Monday, August 29, 2011

First Day of School: September 1, 2011


Officially, we start our regularly scheduled class time, later this week, but we have been working on letter writing and we continue to explore the parts of a letter and why we write to people instead of just calling or emailing. Some of those reasons include:
  • because it's nice to get something personal in the mail
  • another way to stay in touch
  • to practice our handwriting
They really got into it and have written four letters already. Tomorrow, one of their tasks is to take the dog for a walk up our long driveway and put the mail in the mail box with the flag up.

I've been working on a weekly chore/classroom schedule that will be flexible and then a daily schedule as well. I am trying to ensure they get the proper mount of time to keep the "officials" happy as well as keeping the boys engaged and interested. I think if you are willing to put in the research time, you can find so many resources for projects and field trips that you will have to pick and choose to avoid overload. Just looking at calendar events is a great way to start. For example, September has the following special days that you can design weekly lesson plans and projects around:
  • Read a book Day - 09/06
  • Pledge of Allegiance first printed in 1892 - 09/08
  • Roald Dahl's Birthday - 09/13
  • Native American Day - 09/23
  • Johnny Appleseed's Birthday - 09/26
Think of all the activities you can do just with those days. I had to choose from so many to put on the calendar. I could have had something different every day. One of the resources I use to find out what is going on each month is  Teacher Vision.

Well, ready or not! Here we come! What are you excited about this year?

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