Friday, March 29, 2019

Harmony Kid Iditarod Race

Our Harmony Kid Iditarod Race was a huge success!  The students worked so well together and showed tremendous spirit throughout the entire race.  It was muddy and quite challenging in parts, but the kids persevered, encouraged each other and cheered for everyone to finish the race. Thank you parents for helping us make this event possible.



















Tuesday, March 26, 2019

Family Newsletter

Dear Families,
The students on Harmony are working hard to get ready for our Kid Iditarod Race on Friday this week.  For the last few weeks, the students have participated in mixed groups to design a team flag, assign roles for the race and to engineer a structure that can hold an uncooked egg (symbolizing the serum) for the entire race.  Today, we even had a chance to go outside to practice pulling our sleds as teams on the fields behind our school.  Throughout this integrated unit on the Iditarod, the students also learned cooperative and social skills.
Here are some pictures. Enjoy.






4 Winds:
This time, we learned about water and its amazing characteristics.  The students watched a puppet show, learned about the water cycle and had the opportunity to test how water behaves on different surfaces.




Reading Buddies:
We love reading books with our Kindergarten buddies.  This week, they visited our classroom and we really enjoyed reading together in the warm, sunny classroom. Ask your child to share his/her favorite thing about reading buddies!





Changing Perspectives:
The students at ABS participated in a school-wide presentation on people differences, disabilities and empathy today.  We learned about the similarities between people but also how each person is also unique and special. The message was "Share your similarities; celebrate your differences".




Have a great rest of the week,
Maria

Wednesday, March 20, 2019

Upcoming Events and Dates

Dear Families,
As I am meeting with many of you during conferences this week, we have been discussing upcoming events, among other things.  
I wanted to capture this information in one email so everyone will receive the same information.  I hope you will take the time to read this and "save the dates" for these upcoming events.  Please let me know if you are able to chaperone/volunteer (for the indicated events).

Thank you!

Friday, 3/22
Parent-teacher conferences.  There is no school for the students.

Harmony Kid Iditarod Race, 3/29
Start time 12:30; ends around 2:30pm
Location: ABS field directly behind Harmony's classrooms.
We need parent volunteers to help us at the check-points.  Please let me know if you are able to help us.
This is an outside event, so please dress accordingly.

WCS Drama Production "Camp Rock" at WCS, 4/3
ABS will visit WCS for the drama production, "Camp Rock"
The bus will leave ABS around 1:15.
All dismissal will be from WCS.
If your child attends "Part 2", a bus will bring them back to ABS.
If your child needs to be picked up, please come to the WCS Lobby/Office.
All other students will board their regular buses.

Shelburne Farms Field-trip, 5/3
This is an all-day field-trip.  Weather permitting, the students will be outside so please dress accordingly.
We need parent chaperones for this trip.  Please let me know if you are interested in joining us for a day at Shelburne farms!

Reading Restaurant, 5/16
Team Harmony will celebrate the students' writing throughout the year in this annual event.
There will be two seating options; 6-6:40pm and 6:50-7:30pm.  Families will receive a "seating time" a couple of weeks before Reading Restaurant.  We encourage families to invite grandparents, brothers/sisters and other special family members to this celebration of learning!
We will not serve food; just stories! Your family will attend during the time slot that your child is "working" in our restaurant.
The ABS Art Show is also scheduled for the same night.  Many families combine these two events and check out both:)

Sunday, March 10, 2019

Family Newsletter

Dear Families,
Welcome back to school again!
It was great to see all the kids again.  They had so much to share about their activities during our February break.  They all seemed ready and eager to be back in school too and quickly settled into our routine.

Reading:
Thank you everyone for supporting your child's reading at home.  The students are so excited to complete their new Iditarod Reading Logs.  We had many fully completed logs handed in on Friday.  We also had some students hand them in throughout the week for us to check.  Many students are also completing them at school.  They are doing a great job writing complete sentences and picking "just right" books.  We are so proud of them.

Writing:
This week, the students continued their ocean animal reports.  They learned how to draw detailed, scientific pictures, using labels.  They also practiced adding more relevant details to each chapter in small groups or with a partner.  Lastly, we started working on our habitat section.  They are making terrific progress. We hope to start assembling our scrapbook covers next week, so we can start building our ocean animals' habitats soon.

Math:
First grade mathematician continued working in small groups, developing skills in number sense and number relationships.  The students also started work in our new unit on 2D and 3D shapes, using pattern blocks.  We also used ipads to deepen this understanding.  Lastly, first grade mathematicians had another opportunity to access math learning on mobymax.






Friday Workshops:
Friday workshops will be devoted to learning about the Iditarod during the month of March.  The students were placed in small, mixed groups, with students from the entire house.  Each week, they will create different components needed for our culminating Iditarod Kid Race (on March 29th).
This week, the teams worked on creating a team name as well as a flag, which will be carried throughout the race.  Throughout these workshops, the students will not only learn more about the Iditarod, but they will also have the opportunity to improve their collaborative and social skills by sharing materials and ideas.

Visitors:
Since two of my own children did not have school until Wednesday last week, I had the opportunity to bring them into ABS.  Ryan and Aidan joined our school for one day each.  We had a great time together.  It was nice for everyone to finally meet each other.




Parent-Teacher Conferences:
If you have not yet signed up for a time, please do not forget to.  If the times offered do not work for you and your family, please let me know.  I am looking forward to seeing you again and discuss your child's progress.  Thank you.

Have a great rest of the weekend,
Maria