Last week, we celebrated a whole week of safety procedures and learning to stay out of danger. We call this week Careful Corners. We started off by talking a little bit about 9/11. I figured, since it happened before my students were born, that it would be a short little overview of what happened, and we would move on. However, they seemed to know quite a lot more about it than I expected. They all wanted to talk about it, so I drew an ever-so-quick (and crude!) picture on the easel:
Then we had our first "Think-Pair-Share". The students were paired up with the person sitting next to them, and they were instructed to tell their neighbor what they know about 9/11. This gives everyone a chance to talk (which is what they love!), and promotes social skills.
After giving them time to talk to their partner, I asked a few students to share what their partner had told them. Some knew about the heroes - the police and firemen who tried to rescue people from the buildings, and the people who fought with the hijackers. They knew that the "bad guys" came from another country, and they didn't like Americans.
Finally, we moved on to the heart of "Careful Corners" - the assemblies and activities!
Monday, Mrs. Scott, our school nurse, talked about poisons that can be found in your home. Things such as medicine that does not belong to you, cleaners and other things that adults sometimes put in empty drink bottles, and things that may be under your kitchen sink. She also demonstrated the correct way to cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze - with your ELBOW! (That's so you don't spread germs when you touch someone with your hands). And she showed us how to wash our hands, getting the soap in between our fingers and under our fingernails, and rinsing and drying well. We even got to practice (all 300 of us in the whole school!) in the restroom. Finally, she helped us remember the number to call if we have an emergency - 9-1-1. We completed a poison safety worksheet, and watched a video about poison safety. At the end of the day, rumor has it that the teachers put on a skit, dressed up as farm animals, to teach the kids about staying away from poisons - "If you don't know what it is, leave it alone!"
Tuesday, we learned all about fire safety. Two firemen from the Piqua Fire Department came and showed us what a fireman who has a full suit on looks like, so we won't be scared if we're ever in a fire and need to be rescued. Their oxygen tank makes them sound funny! They also let us check out the fire truck, and helped us learn how to "Stop, Drop, and Roll" if our clothes catch on fire, and how get down low and crawl under the smoke. They reminded us that at home, we should have an escape plan, and should practice it every so often. We also watched a fire safety video. Then those silly teachers dressed up again to have dinner, but their house caught on fire! Be sure to ask your child who remembered to call 9-1-1 to get the firemen to come and put out the fire!
Wednesday, several of the teachers and Mrs. Henderson were at an inservice, so we didn't have anyone come in, but we talked in our rooms about how to be safe around dogs we don't know. We learned that we should always ask the owner before petting a dog, and that we should "be a tree" or "be a log" if a strange dog comes up to us. (I tell my students it works for bees, too!) We watched a dog safety video, as well.
Thursday, Officer Fogt from the Piqua Police Department came and talked to us about Stranger Danger - being safe around adults you don't know. He reminded us never to go with an adult if you don't know their name, and never to take anything, especially candy, from someone you don't know. We got to check out a Police car (we even got to sit inside!), and we practiced crossing the street safely at the crosswalk. Our class had an extra treat while crossing the street. We pushed the button and waited for the light to change. Just as it changed so we could walk, we heard an ambulance siren a few blocks down. We learned right then to wait until the ambulance passed, so he wouldn't have to stop and wait for us. His siren was really loud, but he waved to us as he passed by! By that time, we had to push the button and wait again, but everyone understood and was patient. And what do you know, those crazy teachers got dressed up again - this time some of them even had crazy hair, and {
Mrs. K} had to ride on a SCOOTER!
Friday, we learned about being safe on the school bus. Mr. Ely, PCS's transportation director, and his helper brought "Buster", a remote-control bus to teach us the safety rules. Then we got to take a short ride around the block on the bus and practice our new knowledge. When we got back, we watched a video. And of course, those wacky teachers - man, were they hilarious! - some of them rode on the "Good Bus" and some rode on the "Bad Bus"! We all could tell which one was the Good Bus by the end of the skit!
It was definitely a crazy week! Since half of Nicklin is made up of half-day kindergarten classes, all of our skits and activities take up only a half day. Our class did these activities in the afternoons, which left our mornings free for learning.
We learned this week how to "do" Math Stations - this is the part of the day the kids love, because it feels like they are playing, when in reality they are practicing new learning!
During Math Stations, Mrs. K. assigns partners to work together (usually a boy and a girl, which helps us keep our behavior in check). This week, many of the stations involved "exploration". The students were given a type of manipulative, and were allowed to use it in any appropriate way. We talked about inappropriate ways as throwing them, causing them to break or get lost, and not sharing them. I am proud to say the class as a whole did a fine job treating our neighbors and things with respect!
Station #1 had colored squares
Station #2 had linking cubes
Station #3 involved rolling a dice, and placing a fruit on that number card
(note: the dice is in the plastic bowl. This is an idea I recently learned for keeping the dice from going everywhere - they just shake the bowl and lay it upside-down, and you can see right through it!)
Station #4 had shape links
Station #5 consisted of a choice of matching shaped erasers to pictures, one-to-one
or
matching the front and back halves of the characters from Brown Bear, Brown Bear
Station #6 involved sorting our class names by the number of letters they have
Station #7 let us explore geometric shapes
Station #8 is always the computers (this week: http://www.starfall.com)
Station #9 is always "Teacher Table" - this week it was a fine motor activity which had the students building their pincer grasp by placing colored gems to make pictures. Eventually, this station will be for Guided Math groups.
Each partner group works at a station for 10-15 minutes, and we try to get in 3 rotations every day, so that everyone visits every station at least once, and sometimes twice, in a week.
Soon we will start Literacy Groups in the afternoons, which will be organized the same way, but will consist of literacy activities.
