Family Newsletter

Dear Families,

It is still cold out there and a certain rodent just predicted another 6 weeks of winter!  I guess we have to keep packing those thick winter coats, gloves, hats and boot for a little while longer!  Sometimes the weather is so cold that we cannot go outside.  Last week, we really missed playing in the snow so we decided to bring it inside the classroom for our Friday workshops!

Reading:
The students started reading non-fiction books in our guided reading groups a few weeks ago and they are doing a terrific job recognizing the text features of such books.  I hope they share some of these new reading strategies and skills at home as you read together.  We have a visual anchor chat in our classroom to help us remember these features and you might have seen some projects related to this theme in your child's Friday folder.

We also started using some self reflection rubrics in reading.  The objective of these activities is to encourage the students to think about their choices during reading time.  We talked about the importance of choosing just right books, finding a quiet space to read and sustaining active reading for longer periods of time.  We also reflected on the reasons why students might choose a new spot to read and not find just right books, and what we can do to help ourselves actively read during reading times.  These reflection rubrics will come home periodically in your child's Friday folder.  Please look them over and see if some of the expectations at school can be, or already are, reflected at home. 

Writing:
We continued our animal research last week.  The students are currently practicing "Reading to Understand".  This approach emphasizes the importance of sense-making in reading, ie students read a passage, think about it, make sense of the text, and then, write it down in their own words.  They are doing a fantastic job.

I try to find many tangible opportunities for the students to practice this approach as they occur.  For example, a student in our class read that an adult chipmunk weighs as much as 15 quarters, while a baby chipmunk weighs only as much as 1 quarter.  The student collected quarters and then we all had the opportunity to feel the weight of a chipmunk.  Another student read that a baby raccoon is only 4 inches at birth, so we measured four inches using a ruler. Perhaps you will find similar learning opportunities at home as you read with your child.  Keep me posted and have fun making sense of what is read!

Looking for parent helpers/volunteers:
I am looking for parent helpers to support our animal research.  For the next couple of weeks, I would love to have parents read passages/chapters to individual students, or small groups, to help them understand the content in our books.  The students would do their own writing, but because many of our books on Vermont animals are not written for first and second grade kids, the writing task become particularly challenging when the students cannot access the content.  Please email me if you are willing and able to come in to read to our amazing researchers!  I truly appreciate your support!

Math:
First grade mathematicians recently started a new unit in math.  For the next few weeks, they will explore the number line and develop a greater understanding of equality.
We started our new unit by creating a life-sized number line exploring the relative magnitude between the numbers.  The students also have their own collections and can create different number lines as we solve mathematical problems.

Reminders & Upcoming Events:

• Emma Lang, UVM Intern, joined our classroom last week.  She will be with us every Thursday morning for the next few weeks.  Welcome Emma.  We are so happy to have you with us!
• Thank you for sending in all permission slips for the upcoming field-trip to the Flynn, which is on Friday Feb 9th.  The bus will leave ABS around 11:45, which means we will have lunch early and snack when we return.
• ABS will attend the WCS Chorus Concert on Wednesday, Feb. 7th.  Dismissal will be from WCS.  If you plan to pick up your child on Wednesday, please do so at the lobby at WCS.  All other children will board their regular buses or brought back to ABS for Part 2.