Family Newsletter

Dear Families,

Your child’s Home Folder contains lots of information today.  First of all, your child is bringing home decodable and familiar texts and word lists for you to keep and read at home.  Second, your child is also bringing home information about how to access some extra math learning at home.  As always, these are resources and optional. Have fun!

Here is our week in review:

Social-Emotional Learning:

• The students of Allen Brook filled the hive this week! We celebrated with a schoolwide dance party.  It was so fun to see all the students dance together.The adults were participating too.

• This week, the students spent some time with Puppy and Snail, our two classroom puppets.  Puppy and Snail are part of our Second Step curriculum and they help the students learn about emotional self-regulation and empathy.  Puppy and Snail joined our classroom to play a special game.  We had fun learning and playing with Puppy and Snail! The students helped with the puppets too and did a great job!

• This week, the students had the opportunity to build an understanding of how their actions impact the people around them.  It can be hard for young children to gain an understanding of this, but with continued conversations, practice and reflective, restorative practices, they will learn to master this skill as well.  This week, for example, we talked about how “following your own plan” instead of following the expected “group plan” disrupts other people’s learning and focus.  For example, when we need to clean up after playing with different materials, all students must help and contribute in a timely fashion.  When we sit on the rug for a read aloud or a mini-lesson, it is important that everyone shows their whole body listening skills so we can continue to learn and grow together.  At ABS, we respect safe bodies and everyone’s right to access learning.

You Can: 

• You can support your child’s emerging understanding of how their actions impact others by engaging in those conversations at home too.  Point out positive behaviors that contribute to your “family plan” at home.  For example, when it is time to get ready for school in the morning, praise your child for getting ready and completing his/her morning chores on time.  When all members work collaboratively towards the common goal, the process is not only smoother and faster, it makes all members feel calmer and more relaxed too. If it is challenging for your child to follow the “family plan” at home, start by making sure that your child understands what is expected in that particular situation.  Tell your child that you rely on your child’s cooperation and support.  Young children love purposeful tasks and thrive on being asked to help the adults in their lives.  Build independence in areas that you feel are appropriate for your child and release responsibility as appropriate.

Reading:

• This week, the students also participated in several read alouds to learn to “read as writers”.  When you “read as a writer”, you pay close attention to the words the author chose, the way the text/font appears and how the author uses his/her craft to convey messages.  You also start to pay attention to words, spelling and letter combinations, which are all components of our science of reading approach to literacy.  The students learned that authors sometimes repeat words over and over again to convey emotions and/or suspense.  The students also learned that authors sometimes use different font sizes to reflect character dialogue.  They also learned to pay close attention to word endings that reflect rhyming. We read many books together and we finished the book “Hooray for Snail”.  Ask your child to tell you about the plot.

• The students participated in reading  with me in small groups, in partnerships with each other and they also practiced independent reading.  They are building their reading stamina every day.

• Here is a special message from our wonderful school librarian about a fantastic opportunity to connect reading at school to reading and learning at home:

Hi Readers! 

In October during library lesson times, we are reading picture books written by award winning author, Minh Le. Minh is the featured Global Read Aloud 2024 author, and I was a lucky duck who chatted with him in person during a Red Clover book conference several years ago. He’s a kind, fun dad who loves sharing stories about his heritage and inspiring kids to dream big!

Our library website:

https://sites.google.com/cvsdvt.org/abs-library/global-read-aloud?authuser=0

About Minh Le

https://minhlebooks.com/aboutminh

Global Read Aloud 

https://theglobalreadaloud.com/blog/

You can:

• You can support your child’s independent reading at home by encouraging your child to engage with literature for longer periods of time.  In first grade, daily reading at home is important. Consider creating a special cozy place for your child to read.  Perhaps your child feels comfortable reading on the bed, in the kitchen or on a pillow on the floor?  Having a consistent place to read encourages young children to read since the routine becomes predictable and the norm.  Consider reading yourself.  It is very important that young children see the adults in their lives model the same expectations as we put on them.  Perhaps you want to try a common reading time at home for 10 minutes?  During this time, mom/dad/siblings will read too.  

• Please consider helping your child access our fabulous online reading program Lexia at home too.  Consider creating a schedule that works for you and your family.  Some families only use Lexia a few days a week, while others let their children access it every day for 10 minutes.  Let me know if I can help create a working schedule for you.

Writing:

• The students continued work in their Fundations/spelling groups this week.  They worked on building an understanding of how the sounds they hear when they speak and write correspond to letters and letter combinations.  They practiced isolating sounds in the beginning, the middle and the end of simple, shorter words.  They also had opportunities to connect these sounds to the letters we use in the English language to spell words.

• The students practiced hand-writing this week.  In first grade, the students are learning to use lower case letters and saving the upper case letters for the beginning of sentences, names and places.  The students practiced proper pencil grips to help in writing and they were encouraged to practice finger-spacing between words. 

You Can:

• Your child might have brought home some hand-writing pages this week inside the Home Folder.  (If not, your child will bring these pages home next week)  You can celebrate your child’s hard work and writing by praising your child’s efforts at school and point out that you notice the various features they are learning about in first grade.

• You can support your child’s emerging understanding in phonological awareness by engaging in various rhyming activities at home and by reading books that reflect and include rhyming words and phrases.  Young children love to “play” with words!  In school, we also practice “sounding out” nonsense words (words that are not real English language words) but the students are exposed to them as a way to build a stronger phonological awareness and understanding.

Math:

• First grade mathematicians started working in weekly small group rotations this week.  They will rotate through several stations every week.  Sometimes, they will meet with a teacher/adult, and sometimes they will work independently, or engage in hands-on games.  They did an outstanding job navigating these new structures and routines this week.

• First grade mathematicians also continued to practice partners to 10, composing and decomposing numbers.  This week, they used number bonds and developed cognitive flexibility with numbers and groups.

• Your child has an informational sheet about how you can access technology tools from home using a home computer.  Your child’s passwords are listed as well.  Please keep this in a safe place for future use or consider accessing Happy Numbers, our online math program.  

You can:

• You can support your child’s emerging mathematical flexibility by talking to your child about numbers and math.  Math is all around us and math is a social activity. Ask “keep thinking” questions to encourage your child to explain/justify his/her thinking.  Ask “Can you explain that another way?”, “How do you know….?” or “Does this make sense?” when you talk about math at home!

• Celebrate your child’s math learning every week by checking your child’s Home Folder.  A simple way to stay connected with our learning is to see if there are any finished math games/worksheets inside.  If so, ask your child to explain the math they are learning.  Please note that your child will not bring home sheets every week as we mostly do hands-on, conceptual math learning activities/games that do not always require traditional “worksheets/paper writing”.

News and Reminders:

• There is no school for students on Thursday 10/10 and Friday 10/11.  I will host parent-teacher conferences on Thursday 10/10.  If you did not get a chance to sign up, please consider doing that.  Here is the link to our upcoming parent-teacher conferences

Have a great weekend,

Maria

Family Newsletter

Dear Families,

Here is our week in review:

Social-Emotional Learning:

• This week, the students continued to learn about how we can use clues from other peoples’ facial expressions, tone of voice and body language to better understand how they are feeling.  The students had the opportunity to show their own understanding of what those facial expressions might look like through art and while we discovered many similarities in our drawings, we also discovered that we also show our emotions in many different ways.

• This week, the students celebrated each others’ growth mindset, resilience and perseverance in our math classes by honoring their peers and giving them buzzies for being safe, kind and responsible.  For example, we end every math class with a closing circle when the students  celebrate each other's positive contributions to our class and learning.  The students love this!

• The students are learning that our brains grow when we think, engage with learning and make mistakes.  They are learning that mistakes lead to new learning and powerful connections in the brain.  The students are encouraged to see mistakes as learning opportunities and ways to grow their brains.

• The students also learned more about our listening skills and how we can build our brains by paying close attention to what other speakers are saying.  Among other things, we played a game called “My turn, your turn” and the students learned how they can focus their attention by using their “attent-o-scopes” (cupping their hands around their eyes to help zoom into the learning).  We can also focus our attention by giving the speaker eye contact, listen attentively to what the speaker is saying and having a quiet body and voice.

• We practice Mindfulness every day in our classroom.  Mindfulness is a time when the students are encouraged to “be in the moment” and learn to relax and do something calming and quiet.  They love this time when we listen to calming music, draw or read our books.

You Can: 

• You can support your child’s emerging growth mindset at home too by encouraging your child to persevere during challenging times.  Celebrate situations when your child showed resilience and discuss solutions for situations when your child feels frustrated.  You might want to use the same language we use here at school?  For example, I ask the students to show each other that they are “brain in”, which means that they chose a good learning spot for them so they are ready to grow their brains.  I encourage the students to try on their own first because they should grow their own brains, not mine!

• You might want to create some mindful moments at home too?  It is particularly important in today’s busy world that we all have opportunities to relax and engage in some calming activities.  Consider finding some time when you and your child do some deep breathing together or listen to some calming music?  How about carving out five or ten minutes of quiet reading time or a time to draw a picture together?  

Reading:

• I started formal reading assessments with the students this week.  It is always wonderful to have the opportunity to read together.  We had two different  guest teachers and we are so grateful to have extra help so I can read one-on-one with the students.  At ABS, we assess phonological awareness, phonics and sight words.  When all the assessments are done, we will start differentiated reading groups, a time when students will receive individualized and explicit reading instruction for future reading progress. I will share my findings with you when we get together for our parent-teacher conferences (more information on these conferences will be coming soon).

You can:

• You can support your child’s reading progress at home by reading to (and with) your child every day.  As I have mentioned in my other newsletters, it is okay for you to read to your child.  At this point, it is important that your child makes a positive connection with literature for future reading success.  The students love our classroom read alouds.  Expose your child to a variety of genres too.  Some students connect deeply with nonfiction books, while others prefer graphic novels or fictional narratives. Keep trying.  Give your child opportunities to listen to a variety of books and texts.  

Writing:

• This week, we started our English Language Arts (ELA) focus.  ELA provides a time for the students to learn how to create age-appropriate and grammatically proper sentences, both through verbal sharing and sentence writing.  We started reading the book “Hooray for Snail”  and learned how to share our understanding of the characters and the plot together.

• A large component of first grade spelling/writing is learning how to isolate the sounds and “tap out” sounds.  Don’t be surprised if your child raises his/her elbows to tap out the sounds heard before attempting to spell a word at home too!  Another aspect of our spelling curriculum is for students to learn about “trick words/sight words”.  These words do not follow the phonological rules and thus cannot be “sounded out”.  They are therefore “tricky” and must be memorized “by heart.”  Don’t be surprised if your child confuses these different types of words as they make sense of new spelling rules.  

You Can:

• You can support your child’s emerging understanding of these different types of words by asking your child if the word they are trying to spell can be “sounded out” or if it is a trick word.  As we introduce new “trick words/sight words” to our first graders, we hope these new words will be mastered and recognized.  Your child will have their own special “trick word” flashcards to practice at school.  They will also bring these home for optional practice in the upcoming weeks.

Math:

• First grade mathematicians continued to work on developing their growth mindsets in math this week.  We are establishing a math thinking classroom, a place where all students are actively engaged and have a voice.  We try to create tasks that have an entry point for all learners with open-ended solutions, allowing multiple pathways, creativity and sense-making.  The students sometimes work in groups and sometimes with a partner or independently.  They are learning how to share materials and math tools while also listening respectfully to other perspectives and strategies.

• This week, first grade mathematicians also worked on decomposing and composing numbers to 10.  We played a game called “Quick Look””, for example, which encourages young students to build an understanding of number partners up to 10 using ten frames and rekenreks. 

You can:

• You can support your child’s emerging number sense and understanding of numbers up to 10 by encouraging your child to decompose any number to 10 and then say what number of objects are in each group.  Let’s say your child has a collection of 7 pinecones.  Ask your child to split that into two groups.  Can your child find another way?  Another?  How many are in each group?  What happens if you move one pinecone from one group to the other? Asking “Keep thinking” questions promotes a growth mindset as your child is encouraged to continue thinking rather than giving up after one “solution” is found.

News and Reminders:

• Here is the link to October’s school menu. Please preview the choices with your child every day so your child can make a good selection at school.

• The students used their chromebooks for Lexia this week.  Lexia is an online reading program that provides targeted, explicit practice in the areas of phonics, word study and comprehension.  It is a wonderful online platform and the students are usually very motivated to use the program and “earn” stars as they progress through the different levels.  Your child will access this program at school too.  Please consider using Lexia at home too as part of your child’s reading at home too.  Let me know if you have any questions or problems accessing Lexia from home. We sent home information regarding passwords/usernames last week.

• Open House at ABS will be on 10/1 between 6-7pm.  Please consider joining us for an evening of fun and participate in a school-wide scavenger hunt.  See you then!

Have a great weekend,

Maria

Family Newsletter

Dear Families,

Here is our week in review:

Social-Emotional Learning:

• This week, the students participated in another restorative circle.  Restorative circles are times when all students have an opportunity to share their feelings and ideas.  They are learning the routines and structures of our circles and they are doing an outstanding job.  Ask your child to explain our center-pieces, the importance of the talking piece and how the zones of regulation help us get ready for circles.

• This week, the students learned about feelings.  They learned that all people experience different feelings. Sometimes those feelings are conflicting and they differ between people.  People can react and experience the same situations differently. We read the book “A Little Spot of Feelings” by Diane Alber to learn more.  The students had the opportunity to act out different feelings and be “emotion detectives” to figure out what feelings their friends acted out.  The students learned that facial expressions, body language and tone of voice/volume give us clues.  They also learned that we can show empathy and kindness by anticipating other people’s feelings by adjusting how we interact and act in any given situation.

You Can: 

• You can support your child’s emerging understanding of different emotions at home by encouraging your child to name his/her emotions.  Having the ability to label one’s emotions allows young children  to start understanding what they are feeling and why they are feeling that way, which helps them make more responsible decisions in managing those emotions.  Encourage your child to use nuanced words.  For example, if your child says “I am mad” encourage your child to use more descriptive adjectives such as frustrated, furious, agitated, irritated or angry. Young children do not have the vocabulary yet to describe and label their emotions so explicit instruction, patience and time must be given to our young learners as they start to learn these social-emotional skills.  Always validate your child’s emotions and help your child name them.  Share your own too.  Young learners benefit from seeing the trusted adults around them model the same social language and expectations.

Reading:

• This week, the students used their chromebooks to access Lexia, our online reading program.  Lexia provides opportunities for students to practice high frequency words, phonics, fluency, and reading comprehension.  Your child has an informational sheet on how to access Lexia from home with passwords/usernames.  Please keep this log-in information in a safe place at home for continued home access.  Thank you.

• The students applied decoding skills to short CVC words this week.  With guided help and practice, the students learned to track letters and print to sound out the corresponding sounds to read shorter words and texts.  Some of these texts will come home next week. 

You can:

• You can support your child’s reading at home by reading out loud every day.  Research shows that when emerging readers hear fluent reading and practice matching sounds to text, they make powerful connections for future reading success. Please consider helping your child log into Lexia at home too.  10-15 minutes/session is all that is needed.  Have fun reading at home!

Writing:

• In our word study/ Fundations classes, the students have continued to work on phonological awareness skills and learning to blend sounds together.  This week, they practiced using multi-sensory tools to blend 3 letter sounds together.  They even blended some 4 letter sounds together.

• This week, first graders continued to practice letter writing and matching the sounds they hear to each letter correctly. In first grade, we integrate phonics instruction along with phonological awareness skills and penmanship practice.  Our curriculum is called Fundations.  We do not send home spelling lists, but you will receive some practice pages along with periodic parent letters in your child’s Home Folders (this week’s folder contains the first parent letter).  This week, we are also sending home some letter formation guides.  These are just extra resources for you to have at home and not intended as “homework”.

You Can:

•  In first grade, one of the expectations in writing will be to adhere to lower case writing and save the upper case letters for the beginning of sentences, names and places. You can encourage lower case writing at home too!

Math:

• You can support your child’s subitizing skills and strategies at home by encouraging your child to group objects into smaller groups for more efficient counting.  How about taking a handful (or two) of legos and instead of counting them by ones to find the total, encourage your child to group them before counting?  How about using dice and looking at each side.  Can your child quickly identify the pattern represented for the number 5?  Can that pattern of dots be replicated and found in a larger group of objects?  

• You can support your child’s learning about the importance of having a growth mindset by supporting your child when a specific task feels challenging.  Rather than giving up and immediately stepping in as a parent to help/solve the perceived problem (within reason, of course, always considering the situation and their young developmental age), ask your child what can be done.  Can another solution be attempted?  How about taking a quick break before continuing?  How about taking some deep breaths first and then trying again?  It can be difficult as a parent to give your child the time to figure things out by themselves, but they are very capable of showing these strategies in our classroom.  Practicing and experiencing a little frustration and then overcoming that to return to the task at hand leads to self-confidence, resilience and perseverance. Praise them for having a growth mindset and for showing effort.  

News and Reminders:

• We started extra PE this week.  For the next 4 weeks, our class will have an additional PE class on Thursdays as part of a school-wide rotation schedule.

• Our ABS Open House is on 10/1 between 6-7pm.  ABS will host a school-wide scavenger hunt so please keep that night open for some socializing at ABS!

Have a great weekend,

Maria

Family Newsletter

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