So much happened this week, as usual in an active and exciting classroom. I feel like I won't do it justice here, but hopefully you all received the documentation pages I emailed, too. I am putting a lot of the children's work up, so please make sure to come in to see it.
This week we talked about ourselves as a class and brainstormed a list of words that would describe who we are. It was neat to see that words like "Readers", "Discoverers" and "Pleasant People" were on the list. Interesting to think about our identity as a group and the words that we would like others to use about us. The list is up on our door. Soon we will revisit this and see what type of name we shall chose. As I told the kids, "Jennifer's class" isn't exactly correct, since our class belongs to all of us.
We are continuing to interview a friend a day. You can find all the interviews in our class binder for now. This process has helped us to think of more in-depth questions. The children are beginning to realize that some questions have assumptions attached to them. For example if you ask, "What do you want for Christmas?", it assumes that you celebrate Christmas. Not all our friends do. These discussions are supporting the children to think of questions that don't assume that the other person thinks, acts and believes just like you do. It has been neat to see how open the children are, both in being willing to answer these types of questions, and in listening to another's different answers.
This week we watched on video on a Giant Elephant Shrew. This was so funny because it made us think about names again, and why we chose them. Why would a 6-inch animal be called a "Giant Elephant Shrew"? The children were tickled, at first, but then they did find possible reasons for this name to have been chosen. Here's the link if you want to watch it again:
http://video.kids.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/kids/animals-pets-kids/mammals-kids/shrew-giant-elephant-kids.html
And finally, we had our first "Silly Meeting" this week. I have done this in the past and found it was an important part of a classroom's life. I do it to support the children to see that there is a time and a place for silliness. By knowing when we ARE being silly, they can begin to see when we are NOT being silly. We are talking regularly about what clues we can see at every moment to tell what others are doing, expecting and trying to communicate. Facial features are a large part of this, but this requires getting into the practice of looking!
In a silly meeting, each friend can take a chance to go in front of the class to do something that they think will be silly. It is also a great outlet for humor, as well as a means to study how humor works. This week we already saw forms of slapstick, heard jokes (that did and didn't make sense, but all made others laugh) as well as silly noises. As we do this periodically, the children will begin to see what does and doesn't make others laugh. And, (and for me this is a big one) they will begin to see that if you repeat the same "funny" antic many times, it loses its ability to be funny. And don't we all know an adult that may not have learned this yet...? :)
I would like to share a sunset that I enjoyed this weekend. Reading (and taking photos) on the beach at sunset is one of my favorite ways to unwind. I hope you enjoyed a moment with a few of your favorite things this weekend, too! Love, Jennifer
No comments:
Post a Comment