What do you like about school?

Today the Cardinals did their first journal of the year. Throughout the school year, the Cardinals will take part in journaling activities. Each child has a journal folder that will stay in our classroom that will eventually be brought home at the end of the year in June. It is quite amazing to see and watch friends' journal pictures and words transform as time goes on.

Today's journal entry was What do you like about school? The Cardinals were split into two groups, and from there split into two smaller groups to do their work. One of the small groups stayed in the Cardinal classroom, and the other group went into the classroom down the hall. One teacher sat with a few friends to journal, while the rest of the friends in that group took part in some choice time activities. 

Before friends began to journal, they thought about the question and how they were going to illustrate their ideas. Friends first drew a picture of what they like about school, adding details and their own personal touches. As some friends are not yet ready to start the kid writing process, a teacher took their dictation and wrote the words on the journal paper for them. As friends practice, and become more aware of and interested in letters and their sounds, this skill will develop. For friends who are at the kid writing stage, a teacher sat with them one on one to stretch out their words. A teacher helps the student sound out the word, and the student writes the letter that they hear. This usually begins with a child hearing the consonants, and as their letter-sound associations grow, they are able to discriminate more intricate sounds such as vowels. For example, when sounding out the word "book," a child may only hear the beginning sound, B, and the ending sound, K, which would like "BK." 

The Cardinals did a beautiful job on their first journal entry. Friends were engaged and took pride in their work. You could see friends hard at work, focused intently on their drawings and using their tiny muscles to create the images in their heads. We are excited to share your Cardinal's journal with you at different points throughout the year!

Ask your child what they like about school?

Following journals and choice, we cleaned up to go outside. Soon after, we came back in for library. In library, friends returned their books and sat down to listen to a few books read aloud. Michelle read a few books by one of friends' beloved authors, Mo Willems. After sitting attentively and listening, the Cardinals had a chance to check out books to bring back to the classroom.