the First Day

It was a terrific first day!!

Our morning work was a word find using all the names of the students in our class.

We started by organizing our materials. Ms. Leom had labels prepared for each student, and we organized our materials and cubbies.

We learned about lining up. We practiced our fire drill. We practiced using the bathroom as a class. Then for today only, we had our snack break after 9:00 am (it is usually right when we come to school).

Next, we started our family posters. We will share our families with the class tomorrow morning! We talked about drawing pictures in fourth grade, we draw full bodies (no more stick figures), and we use color.

Ms. Prose and Mrs. Aren's classes joined our classroom to talk with us about Responsibility Cards. We had a "guest" visit our room, K.I.Dee. She was a lot to handle. Mrs. Prose relied on the students to help K.I.Dee figure out the school rules. You'll have to ask your fourth grader about this character!

We are working on two lists. "What do Students Need to Do to Be Successful?" and "What to Teachers Need to Do to be Successful?"

Students Need to:
* when finished, quietly turn in and be responsible
* work on any missing work if you have time
* helpf each other
* listen when people are talking
* be respectful of people and their things
* be considerate
* be honest
* be prepared
-- have your materials
-- do your work
* do your best

Teachers Need to:
* teach the standards and fourth grade lessons
* be welcoming to students who need help
* be prepared
* be respectful of time
* make learning fun
* be a listener
* be patient
* follow directions

We enjoyed Recess and Lunch. We sit at the Kangaroo table in the lunchroom, toward the middle of the South side (little gym) of the cafeteria.

Ms. Leom is reading the book, "Fourth Grade Rats" by Jerry Spinelli to us. We had time to write in our planners and more work time on our family posters.

Next, we talked about our class rules: Respect, Responsibility, Citizenship, Honesty, and Follow Your Family Rules. We went through examples of each. Students worked in pairs (based on who they sat next to in class) to illustrate an example of each, then shared with the class. From our work, we were able to create a mission statement for our classroom learning community, that is written in red, at the top of this blog: "We have school expectations of honesty, respect, responsibility, and citizenship, because everyone knows what to do, feels safe, and can be successful learners.

Students filled in their "tickets" about their BEST part of the day.

Some ideas shared:
* Getting to Know Mrs. Leom
* Making the Family Poster
* When Ms. Prose and Mrs. Arens classes came
* Ms. Leom, Ms. Prose, and Mrs. Arens
* Recess
* Lunch and being with friends
* Drawing a picture and Recess
* Reading the Fourth Grade Rats
* Family Poster
* Responsibility Cards Orientation
* I liked learning new things
* Everything
* Meeting Ms. Leom
* Sharing my Picture
* Homeroom
* When K.I.Dee came in
* Projects

By now, the day was over! Well, almost. We had Media with Mrs. Vickers, and Phy-Ed with Mr. Talberg.

Can't WAIT for tomorrow!!