Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Why Do We Read?

Last week, we spent some time talking about why people read and what happens in a reader's mind while he or she is reading.  We also shared the things we love to read that paint a picture of our lives as readers.  Here are the notes from our conversations:

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Happy First Day of School!

We had a tremendous first day!  It was so lovely to put faces with the names on my class list.  At the end of the day today, we had a "Setting of Intentions."  We started by talking about why we go to school in the first place.  These are the ideas that came up:

  • Our parents can't have us at our house all day (they don't want to homeschool us).
  • so we can learn so we can get jobs
  • we like learning
  • so there's  a place to learn how to be a teacher
  • to learn
  • to get smarter
  • to be challenged
  • to be inspired
  • to be interested in things
  • to make friends and play
  • to learn about things you never knew you could learn
  • to solve problems (school problems and friend problems)

The conversation then moved to why school matters to each individual student, to why each individual student comes to school (looking beyond the legal obligation, that is).  We talked about the word "intention," that it means a plan to act a certain way.  Then each student set his or her intention for the year by answering the question, Why do you go to school?  Why does school matter to you?  The responses will guide their actions during the months to come.  Here are their responses: