This e-card pretty much sums it up! I have not had a Fall so full of illness in I don't know how long. First, a horrible head cold. Then the flu. And, now, strep throat. I think I'm due for some healthy days soon, don't you?

I suppose the only positive is that I'm down 7 pounds in about a week! Craaaaazy!!!! That'll happen when one lives on ginger ale and Popsicles! 

I have spent the better part of the last week sleeping. I couldn't even manage to stay awake long enough to watch a one hour tv show. Or read. Or go online. Or read. Or anything!

The flu symptoms finally pretty much left by yesterday but the fatigue just wouldn't give up. Then, today my doctor calls...strep throat. Yay me!

Now, two doses of penicillin later, I am starting to feel human again. I expect to be pretty much 100% by Monday and back at work raring to go!

Aaaah...work. How I have missed being at work (when I was awake enough to miss anything that is!) and being with all of my lovelies. I was so happy to hear from both my support worker and colleagues that my guest teacher was really great. Knowing that everything was under control made it much easier to just go back to sleep and concentrate on getting well.

But I am sooooo looking forward to being back at work next week. Beyond just simply missing my days with the lovelies, I also just love the three weeks before the holidays. We spend time talking about family traditions, learning about winter festivals of light and just plain having a good time. Report cards are done (well, that is the idea, though they are due next week and I haven't even started!), vacation is coming and there is a general feeling of excitement in the air!  

I love teaching the grades I teach. It is still the age of wonder and I really don't think there is more of a season of wonder than the winter holidays (although I suppose the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny come a close second!) The belief in miracles that is Hanukkah. The story of Christmas. The magic of Santa Claus. It all comes together to create a time of year when teaching 5-7 year olds really is the best job on Earth! 

Cheers!

Ms. Hughes

WWR - November 27

Elements of Art: Line

This year I am loving that I am able to make my art program work again. Last year with the move and everything, I really didn't teach art the way I would have liked. But this year, that is all changing.

I am teaching both my class and Division 14 art this year. (Thank goodness for me, the other teacher does gym for both classes!)

We are starting with the elements of art. Each student has a duotang where we do a theory lesson. The plan is to do an art theory lesson followed by a "hands on" lesson where the students create a piece of art using what they have learned in art theory.

Our first art theory lesson was all about line. So we learned things like contour line is a fancy way of saying outline, there are different types of lines (straight, curved, thick, thin etc) and created examples to keep in our art theory book.

Then the next lesson was an art lesson called Lines in Motion. Students reviewed line and talked about what kinds of lines would show motion. They then took a printout of a bird's silhouette and created lines to make it look like it was in motion. I got the idea for this lesson from here and, must say, that I am very pleased with both the work that went into these creations and the finished result. (Note: there are still a couple of kids who are not finished. I purposely stuck to a 9X12 paper format so that the job wouldn't take as long. Good thing I didn't go bigger!!!!)

If you don't know by now, art is my favourite subject to teach. I love being creative and I really, really love watching children express themselves through means other than words and writing.

I love that in art you really can't do it "wrong" (as exemplified by the pictures above) and that each child can interpret the lesson in their own way. I love how they each take what they have learned and create something that is not only unique but uniquely them.

Happy creating!

Ms. Hughes

Fall is Here

Just wanted to share some of the beautiful leaf art that the kids did while I was away sick a couple of weeks ago. I found it hidden under a pile of papers on my teaching table when I got back and just had to hang it up. It is so colourful and vivid. It makes the windows look so seasonal.

Cheers!

Ms. Hughes

WWR - November 20

from pinterest

No time to get bored when you have this board....

I am in love, love, love with this poster! I need one, no two (or maybe three) hanging in different places in our community. 

There is very little I dislike more than a student telling me they are bored. The majority of activities I give students are open ended so that they can challenge themselves. (Think of the doubles exercise where one student chose 20+20=40 even though that was not one of the simple doubles taught) They can always challenge themselves to do more, be more, show more in their work. So, no excuse for being "bored."

And, it is especially annoying when a student tells me there is "nothing to do" or that they are "bored" during centres when they have a gazillion choices to make and (on community centres days) four rooms of activites to choose from! Blocks, lego, marble run, drawing, sewing, k'nex, puzzles, math tubs, reading, writing, arts and crafts...the list goes on. How can anyone be bored amidst all of those choices? 

Some days I think it is not boredom so much as an inability to make choices on their own. So many of our kids spend so much of their time in planned, programmed schedules where they go from this activity to the next without choosing. Give them a choice and they don't know what to do. 

I love that this poster gives a very simple yet effective way to redirect students who use the B word. You can be sure you'll see this in my classroom very soon!

Ms. Hughes

Double Trouble

We've been learning addition strategies in math lately. 

Last week we learned about doubles. Knowing your doubles can really help when figuring out answers that are only 1 or 2 larger or smaller than the double.

For example, if I know that 5+5=10 then I can use that knowledge to figure out 5+6. I can say to myself that 6 is one larger than 5 so the answer is going to be one larger than double 5. If I wrote it out it would be something like saying 5+1=6 so 5+6 can also be written 5+5+1. Then in my head I can do 5+5 is 10 and add 1 to it. Voila! 11!

I found a great unit on addition strategies on TpT from Teacher's Clubhouse and it comes with a craft activity for each strategy. I don't plan to use them all but this one was a fun one to do. Check it out!

I put a bunch of them up on the small bulletin board. I love my classroom but, boy, do I wish I had more bulletin board space to display the class' work!

And, below, are a few that didn't make it up on the wall. 

I enjoyed this lesson because it involved so many different skills. We reviewed sets and talked about how you had to have equal sets in each part of the glasses. We chose doubles (only 2 students were allowed to pick the same double) and learned about using them as a mental math strategy. And, they had to follow directions in terms of adding the face and colouring in using crayons so it was a listening skills exercise as well.

Needless to say, there were 3 students who immediately started colouring with felt pens. If the day ever comes when each and every student carefully listens to and follows directions, I may just fall over in a faint!!!!

Happy adding!

Ms. Hughes