It is a brand new school year, with a brand new classroom, and brand new students! I'm ready! I'm excited! I cannot wait to spend the school year cultivating all the interesting and innovative strategies I have been learning about. I want to spend this whole post bragging about how amazing, and warm, and welcoming all of my new 6th graders are. They have made my first week in this district beyond wonderful. Not to mention, all of the teachers and administration. I don't think there are enough positive words in my vocabulary to do them justice. My goal with beginning this blog is to share all of our classroom moments with the world. The successes, the struggles, and everything in between. And so it begins...
One of the first things I like to do with students is team-building activities. The Number Circle (not it's real name, I'm not quite sure of its real name, so this is what students have begun calling it), is a great team-building activity. The students all stand on tape in a large, wide circle. Inside the circle are notecards numbered 1-40. The goal is for each card number to be tapped on, in order, one at a time, as quick as possible. I try to give the students as much freedom as possible to figure out their strategies. I usually give students three rounds to produce the fastest time. In between each round, I give them 30 seconds to discuss and strategize with each other on how they might go faster the next round. The students absolutely love the game and love when competing against other classes. I love hearing students take control and assist each other in learning.
We have a book nook area with five pillows and a rug. The students understand that five pillows allows for five students on the rug. Once there are five students there, they either have to take turns or find somewhere else in the room. I have designated two students in each class to straighten up pillows and books before they leave the room every day and this has been relatively successful so far. It's a work in progress!
Our reading goal for this year is to read 250 books total in each class, so 750 for all students. This translates into each student (roughly) reading ten books a year, a book and a half a month. It is the first year I am creating a reading goal, so it will be a learning experience. I'll make sure to share progress as we move forward. However, during discussion many students already brought up goals of reading 10 or more books, so I remain hopeful!
To assist students in reaching their reading goals, and ensure students always have books with them for reading, I have begun implementing a Status of the Class check every day. I have Michelle Brezek to thank for materials. She is my mentor teacher and a Literacy Coach and is absolutely amazing! Status of the Class is done right after attendance every class. I simply flip through student calendars asking what page they are reading. Occasionally, we will discuss previous chapters and how they are liking the book so far. Using this method, I am able to see who comes prepared with a book every day, who is consistency reading, and who is giving up on books too often. It is an incredible system to use.
Lastly, we have begun conferencing. My goal is to check in with every student at least once a week for two-three minutes. We discuss their independent reading book, any concerns they may have, and check in on their goals for the week/month. This week was our first attempt at conferencing. It was done over a two day period, meeting with half the class each day. Students didn't have many concerns, but every student had a goal they are working to achieve. I am pleased with student commitment this year.
Our first week has been a raving success. We did tons of team-building and getting-to-know you activities. We began setting up a structure for our classroom. We discussed positive classrooms and what ours should look like, and we set up goals and mottos to work on each week. I could not be happier!
Getting to Know You:
Along with The Number Circle, we played the Name Game and Bingo to Meet You. The Name Game is extremely popular and easy to play with students. Again, students stand in a large circle. I usually make myself the last person, meaning the person standing on my left is first to go. Students simply go around the circle repeating each others names, adding more as they go. For example, Johnny goes first. He says his name. Then, Mike goes and says "Johnny, Mike." Then Sarah goes, and says "Johnny, Mike, Sarah." And so forth...Students add names as they go until it gets to me, and I have to say all of their names. The students love this because I openly admit I'm still learning all of their names and might not be able to do it. They love to see me flounder about for names! By the end of this game, we almost always know everyone's name and students are begging for a chance
to go last themselves. This was a personal favorite this year in several of my classes. We also played Bingo to Meet You! This game is used just like regular Bingo, but instead of numbers, there are questions to find answers to. For example, find someone with blue eyes, find someone with a dog, with siblings, etc. It forces students up out of their seats (LOVE!) and the ability to talk with their peers and find out more about each other. For this game, I owe credit to MrWatts on TeachersPayTeachers. If you haven't browsed this site, please do so soon!
Along with all the getting-to-know-you and team building activities, I asked students to share with me some of their expectations for this school year, this classroom, and ELA. The results were astounding! Four questions were asked on separate posters: Our classroom should be ____ every day. What do I need to know to help you succeed this year? What goals do you have this year? What can we do to make sure we have a good school year? Student responses were thoughtful, creative, and honest. I appreciated being able to see their goals and hopes for the school year. It was extremely helpful to be able to see their expectations for the classroom and curriculum throughout the year, as well. I want students to constantly be aware of their goals and expectations and have hung up the four posters throughout the room. They won't stay up all year, but they will be brought out multiple times throughout the year to remind students.
Students also worked hard to create a Name Bubble this week. A Name Bubble is a brainstorming bubble all about themselves. The students write their name in the middle and branch out from there. The first branches are all the things about them. Then, you go back and add detail, add branches. The more branches you add, the more detail you share. This gave students a chance to practice their brainstorming strategies, as well as get to know their table partners and share about themselves. My students went above and beyond to create their name bubbles this year!
to go last themselves. This was a personal favorite this year in several of my classes. We also played Bingo to Meet You! This game is used just like regular Bingo, but instead of numbers, there are questions to find answers to. For example, find someone with blue eyes, find someone with a dog, with siblings, etc. It forces students up out of their seats (LOVE!) and the ability to talk with their peers and find out more about each other. For this game, I owe credit to MrWatts on TeachersPayTeachers. If you haven't browsed this site, please do so soon!Along with all the getting-to-know-you and team building activities, I asked students to share with me some of their expectations for this school year, this classroom, and ELA. The results were astounding! Four questions were asked on separate posters: Our classroom should be ____ every day. What do I need to know to help you succeed this year? What goals do you have this year? What can we do to make sure we have a good school year? Student responses were thoughtful, creative, and honest. I appreciated being able to see their goals and hopes for the school year. It was extremely helpful to be able to see their expectations for the classroom and curriculum throughout the year, as well. I want students to constantly be aware of their goals and expectations and have hung up the four posters throughout the room. They won't stay up all year, but they will be brought out multiple times throughout the year to remind students.
Students also worked hard to create a Name Bubble this week. A Name Bubble is a brainstorming bubble all about themselves. The students write their name in the middle and branch out from there. The first branches are all the things about them. Then, you go back and add detail, add branches. The more branches you add, the more detail you share. This gave students a chance to practice their brainstorming strategies, as well as get to know their table partners and share about themselves. My students went above and beyond to create their name bubbles this year!
Structure in the Classroom:
We are now into week two of the school year and working hard to create a structure in the classroom. We are working on learning when to get up and move around the room, where to put belongings when not using them, what to do when finished early, and the basic setup of the classroom. This year, students are starting off on a good note!
There are three bins in the classroom for each ELA class to keep their ELA notebooks in. At the beginning of class each day, a designated table is assigned to passing out the notebooks from their classes bin. Each table is numbered 1-5, each table has a specific day of the week they pass out bins. At the end of class, notebooks are put in the middle of the table and one person from each table returns them. This has worked extremely well with the flow of the class.
The students begin class with a Quick Write every day. Some days (mostly Monday or Friday), students are given a free write, where they can write about whatever they want. The rest of the week students are either given a prompt, a video, a song, or quote to write about. I always tell students if they run out of ideas before the time is up, switch topics and begin free writing. As long as they are writing the full time, any topic is acceptable.
This year, to introduce students to writing based on a video, we started with Piper. It is a short three-minute video based on Piper (a baby bird), who is terrified of ocean waves, but determined to succeed in order to find his own food. This video is a great way to discuss problem solving. I recommend this video as a writing prompt because it gives students a chance to expand on the story. Or just to watch as a cute brain break video :)
Students have also been working on their independent reading. My goal is to extend independent reading time for at least 45 minutes. We're beginning the year with 5-10 minute increments spread out throughout class. Sometimes, as soon as they're done journaling we begin reading. Sometimes, it will be in the middle of class when they finish assignments early. Sometimes, we save it for free time at the end of class. I have found spreading it out throughout the class period has showed students it can be done at any time of the day and doesn't tire them out.
We are practicing appropriate activities for what to do when finishing early. First, the student always needs to go back and check their work. Triple check. Then, students have three options: independent reading, writing/journaling, or coloring. This has gone phenomenal so far. The students are respectful and understand their peers are still working (for the most part).
We have a book nook area with five pillows and a rug. The students understand that five pillows allows for five students on the rug. Once there are five students there, they either have to take turns or find somewhere else in the room. I have designated two students in each class to straighten up pillows and books before they leave the room every day and this has been relatively successful so far. It's a work in progress! 
Our reading goal for this year is to read 250 books total in each class, so 750 for all students. This translates into each student (roughly) reading ten books a year, a book and a half a month. It is the first year I am creating a reading goal, so it will be a learning experience. I'll make sure to share progress as we move forward. However, during discussion many students already brought up goals of reading 10 or more books, so I remain hopeful! 
To assist students in reaching their reading goals, and ensure students always have books with them for reading, I have begun implementing a Status of the Class check every day. I have Michelle Brezek to thank for materials. She is my mentor teacher and a Literacy Coach and is absolutely amazing! Status of the Class is done right after attendance every class. I simply flip through student calendars asking what page they are reading. Occasionally, we will discuss previous chapters and how they are liking the book so far. Using this method, I am able to see who comes prepared with a book every day, who is consistency reading, and who is giving up on books too often. It is an incredible system to use.Lastly, we have begun conferencing. My goal is to check in with every student at least once a week for two-three minutes. We discuss their independent reading book, any concerns they may have, and check in on their goals for the week/month. This week was our first attempt at conferencing. It was done over a two day period, meeting with half the class each day. Students didn't have many concerns, but every student had a goal they are working to achieve. I am pleased with student commitment this year.
IPads:
IPads begin rolling out this week. Hopefully, it will be a smooth process and students will be able to implement them in their daily activities. I personally have very limited knowledge working with iPads so this will be something I work hard to learn about throughout the year. If anyone has any suggestions on using them, I am all ears!
Happy Labor Day Weekend!
With love,
💜 Ms. Haury
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