Ready for Buddy Reading!

The children have been learning and practicing the expectations and routines for read-to-self time since the first week of school.  Last week, the children were ready and excited to begin buddy reading!  We launched buddy reading on Tuesday.   Different children modeled what it should look like and sound like when reading with a buddy.  Here is what we learned about reading with a buddy:

• sit EEKK! (elbow to elbow and knee to knee)
• do rock-paper-scissors to decide who will choose the first book
• keep the book in between both readers
• take turns reading (I read a page then you read a page)
• buddies can read a story by pretending to be the characters in that story
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Last week during Reading Workshop we also learned that we can tell how a character is probably feeling by looking at that character's facial expressions and body language.  The pictures can tell just as much, and often times more, than the words!

Last week during Writing Workshop we:

• learned that writers can write labels in their pictures and they can write sentences below their pictures.
• learned that writers leave finger spaces between words so that readers can tell where one word ends and the next word begins.
• started writing in booklets!  I taught the children that just like the authors of the books we've been reading write stories across many pages, they can, too!  
• started Fancy-Up Friday.  On Fridays, children can add color to their illustrations.  They use pencil the rest of the week.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Last week during Math we:

• learned about "taller than," "shorter than," and "equal to" by comparing the height of ourselves to different objects in our classroom.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• learned how to play Number Top-It, a partner card game that requires children to compare numbers.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• made shape collages for squares, rectangles, circles, and triangles.

On Friday, we took advantage of the beautiful day and spent some time outside learning about trees. We visited two different types of trees, a broadleaf and a conifer, and I taught the children about the different parts of these trees.  The children then had time to go on a nature scavenger hunt.  They worked with a buddy to fill a baggie with pieces from nature.  We will use these for a sorting activity during math this week.

And even with all the learning we did last week, we still had plenty of time for play!

It looks like we have another beautiful week ahead of us!  Let's hold onto it for as long as we can.

Warmly,

Katie