Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Weekly Update

Dear Families,
This week, Team Harmony started the new science unit on the solar system.   For fours weeks, the students will rotate through a series of workshops, learning about different aspects of our solar system.  When the students are with me, they will learn about the sun and the planets.  They will also deepen their understanding of the seasons and why we have day and night.  We will do this through many different hands-on activities in small groups.  Ask your child to explain how we can use flash-lights and clementines to show our seasons and days and nights.
When the students are with Ms. Crowley, they will deepen their understanding of the moon and its phases.  Don't forget to ask your child to share about the first moon landing and what my personal connection to it is!
Mrs benoit is providing workshops on the stars and the constellations and Miss Caitlin will teach the students about astronauts and gravity (and lack thereof in space). Throughout this unit, the students will continue to think like scientists and ask questions and use their senses.  They will also be encouraged to draw conclusions from what they have learned.



We have a new favorite song on Team Harmony now.  It is already linked on our wiki (and on Mrs Benoit's blog).  It is calle3d "Shooting Stars" and it is by Owl City.  Click here to listen to it.

This week, we also visited the Flynn Theater.  We saw "Lily's purple plastic purse" by Kevin Henkes.  Kevin Henkes is one of our favorite authors.  It turned out that the show was a collection of his stories.  We loved it as we got to "meet" Chester, Wilson and Mr Slinger.  We also met cousin Garland and baby Julius.  Since we have talked about inside and outside character traits in our class, we loved the opportunity to share more about this colorful characters.

Below is a forwarded message from Carolyn Tatlock about a wonderful opportunity to help our community during this upcoming holiday time.  I will keep a special cardboard box outside my classroom for collections if your family wishes to participate.  Thank you in advance for your generosity.

Allen Brook School is seeking non-perishable food items for the Williston Community Food Shelf for December and through mid-January, 2015.  The Food Shelf has  a particular need right now for:
  • Pasta Sauces
  • Soups
  • Canned Vegetables
  • Canned Fruits
However, all non-perishable foods are welcome!  Students and families can bring donations to the box located at the front office or to the designated box for their classroom or team.

  • For more information about the Allen Brook School December/January Food Drive, please contact John Terko, Principal (871-6202) or Carolyn Tatlock, School Counselor (871-6207).  
  • If you would like to donate time, money or food directly, you can contact the Williston Community Food Shelf at (802) 735-6303 or http://www.willistonfoodshelf.com.  They are located at 300 Cornerstone Drive, Suite 115, Williston, VT 05495.  
  • If you would like to visit the Food Shelf for food assistance they are open:
    • Tuesdays:    5:00pm - 6:30pm
    • Thursdays:   9:00am - 11:00am
    • Saturdays:    9:00am - 11:00am 
Lastly, we love our explore time in the mornings!  This is a time when students get the opportunity to play with each other, visit other classrooms on our teams and finish projects.  It is always so nice to start the day with big smiles and happy faces when we can work together. Here are some pictures:


Have a great rest of the week.
Regards,
Maria

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Weekly Update

Dear Families,

We have had another busy and very productive week on Harmony.

In math this week, first graders continued working on different number sense activities, strengthening their conceptual understanding of number relations.  We worked on teen numbers, decades and counting by tens.  We used our number lines and practiced the numbers before and after a particular number.  We also started comparing numbers in different learning activities emphasizing the language of "greater than", "less than" or "equal to."  Many of these concepts were embedded in our domino games as well.  I hope you have had a chance to see your child's math work at home.
In math this week, we also discussed what it looks like and sounds like to work together in our math class.  The students shared that it is important to take turns, use our materials respectfully and listen to each other's ideas.



We have a math class buzzy jar now.  The students earn buzzies for working together responsibly, safely and using kind words.  When we fill our jar, we will have a special math celebration!
In math, we also started using our new math journals for Number Corner.  For now, the students record different number sentences for how many days we have been in school.  We practice writing our number sentences in different ways; vertically and horizontally.  We also practice addition and subtraction sentences. Can you see how many days we have been in school?  Ask your child to explain.


This week, we visited the Book Fair at WCS.  Thank you for talking to your child about how we select books and what we could purchase before we went.  We had a great time.  The kids loved looking at all the books-even if they did not buy any.  As a special treat, we celebrated in our classroom and read the new books we had bought.  We filled our buzzy jar again and the kids wanted to read our new books right away.  What a great celebration!
In writing this week, the students finished their first small moment stories.  In this unit, the students learned to stretch their stories out by adding details about the 5 Ws. (the who, what, where, why and when questions).  The students also learned to include details pertaining to their senses, such as how they were feeling, or what they were seeing.  We are ready to meet with our editing partners tomorrow and learn from each other through our partner's feedback.  After that, we will create our new covers and titles. We look forward to sharing these stories with you, and will keep you posted about how we will integrate technology to do just that.  Next week, we will start our new small moment stories and learn how authors can stretch their stories out by adding adjectives and dialogue, among other things.
In reading, the students explored different characters in a series of mini-lessons.  We learned that characters can be described both on the outside, ie in terms of their physical characteristics, but also in terms of their actions, thoughts and feelings.  These character traits we call "inside" character traits.  For example, we read "Miss Nelson is missing" and "Miss Nelson is back" by James Marshall and created character puppets to represent these characteristics.  We will hand them up in our kiva space, so please visit to learn more about the colorful characters in these books.  Please come and meet Miss Viola Swamp, Miss Nelson and Mr. Blandsworth.


Lastly, thank you for getting on KidBlog at home!  This week we had 49 comments!!  WOW.  I think this is a new record, but let's see if we can beat that next week.  Thank you moms and dad, brothers and sisters for reading and responding to our blogs.  We REALLY APPRECIATE your involvement.
Thank you!  Also, thank you for solving the math challenge.  I will post a new math challenge tonight, so please go to KidBlog to try to figure it out.  Happy Blogging!

Best,
Maria


Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Weekly Update

Dear Families,

This week we started Guidance classes with Carolyn Tatlock.  We have rotating related arts on our schedule on Tuesdays and for the next few weeks, the students will have classes with Carolyn Tatlock, learning about strategies and skills around friendship and social situations.  Tomorrow, the students will take home a project they completed with her about their own individual strengths called "Hooray for Me."  It is inside your child's Thursday folder.  This project fits so nicely into our classroom expectations about always trying your best and being safe, kind and responsible.

This week's Thursday folder also contains an informational sheet about the Book Fair at WCS.  As indicated in my earlier email, we are scheduled to go to the Book Fair on November 12, sometime in the morning. Some children bring in a small sum of money to purchase books.  We advise $5-10 only.  Some children only browse and write a "wish list" and return with their parents during the Book Fair's evening hours.  If your child wishes to bring in money, please tell your child that we only purchase books at the fair with the class.  Pencils, pointers and other trinkets cannot be purchased with the class.  I will do my best to explain sales taxes to our young children (!) as  the total purchase price will not reflect the price tag of the book.  This, of course, is a very difficult concept to understand for our young learners, so I appreciate your support and discussions at home.  If your child wants to buy a book with us, please send in his/her money in a small ziplock bag with the name written on the bag in sharpie.  I will collect all the money in the morning and hand them out as we board the bus to WCS.  Thanks again for your support!

This week in writing, the children continued to add more details to their personal narratives.  We continued to explore small moment stories in many books.  The students learned how to expand their narratives by adding the 5 Ws (who, what, where, when, why).  In other words, the children are encouraged to think about how they can answer questions like who was there, where the story took place or when it  took place in order to magnify a small moment in their personal narratives.  We also have a fun little "high 5" hand with the words written down on each finger to help us think of these strategies when we write.  Ask your child to explain.

This week, we also conducted the district-wide on-demand writing assessment.  All children in the same grade level across our district write a small piece on the same topic. This writing prompt is a ni9ce balance to the writing we do in our writer's workshop, a time when the students meet with the teacher, their editing partners and work on a piece for many, many days, or weeks.  The kids did very well.  I am so proud of them.

This week, we also celebrated Crazy Hair Day!  The children filled the BeeHive again!  Here are some pictures:




















As the weather changes, please remember to send your child to school dressed in weather appropriate clothing.  An extra pair of socks can be placed in your child's locker in case your child's feet get wet from stepping in a puddle or in wet grass.  Thanks!

Lastly, we are so sad to hear that our friend Krish will be moving to another town.  We wish him and his family all the best!  Krish will continue to blog with us on KidBlog so please stay in touch online!!

Have a great rest of the week.
Best,
Maria

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