Thursday, March 22, 2012

A little of this and a little of…going multiage next year!?

So this week is a trying week – just in sight is spring break…and I am so looking forward to it…the weather in Illinois has been unusually HOT and our school has not switched from heat to A/C so we are literally melting.   I’m looking forward to enjoying the weather rather than roasting indoors!


First things first, it has been announced that ALL 1st and 2nd grade bilingual classrooms will be going multiage next school year.  My initial reaction is EXCITEMENT!  Our school only has one bilingual section at each primary grade so we end up being islands with no team.  Now, I will be part of a team of…two!  My future teammate is truly amazing.  We’ve been doing some activities together this year already and now we’ll be a real team!  I feel so lucky to get to work with such an experienced and successful teacher.  It’s going to be great!


Second reaction – HOLY GOD!  First graders kind of scare me.  They’re so little when they first start!  They are so needy in the beginning.  Plus I’ll be teaching the kiddos how to read in Spanish – I’m not a native Spanish speaker so I didn’t learn Spanish the way they’ll be learning…I have so much to learn!!!!!!!  So I’m overwhelmed and anxious for all of the challenges that this change means. 


Third reaction – this is such a great opportunity to gain experience as a teacher.  I will learn so much and the challenges will be worth it. 


So, if you’ve taught multiage and specifically 1/2 let me know if you have any tips, I’ll take all the advice I can get!!!


My next super exciting thing to share is I’ve received the absolute nicest feedback on my TpT store!  I checked today to see if I had any because officially I have three freebies in my store.  I know with freebies there isn’t the same incentive to leave feedback, but somebody left me the nicest feedback today.  It made me smile, hold my hands to my heart, glow a bit and just generally feel amazing.  I’m so thankful to the lady who left the feedback and wish she had a blog so I could find her, but alas she’s not a blogger yet.  I’m going to just quote one sentence of her review because it’s so nice: “OH - MY - GOSH! Where have you been all my life?!?”.


(DOPEY SMILE ON MY FACE RIGHT NOW!!)


Tomorrow I’ll be sharing some of the work we’ve done this week with a very cute story.  I’m sure your kids like The Gingerbread Man…mine are obsessed.  Whenever we go to the library at least 5 kids are on the hunt for this book.  Eric A. Kimmel is the author of some very creative versions of classic stories like The Gingerbread Man.  He spices these familiar stories up by giving them some Latino flavor!  The story we did this week was The Runaway Tortilla.  The kids love this story and it lends itself so well to working with comparing and contrasting.
runaway tortilla

Tomorrow I’ll post some images of what we did and their final writing/craft activity.  I wasn’t there for the final bit, so fingers crossed they turned out well! 
Happy almost Friday!
Mrs. Castro Pin It

6 comments:

  1. First graders are super needy at the beginning.... when I started the year I was like, "Man, I wish I had all second grade!" But now I love teaching everyone equally! The first graders make ridiculous jumps in what they can do and it feels good to see that. And it is motivating to them when they see what the second graders can do, at least in my class!

    I am excited for you to be joining me in the multiage world!!!!!!

    Marvelous Multiagers!

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    1. Thanks Jill! I really am looking forward to it, next year I'll be the Spanish syllable queen...ma, me, mi, mo, mu...pa, pe, pi, po, pu, etc. That's how you teach the little ones to read in Spanish!

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  2. I'm so excited for you! My first love is First Grade! I love Kindergarten right now because they're just like little first graders. I agree with Jill from above, there is so much growth in First. Good luck!
    ☼Libby
    Dual Kinder Teacher

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    1. Thanks, Libby! I've definitely noticed that the first grade bloggers are truly passionate about their grade level. There must be something special about first graders. Do you loop with your kids? Or are staying in K?

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  3. I love the Runaway Tortilla! I'm obsessed with folktales and all their different versions. I taught a 3rd grade ELL class for a few years and folktales were our favorite. Especially teh ones with a latino flavor. Three Javelinas is another favorite. I teach kindergarten and then loop up with them in first grade. First grade is a lot of fun. They can be trained to be more independent than you think at first.

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    1. Hey Kerri! Isn't Eric Kimmel great? We LOVE his books in our class! I haven't read them the Three Javelinas yet, but I have it. Right now I'm getting prepared for a big unit with The Three Little Tamales - hopefully it will be my first item for sale...
      I'm excited because I will loop with my first graders, and that's got to be a great experience! Independence is going to be a big goal - and I'm pretty sure it's on the Common Core Standards! ;)

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