Friday Fun - 5/2/10

Wow. What a great week!

This was the first week of the new school year. I met my new kiddies and got back into the swing of doing school. And it was FUN! Over the summer I zoned out completely and enjoyed the bludgy things of life - I even painted my nails! I'd forgotten how much I'm in my element when with my class, so it was unbelievably good to be back at it.

This year I am teaching a Year 1/2 composite class filled with awesome kids. I get to work with both the Year 1 teaching team and the Year 2 teaching team to make sure that my students have access to valuable learning experiences.

Fun this week:

Class Novel
This week the students in Years 1/2 and 2 began reading James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl. We hope to read a few of his books throughout the year and we're enjoying this one so far.

Self Portraits
Year 1/2 and 2 students sketched self portraits and then added colour with oil pastels. They used an edicol dye wash for the background. The finished product was fantastic and it was great to see character shining through the style each student used.

Fundamental Motor Skills
We set up four stations to further develop skills in locomotion and throwing, catching, and striking a ball. The Year 1/2 and 2 classes moved through these activities, having an absolute ball and developing coordination at the same time.

Class Names
The Year 1/2 and 2 classes have selected class names relating to life in the ocean. We have the Super Sharks, the Fantastic Fish, the Stunning Seahorses and the Terrific Turtles (that's my class). We did some research on our animals and then did a relevant art activity. My class made origami turtles using the following video from eHow:

How to Make an Origami Turtle -- powered by eHow.com

Friday Fun
We set up a variety of activities in the Year 1/2 and 2 classrooms and students chose which activities they wanted to try. One classroom was set up with construction equipment including Mobilo, Lego and Gears. Another was set up for creative play with puppets, dress-ups, and a variety of arty crafty activities. And mine was set up with a collection of different types of rocks, magnifying glasses, books about rocks and minerals and mini "science notebooks". We hope to offer a similar variety each week to allow students to explore, learn and play.