Wednesday, September 2, 2009 - The First Day of School!

Primary (Ms. Emily):
1.) We met Mr. Aaron today, and climbed through an obstacle course during fitness.2.) We greeted each other during Morning Meeting with a jumping song.3.) We worked together to create our list of classroom rules. 4.) During art, we finished our “What I Like” posters.

Inters (Ms. Lynn):
1.) We officially named our class The Diener Owls!
2.) We did an obstacle course of jumping and hoping to music with Mr. Aaron in fitness.3.) We’re working on The “My First Day of School” packet.
4.) We discussed the first of our classroom rules: “Be Safe!”

Inters (Ms. Jenni):
1.) Today during Math we reviewed the parts of the calendar and practiced saying the date using the month, day, ordinal number, and the year.
2.) We discussed our classroom rules: Be Safe, Be Kind, and Be Your Best. We created a group web to identify 4 different ways we can be safe in the classroom. Together we came up with walk in the classroom and hallways, sit in your chair, keep your hands to yourself and stay with your teachers. The children then created pictures for each safety rule!
3.) During Language Arts we read a story called Summer's End and then shared with the group our favorite summer activity. The students then drew a picture and a sentence about their favorite summer activity.

Uppers (Ms. Kate):
Ms. Kate’s class had a wonderful day, starting the year with enthusiasm!
1.) In language arts we voted on a book to read, (The Boy on the Beach), did a book walk, learned to make predictions, anticipated endings, and discussed the book, with comprehension and “use of prior knowledge” as the emphasis.
2.) The summer- themed book segued into an activity called “me too” which used Popsicle sticks as “memory prompts”. Each student shared specific summer events they enjoyed, and introduction of a Venn diagram helped us sort out activities we had in common from those that were unique.
3.) Fitness class with Mr. Aaron was filled with excitement and plenty of movement, as the students demonstrated their large/small motor skills. First, we went over the Fitness room rules, played a freeze game and practiced our balance by running obstacles hopping on two feet or one foot!
4.) Alien Greeting: During our auditory listening class, we traveled to another planet! We discussed how on Earth, when you greet someone, you shake their hand and say, “Hello!” It involves a movement (shaking hands) and a sound (talking voice). On our faraway planet, we had to introduce each other, especially to Ms. Patrice—our new Science teacher! We each went around the circle and introduced ourselves with our own alien greetings!

Uppers (Ms. Barbara):
1. ) Today we worked with Mr. Aaron and had a fantastic time using the parachute in fitness!
2.) We worked as detectives to find information about all our new classmates.”
3.) To learn more about The Diener School, we interviewed staff, and labeled a map of the building.