Family Newsletter

Dear Families,
I hope this post finds you well.  I hope you and your family have a chance to relax and spend time together during our winter break from school.

I just emailed all of you a link to our upcoming parent-teacher conferences.  I hope you will sign up so we can chat about your child's day and progress at school.  Let me know if the slots offered do not work for you and your family.  We will find another time!

Here are some highlights from our week before the break:

Literacy and Trick Words:
The students worked hard on their trick words.  Trick words are challenging to master, because they do not follow the typical phonological rules and can, hence, not be "sounded out".  Many of our trick words also frequently occur in texts so mastery is important to ensure fluency and comprehension. In addition to our trick word booklets, we started small group/partnership stations using a variety of manipulatives, such as legos, popsicle sticks and pattern blocks.  The students worked so well together and their stamina was impressive.  Most students rotated through several stations each time!  WOW!  Here are some pictures:

My daughter Emilie had a day off from UVM too so she joined us as well, helping us with our trick words. Thanks Emilie!

Science:
We continued our unit on earth processes.  Last week, we learned about fast landform changes, such as earthquakes and flash floods.  The students participated in various stations, examining what happens during different kinds of earthquakes.  We used legos, blocks and styrofoam to simulate the earthquakes.

Reading Buddies:
Ms. Davison's Kindergarten students joined us for reading and trick word stations.  We had a lot of fun together working on reading and writing together. It is especially meaningful when you learn from another peer and when you get to be the teacher too!

Math:
First grade mathematicians started work on estimating.  They are learning why we estimate and what a reasonable estimate is.  The students are learned that we try to round up and anchor our estimates to the nearest decuble ("on-decade, ie 10s or 100s, etc).  For example, the students are learning that estimates are on decade, ie 90 instead of 92 or 93.  To help with this new thinking, the students learn to find a referent, a group of 10.  This is the only group we count.  We visually use this amount/group, and then quicky create groups of about 10 so quickly estimate how many we have in a particular sample.  Here are some pictures (notice that the referent is on the paper):

Enjoy the rest of break.

Best,
Maria