Dear Families,
Here is our week in review:
Ms. Ainaka, our DEI Coach, joined our class to teach us about Columbia and share about her culture. We learned some new dances and some Spanish words. Thank you Ms. Ainaka for joining our class!
Please welcome Ellie Reed, our new UVM Intern, to our classroom. Ellie will be with us twice a week. Here is a letter from her:
Hello Families!
My name is Ellie Reed and I am so excited for this experience as a practicum student at Allen
Brook! I can’t wait to build meaningful relationships with all of the students in this classroom. I
will share a little about myself. I am a Senior at UVM majoring in Early Childhood Education. I
am from Essex, Vermont, which is about twenty minutes from campus. I’m also a student-athlete here on UVM’s Field Hockey team! Some of my interests include playing and watching sports,reading, running, spending time with family and friends, and working with children! I have a lot of experience with children of various ages. For the past five years, I have worked as a summer camp counselor at my town’s local Rec Department. Two summers ago, I was promoted to an Assistant Coordinator at one of our sites, at Founders Memorial School. Last year’s Winter break, I was asked to be the Director/Coordinator of the Essex Elementary School After-School Program. Along with that, I’ve also babysat for many different families and I have coached children in Field Hockey as well as Track and Field fundamentals. This is my fourth and final practicum experience during my time at UVM and I am looking forward to all I will learn. I have packed a Video Release Form in your child’s Home Folder to ask for your consent to collect video/photographic data of the children, and I thank you in advance for filling it out! I look forward to meeting you all this week and can’t wait for a great semester with your children!
Thank you,
Ellie
Social-Emotional Learning:
The students filled our buzzy jar again for being safe, kind and responsible! We celebrated with extra outside play-time and got on our chromebooks. What an amazing group of first graders we have!
The students participated in several collaborative group games and activities to build our classroom community of learners who respect and trust each other. We played many new games together. They have also learned more about what it means to be a respectful audience-member and how we can listen to each other respectfully. The students are learning that having a calm body with eyes on the speaker shows that we care what the speaker has to say. Additionally, having hands to yourself also shows respectful listening. The students also learned that when we’re presenting, we use a “big” presentation voice. We have some visuals in the classroom to support this learning and help the students. They did an outstanding job!
We continued to build the routines and expectations around our restorative circles, a time when all the students have a chance to share their voice about the topic we are discussing. Restorative circles provide a safe and nurturing way for our learning community to share thoughts and feelings and repair harm and relationships. All students have a voice and all students have something to contribute to our circle conversations. They are doing a wonderful job sharing their perspectives and ideas. I am so proud of them.
You Can:
You can support your child’s emerging listening skills by encouraging them to have a calm body and pay attention to the speaker when you are conversing at home. Simply waiting for your child to show you that they are ready to listen before giving a direction, for example, helps establish a calmer, quieter conversation. In class, we use the phrases “whole body listening” and “brain in”. When speakers and listeners are “brain in”, they are paying attention to each other!
Encourage your child to share his/her thoughts and wonderings with you daily. Validate the feelings your child expresses and find ways in which all voices can be heard at home too.
Reading:
This week, the students practiced reading together in the classroom and in our library. They practiced what it looks like and sounds like to listen to another teacher/adult read out loud to them. They had the opportunity to practice active listening with their whole bodies. They are encouraged to find a responsible listening space on our rug before the reading starts.
The students also practiced active engagement during echo and choral readings of texts. They are getting more confident using a variety of strategies to help them read. For now, we are focusing on looking at the first letter and sounding it out, then blending it together with the sequential letters.
You can:
You can support your child’s reading at home by asking your child to do different kinds of readings with you. Ask your child to read a book with you. Ask your child to whisper-read to you or a stuffed animal. How about reading a book out loud to a sibling or caregiver? Don’t forget to read your child’s library books together this week! If your child struggles with finding “just right” books to read, encourage your child to point out words he/she can recognize. We will start sending home “just right” books and sight words for your child to read soon. Stay tuned.
Writing:
This week, the students practiced their trick words, words that cannot be “sounded out” using traditional decoding/phonological strategies.
You Can:
You can support your first grade speller's emerging love of writing by encouraging him/her to take risks in writing and not give up during writing at home. Having a growth mindset in writing is key to future success, well-being and a sense of accomplishment in writing. Writing can typically be a daunting task for first grade students, but with support and time, even the most reluctant writer discovers the joys of writing stories and ideas down on paper. If your child is writing at home, encourage your child to do his/her best. It is okay if the word is not spelled correctly and perfectly. Invented spelling is just right at this age (and at this stage in the school year). Young learners develop a sense of independence and confidence in writing when they know that mistakes are okay. We want those wonderful ideas down on paper so other people can learn from them too!
Math:
We continued to build our classroom community of mathematicians by focusing on collaborative games, personal responsibilities and active listening this week. As more math tools are introduced to our young mathematicians, it is vital that they understand the importance of using these tools for math learning (and not for playing games, etc).
First grade mathematicians continued to practice proper number writing to build speed and fluency, while also building confidence in their ability to show their thinking.
This week, we looked at numbers to 10, using ten-frames and finger flashing combinations.
First grade mathematicians also learned some new games this week. They learned a game called EggHead and some new dice games while also practicing addition facts.
You can:
You can support your child’s love of math by engaging in daily conversations about numbers. Numbers are all around us and math should be a social activity. In our classroom, math is something we engage in together. Sometimes, we tackle math problems as a whole group and sometimes the students work in partnerships or smaller groups. Sharing ideas and solutions, while using words and drawings to justify one’s thinking are key components to math. Ask your child to find groups of 5s, for example. How many groups of 5s are there in 10, in 15? Where can we find groups of 5s? Groups of 10s, or 2s? Other groups? Finding groups of things outside provides hands-on experiences that encourage your child to see how math is connected to real life too.
Count forwards and backwards with your child. This week, we practiced the first decade and beyond.
News and Reminders:
We had extra PE this week. For the next 5 weeks, our class will have an additional PE class on Thursdays as part of a school-wide rotation schedule.
Our school picture day at ABS is fast approaching. School picture day is on Monday 9/17. We are scheduled to have our pictures taken at 8:05am. If you wish to order photographs for your child, please return the photo-order form to the classroom or contact the photographer online per the directions on the slip that was sent home a couple of weeks ago. If you and your family need another copy of this photo order form, please contact the front office. Thank you.
Our ABS Open House is on 10/1 between 6-7pm. More information will follow shortly but please keep that night open for some socializing and visiting at ABS!
Have a great weekend,
Maria
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