my personal touch will stick with the students and the teacher who ends up with this amazing class.

Here are some of my walls…

Word Wall

Literacy Wall; for reading centre

Family Wall; to build a sense of community

Exit Ticket: Students loved this and it was a super easy way for me to get some formative assessment in/change my lessons for the following days

Math Wall: I forgot to take a picture of it, but it was wonderful and colourful!

Social Studies Wall: Which I made the last hour of my last day and forgot to take a picture too!

I also started a Daily Five wall...

Each of the walls displayed our learning goal, as well as which ever expectation I was hoping to achieve through my lessons. I really did put a lot of effort into making this class something as I would want my own to be, and it was so rewarding! I feel I was able to create more structure for the Grade 2 students as well as establishing expectations and routines for a gradual release of responsibility. If I was there longer I was full of many more ideas! Another huge accomplishment to me was setting up a smart board making technology accessible for all of the students in that classroom; something of which would be difficult for me to live without as a teacher! 

   This is also a really helpful link I took some ideas from during my time in this Grade 2 class:
http://www.smartclassroommanagement.com/2010/08/14/your-first-days-of-school-classroom-management-checklist/

Pintrest is also amazing...I got my Daily Five inspiration from there. 

Parlez-vous Français?

    Music is something I have always been comfortable with – but when I heard the job I was accepting was for French I was a little nervous! Despite having a strong and common French last name, my comfort with French is not what it should be. I can get by of course, which I quickly learned during my travels in France, but teaching it was a different story. I quickly scrambled that morning to re learn my verbs, and come up with a back up plan activity in case the teacher didn’t leave much. To my surprise reviewing and watching youtube videos at 645 in the morning seemed to have triggered all the memories of elementary French. I went in with confidence to realize the French teacher had all of the students set up with work so I didn’t have to use any of my back up plans or even attempt to impress the students with my verbiage! Covereing for French, I was able to meet many different students and talk to them about their year so far. All the students were motivated and well behaved, I even played one of my favourite French games, dix, with each class 5 minutes before the bell.             Another great day! 

Music Substitute!

    I got my first morning call today! I had the privilege of substituting in a subject I have loved and been close to all my life: Music. I was so excited to hear that when I picked up the call. When I arrived at the school it was smaller than I expected but by the end of the day I loved it. Luckily for me, the smaller school made it easier to navigate the halls as I travelled to pick up my classes. The music teacher left a very detailed plan with plenty of extra activities in case we had time left over. It was so nice to go into a class and have such a great plan left by the teacher. My comfort in music helped me a lot while interacting with the students as well. I played the piano to get the students attention to transition from one activity to the next, and sometimes even the drums. This classroom had a lot of musical resources at my disposal I could enjoy and use to my advantage. The students were so impressed when I started playing the piano and singing for their attention rather than raising my voice. They kept asking for me to sing more!

    One thing that really stood out to me in this classroom was the teacher’s classroom management system. She had a system called REEF; Respect, Effort, Encouragement, Fun. The students could earn and loose REEF points depending on their behaviour. Each class started with three REEF points on the board, as the period progressed, depending on their behavior, they would keep the points or loose the points. At the end of the period if the students had three points they would receive three beads in their class’ clear cup kept at the front of the class. If they lost points, they would only receive however many beads they had left over at the end of the period. By the end of the month if the students earned 30 beads as a class they would get a reward. This system really seemed to work for the students; some were even telling me about how many beads they earned in the previous year. Students could also earn individual REEF points, however rather than keep them for themselves, they were allowed to give them back to the class if they chose to. This way the whole class could earn the reward rather than just the individual. I think this is also a great idea because it promotes working together and sharing. 

I really loved my time at this school and am looking forward to going back very soon!