Holiday Party and Pajama Day on Friday

Dear Families,
I wanted to let you know that Team Harmony is planning a very special Holiday Party for Friday this week.  We will have a pajama day and watch the movie "Polar Express."  We ask that your child does not wear slippers or bring in special stuffed animals to school on Friday, however.  We will have outdoor recess as well, so please make sure your child has regular winter gear for Friday as well.  If your child wants popcorn for the movie, we ask that you provide already popped popcorn in a ziplock bag for your child.  It is easier for the children to eat the popcorn if they are placed in a large ziplock bag (with plenty of room to spare) rather than filling a small bag to the fullest. 

We will also have a Holiday Party in our classroom after lunch and recess, starting around 1:30pm and we kindly ask for some treats for this party.  If you are able, and willing, to provide muffins, cookies, cupcakes, juice, napkins or plates, please let me know.  Healthy treats are also welcome, of course!  The students love fruits and vegetables too!  Thank you for your generosity.  If you would like to join us, you are welcome, of course.  Please let me know. We will start around 1:30, as we will have a special Kiva Singing Assembly after recess.

Thanks again for your continued support.  We look forward to a great week and Friday!

Maria

Weekly Update

Dear Families,
I hope you all enjoyed our snow-day yesterday.  The kids certainly did!  They had so many fun stories to tell today about all the exciting winter activities they did yesterday!

Earlier this week, the students finished their first Voicethread and we are sharing it with you (and the rest of the world) today.  We are very excited.  Voicethread is an online platform that allows the users to share a digital image and comment on it, using text, video or voice.  It also allows other users to comment on what the Voicethread is already about.  In other words, it is like an online, targeted conversation around a specific topic.  We created a Voicethread based upon some books we read in class about how we can all work to make the world a more beautiful and inviting place to live.  For example, we read some books by the author Todd Parr and we also read "Miss Rumphius" by Barbara Cooney.  The students participated in various reading response activities and were partnered up to think about what they can do to make the world more beautiful, culminating in their own reflections and ideas.  We integrated some art as well, as the center image will show in this Voicethread.  Each student then recorded his/her ideas.  We are now inviting others to share what they can do to make our world more beautiful  Our reading buddies in Ms. Davison's class are invited already to comment, and we hope you will as well. If you do not want to create your own account (which, by the way is free, but you do need a password), you can email me your comment and I can get it up for you.  Before creating this Voicethread, the students also learned how to upload their own acvatars.  They are getting so good at accessing out H drive for pictures and they are getting more and more comfortable manipulating file structures every day!  What a group of kids we have!
Well, here is the Voicethread link.  Please take the time and listen to what they had to say.  They did a great job.
This week, we also started using a computer web-site called gonoodle.  Gonoodle is a program that encourages students to make healthy choices in school and at home through various relaxation  and movement activities.  We signed up for an account here at school and you can too, at home.  Gonoodle gives you access to many songs and movement breaks, all very short in length.  We take these short breaks throughout our day and "earn" points for our gonoodle "avatar" (or online profile).  The more we do on gonoodle, the healthier and stronger our online profile will be.  It is so fun and interactive.  The students wanted me to share this web-site with you so perhaps your child can gain access to this at home.  Click here to visit or sign up.  Thank you!
This week, we also participated in "Hour of Code".  Hour of Code is a world-wide effort to educate young learners about technology and programming of computers.  We visited the computer lab and with the help of Linda Scott, our Technology Integration Specialist, we learned to manipulate Angry Bird though a series of obstacles and puzzles.  WOW, this is really amazing and I encourage everyone to explore this at home.  Code allows students to problem-solve, develop stamina through difficult and challenging tasks and see immediate results.  You can access Hour of Code here.  For those kids who want an extra challenge, scroll down on the main page at code.org and try to solve the problems for Anna and Elsa.  Let me know how it goes. Our reading buddies from Ms. Davison's class joined us today and here are some pictures.  Enjoy.

Have a great day tomorrow and enjoy our snowy winterland outside.

Maria

Weekly Update

Dear Families,

The weather is getting cold outside.  Thank you for sending mittens, hats, boots and snow-pants with your child to school.  As you know, we have recess every day and it is important that we bundle up to stay warm now!  It is still a little muddy outside, so your child's snow-pants and boots easily get dirty outside.  I will remind the students to bring all of their snow-gear home this weekend.  I know many students have an extra set just for school, but since we still have mud outside, it might be a good idea to bring it home to be washed.

This week, we continued our solar system workshops on Team Harmony and the students rotated to a new workshop.  It is wonderful to see all of Harmony's students work and learn together.  They are so inquisitive and curious about space and our solar system.  Many children also chose these types of books to take home when we went to the library earlier this week.  I hope they share about all the new knowledge they are gaining in school. 

This week in reading, the students began partner reading.  We are very excited about partner reading because it gives us the opportunity to read new books together with just one other friend.  We have a special "Partner Reading Library" in our classroom filled with books for just 2 people.  They books are bundled together and we even have a special sign-out system for these books.  This week, the students learned to sign partner reading books out, return them and how to be a good reader with a friend.  we talked about what it looks like and sounds like when we partner read.  We also talked about how partners choose books together.  This can be challenging if you and your partner have different interests or preferences.  As a class, we came up with many different ideas for how we can resolve these issues.  For example, the students said that they can take turns choosing books, offer their friend to choose first, or even let the person whose name comes first in the alphabet choose first.  They did an amazing job.  In fact, we had a parent volunteering in our classroom during one of our partner reading blocks, and she noticed that all the students were so kind and polite to each other.  She also noticed that the students helped each other with different reading strategies when difficult words appeared in the text rather than simply saying the correct words to their partners.  WOW!  I am so proud of all of you!

This week in writing, the students continued working on their new small moment stories.  We started talking about the importance of adjectives, or describing words as we sometimes call them.  We started exploring the use of adjectives in many books so we can learn from already published authors.  For example, we read the book "Alexander and the horrible, terrible, no good, very bad day" by Judith Viorst.  The students will continue exploring the use of adjectives in their writing next week.

Have a great day tomorrow and a restful weekend,
Maria

Weekly Update

Dear Families,
This week, Team Harmony started the new science unit on the solar system.   For fours weeks, the students will rotate through a series of workshops, learning about different aspects of our solar system.  When the students are with me, they will learn about the sun and the planets.  They will also deepen their understanding of the seasons and why we have day and night.  We will do this through many different hands-on activities in small groups.  Ask your child to explain how we can use flash-lights and clementines to show our seasons and days and nights.
When the students are with Ms. Crowley, they will deepen their understanding of the moon and its phases.  Don't forget to ask your child to share about the first moon landing and what my personal connection to it is!
Mrs benoit is providing workshops on the stars and the constellations and Miss Caitlin will teach the students about astronauts and gravity (and lack thereof in space). Throughout this unit, the students will continue to think like scientists and ask questions and use their senses.  They will also be encouraged to draw conclusions from what they have learned.

We have a new favorite song on Team Harmony now.  It is already linked on our wiki (and on Mrs Benoit's blog).  It is calle3d "Shooting Stars" and it is by Owl City.  Click here to listen to it.

This week, we also visited the Flynn Theater.  We saw "Lily's purple plastic purse" by Kevin Henkes.  Kevin Henkes is one of our favorite authors.  It turned out that the show was a collection of his stories.  We loved it as we got to "meet" Chester, Wilson and Mr Slinger.  We also met cousin Garland and baby Julius.  Since we have talked about inside and outside character traits in our class, we loved the opportunity to share more about this colorful characters.

Below is a forwarded message from Carolyn Tatlock about a wonderful opportunity to help our community during this upcoming holiday time.  I will keep a special cardboard box outside my classroom for collections if your family wishes to participate.  Thank you in advance for your generosity.

Allen Brook School is seeking non-perishable food items for the Williston Community Food Shelf for December and through mid-January, 2015.  The Food Shelf has  a particular need right now for:

• Pasta Sauces
• Soups
• Canned Vegetables
• Canned Fruits

However, all non-perishable foods are welcome!  Students and families can bring donations to the box located at the front office or to the designated box for their classroom or team.

• For more information about the Allen Brook School December/January Food Drive, please contact John Terko, Principal (871-6202) or Carolyn Tatlock, School Counselor (871-6207).  
• If you would like to donate time, money or food directly, you can contact the Williston Community Food Shelf at (802) 735-6303 or http://www.willistonfoodshelf.com.  They are located at 300 Cornerstone Drive, Suite 115, Williston, VT 05495.  
• If you would like to visit the Food Shelf for food assistance they are open:
• Tuesdays:    5:00pm - 6:30pm
• Thursdays:   9:00am - 11:00am
• Saturdays:    9:00am - 11:00am 

Lastly, we love our explore time in the mornings!  This is a time when students get the opportunity to play with each other, visit other classrooms on our teams and finish projects.  It is always so nice to start the day with big smiles and happy faces when we can work together. Here are some pictures:

Have a great rest of the week.
Regards,
Maria

Weekly Update

Dear Families,

We have had another busy and very productive week on Harmony.

In math this week, first graders continued working on different number sense activities, strengthening their conceptual understanding of number relations.  We worked on teen numbers, decades and counting by tens.  We used our number lines and practiced the numbers before and after a particular number.  We also started comparing numbers in different learning activities emphasizing the language of "greater than", "less than" or "equal to."  Many of these concepts were embedded in our domino games as well.  I hope you have had a chance to see your child's math work at home.
In math this week, we also discussed what it looks like and sounds like to work together in our math class.  The students shared that it is important to take turns, use our materials respectfully and listen to each other's ideas.

We have a math class buzzy jar now.  The students earn buzzies for working together responsibly, safely and using kind words.  When we fill our jar, we will have a special math celebration!
In math, we also started using our new math journals for Number Corner.  For now, the students record different number sentences for how many days we have been in school.  We practice writing our number sentences in different ways; vertically and horizontally.  We also practice addition and subtraction sentences. Can you see how many days we have been in school?  Ask your child to explain.

This week, we visited the Book Fair at WCS.  Thank you for talking to your child about how we select books and what we could purchase before we went.  We had a great time.  The kids loved looking at all the books-even if they did not buy any.  As a special treat, we celebrated in our classroom and read the new books we had bought.  We filled our buzzy jar again and the kids wanted to read our new books right away.  What a great celebration!
In writing this week, the students finished their first small moment stories.  In this unit, the students learned to stretch their stories out by adding details about the 5 Ws. (the who, what, where, why and when questions).  The students also learned to include details pertaining to their senses, such as how they were feeling, or what they were seeing.  We are ready to meet with our editing partners tomorrow and learn from each other through our partner's feedback.  After that, we will create our new covers and titles. We look forward to sharing these stories with you, and will keep you posted about how we will integrate technology to do just that.  Next week, we will start our new small moment stories and learn how authors can stretch their stories out by adding adjectives and dialogue, among other things.
In reading, the students explored different characters in a series of mini-lessons.  We learned that characters can be described both on the outside, ie in terms of their physical characteristics, but also in terms of their actions, thoughts and feelings.  These character traits we call "inside" character traits.  For example, we read "Miss Nelson is missing" and "Miss Nelson is back" by James Marshall and created character puppets to represent these characteristics.  We will hand them up in our kiva space, so please visit to learn more about the colorful characters in these books.  Please come and meet Miss Viola Swamp, Miss Nelson and Mr. Blandsworth.

Lastly, thank you for getting on KidBlog at home!  This week we had 49 comments!!  WOW.  I think this is a new record, but let's see if we can beat that next week.  Thank you moms and dad, brothers and sisters for reading and responding to our blogs.  We REALLY APPRECIATE your involvement.
Thank you!  Also, thank you for solving the math challenge.  I will post a new math challenge tonight, so please go to KidBlog to try to figure it out.  Happy Blogging!

Best,
Maria

Weekly Update

Dear Families,

This week we started Guidance classes with Carolyn Tatlock.  We have rotating related arts on our schedule on Tuesdays and for the next few weeks, the students will have classes with Carolyn Tatlock, learning about strategies and skills around friendship and social situations.  Tomorrow, the students will take home a project they completed with her about their own individual strengths called "Hooray for Me."  It is inside your child's Thursday folder.  This project fits so nicely into our classroom expectations about always trying your best and being safe, kind and responsible.

This week's Thursday folder also contains an informational sheet about the Book Fair at WCS.  As indicated in my earlier email, we are scheduled to go to the Book Fair on November 12, sometime in the morning. Some children bring in a small sum of money to purchase books.  We advise $5-10 only.  Some children only browse and write a "wish list" and return with their parents during the Book Fair's evening hours.  If your child wishes to bring in money, please tell your child that we only purchase books at the fair with the class.  Pencils, pointers and other trinkets cannot be purchased with the class.  I will do my best to explain sales taxes to our young children (!) as  the total purchase price will not reflect the price tag of the book.  This, of course, is a very difficult concept to understand for our young learners, so I appreciate your support and discussions at home.  If your child wants to buy a book with us, please send in his/her money in a small ziplock bag with the name written on the bag in sharpie.  I will collect all the money in the morning and hand them out as we board the bus to WCS.  Thanks again for your support!

This week in writing, the children continued to add more details to their personal narratives.  We continued to explore small moment stories in many books.  The students learned how to expand their narratives by adding the 5 Ws (who, what, where, when, why).  In other words, the children are encouraged to think about how they can answer questions like who was there, where the story took place or when it  took place in order to magnify a small moment in their personal narratives.  We also have a fun little "high 5" hand with the words written down on each finger to help us think of these strategies when we write.  Ask your child to explain.

This week, we also conducted the district-wide on-demand writing assessment.  All children in the same grade level across our district write a small piece on the same topic. This writing prompt is a ni9ce balance to the writing we do in our writer's workshop, a time when the students meet with the teacher, their editing partners and work on a piece for many, many days, or weeks.  The kids did very well.  I am so proud of them.

This week, we also celebrated Crazy Hair Day!  The children filled the BeeHive again!  Here are some pictures:

As the weather changes, please remember to send your child to school dressed in weather appropriate clothing.  An extra pair of socks can be placed in your child's locker in case your child's feet get wet from stepping in a puddle or in wet grass.  Thanks!

Lastly, we are so sad to hear that our friend Krish will be moving to another town.  We wish him and his family all the best!  Krish will continue to blog with us on KidBlog so please stay in touch online!!

Have a great rest of the week.
Best,
Maria

Weekly Update

Dear Families,

We had another busy and productive week in our classroom.

In reading, the students continued their work in guided reading groups.  Most guided reading groups are still reading fictional stories, which allow us to dig deeper into various comprehension tasks while focusing upon reading strategies to help us with fluency and accuracy. We continued making personal connections to the characters and the events.  We also learned how to use our new "Reading Response Menu" in class.  This is a collection of reading responses that they students choose from as they read their books. The menu gives the students options how to respond to a book, or what thinking task to do.  For example, the students can choose to write in their Literacy Book, read the book to a friend to work on fluency, show their understanding of the book in a picture, or give the book an award.  If the student chooses to give the book an award, he/she will name the award and justify why this award is given.  We currently have 5 stations open and we will open more reading response tasks next week.  We love our reading menus!

In writing, the students had a very special treat this week when the author David Martin emailed us and asked us to vote on our favorite endings for a book he has not yet published.  David Martin is currently developing two new characters, Gertie and Gus.  They are very funny.  I have worked closely with David Martin for many years and he has shared many un-finished and unpublished books with my students.  This was, however, the first time we were directly involved in the writing/editing process.  What a treat!  We look forward to seeing this book in our library and our book stores soon.  If you want to explore david Martin's website, I have linked it here.  It is also linked on our school web-site under Author Links.

This week, we also had another 4 Winds class.  We learned about leaves and their characteristics.  Here are some pictures from our workshops.  Thanks again parent volunteers for providing these science classes to our students.  We sorted the leaves based on their characteristics, we created artistic leaf bugs and we colored them.

Lastly, below is a list of reminders:

• Please return the purple permission slip for our upcoming field-trip to the Flynn on November 18th
• We are going to the WCS Book Fair on November 12th in the morning.  This is a time for students to browse books, and write a wish list for you if they wish to return and buy later in the evening.  If you want, your child can bring a small amount of money (we usually recommend $5-10) to buy a book. Tax will have to be paid as well and sometimes, as you can imagine, it can be very difficult for a child to understand why a book cannot be purchased with $5 even though that is the price on the book.  Thank you for discussing this at home with your child.  We will talk more about this in school as the Book Fair nears.  We only buy books in school.  If your child wants to buy pencils and posters, for example, we encourage parents to return in the evening.
• Next Tuesday, our rotating related arts switches to Guidance with Ms. Tatlock.
• We still have PE on Wednesdays and Fridays. Sneakers please!
• We are integrating more technology into our classes every day.  If your child did not bring in his/her own head-phones to use, please bring them in on Monday.  Let me know if you need help getting these.  It is so much better not to share head-phones and the classroom is so much quieter when we use our head-phones.  Thank you!
• Don't forget to check out KidBlog again this weekend for another challenge!

Have a great weekend!

Maria

Math Update

First grade mathematicians are learning to read and represent data in different types of graphs.  They are also learning to compare these findings.  Sometimes we vote in class, and sometimes we take a survey.  Ask your child to explain.

Here is a picture of a pictograph:

Here is a picture of a line plot: