Day 9

Compared to yesterday, today went pretty well.  We've had a lot of students out sick this week, and they were all back today.  Its amazing what a difference a few kids can make! It seemed very busy in the room.  The group was chatty again, and it really felt like a friday.  I don't know what the deal is! 

We did a few phonics pages today, and I was very impressed.  It was a type of assessment, to see where the kids are and if any of them need extra help.  The entire class did well enough not to need extra help!  It was very exciting for us.  It makes life so much easier when everyone is on the same page.  After phonics and snack, we practiced our Dictionary Skills.  This is when the students are given 6 words to find in the dictionary.  They have to write the guide words, page number, definition, part of speech, and a sentence using that word.  Its pretty time consuming for them, because even though they've done it a few times they are still trying to grasp the concept of alphabetical order, what the purpose of guide words are, etc. 

We had an assembly today, which was sort of comical to me.  They are trying to raise money through fundraisers to buy new playground equipment, and they're getting ready to start a magazine sale for a fundraiser.  So, today they brought in this guy to explain to the kids how "easy" it is to earn money for their playground through magazine sales.  He even told them "if you sell 1 subscription, you'll get a Webkin!" This is a big deal to them.  It cracks me up, because I remember this when I was little... they sucker the kids into wanting to do something, who in turn sucker their parents into doing it.  I'm not knocking the fundraising part, and I'm all for new playground equipment, I just think its funny how these companies know exactly how to make it seem exciting to the students.

After school, I spent a couple hours creating a poster for the class.  The 2nd grade is just starting to take A.R. tests, so I made a posterboard that says "Our A.R. Stars" and whenever they get all of the questions right, or just one question wrong, they'll get a star by their name.  I posted a picture of the chart below! =)