Week 6 in Ms. Carter's class...

This is the behavior chart I have been using since the beginning of school:  

I got the graphics off of teachers pay teachers (love that website) and then I added the colorful octopii a couple of weeks after school started when I realized that the kids don't exactly have a visual about what color they are on.  I wrote their names on clothespins and now the kids can pull their "clips" up and down based on their behavior.  

When the kids move up to blue from green (where they start at each morning) they are allowed to pull a treat from the treasure box (which they love!).  This is actually difficult to do and I try to only move up kids when they have done something exceptionally well.  This past week one of the kids was upset because she had her clipped moved down.  I let her have a moment and then went to her to try and explain about making wise choice.  I asked her how she was feeling and she said, 

"Sometimes I don't like the woman I'm standing beside very much."

I couldn't contain my laughter after this comment.  She started laughing and all was fine and we agreed that tomorrow was a new day.

 They also get to pick a treat when it's their birthday! As you can see from the pictures, Wednesday was one of the kiddos birthdays.  We were treated to some delicious cupcakes and the kids enjoyed them so much that they didn't realize they were getting more on their faces than in their bellies!

Calling all dentists! We've been having some tooth loss in Ms. Carter's class.  The first picture is on Monday morning when one of my girls lost a tooth.  The second picture is of 4 girls who all ended up losing a tooth by Tuesday morning!!

A new room arrangement! I rearranged the room when we did the Oreo stacking challenge.  I like this arrangement, but I think it will move soon just so we can change it up a bit.  

Below is a graph that we made as a class after completing the Oreo Stacking Challenge.  The kids were treated to 4 different kinds of Oreo flavors and then they voted on their favorite.  This is a graph of the results.  As you can see, chocolate was the overwhelming favorite.  : )

Monster writing! Aargh! We are pairing with a 4th grade class as reading buddies this year.  We've started off our friendship by writing monster descriptions for each other.  Both sets of kids drew their own monsters and then wrote paragraphs about their creations.  The 4th grade reading buddies then helped us to edit our writing.  They have our paragraphs and they will try to draw their own versions of the monsters without seeing the original drawings.  Below is my example drawing and paragraph.  The kids helped me write it.  

    My monster drawing                   Ms. Vaughn's version

My PTA gift basket - thank you PTA!!

Our fun run sign.  Our band name:  JC and the 1st grade Band!

Things I learned this week:  
1.  Never leave rubber bands for 6 year olds to put up a game with... you will NEVER see them again!

2.  Dry erase markers + sitting on the floor to do math = NOT GOOD!
Thank you to our WONDERFUL custodian for making my floor look beautiful again!

Remember our field trip coming up on Wednesday to the animal park!

"Help me to make my classroom a secure and stable place,
where the children know what I expect of them;
and what they can expect from me.  

I pray that it might be said of my classroom that 
     nothing was ever promised that was not given,
     nothing was ever threatened that was not carried out,
     nothing was ever said that was not true,
     nothing was ever taught that had to be unlearned."