Saturday, February 24, 2018

Literacy and The Children's Interests

Over the past few weeks as I observed the children during work time, I noticed several students leaning towards the object and picture matching work. They make sure they are matching these objects repeatedly everyday. I've extended the lesson to include labels, fetch games, and "find the missing one" to name a few. Additional to this work, book making has exploded in our room. I am quite impressed by this organic motion between what the students' love to do and their development in the Language Arts. It's always about making connections. They have realized that everything, every work they complete, can be turned into a book. Children are making alphabet, animal, parts of the ____ and other books. There are no limits!

Cameron and Audrey journaling their reading.
Maya and Xitlali love to match the adult-young animals. They have extended this work by making an Animal Book. They  are copying the labels but can also read the words by sight independently.


Daniel and Ibrahim also journaled their readings for the day.

Roy made an Insect Book. He drew each one and used the Alphabet Chart to write the initial sounds with some assistance.

Charlie worked on the Vowel Tree. He practiced sounding out CVC words and blending to read words.

Natalie worked on her comprehension of what's happening in the illustration. She also constructed a sentence about it.

Garvit mastering CVC word building. He also made a Word Book to complete this work. 

Ms. Sonnia assisted Zoe with sight words and sentence building.

Xitlali and Winter worked on some math activities (Teen Board).

Art is a popular work in our room.

This week we traveled to Europe. They love to "kiss" the Blarney Stone from Ireland given to me by my friend, Ms. Berry. The students also made a connection with the castanets and the painting of the Spanish royal family I bought from my travels because Ms. Sonnia is from Spain.


I've had several conversation with parents and they are interested in some suggested activities to do at home. I found this and this for both preschool and kindergarteners. Another request was regarding letter-sound correspondence. Please review these videos on the correct pronunciation of vowels and consonant letters.


This week, we also had a field trip to the Field Museum. What fun we had! It's been awhile since the last time I was there. I forgot how many interesting things young children can explore in this museum. The Play Lab was the children's favorite. I think my group and most of the other chaperones spent over an hour pretend playing and exploring this area alone!

                                  

The Play Lab





Admiring the grandeur!







A sign of a successful trip!


P.S. It was Ms. Castillo's birthday last Wednesday. She walked around the sun like the students! Check out this picture! =)


I hope to see you tomorrow at the Chinatown Lunar Parade! I'll be there between 1:00-2:00. I wish you could pass by and celebrate with us. 

Wednesday, February 21, 2018

Questions About The Black History Month Project

Hi, all-

I received a lot of questions about the upcoming project. I will try to answer them here. If you have additional questions, please don't hesitate to contact me through Remind or email.


  • All students are encouraged to participate, including the preschoolers.
  • A pioneer is a trailblazer. He/she is someone who developed or spearheaded something.
  • Each child can choose whomever inspire them.
  • You can get creative with your visual representation! It could be as simple as a printout of a picture of the person and some important facts in bullet point. You can also choose to have a detailed report using a tri-fold (not too big!).
  • Each child's work will be presented, gallery style in the classroom during our Black History Month Fest on Friday, March 2nd. However, the Kindergarteners will be presenting their works publicly during Kindergarten time. They will practice their public speaking skills. This presentation will only be for the students. Parents are invited only during the morning celebration between 10:00-11:30 am.
  • Below are some examples of presentations:













Thanks!


Celine Guerrero
ctguerrero@cps.edu





Monday, February 19, 2018

"Let The Good Times Roll!"

What a week it was!!! Last week was very hectic and yet super fun! We celebrated a variety of customs and holidays. Let's see if we can reminisce the happiness...

The first celebration we had was Mardi Gras! Wow! This was the first time we had a party for Mardi Gras. Usually, we would only read books about it and maybe watch a short video. This year was very special because we had parents help out with supplies and made the party happen! Even Ms. Castillo, Mr. Nick and I went crazy with our beads and masks. Hahaha! Check out the pictures and this CRAZY video!  *not everyone wanted to dance right away. After a few songs, everyone was dancing!







Next up was our Valentine celebration. We (teachers) hosted a waffle breakfast buffet in the classroom. Each child was able to make their own waffle and choose their toppings. They also enjoyed that snack was a 4-person work. They were able to engage in fun conversations. I overheard some of them talk about how much fun it was to have waffles. Some said that they will "tell their mom to do this" at home. It was so peaceful in the classroom that day. The children were able to work and at the same time, patiently wait for their turn at snack.















100th Day of School!!! Can you believe it? This year is moving so quickly! For this day, the Kindergarteners hosted the treats and snacks. They brought in enough for everyone to count 100 pieces of snack. The students were in anticipation of Sunset meeting, wherein they got to eat some of the snack they've counted. They used ten frames, which we are learning in Math. Also, the Kindergarteners shared a collection of 100 objects they counted out during Kindergarten time. At Sunset meeting, we decided to use a 100 chart to count out the puzzle pieces Winter brought in to share with the class. Lastly, we shared our leftover snacks with the school by way of our own "100 Trail Mix." We set a big bowl in the office. Were you able to try some of it?























Last but not the least, Chinese New Year! Kung Hei Fat Choi! The children participated in a school-wide parade. The big kids made Chinese dragons and showcased them throughout the school. Our EC students supported them by making Chinese lanterns and lots of noise! In Room 101, we presented the students with their own lucky red envelope and practiced the use of chopsticks during our Sunset meeting. Enjoy our pictures. =)
















P.S. I had to share this, too! The Kindergarteners have been working hard on trying to make their writing readable to others. Here are the K's reading their Peanut Butter-Jelly Partner's stories. Check out this video. (Listen to all of the other discussions happening in the background. So cool!)