New mindset, Novel Engineering, Reader's Workshop, and a class update!

Hello!  I am ready to blog again!  This time not so heartfelt!  I know!  I was thinking about my last post all week.  People kept checking in on me to make sure I was ok and telling me to hang in there.  Then I felt bad!  I mean, I totally spoke the truth, but I didn't want anyone to think that I'm not LOVING my job, because I am!  And to tell you the truth, these kids are really starting to grow on me.  We have had a really amazing week, and I am truly thankful for them.  Sometimes I forget how young first graders really are at the beginning of the year!  I STILL haven't gotten this figured out?!  I mean, seriously?!  Anyway, I feel like things are on the upswing in Mrs. Trauterman's room and I couldn't be more happy about it!!  Here are some awesome things going on in our room this week:

Novel Engineering

First of all, if you didn't read my blog post from this summer about novel engineering, you should read it HERE.  I set up an "engineering/ makerspace" station in the room to use for this exact purpose this year.  I did let them try out the materials on the second week of school just to explore (what was I thinking?!), and they got to know what the tools were for, but we didn't do an organized lesson with it until today.   And I did it!  I decided to try it!  Getting to know my group of kids, there was one thing I know that they need more than anything - LOTS OF STRUCTURE.  So we talked about engineering.  We learned what novel engineering is.  We watched a youtube video of a novel engineering project in another school.  We talked through the steps, and then we dove right in!  It was actually kind of... magical!  It was not chaotic.  It was not loud or obscenely outrageously out of control.  It was organized chaos!  There was noise, but there was a little buzz in the room.  So first, today during read aloud, we read the book OWEN  by Kevin Henkes.

We've been studying all Kevin Henkes books during our read aloud time.  They are awesome because they tell good stories while expanding character traits and also teaching a good lesson.  

So during Science, we got out the book, and went through it page by page.  "I bet there's no problems in THAT book!" Shouted Gavin from the rug.  I told him he would be surprised!!  We opened up to the first page, and we spotted a problem!  A nosy neighbor named Mrs. Tweezers!  "I think she's so nosy" I told the kids.  Then Austin pointed out that we needed to create a way to keep Mrs. Tweezers from spying over the fence.  Everyone agreed.  The problems started coming from there.  Here's our list of problems that the class came up with together.  

I like to just bring up a word doc and type it in while the kids tell me.  This saves on chart paper!

Then I had them "turn and talk" to their partner about which problem they wanted to solve.  After they came up with a problem, it was time to sketch our idea!  This is key because you don't just want to give kids a bunch of materials if they aren't prepared to use them and test out their ideas scientifically.  I told them they were only allowed to visit the engineering station AFTER they showed me their sketch and I had a clear idea of what they were going to do.  Here are some of the sketches...

Gavin is making a stool for Mrs. Tweezers so she doesn't have to stand on pots.

Calley is also creating a stool for Mrs. Tweezers.

Austin was creating a contraption to remove Mrs. Tweezers from the fence so she can't spy anymore.

Then, once I approved their design, I allowed them to get some materials from the engineering station.  I was the tape Nazi and went around giving kiddos strings of tape to get started with their designs.  We had some tears because some designs didn't work out as planned.  Tomorrow, we will revisit our plans, see if we need to "tweak" anything, then try to make changes.  Here's a look at some of the designs so far...

Gianna was working on a blanket holder so Owen doesn't have to carry his blanket everywhere!

Rainey is creating something new from the blanket with some fabric

Hunter made Goggles to that Mrs. Tweezer could see over the fence better!

Alexi turned the blanket into a shirt instead of a handkerchief.  She likes that idea better.

We will get these designs back out tomorrow to see how we can make them improve.

This went so great!!!!!

Reader's Workshop

Reader's workshop has really started off great.  This week, my class really got it together. I started meeting with groups, and I feel like we are on our way to a successful year in reading!  (I know I said last week that it wasn't going so hot, but it's amazing what a difference one week makes!)

First of all, we met our stamina goal!

We read for 30 minutes and did great!

Then we started partner reading!!!

They love reading together!  <3

We have been working on our reading strategies.  We have a new reader's workshop curriculum this year, and I love the tools we have for our anchor charts.  Here's how mine is looking so far.

I decided to add some pictures of our word attack strategies to the poster along with the habits so that the kids saw the correlation.  

And finally!  We've started reading groups!  We have totally gotten into the groups this week.  I love giving them strategies to work on and checking in with my readers frequently on their reading.  It really helps their stamina and their confidence!
Here's a look at how I'm organizing my group sheets this year:

One clipboard for each color-coded group.

This is easy for me to see and easy for the kids to see when they come to me next.  It also is easier for me to grab a clipboard, than to lug around a huge binder :)  I still have my binder for individual notes, but these clipboards seem to be going great for groups. 

Here's close up shot of my new forms that I made this year.

I like the space for each student and the space for goals worked on.

Reader's workshop is going great!  I feel like they've already made so much growth in less than a month of school!

Other great news of the week:

• It's Christopher's brother's birthday!
• London moved up a reading level!
• Our class got all greens in music class yesterday!
• Alexi was big 3 yesterday and she was super excited!
• Aubrey lost two teeth!
• Stephen has a wiggly tooth!

PEACE

~Shelly