We began our school day with a getting-to-know-you Bingo game. Students quickly began mingling and learning more about one another.
After reading the first chapter of the book Stuart Goes to School, the students shared how they were feeling this morning while anticipating the start of their first day of school. Each child drew a face on a post-it that represented their feelings. These faces were then used to create a pictograph that helped us compare feelings across the class and to those of the characters in the book. Here is a photo of our graph. Even though there were a few students that were nervous about school starting or upset with summer ending, I was pleased to see plenty of smiling and happy children throughout the day!
Finally, the students learned an important and unique life lesson today: When we speak to one another it is like squirting toothpaste on a plate.
If we are not careful with our toothpaste and squeeze it without thinking we can end up with a big mess. This is also true with our words. If we open our mouths and speak words that are hurtful, disrespectful, or mean, it can make a huge mess. Several students volunteered to squirt out some toothpaste on a plate, but discovered that it was impossible when I asked a child to put the toothpaste back in the tube. She did manage to smear the toothpaste around and make an even bigger mess though! It is just as difficult to put words back in our mouths. Even if we apologize or try to explain that it was a joke, it is impossible to take back those hurtful words. The students were really able to understand the comparison and agreed to think carefully about the words they are choosing to use.
Thanks for taking time to learn about our busy first day of third grade! I look forward to seeing all of the parents at Curriculum Night next week!
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