The PRIS Press: Our First Full Week of School!

Our first and second graders are nearly finished their first full week of school! We are beginning to become familiar with our classroom routines and expectations. Please see below some of the great activities, which we have completed!

The Dot - “Just make a mark and see where it takes you.”

We shared a read aloud of The Dot by Peter Reynolds. In this realistic fiction story, the main character, Vashti, learns to be brave enough to try painting even though she believes she is not talented at drawing. We learned from Vashti that taking the first step and trying can lead to a journey where we discover and develop our talents.

Our discussions focused on questions such as:

How did Vashti feel about herself at the begging and end of the story?
What did Vashti discover while painting dots?
What made Vashti try something new?
Why did Vashti’s teacher ask her to sign her name?
What do you think happened after the boy signed his name?
Have you ever felt like Vashti?
What is something you would like to improve?
What can we learn from Vashti?

Wemberly Worried

We also shared a read aloud of the book Wemberly Worried by Kevin Henkes. In this story, the main character, Wemberly, is a worrier. She worries about a variety of different scenarios. Then she encounters the biggest worry of all - the first day of school. We discovered how Wemberly overcame her worries and had a great day at school! Students made text-to-self connections and identified times they also felt worried.

Beautiful Oops!

Finally, we shared a read aloud of the book Beautiful Opps! by Barney Saltzberg. Through this book we learned that mistakes are opportunities. We learned that mistakes are not a negative experience but an opportunity for learning and personal growth.

Each child received a page which had a randomly drawn “mistake”. Their challenge was to make the mistake into something beautiful. Everyone rose to the challenge!