Five for Fraturday - 21st February

After a very long hiatus from my blog I'm back! And with a gorgeous new blog design to boot!!

I thought a great first post back would be a Five for Friday! It is Saturday evening where I am, but it's still Friday somewhere!

-one-

I have had an amazing start to the new school year. In my class I have 22 preps and they are all gorgeous. They are an incredibly helpful, happy and persistent bunch. Yesterday we did our first session of maths groups and I set out a few maths activities that were too hard to see how they reacted. Only one of my poppets gave up and had a whinge - every other one was persistent and had a go even if they weren't too sure about how to get it done. I'm really proud of the behaviours this class are showing, and it is sure to be a fantastic year with them!

-two-

As with any start to the year a good clean-up is necessary.

-three-

The way I have set up my classroom (and I will post a classroom tour next) has the smartboard and whiteboard in front of a window. It works perfectly for the way the room is set up, except it is quite bright through the windows. As a way to cut down the light I laminated some cellophane and bluetac-ed it to the window.

-four-

A new school year also needs some new 'words to live by'.

-five-

And a new hairstyle!

If you'd like to see more of my photos follow me on Instagram @jemluck

Five for ...whoops! I'm late!

It's Tuesday morning. I forgot to link up to Five for Friday, but I'm doing it now. I'm dawdling at home a bit this morning because I have a School Council meeting after school which means I'll be at school until 9pm. No need to be at school before 8am today!

-one-
On Thursday my class worked on making Father's Day cards. Here is our awesome card. On the inside it compares the card-receiver to superheroes (eg. you are as brave as Batman). We did lots of talking about how Father's Day things don't just have to be for fathers (I've got a few kids without dads).

-two-
We also did some handprints which we turned into superheroes:

-three-

Up until last week I had individual jobs for my students - everyone had a job. It was frustrating having to check the board every time I needed a student to do their job, because I couldn't remember who was doing which job that week. So, last week I introduced Daily Helpers. Two different kids each day get to do all of the jobs for the day. It's working so much better already!

-four-

I also made new classroom rules. Only five of them. We repeat them each morning - my kids are getting a bit restless with the end of term 3 approaching and they needed a reminder about appropriate behaviour.

-five-

I have also introduced iPad time for my whole class twice a week. I use iPad time for a few of my kids as 'break' time (those that need it) but some of the other kids were playing up to try to 'get a break'. So instead, every Monday and Friday my whole class gets 10-15min on the iPad straight after recess time - they love it!!

Off to work, now!

Five for Friday

What an incredible week!!! We celebrated both Book Week and National Science Week. Here is a snapshot of the week and my Five for Friday.

-one-
We started off Science Week with some theme writing on Monday. During the week the preps added to a booklet that I'd made called Weather in my World to go with our current weather unit in Science.

The book had three pages (one for each of the 'normal days' of school this week). They had to write about their favourite type of weather, what they like to do on hot days and what they like to do on cold days.

-two-
On Tuesday to celebrate Book Week we read some of our favourite shortlisted books. My kids loved the winning book in the Early Childhood category:

Tuesday was also eventful because one of my little guys was swinging on his chair, overbalanced, fell backwards and smacked his head into the window. He was fine (thank goodness) but the glass looked like a giant spider web. I have an appreciation for safety glass now!!

-three-
On Wednesday we had a visit from the Star Dome, which is a mobile planetarium. A giant dome is filled with air, you have to crawl through a dark tunnel to get inside, and then footage is projected on to the inside ceiling of the dome. It was INCREDIBLE!!! We got to watch a video about weather (links to our unit of work) and then got to look at some of the constellations in the night sky. My kids were absolutely in awe of it - such an amazing experience. I forgot to take a photo of it...

-four-
Thursday... what a day!! We held a Forensic Science Day to celebrate National Science Week. It was the Case of the Missing Chocolate Cake. One of my school's science coaches and our art teacher organised it. They planned out the 'crime', made a video which they showed during Junior Detective Initiation (30min assembly with the whole school), planned 7 different forensic science related activities which the kids rotated through, and then had a video ready to show the 'culprit' being apprehended. The activities were fingerprint analysis, handwriting analysis, powder analysis, cloth analysis, hair analysis, footprint analysis and money analysis - all based on 'clues' left at the 'crime scene'. The staff were the suspects and we all had a Suspect Data Record sheet showing our fingerprints, handwriting, shoe length and a suspect statement. The discussions about evidence and innocent until proven guilty were fantastic. The students ended up solving the crime and the 'culprit' was brought out in handcuffs (he is an awesome teacher and was a great sport on the day with all the finger pointing...). It was a phenomenal day. Absolutely amazing.

To top it off, we then had our first Science Fair and Art Show accompanied by hands-on Science and Art activities. We had great support from our school community, and the displays were awesome. I took some pics of the art work, but forgot to photograph the science stuff.

-five-
Friday was our Book Week celebration day. It was a dress-up day, and we had a parade in the morning. I was a pirate:

Every child in my class dressed up! The standout costume for the day was a grade 6 boy who dressed as a pink flamingo princess - such confidence, and he looked amazing!! We also had activities that the kids did. We had three activities for the prep-2s and three for the 3-6s. The prep-2s got to make some Dirty Dinosaurs, some Windy Windmills and some Cute Chickens. At the end of the day with had a Book Swap. Children had to bring in books they were finished with, and for each book they got a token. They could exchange their tokens for new books that had been donated by other students. I always make sure I donate a few extras so that I can hand out a couple of extra tokens to my students who can't/didn't bring their own in - it's always nice to participate!

It was a super amazing week!!! I do have some photos of the Forensic Science Day but I left my camera at school. I might write another post when I have the photos and explain a bit more about the activities. It was just awesome.

Personal goal - take more photos!!!

Five for Friday

It's Friday, yay! Time for Five for Friday.

-one-
It's been a relatively normal week at school, which has been really lovely. No excursions. No days off. No extra stuff. Just classroom, curriculum and time with my students. I love that after it's been so busy. It certainly wasn't the easiest week with a couple of my kiddoes, but the tough stuff is always balanced out by the cute things they say and do. One of my preppies wrote me a very cute note in their diary this week - love deciphering prep writing!

-two-
We are working on a Science unit called Weather in my World. Last week we made paintings using air because we had been learning about wind. The preps put blobs of paint onto cardboard, then blew through a straw to spread it out. Some over did the paint and I had to hold the paint over the sink to drain off some excess. I think they look fantastic. I love how unique they are. They also look amazing in my room - the bright white background with the bold colours looks awesome.

 -three-
This week the preps have been learning to count by 5s. We've been using stacks of five unifix to help us remember that counting by five means counting five numbers at a time. We also made this awesome chart as a class:

And we loved singing along to this fun counting by 5s song:

-four-
We are a GoNoodling class! We have done 185 minutes so far. My preppies love it! This week some GoNoodle stickers arrived in the mail. I was so excited to get the cute pink envelop, and my kids were beyond excited to get a massive GoNoodle Champ sticker. Of course, I forgot to take a photo of the sticker, but I took a photo of the envelope.

-five-
We have a VERY busy week coming up next week, part of which is a dress-up day. Here is the start of my costume:

I'm going as a pirate. Next week is Children's Book Council of Australia Book Week and it's National Science Week in Australia. My school is celebrating both. We are having a visit from Stardome Mobile Planetarium during the week. We are running a Forensic Science Day, a Science Fair and a Family Science Night. We are having an Art Show. And then our Book Week Day is a dress-up day with activities for the kids based on the shortlisted award books. Whew!! I'm going to have heaps to write about next Friday (just have to remember my camera!).

Last week I was part of the Swap Share Give link-up with some fellow Aussie Bloggers. Thank you for your support, it was my first link-up of this kind. I also ran my first Rafflecopter giveaway and the winner has been announced - congratulations Kirsty!

Five for Friday, but no photos...

I am very glad it is finally Friday, I'm so tired this week!!

-one-
On Monday we had a pupil free day and all of the staff at my school went to do a training day called A Framework for Understanding Poverty. It was fantastic! It is all about the ways children from disadvantage are different to those who have more resources. I really liked that there was a broader view on these children as lacking in resources (such as social, emotional, support, and vision for the future) rather than just the economic thing. We talked about the hidden rules of the different groups in society and about mutual respect. The whole day was incredible!

-two-
On Wednesday my class went on their first big excursion. We drove almost an hour in a bus to Ecolinc. It was fantastic!! My school is incorporating Science as a big curriculum component and this facility has a focus on environmental science. We did a program called Living in the Extremes and talked about plants and animals that live in extreme weather, the kids got to make their own bug with plastic pieces a bit like Mr Potato Head, and then we got to look at insects found in the pond under a microscope. I was so incredibly proud of my little preppies behaviour during the excursion! For 5/6 year olds it was a very long day, but they really enjoyed themselves.

-three-
Today my school held our Athletics Day. It was meant to be last Friday but was postponed due to an 'extreme weather' warning. I supervised the triple jump which was absolutely hilarious at times! So many kids find the required 'hop, step, jump' really hard. It was a really fun day and all the kids tried their best.

-four-
Ooooh, I have one photo, which is non-school related. I bought a new handbag!!

The brand is Timberland. It is beautiful soft leather, a great size, fits everything in it and I love the colour!! I was so excited today when it turned up in the mail - thank you eBay!

-five-
I am finally over my cold so I am really looking forward to making the most of this weekend. I've got a few boring jobs to do, like clothes washing, but I'm also catching up with my bestie for afternoon tea tomorrow (crepes, yum!) and I think I'll go to the movies. Maybe Begin Again?

Now, I'm totally stuffed from a very hectic week, so I'm off for an early night!

Five for Friday - End of a busy week!

I've had a pretty nuts week. Extra meetings, first aid training, and a tough time with a couple of my students. As a debrief and unwind, here are my Five for Friday.

-one-
I received my first BellaBox subscription box in the mail today!

I received four lip products and one eye product. I'm really interested to try the eye product because it's a waterproof topcoat for mascara. My most favourite mascara is by Arbonne, but it's not waterproof so it'll be interesting to see how they work together.

-two-
We have been madly GoNoodle-ing in my class the past two weeks, and we have graduated one champ and we are on to our second. My students beg for Let It Go, Everything is Awesome and Happy every chance they get! Let It Go works like magic when I want them to calm down and sit quietly for a minute or two. I'm going to do a proper post about GoNoodle at a later stage.

-three-
My hair is finally long enough to go back into a ponytail!! I've been growing it for a while, so this is very exciting!

-four-
This weekend I'm going to be prepping for our 100th Day celebration. Due to timetabling and other events we are having our party on our 102nd day of school. But I'm going to make it extra special! I might even squeeze a bit of celebrating into the days leading up to it given that we are celebrating on Thursday. I've read some awesome posts today from Books, Bugs & Boxes and Rainbow Lily Designs about their 100th Day celebrations and I'm very inspired by all the fun ideas!

-five-
I've joined the Outlander by Diana Gabaldon band-wagon. I'm reading Cross Stitch (which is the first book in the series on the Australian iBooks store) and I'm really enjoying it!! I'm terrible at accents but I sometimes find myself reading the dialogue of the Scots in my head with a Scottish accent (or as close as I can manage). I'm late to join in, but I'm already excited about the new TV show that is coming!

After a doozy of a week, I'm very glad it's Friday!!

Five for Friday

I am very excited that it is Friday! I'm ready for the weekend.

I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for....

-one-
For fine motor skills over the past week we have been working a little bit at a time on Olaf Snowmen. The idea is from Lauren at Love, Laughter and Learning in Prep.  I thought it was such an awesome activity that I had to do it with my preps! They loved it! We completed the task in 'fine motor skills teams' and the team had to share one pair of tweezers and one bottle - there was great turn taking happening. A few of my preps struggled at turn taking so we do lots of activities where waiting is involved.

-two-
My school is a science-focussed school, but I still cover the curriculum in history. So this week we did two history sessions. The first was about families, and how every family is different. The second was on timelines and thinking about things that have happened to us since we were born. My preps just loved talking about their families! I have a blended family (with a step mum, a step dad and step siblings) so I always share stories about my family first, that helps some of the other kids open up about their families. We had a great chat about how exciting it is that every family is different - I really try to instill a love of diversity and acceptance in my students, it's so important. The timeline lesson was much more difficult. They could think of things like birthdays and walking/talking, but they are too young and too in-the-moment to think about anything else to add to the group timeline, but it was still an interesting conversation. Here is a sample of the pics two of my preps did of their families:

-three-
Reports are basically done!!! I'm the reports coordinator so this is very exciting for me. The final print went home with our principal today for a read, then we collate them next week and send them home the Monday after. Just the paperwork/organising bit left. So glad to have all of the writing done!

-four-
I've found a new tv show that I'm in love with! It's called Signed, Sealed, Delivered and it's by the Hallmark channel in the USA. It is a super sweet show, and started off as a movie around Christmas last year. It is a huge difference to my other current fav, Game of Thrones, but it is seriously quirky and cute and the messages in the episodes are always uplifting.

-five-
IT'S A LONG WEEKEND! I'm super excited about that. Love long weekends. That extra day just makes the weekend seem far more relaxing. Don't get me wrong, I love teaching my preppies, but I also enjoy a sleep in!

Five for Friday (whoops, it's Saturday...)

What a busy week!! It was lots of fun, too. There has been a few changes in my class, so to bring everything back together and put a bit of excitement into the weeks of testing leading up to reports we had Pirate Week! It was awesome. Time for ...

-one-
I made it Pirate Week this week. It was inspired by our Science curriculum, actually. One part of Science this term for Foundation at my school is to look at maps, so what better way than to make some pirate maps. That was last week. I continued the idea into this week by having a week full of pirates. My kids had heaps of fun, and one of my EAL (English as Another Language) kids loved walking around the school at playtime and going up to students to say "Aaaargh!!" It was very cute.

-two-

On Monday morning we started Pirate Week with some writing. I made up a sheet for my students to use, and they had to finish the sentence "If I was a pirate..." There were some excellent answers! I have quite a few students who are struggling with writing so for them I use a light coloured texta to write what they dictate to me and they trace my writing. They still have to be able to read back what I have written for them.
We also wrote about treasure, and we did a pirate listening task. The listening task was really interesting. Some instructions had two steps, and it was surprising to see how many students didn't cope with that. For example, it might say "find the pirate with the map, colour his shoes brown" and some students would colour both the map and the shoes brown.

-three-

I came across this awesome game from the lovely Lauren at Love, Laughter and Learning in Prep. My students worked in groups of three. Each student had a 10s frame and a 'treasure chest' (we used Pirate themed cups). They shared a bowl of 'jewels' for the counters and had a 'pot of gold' full of gold nuggets to win. Students roll the dice, and add that many jewels to their tens frame. Students take turns, and add to their own frame. When the 10s frame is full, they exchange their jewels for a piece of gold. I absolutely love this game!! My students were totally engaged with it. But, more than that, the amount of maths happening was incredible. It works on the sense of ten-ness (as my maths coach would say), they had to say what number they rolled and how many jewels they still needed to fill their frame (tens facts), I also asked students what number they would want to roll for their next go so that their frame was full (if they had two spots left they would like to roll a 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6, but couldn't roll a 7 because that is not on the dice, and wouldn't like a 1 because it wouldn't fill the frame). Even though Pirate Week has finished, we're going to play this game again next week - I LOVE IT!!

-four-
We did a bit of craft, too. On Tuesday my students made hats and hooks. The hat was just the pirate hat shape glued on to a strip of paper (a bit like a crown). The hook was made with a paper cup and a straw that was rolled up in aluminium foil. They loved playing Pirates. On Thursday they also made maps and telescopes. I wasn't in class on Thursday so I don't have a photo of them.

-five-
I bought some SitSpots! I installed them Thursday night, and my students weren't at school on Friday, so I'm excited for Monday when they get to see them for the first time! I chose to use different shapes and colours for the rows. I plan on playing some instruction games with them (eg. step on the yellow circle, then the green square; or what colour is the square, and what shape is the pink shape). I love the bright colours!!

We had a very busy (slightly stressful, for me) week. I am my school's reports coordinator, and reports are due in two weeks so I had a busy time setting the reports up for our teachers. It is the first time I've had this role, so there was lots of new learning. I'm excited for next week because it is Education Week and we have our school Open Day. We have special events on everyday this week, so there'll be lots of photos to post!!

Five for Fri... Sunday... whoops!

Week 3 of term 2 was a tough week. Yep, that was last week. My new student has some difficult behaviours so it threw my class through the ringer. I was emotional, too, because it had taken me ten weeks to get my class settled (I have an eclectic mix of 22 students, and only 6 girls!). But we made some inroads towards the end of the week, and I'm looking forward to a fresh start to week 4! We will be on day 55 of school for the year, so we're moving along.

I'm the Reports Coordinator at my school. This is my first year doing it, so I went to training on Wednesday and it totally freaked me out - there is heaps to do! I just have to get a handle on things, and I will.

So on to more fun things:

-one-
I run a Craft Club for prep-2s twice a term. This time we made 3D collages. It was tricky, but they did a great job! They got to experiment with cellophane, aluminium foil, bubble wrap, tissue paper, foam shapes and ribbon. Oh, and lots of sticky tape!

-two-
On Monday we focused on counting backwards in Maths. My students made rockets, and added the countdown numbers. They were just adorable!! I basically just modelled how to make one, then handed the paper over to them and let them create it the way they wanted to do it. One of my little guys put his hand up and said "Miss Luck, I've already got a picture in my head of my rocket!". Love it!!

-three-
For Mother's Day my students made flower pictures, gift vouchers and cards. The flower pictures were gorgeous. They had to cut out three different sized "circles" in different colours, and layer them onto the paper. Then they got to add a sparkly diamante sticker to the middle of each flower. I love how bright they are. I got the idea somewhere on Pinterest, but I can't find it at the moment. (not all of the them chose to use black paper, but I happened to mention that bright colours look great on black paper, so a few went that way)

 -four-
I got a new Wantable box this month. I don't love it, and I think I'm going to cancel the subscription. But it was fun to try!!

-five-
I've kept this plant alive since before Christmas!! It was a gift from one of my students last year. But I have no idea what it's called. Anyone??? So far (thanks to Instagram) I've found out that it is a succulent. I don't know anymore than that.

I've got a four day week with kids, then a Curriculum Day on Friday. I have decided to theme the whole week around Pirates!! I can't wait. I will take lots of photos and post them at the end of the week.