People may be said to resemble not
the bricks of which a house is built, but the pieces of a picture puzzle, each
differing in shape, but matching the rest, and thus bringing out the picture.
– Felix Adler
Whether it is religion, culture, abilities, interests, shapes or sizes we are all different. As a special education teacher, this is a lesson that can’t be taught enough. We all have greatness to add to the classroom and each of the 21 unique kiddos that I get to spend every day with certainly are a resemblance of that. We spend time in our groups talking about strengths and I love that they have learned which friend to go to when they need help. We discuss the friend that can read, the friend that can write, and the friend that is a math whiz. We also discuss the “artist,” the one that can help tie shoes, and the one that will help us with anything we ask. Of course, this discussion always starts as I try to draw a picture on the board that typically ends up not resembling in the least what my intent was. My compassionate students now respond with comments such as, “It is perfect, Mrs. Ganio,” or “You are getting so much better.” I then end up calling on a “friend” to help me! We love to celebrate differences and I love the way the students feel when they are called upon by their peers to help them. Even the kiddo that struggles the most with the academic challenges has so much to offer his friends.
I also enjoy when parents and students share with the class their traditions and their cultural backgrounds. I have learned so much this year from the class and their parents, I often wonder if I should be called the student. Sometimes it is the student’s star week when they bring a parent to help share this information, and sometimes it is the time of the year. In February, we were fortunate enough to have Sam and his mom come and share with us about the Asian New Year! With a wonderful slideshow and interacting, we all sat and enjoyed what they had to share!
No different from any other month we were busy and on the go. In addition to learning about differences we learned about the heart and keeping our bodies healthy.
We then had a wonderful Valentine’s Day event and enjoyed eating healthy, red snacks that the parents shared with us. (I must admit that I was at a training this day and was not able to be a part of the festivities. I asked my wonderful co-teacher to be sure that she took a lot of pictures for me….she did admit later that they forgot and so she “staged” most of the pictures that ended up on my camera.)
Josie turned six years old in February and it was an exciting time for her, and the rest of us, as she shared her Star Student poster and told us all about her family, favorite book, favorite music and favorite food! It amazes me sometimes at how even the quietest students gain a louder voice, more confidence, and answer questions with determination as they talk about the important things in their lives.
Our hundredth day of school arrived one day before Valentine’s day this year and what fun it was to see all of the kiddos (and Mrs. Saggese) to be dressed up like they were 100 years old. Conversations of what would be happening a year from now took place, as well as many fun stations that involved counting 100 items to make necklaces, using the numbers in 100 to make a picture, and sharing our At Home Family Projects that students used 100 of something to make.
This month we also wrapped up our Penguin unit, and had fun learning addition. I introduced Touchmath to each student as another method of addition. We then made our own number cards using stickers to represent our touch spots!
We also enjoyed a special event called “Healthy Snacks.” The kiddos loved using the ingredients to make a healthy snack with a guest speaker. They each got a turn to help in measuring or mixing. Of course, they all had the opportunity to taste a bit of the smoothie they made.
We are looking forward to March when we will have two new participators joining our class from SUNY Oneonta, and my favorite time….Dr. Seuss!!
Friday, January 4, 2013
A New Year brings New Opportunities and Possibilities
We keep on moving forward, opening new doors and doing new things because we are curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths. ~Walt Disney Quotes
We have spent the last three days settling back into our routines and I loved hearing about what the students did over their break. I am really excited and looking forward to this month. We will be spending the month learning about Polar animals. Mrs. Saggese will be focusing on the North Pole, and I will be focusing on the South Pole (actually all of Antarctica.) Peter Penguin, my “friend” from Antarctica came to visit and he shared his scrapbook with the class about where he lives. We have located Antarctica on the globe, and have colored our own map. We have discussed the equator and even learned a song about the seven continents.
We've got the whole globe in our hands.
We've got the whole globe in our hands.
We've got the whole globe in our hands.
We've got the whole globe in our hands.
We've got North and South America
In our hands.
We've got Europe, Asia, Africa
In our hands.
We've got Australia and Antarctica
In our hands.
We've got the whole globe in our hands.
We use music a lot in the classroom and the students love it. You can go to youtube.com and see many of the Dr. Jean Feldman songs we like to use. Some that are related to what we have done, or what we are doing are:
The Compound Word Boogie
Word Families
Who let the Letters Out
I can Write my Numbers
The Five Senses Song
Macarena Months
The Five Senses
(She has many more educational songs as well as just plain fun songs!)
We watched a short video of footage from Antarctica and the kiddos sat completely amazed by it for five minutes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwADGPfjerI
So, as Peter takes us back to Antarctica with him to give us a tour we will see many animals, and a lot of water and ice. We brainstormed a list of thoughts we have about Antarctica and when we are done studying the continent, we will see how we did with our “thought bubbles.” As we travel we will learn many interesting facts and we will be creating our own scrapbook when we return. We will also embark on our first ever research project. Each student will be working to complete a research project on one of the many animals we will meet from the North and South Pole over the next few weeks. We hope to have these completed by the end by February so we can share what we have learned with other friends, and family members. We will be using laptops, iPads, printed materials and books to find our information. Interesting fact number one: Did you know that Antarctica is a desert?
Here is a picture of Peter Penguin…and his scrapbook. Show it to your children and ask them the significance of each of the items in his scrapbook. Stay tuned for photos of many of the great projects we will be working on. (Of course my blog will focus mostly on the South Pole and Antarctica, however, I will be sure to take some pictures of the great things the kiddos are doing with Mrs. Saggese as well.)
Besides our adventures to the North and South Poles, we will be investigating many other topics in school. In math we are continuing to learn how to add numbers together and how to solve when there is a missing number. For example: There were eight penguins in the water. More penguins joined them and now there are ten penguins. How many penguins joined them? We have to identify the important information, set up the problem, and draw a picture to help us solve it. Math is no longer about just memorizing the facts (though that will be important in the coming years) but is more about understanding the process and using it in different ways! There are many great websites that offer free games to reinforce the skills we have learned in math. One of these sights is: http://www.ixl.com/math/kindergarten We have covered numbers through 10, patterns, comparing objects and numbers, sorting, ordering and organizing, and now addition. (I believe this sight has a monthly fee but it will allow you to check it out prior to purchasing.)
http://www.softskills.com also has many fun math games for kids that are free. Please let me know if you have any other great math websites to share!!
In ELA this month we will continue working on blending words and learning meeting new Alphafriends. The letters and sounds for this month will include /n/, /f/, and /b/. Our words to know list keeps growing and many of us can already read more than the ten words on the list. This month we will be learning the words: come, me, with, my, you, what, are, and now. We will also talk about comparing and contrasting, drawing conclusions, and sequence of events. This month is also the month for our Benchmark DIBELS assessments and the end of marking period 2. For more information about this assessment you can go to www.dibels.com.
These are some websites to help with our Alphafriends. We have learned about Andy Apple, Callie Cat, Mimi Mouse, Pippa Pig, Sammy Seal, and Tiggy Tiger.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_cX4j_9fUU
https://teacher.ocps.net/janet.cahill/page7.html