Beginning of School

We have been SO busy the past two weeks learning the classroom rules, routines, and procedures! At the beginning of the year we spend a lot of time going over these expectations and also learning each others names! We do all sorts of name games and activities.

We read the book "Pete The Cat: Rocking in My School Shoes" and then went on a search around the school looking for Pete's missing shoes- A great way to tour the school!

 

 

We read "A My Name is Alice" and created our own portraits

 

 Various Name Games

 

 

 

Hurtful vs. Helpful

We are working on hurtful and helpful words. We talked about if anyone has ever said anything to us that hurt our hearts. I wrote them down on a big red heart. Then we talk about how it feels when someone says something hurtful to us or about us. I tell tham that for me it feels just like my heart is being crumpled. We crumpled up the big heart. I explain that sometimes the person who said the words may not have meant it. They might say they are sorry, we might forgive them, and that will make our heart feel better. We uncrumpled the heart and smoothed it out as much as possible. But then we talk about how the heart may look a little better, but it's still crumpled a little. No matter how hard we try, it is never going to be the same as it was before it was crumpled!

It's the very same with our own hearts. Although it definitely makes someone feel better when we apologize after saying hurtful words, it is much better to never say them at all!

We talk about some helpful words, words that make our hearts feel good and read the story "Words Are Not for Hurting." We made smaller hearts to take home with us to remind us of the kind words we should be using with our friends. This is something you can and should definitely reinforce at home!!

Welcome to my blog!

Welcome to Miss Garner's classroom blog! Please stay tuned each weekend for class updates, peek at the week, and pictures of what we're doing in school. Like what you see? Feel free to leave a comment!