This week was filled with many interesting things that my students discovered about our project. We finally completed our activity called “Can We Talk”. Students finished their comparison poster and learned a new skill all at one time. The students had to get with their partner and complete a Venn diagram about them while practicing communication skills. The strange thing about learning about graphic organizer is that next week’s reading lesson discusses different of graphic organizers. So now my students have a little prior knowledge on how Venn diagrams are excellent visuals.

This week we continue the on-going activity called, “I Caught You”. My students are really trying to work together. There were many instances that I caught students helping one another. I have a student who just recently broke her arm. I was walking my students to P.E. and I turned around and two students were bending down tying the student with the broke arm shoe. I have another student who is in a wheelchair and there is about four students who is helping me with him. They are helping me by giving him his milk and fork during lunch while I fix his plate and even rolling him in the halls when his arm muscles bother him. The other day I caught a student picking up paper in the lunch room that I know her or the class did not put on the floor. One of my students stated that helping others make them feel good. I told them that if everybody felt that way the world would be a better place. I believe that this activity is really helping my student become aware of how helping one another can help them get along better.

At the end of the week we discussed the word” share”. I asked students to think about that word. What does it mean and how do they share with others? I also asked students to determine how do they feel when someone shares with them? Student documented their thoughts and on next week I am planning for us to plan a chew and chat.

(A) Students Completing Listening Activity

(B) Grouping Students

(C) Students Brainstorming and Answering Questions

On the week of September 10-16, we worked on the activity titled, Can We Talk. On the first day I decided to discuss with my students the importance of getting along with one another. I tried to explain that our classroom is just practice for the real world and that people in the real world must cooperate with one another just like they must do in the classroom.

The first step in getting along is understanding how to communicate. I explained to my students that the most of the time people who don’t get along do not because they do not know how to communicate. I asked students if they knew what I meant when I said communicate. My students immediately said that it means to talk. Then they gave me so many ways people communicate which I wrote on the board and we created a web out of their responses. After the creation of the web, I focused the students’ attention back to the main word of our web “communicate”. I told my students that when you communicate you have to know how to listen. Then I asked the students do they know how to listen, of course all of them said that they knew how. I told them not answer so quickly because we were going to do an activity and after I wanted them to tell me if they still thought that they knew how to listen. So we did a listening activity that asked students to do different things to a piece of paper. Not one student got all of the directions correct. After the activity I asked student again do they know how to listen and many of them said they did not. So I told students that we were going to work on how to listen the next couple of days. At the end of the activity I explain the incentive chart title,’ I Caught You’. The purpose of this activity is to give students a visual of people helping and getting along with one another. A student may witness a person helping or getting along and they may give another person a sticker or I may give the stickers out. This activity will go on for six weeks and the person who has the most stickers will get a treat.

The next couple of days we discussed the activity called Can We Talk. I explain to the students that they will work with a partner and create a comparison poster. They must use their communication skills to complete the poster. Before we get started we had to figure out how we were going to get into groups. First I took suggestions and wrote them all down and had the students vote. Then we made tally marks to discover how we were going to group the students. We ended up with a tie, so we voted again. The suggestion that won was picking names out of a bag. So I picked names out of the bag and group the students.

On September 16, students got with their partner and brainstorm five questions they wanted to ask the other and recorded the answers. While students were with their partner I walked around observing and reminding students of their communication skills. I told students to remember that communication is not only talking, but also listening to the other person.
After the week was over, I reevaluated my calendar and discovered that I did not get everything done that was scheduled. We still needed to take pictures, create the comparison poster, and present to the rest of the class. So hopeful next week we can get those things completed. I can say that this week was very successful and I am looking forward to next week.

Changing the Atmosphere Calendar

Can We Talk

Sept. 10-18

Sept. 10
class discussion ( how to talk and listen)
listening skill activity

Sept. 14
create questionnaire
answer questionnaire
take picture of partner

Sept. 16
using pictures from magazines to create Venn diagram

Sept. 18
share comparison posters

Share With Me

Sept. 24

Animal Friends

Oct. 1

I'm Not a Robot!

Oct. 8-15

Dress to Impress

Oct. 22-29

I Caught You!

On-Going

Can We Work Together?

On-Going

Day 1 Can you listen?

Today was the first day my students and I worked on our project. I discuss with the student that we were going to make a comparison poster. Using a Venn diagram, the students will interview a classmate to identify how they are alike and different. I explain that we must first do a couple of things to help us prepare for the making of the poster. We must first learn how to get along and work together. I decided to discuss with them the importance of getting along with one another. Trying to explain that the classroom is a training room for the real world was exciting. They did not realize that people who work and even live together must learn how to get along and work together just like that have too. First, I asked my students what people have to do in order to cooperate with one another. I had so many interesting answers from liking the same things to even being in the same class more than once. I wrote the word communication on the board. Their eyes looked as if they were trying to understand. I continue to ask what the word communication means. Some said that communication means to talk. So I wrote talk under the word communication. Then they took the discussion to another topic. They stated talking about the different ways people talk. The said people talk when they use sign language, text using a cell phone, write a letter, or even when they email someone. So I wrote all of those responses on the board as well. I encouraged students to continue to think about how people talk, but I ask them what do the other person does when someone is talking to them. One student said, “They think.” I told the student that you are absolutely right. And another student shouted, “They got to listen!” I had to calm the students down because they started yelling out responses. After I gain control of the students, I explained that the most important step in getting along and working together is knowing how to communicate. I explained that people who don’t get along do not because they don’t know the correct way to communicate. I also told my students that some people don’t know how to talk or listen. So today we are going to do a listening activity that will help prepare us for our project. First, I gave students a sheet of notebook paper. Then I asked who knows how to listen. Of course every hand went up. I encourage students to wait until after the activity is over to answer that question. I read through tens steps that they had to demonstrate with their paper. I had to laugh to myself because not one got the activity right. I then pulled out an oversize piece of paper so I could demonstrate each step. I explained that when they were “listening” they did not think about what I was saying. The goal of the activity today was to think and listen. All of my students changed their minds about knowing how to listen. So at the end of the lesson I ask them to go home and listen to a T.V. show and just think about what is being said.