week of September 7 | snapshot

We continued our community helper study last week.
On Tuesday, we talked about what community helper helps us stay safe, police officers. 

This is what we know:

On Wednesday, we talked about bakers.

And then it wouldn't be any fun without looking like a baker!

On Thursday, we talked about mail carriers and why their jobs are very important.

 Ainsley's mom works at the post office. :)

we watched a Post Office field trip!

Friday was the 14th anniversary of 9/11. We revisited our discussion on communities. I talked to the students about 9/11 as a time in our country when communities had to come together and help each other. We thought of times we or a member of our families got help from our community. And how we said thank you.

We watched September 11: Explanation and Heroes. We talked about what we saw, what we felt, and the community helpers we saw along the way. 

Then we sat in a “Thank You Circle.” and we retold an experience when we were helped and how we said thank you (or how we gave help and someone else thanked us).

We had lots of fun playing Community Helper Bingo all week, too!

We worked on making AB patterns all week in math.

limited centers this week:

blocks- build a police station, bakery, a post office, or a community

discovery- crime solver kit

we made badges to go in the dramatic play center

dramatic play- bakery, police station, or post office

writing- cut pictures out of magazines to make menus for the bakery

I had a wonderful, early birthday celebration Friday with all my favorite people.

They make my life brighter.

#happyclassrooms

this week's snapshot

one of our math journals this week:

John got two purple presents and Jill got four blue presents. Who had more presents?

we learned about more than, less than, and equal to this week.

we started the week discussing what exactly a neighborhood is and made a list of items in the neighborhood that are shared by others (parks, libraries, etc…) we will be using this key later in the month when we study maps.

I also asked the students:

Who would you call if you were home alone and heard a strange noise and saw a stranger walking around your house? 

Who would you trust to help if your cat was stuck in a tree?

Who could you trust to call if you saw smoke in your house?

since we will be learning about our community and community helpers for the next two weeks,

we had a special visit from the police department this week. 

Officer Randolph let each student say their name with his walkie talkie and they could hear it on the speaker inside the police car!

we even got to test out the lights and siren!

we discussed during social science that everyone is a community helper in our community. we discussed the helper jobs in the classroom. then each student decided what one thing they were willing to do for the common good of the classroom and wrote it on their handprint. 

when we got to the library this week, it was a mess! 

Ms. Ross read Trashy Town to us and then the students had to pick up the mess, deciding if it was trash, recyclable, or keep.

we celebrated Dr. Minear's birthday Thursday and sang happy birthday!

we were very honored and excited to have UWA's President, Mr. Blackwell, at our school Thursday!

he is the author of ABC's of Auburn which is illustrated by AU Art students, and published by his son. the 34-page book relates each letter of the alphabet to an Auburn tradition. And his grandchildren can be see on the front and inside the cover :) talk about a family project!

@Amazon

below is a picture of Dr. Blackwell, the Campus School students, and Dr. Minear and one of her education classes.

we also spent social science time learning about 9/11. a few students knew surprisingly quite a lot about this important date in our country's history. since we had spent the morning discussing ways to he helpful, this fit in perfectly with how people from New York, the US, and all around the world came together to help each other after the attack. 

there are lots of resources for early childhood teachers at www.911memorial.org.

after our lesson, we sat in a “Thank You Circle.” the students and I shared an experience when we were helped and how we said thank you (or how we gave help and someone else thanked us).

click here to watch Nickelodeon's video explaining 9/11

continuing our community helper visits, Mayor Tartt visited us Friday morning to read to us.

"I know my teacher, Miss Malarkey, lives in our classroom, Room 10. She's there all the time. In fact, all the teachers live at school. They eat dinner in the cafeteria and sleep in the teachers' lounge. I'm sure of it! So why is Miss Malarkey moving into my apartment house?... 

What could be more surprising than finding out your teacher has a life outside school? "

@Amazon

this week during Shared Reading, we read The Monsters' Party by Joy Cowley.

@Amazon

"What can this little monster do?"

here are the illustrators to tell you! 

journal writings this week:

when I grow up I want to be __________.

draw your neighborhood.

draw a picture of getting or giving help.

what is your favorite classroom job?

Draw something than can be brown. 

the students have been practicing really hard at singing Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star!

here's a video:

TTLS from Jaysa Smith on Vimeo.

Ms. Annie made a special Chicka Chicka Boom Boom snack with our class this morning after reading the book! :)

UWA Nursing students visited us twice this week. 

Thursday, the students learned all about water safety...

and Friday, we learned all about fire safety.

the students colored a flame and taped it on their shirts and practiced Stop, Drop, and Roll!

we discussed doctors today and made a circle map.

we looked at real x-rays... 

and then made our own using q-tips! :)

a few center pics from the week:

you can't tell by my face in the only picture from my party this morning (lol :P), but I have had a great day celebrating my birthday (early) with my students. thank you so much for thinking of me! 

hope you all have a great weekend!