Thrilling Thursday!

More wow today! My sweeties are reading Amelia Bedelia books voraciously! They love, love, love finding the multiple meaning words and get such a kick out of the way Amelia Bedelia gets everything backwards and screwy! I can't believe I've waited this long to get out the Amelia Bedelia books! I'll do them in August and September next year this fall! What kind of multiple meaning word awesomeness will we have in our classrooms by starting that early?!? :D

The children were still so thrilled about the Pigeon that they wanted to write their own pigeon stories! We also watched this pigeon video~I previewed last night~made by a first grade class.

 Sooo much cuteness! Some students chose to try to persuade me to let the pigeon be principal while others said NO WAY! Others came up with their own Don't Let the Pigeon stories. I am beyond thrilled that the pigeon stories have kicked off our persuasive writing with such a bang!

I took the PSA (Problem/Solve/Answer) idea and made smaller versions. Instead of a file folder, I used an 8 x 12 sheet of construction paper, shrunk the info so it would be 1/2 sheet of copy paper for the outside and 1/2 sheet for the inside, and made a couple of examples for the children. They love working with a buddy to solve story problems using their PSA foldable. I am ecstatic that they are working so well together...especially since I now have 23 students! YIKES!

Let's face reality here...the economy dictates that we do what we must, but the optimum situation for 7-8 year olds is definitely 18 or fewer...16 would be even better. It hurts, too, that we have some schools in our county with only 18 in their classes. We, however, can't get another teacher to lower our numbers! Say what?!?!? So, I've been hitting the ground running every single morning, trying to come up with loads of exciting ways to learn (after the 30 minutes of Read to Self time each morning). I remind my students we're building stamina for third grade. They're definitely going to need it!!

I am very thankful to have my student teacher with me on Mondays and Wednesdays. She is with me through April 18! She is required to teach 8 lessons (3 with her instructor observing, the other 5 just to get experience). She has already done such an awesome job! Her presence is a true blessing!

I am also praising GOD for every single one of my bloggy friends. Each an every one of you gives me something...new ideas, understanding that there are others in the trenches with me, laughs to lighten the load, and just plain ol' good feelings when I read about your days. I don't always post a comment, but believe me when I say you all ROCK! I couldn't do it without the inspiration and oomph I get from reading, blog-stalking, borrowing, and chuckling. Thanks bunches!