Sunday, October 30, 2011
Celebrating our Small Moment Stories
The students started to share their small moment personal narratives last week in class. We introduced the "Author's Chair", a very special opportunity to read our stories aloud to the class, show our pictures and then ask for "Questions or Compliments". In addition to sharing in our "Author's Chair", the students choose a digital way to share their stories. Please click here to access our podcasting library to listen to these stories.
4 Winds
We had another 4 Winds class last week, learning about the components of soil and earthworms. Ask your child to explain what we found in our soil samples.
Guest Reader
We had another Guest Reader last week! Ms. Caitlin visited our class and read a "Henry & Mudge" book to all of us. We were so happy to have her visit our classroom to read. Thank you!
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Weekly Update
Dear Families,
We have so many new and exciting things to share with you this week. We also have some reminders about upcoming events.
First, we had another exciting 4Winds this week. Thank you to the wonderful parent volunteers who run these classes. This week, we learned about earthworms and components of soil. The students began the class inside with a puppet show (which was both informative and funny!) After the puppet theater the students went outside to explore various soil samples from our garden. The students worked in small groups and together examined the soil using magnifying glasses and collection cups. The acted as true scientists, using their senses to describe the soil and what they found. Ask your child to tell you about what the soil felt like, looked like and smelled like. Also ask your child to explain what we found inside the soil! After the soil experimentation, we returned to the classroom for a learning activity exploring earthworms. Once again, the students acted like scientists, using their sense to describe what the earthworms looked like and how they behaved. We ended the class by using our Science Journals, where we record our findings.
In our Science Journals, the students are encouraged to write and think like "real scientists", using their senses (as mentioned above) and including additional, very specific information. For example, the students have learned to always start their writing pieces in science by including the date and time. They have also learned to include information about the weather. All of our Science Journal writing pieces include detailed pictures, with appropriate labels and colors. These are just some of the exciting components of our science writing pieces. We will share them digitally with you soon.
This week in Writer's Workshop, the students practiced another writing prompt. They continued practicing starting their writing with a clear and precise introduction, followed by 2-3 supporting details, and ending with a conclusion. This week's writing prompt was on "Playing outside is fun". We had so many terrific writing pieces, which, once again, will be podcasted and shared with you.
Our Small Moment personal narratives have all been published! We started celebrating our writing this week with "The Author's Chair". All the students take turns reading their completed stories to the rest of the class, sitting in my chair. As the students read their stories, they also share their covers and pictures. After the story has been read to the class, the author asks for "Questions or Compliments". We normally ask for questions or comments in our classroom, but when you have finished a whole book, you need questions or compliments!! We will continue to celebrate these stories next week so all children can share. During the sharing, each child has a choice for how he/she wishes to share this writing digitally. Today, most children chosehttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif the program Audacity to podcast. I wonder if it was because I brought in my microphone?? Please visit our podcasting library or podbean page for updates as the students share. Thank you.
Click here for the podcasting library.
In Reader's Workshop, the students began working on just right scripts this week as we explore fluency and intonation together. All the "Book Clubs" are practicing their own scripts and are getting ready to perform sometime soon. We cannot wait to share these plays with you. Thank you for working on fluency at home. I will encourage all the students to bring their Personal Readers home again next week.
Reminders:
We are going to the Flynn Theater next Monday, October 31st. The students need a packed lunch that day. We will also have a small Harvest Party in our classroom. You should all have received an email about signing up for special treats and healthy snacks to share with the class. Thank you Keri (Ben's mom) for organizing this for us!!
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
We have parent-teacher conferences soon. Thank you to those of you who have already signed up. The slots are filling up soon. You all received a link to an electronic sign-up in your email. Otherwise, please click here to access the wiki directly, or see the sidebar for a static link. Let me know if you have any questions. Thank you.
have a great rest of the week,
Maria
We have so many new and exciting things to share with you this week. We also have some reminders about upcoming events.
First, we had another exciting 4Winds this week. Thank you to the wonderful parent volunteers who run these classes. This week, we learned about earthworms and components of soil. The students began the class inside with a puppet show (which was both informative and funny!) After the puppet theater the students went outside to explore various soil samples from our garden. The students worked in small groups and together examined the soil using magnifying glasses and collection cups. The acted as true scientists, using their senses to describe the soil and what they found. Ask your child to tell you about what the soil felt like, looked like and smelled like. Also ask your child to explain what we found inside the soil! After the soil experimentation, we returned to the classroom for a learning activity exploring earthworms. Once again, the students acted like scientists, using their sense to describe what the earthworms looked like and how they behaved. We ended the class by using our Science Journals, where we record our findings.
In our Science Journals, the students are encouraged to write and think like "real scientists", using their senses (as mentioned above) and including additional, very specific information. For example, the students have learned to always start their writing pieces in science by including the date and time. They have also learned to include information about the weather. All of our Science Journal writing pieces include detailed pictures, with appropriate labels and colors. These are just some of the exciting components of our science writing pieces. We will share them digitally with you soon.
This week in Writer's Workshop, the students practiced another writing prompt. They continued practicing starting their writing with a clear and precise introduction, followed by 2-3 supporting details, and ending with a conclusion. This week's writing prompt was on "Playing outside is fun". We had so many terrific writing pieces, which, once again, will be podcasted and shared with you.
Our Small Moment personal narratives have all been published! We started celebrating our writing this week with "The Author's Chair". All the students take turns reading their completed stories to the rest of the class, sitting in my chair. As the students read their stories, they also share their covers and pictures. After the story has been read to the class, the author asks for "Questions or Compliments". We normally ask for questions or comments in our classroom, but when you have finished a whole book, you need questions or compliments!! We will continue to celebrate these stories next week so all children can share. During the sharing, each child has a choice for how he/she wishes to share this writing digitally. Today, most children chosehttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif the program Audacity to podcast. I wonder if it was because I brought in my microphone?? Please visit our podcasting library or podbean page for updates as the students share. Thank you.
Click here for the podcasting library.
In Reader's Workshop, the students began working on just right scripts this week as we explore fluency and intonation together. All the "Book Clubs" are practicing their own scripts and are getting ready to perform sometime soon. We cannot wait to share these plays with you. Thank you for working on fluency at home. I will encourage all the students to bring their Personal Readers home again next week.
Reminders:
We are going to the Flynn Theater next Monday, October 31st. The students need a packed lunch that day. We will also have a small Harvest Party in our classroom. You should all have received an email about signing up for special treats and healthy snacks to share with the class. Thank you Keri (Ben's mom) for organizing this for us!!
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
We have parent-teacher conferences soon. Thank you to those of you who have already signed up. The slots are filling up soon. You all received a link to an electronic sign-up in your email. Otherwise, please click here to access the wiki directly, or see the sidebar for a static link. Let me know if you have any questions. Thank you.
have a great rest of the week,
Maria
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Garden Club
We had another Garden Club meeting today. Students rotate every week to get an opportunity to learn about gardening, healthy living and taking care of our earth.
Click here to listen to Alexis share about her experience.
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Weekly Update
Dear Families,
We had another great week in our classroom.
In Reader's Workshop, the students continued reading and writing about their books. This is a very exciting time because both 1st and 2nd graders are strating to make connections between reading and writing. They are strating to see the connections between the written words on the pages of their favorite books with the words they write themselves in their stories. They are strating to recognize that authors follow spelling rules and grammar rules, just like they are ! They are also starting to see that authors rely on the same conventions we have for writing conventions. For example, some books represent small moment narratives, while other represent non-fictional account of things or places. It is amazing. Please encourage this conversation at home. Your child is now reading as a writer!
In Writer's Workshop, the students continued their small moment stories. We will publish next week and we are so excited. The students learned about adjectives (describing words) this week and revised their stories to reflect this new-found knowledge. We also talked about how important it is to "whisper read" our own writing pieces before publishing (to make sure the words and sentences make sense). Your child is now learning to write like a reader!
In summary, your child is learning to read like a writer and write like a reader!
This week, we visited the Book Fair at the Williston Central School. We enjoyed browsing through all the books together. Here are some pictures from this very special event.
For updates on math, please do not forget to visit our math blog, linked in our sidebar. I post several times a week so stay connected!
Have a wonderfully restful long weekend. I will miss you all,
Maria
We had another great week in our classroom.
In Reader's Workshop, the students continued reading and writing about their books. This is a very exciting time because both 1st and 2nd graders are strating to make connections between reading and writing. They are strating to see the connections between the written words on the pages of their favorite books with the words they write themselves in their stories. They are strating to recognize that authors follow spelling rules and grammar rules, just like they are ! They are also starting to see that authors rely on the same conventions we have for writing conventions. For example, some books represent small moment narratives, while other represent non-fictional account of things or places. It is amazing. Please encourage this conversation at home. Your child is now reading as a writer!
In Writer's Workshop, the students continued their small moment stories. We will publish next week and we are so excited. The students learned about adjectives (describing words) this week and revised their stories to reflect this new-found knowledge. We also talked about how important it is to "whisper read" our own writing pieces before publishing (to make sure the words and sentences make sense). Your child is now learning to write like a reader!
In summary, your child is learning to read like a writer and write like a reader!
This week, we visited the Book Fair at the Williston Central School. We enjoyed browsing through all the books together. Here are some pictures from this very special event.
For updates on math, please do not forget to visit our math blog, linked in our sidebar. I post several times a week so stay connected!
Have a wonderfully restful long weekend. I will miss you all,
Maria
Monday, October 17, 2011
All About Me Podcasts
Dear Families and Friends,
We have published more podcasts on our podcasting sites for you to listen to. We are currently recording our "All about me" writing pieces as part of our blogging project with Ms. Davison's Kindergarten class. These podcasts will be part of our introduction of ourselves as we get to know our new blogging buddies.
Please click here to get to our podcasting site for RSS feeds (so you can get automatic updates in http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifreal-thttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifime as we publish).
Please click here if you prefer our podcasting library, which provides online links for our audio files.
Thank you and Happy Listening!
We have published more podcasts on our podcasting sites for you to listen to. We are currently recording our "All about me" writing pieces as part of our blogging project with Ms. Davison's Kindergarten class. These podcasts will be part of our introduction of ourselves as we get to know our new blogging buddies.
Please click here to get to our podcasting site for RSS feeds (so you can get automatic updates in http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifreal-thttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifime as we publish).
Please click here if you prefer our podcasting library, which provides online links for our audio files.
Thank you and Happy Listening!
Friday, October 14, 2011
Friday Workshops
Being part of Team Harmony is very special; students get a true team-building experience. On Fridays, all four classrooms provide different workshops for the students to choose from. Each classroom offers a different project and hands-on activity relating to our units of study and learning goals. Today, students learned how to make bookmarks with me. They had the choice to make "insect/bug" bookmarks or their own creations.
We all "buzz about reading...." just like a bee!
We all "buzz about reading...." just like a bee!
Kiva Share
Dear Families,
We had another Kiva share today.
Here is a picture of the students sharing today. We shared about how we use our MP3 players to improve our fluency and reading comprehension. We also shared about student-created art-work inspired by Eric Carle, and our small moment writing pieces. The students did an amazing job!
We had another Kiva share today.
Here is a picture of the students sharing today. We shared about how we use our MP3 players to improve our fluency and reading comprehension. We also shared about student-created art-work inspired by Eric Carle, and our small moment writing pieces. The students did an amazing job!
KidBlogging with Ms. Davison's Class
We had another get-together with Ms. Davison's class today, learning an sharing our KidBlog posts. It is incredible to see these young learners connect and act as digital learners. I am so proud of all of them. We will start to share about ourselves using digital platforms. Some students wish to use podcasting, videos and pictures to introduce themselves! If your child wishes to start at home, please log onto our KidBlog page and share. Thank you. This is a project we will otherwise do in school so please come back often to see our updates!
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Dyad Partners
As part of our school-wide math initiative and continued work around problem-solving and conceptual math thinking, our first grade mathematicians learned how to effectively share their math thinking with their dyad partners. A dyad partnership is a structured math grouping of two students, who not only work together, but also share their math thinking together. While the students still work as a class and rotate through our regular math stations, they now also have the time to check in and reflect on their own math thinking with their dyad partner. Another name for a dyad math partner could be "Math Buddy". For example, the students have learned that when two friends share ideas, we allow "Private Think Time" to our partners so they can think through what they wish to share. We have also learned that dyad partners give each other eye contact and pay attention to what is being said or shown (if, for example, the task was a more collaborative hands-on activity). Lastly, the students also learned that when we work in dyad math partnerships, we always "back up" our thinking. This is called justifying and the students are very effective justifying their own thinking mathematically.
It is amazing to see the collaboration and sharing that takes place in our classroom during math time! I am so proud of them.
We are published in the Blue & Gold!
We are published in the school newspaper "The Blue & Gold" this week! The article was planned and written by our entire class and some students worked on the revision and final copy with Ms. Poirot. The article is published on the Blue & Gold Blog, which allows you to comment. Please take the time to read and comment on this article. The students worked very well together. Click here for a direct link. Thank you.
Weekly Update
Dear Families,
We had another wonderful week in our busy classroom.
In Reader's Workshop, the students continued working in their Book Clubs (guided reading groups. The students continued practicing different reading skills and comprehension strategies. I hope your child is sharing all the great learning that is taking place every day. First graders are learning how to become confident self-sufficient readers, using many different strategies to help themselves. We have discussed and practiced finger-reading (so we don't lose track in the text), looking at familiar parts of a word (chunking) and sounding out letters in the words all the way to the end. As we become more confident in reading, we have realized that our strategies change! Ask your child how these strategies help him/her in reading at home. Second graders have continued their work on character traits in our books. They have continued to find evidence in their texts to support character traits and changes. I am so proud of everyone's hard work. Your child should bring home "Just Right" books every week now. Please let me know if you have any questions about these books or our reading log. Thank you.
In Writer's Workshop, we continued working on our small moment stories. The students learned that authors always find interesting ways to "stretch their stories out" over several pages. While they "zoom" in on a particular small moment, they use their words and pictures to stretch these stories to make them more appealing. This week, the students learned about the 5 Ws. Ask your child to explain. Also ask your child to explain how we traced our hands to help remember the 5Ws (Hint: The 5 Ws stand for what, when, where, why and who). The students will continue revising their small moment stories next week. They will learn how describing words (adjectives) can be used to make our stories more interesting. This class is composed of terrific authors; we cannot wait to publish our pieces. This week, the students also continued practicing their "on-topic" constructed responses. This week, we wrote about our favorite season.
In math this week, all students continued their justifications and problem-solving skills. For updates on our first grade program, please visit our math blog. Thank you.
This week, we also used KidBlog on several occasions. Our technology project with Ms. Davison's class started last week. The two classes meet a few times every month and learn how to use digital technologies responsibly as digital citizens. The students also learn to communicate and share information effectively as we write and share using our KidBlog. Many students have asked if they can access/use KidBlog at home. Of course!!! We would love for you and your child to share pictures and words (even movies and podcasts) of what you do together outside of school. Your child can also read and comment on already published posts by other students. It is a great way to stay connected. To get to our KidBlog, simply click on the link in this sidebar. Find your child's name. The passord needs to be manually enetered and I will send an email to remind all parents about this. Thank you and Happy Blogging!
Lastly, our Painted Lady Butterflies left their pavillion this morning. They appeared to be very strong and healthy as they soared into the sky. Here are some pictures.
Have a great rest of the week.
Maria
We had another wonderful week in our busy classroom.
In Reader's Workshop, the students continued working in their Book Clubs (guided reading groups. The students continued practicing different reading skills and comprehension strategies. I hope your child is sharing all the great learning that is taking place every day. First graders are learning how to become confident self-sufficient readers, using many different strategies to help themselves. We have discussed and practiced finger-reading (so we don't lose track in the text), looking at familiar parts of a word (chunking) and sounding out letters in the words all the way to the end. As we become more confident in reading, we have realized that our strategies change! Ask your child how these strategies help him/her in reading at home. Second graders have continued their work on character traits in our books. They have continued to find evidence in their texts to support character traits and changes. I am so proud of everyone's hard work. Your child should bring home "Just Right" books every week now. Please let me know if you have any questions about these books or our reading log. Thank you.
In Writer's Workshop, we continued working on our small moment stories. The students learned that authors always find interesting ways to "stretch their stories out" over several pages. While they "zoom" in on a particular small moment, they use their words and pictures to stretch these stories to make them more appealing. This week, the students learned about the 5 Ws. Ask your child to explain. Also ask your child to explain how we traced our hands to help remember the 5Ws (Hint: The 5 Ws stand for what, when, where, why and who). The students will continue revising their small moment stories next week. They will learn how describing words (adjectives) can be used to make our stories more interesting. This class is composed of terrific authors; we cannot wait to publish our pieces. This week, the students also continued practicing their "on-topic" constructed responses. This week, we wrote about our favorite season.
In math this week, all students continued their justifications and problem-solving skills. For updates on our first grade program, please visit our math blog. Thank you.
This week, we also used KidBlog on several occasions. Our technology project with Ms. Davison's class started last week. The two classes meet a few times every month and learn how to use digital technologies responsibly as digital citizens. The students also learn to communicate and share information effectively as we write and share using our KidBlog. Many students have asked if they can access/use KidBlog at home. Of course!!! We would love for you and your child to share pictures and words (even movies and podcasts) of what you do together outside of school. Your child can also read and comment on already published posts by other students. It is a great way to stay connected. To get to our KidBlog, simply click on the link in this sidebar. Find your child's name. The passord needs to be manually enetered and I will send an email to remind all parents about this. Thank you and Happy Blogging!
Lastly, our Painted Lady Butterflies left their pavillion this morning. They appeared to be very strong and healthy as they soared into the sky. Here are some pictures.
Have a great rest of the week.
Maria
Monday, October 10, 2011
Celebrating Christopher Columbus Day
The students celebrated Chrsitopher Columbus Day with a song entitled "1492" (which we hope to podcast soon) and the completion of our "Friendship" that will lead our voyage through this school year as we learn and explore together.
The students created their own individual puppets, which are passagers on our "Friend-SHIP".
The students created their own individual puppets, which are passagers on our "Friend-SHIP".
KidBlogging
We had our first official meeting with Ms. Davison's Kindergarten students last Friday using iPads for KidBlogging. We had a terrific time, exploring iPads, KidBlog and getting to know each other. Srayed tuned for mote details of our next meeting and please visit your child's KidBlog to read more.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Another Swarm Party!!!!
The students at ABS earned another Swarm Party this week, filling up our school Bee Hive again! WOW. They are amazing showing Safety, Responsibillity and Safety every day. In fact, we filled our classroom jar again today, so we will also have a special celebration.
The ABS School Swarm Party was celebrated with Ben& Jerry's ice cream. Mr Terko came around and delivered this special treat. Thank you, Mr. Terko!
The ABS School Swarm Party was celebrated with Ben& Jerry's ice cream. Mr Terko came around and delivered this special treat. Thank you, Mr. Terko!
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