Dear Families,
Here is our week in review:
Social-Emotional Learning:
This week, first graders learned more about the unique differences and similarities we all share. They learned that we are all unique on “the outside” (ie how we look) but also on “the inside” (ie how we feel and act). First graders explored several different scenarios in which these unique similarities and differences play a role and when they do not. They learned that we all react to situations in different ways and sometimes those feelings might look the same on the outside, but inside, these feelings can be different. The students learned that they can be kind and caring friends to others while practicing compassionate acts and showing empathy. In fact, we will start a special “Kindness Challenge” for the month of February. This month, the students will have multiple opportunities to engage in games and activities to learn how to recognize kindness in others and how they can show kindness to themselves and others. We are very excited.
This week, we had several restorative circles to continue to build our community as learners. In our restorative circles, all students have a chance to share their wonderings, worries and thoughts about different topics. This week, Ms. Filion facilitated a chat about the different strategies we can use when we feel worried or scared at home or at school. Thank you Ms. Filion for joining our classroom and helping us feel safe and connected to each other. We also had another restorative circle with Ms. Nicole. This week, we learned more about self-control and how we can show self-control at home and at school. At school, for example, we can show self-control in the hallways, during circle time or during work times in the classroom. Ask your child to explain.
You Can:
You can support your child’s emerging social-emotional skills by going beyond naming the feelings they (and/or you) are experiencing in a particular situation. Encouraging your child to share the reasons why he/she is feeling this way and recognizing the feelings of others open up the possibilities for proactive and positive problem-solving and conflict-resolution. Encourage your child to name specific solutions and/or strategies to use to resolve the issue peacefully and praise your child for being honest about his/her frustrations.
Think of the different situations that arise at home when your child needs to show self-control. When is that and what does it look like?
Reading:
First grade readers participated in many different reading structures this week, reading both authentic texts and decodable books. They practiced heart words and went on “word hunts”, spelling and highlighting words with specific sounds or word-endings. They did a great job and seemed to enjoy engaging with the texts.
First grade readers also continued working on their own reading fluency skills this week. They are encouraged to whisper read their decodable books and texts multiple times (in different ways) as a way to improve automaticity of words and word parts while also learning to pay close attention to ending punctuation and plot.
We started a new chapter series for our daily read alouds in our classroom. We are still reading books by the author Kate DiCamillo, but we are currently reading her books about Bink and Gollie, another fun and silly series. Ask your child to explain more.
You can:
You can support your child’s reading by reading the decodable books/texts that we have sent home over the last several weeks. Some children also come home with games from Fundations and other literacy classes. These games are highly interactive and worth playing again. Ask your child to explain how. They all love to play games. You can also support your child’s reading at home by encouraging your child to access Lexia, our online reading program. As your child masters new skills, the program automatically increases the challenge and text complexity.
Writing:
First grade authors continued to build their writing stamina. We increased our quiet, productive writing time to 20 minutes this week! Ask your child how he/she managed to do that and what strategies helped your child stay “brain in” on writing!
First grade authors continued to add details to their words and pictures in their personal narratives.
You Can:
You can support your child’s understanding of personal narratives by asking your child what he/she is writing about. How did they start their stories and what other details do they plan to include in their stories? Verbal story-telling is a powerful way for authors to organize their ideas before writing down the words. If you recall, the students started this process last week, so hopefully they have many things to share at home with you!
Math:
This week, first grade mathematicians started a new unit on fractions. In this unit, they will learn about wholes and halves. They will learn how fractions are equal parts of a whole. They will explore these concepts through a variety of games and multisensory games and activities.
First grade mathematicians also continued to develop basic number sense and place value understanding while also comparing numbers and quantities.
Lastly, first grade mathematicians started systematic problem-solving, a time when they are encouraged to explain their mathematical thinking and calculations through drawings, equations and representations.
You can:
You can support your child’s emerging understanding of fractions by being careful how you use your own social language at home. It is common for young learners to have a strong sense of “a bigger half” (especially when they are referring to something desirable such as a cookie or pizza that gets divided into smaller parts). The mathematical definition of a “half” is equal to another half of the same whole, thus a half cannot be “bigger”. Encouraging your child to see that two halves of the same thing/quantity must be identical while not identical to those of another object/quantity can be challenging and requires time and patience. Our colloquial language uses of fractions make this so much harder for our young learners!
News and Reminders:
Harmony will be spending the afternoon at Catamount on Tuesday, February 20th from 11:30am – 1:45pm. We will send out more information as we approach our field-trip day. We are still waiting to hear back regarding chaperones. At this point we do not know but we will communicate with you all as soon as we receive more information from Catamount. We are very excited to go!
Here is a letter from our school counselor, Ms. Heather:
Hello,
My name is Heather Scandale and I am the school counselor at ABS. I live in Central Vermont with my three children. I spend most of my time skiing, mountain biking, seeing music, and driving and watching (and driving some more!) my children to their sporting and dance events. I will be facilitating a Changing Families Group for children who are or have experienced a transition such as a death, birth, separation, divorce, or marriage. Children participate only if they want to and with parent permission. Children are able to attend one time to just "try it out" and determine if it is something that he/she would like to continue. Other ways I see students at ABS include classroom guidance lessons, small groups and individual check ins. If you feel that your child may benefit from this please reach out to your child's teacher or me at hscandale@cvsdvt.org. I am happy to answer any questions at any time regarding your child and his/her participation.
Warmly,
Heather Scandale, MA
School Counselor
We will celebrate Valentine’s Day in class on Wednesday, 2/14/24. Please see these attached guidelines and our class-list if your child wishes to share cards/gifts with our friends at school.
It is cold outside and our playground/fields are covered in snow. Please remember to send your child to school daily with weather-appropriate clothing.
Please take a moment to go through your child’s backpack periodically. Many times, soggy/wet clothes are left in the various pouches, or at the bottom, making papers and books wet as well. Checking your child’s backpack daily is strongly recommended. In fact, Harmony House encourages all families to encourage their own child/children to start taking some responsibility at home with packing and unpacking backpacks. For example, encourage your child to pack their library books for Wednesdays, and unpack the backpack daily. Not only will this empower your child and improve their confidence and independence, we also hope families will notice if any items of clothing are missing. Our Lost & Found racks/bins at ABS are overflowing with left-behind winter gear and sweatshirts. We encourage families to inventory items of clothing that might be missing and encourage their children to look for them at school. Please also label your child’s clothing clearly.
Winter gear gets wet and soggy quickly. We encourage families to send in a grocery bag for these clothing items as backpacks often are too small to fit boots, mittens and snow pants. Having an extra bag for packing winter gear will also reduce frustrations and stressors for our young learners’ end-of-the-day dismissal procedures. Thank you.
Have a great weekend,
Maria
No comments:
Post a Comment