Pictures from our week together

 Partner Reading outside:

Classroom Buzzy Celebration: Friendship Bracelets

Playing a listening game together with Mr. Alex:

Place Value work using popsicle sticks:

Mindfulness outside in the warm weather:

Family Newsletter

 Dear Families,

Here is our week in review:

Social-Emotional Learning:

• We filled the classroom buzzy jar again for being safe, kind and responsible.  This time, the student chose to make friendship bracelets.  We created them out of yarn and beads.  I hope they shared them with you at home!

• We had more opportunities to play math games with partners and read together outside.  We love spending time together and share our thoughts about the books we read.  As we slowly integrate more collaborative activities, we will continue to focus on developing skills for turn-taking, sharing of ideas and understanding different perspectives.

Reading:

• The weather was fantastic this week so we brought our book boxes outside to read!  We had so much fun reading in our guided reading groups outside!

• We started partner reading this week too.  In partner reading, the students read books together with a peer.  We have a special partner reading library with books that have already been matched up and books that we have two copies of, so each student has his/her own copy.  In partner reading, we primarily focus upon developing a love of books, sharing literature and reading aloud to improve our fluency.

• The students are doing a great job reading along the Iditarod Trail.  Thank you for sending these logs into the classroom on Tuesdays!  We have two more weeks to go!

Writing:

• This week, the students continued their animal research writing.  We continued our work on making sense of the information learned and revoicing it before writing it down.  The students also added a picture of their respective animals’ habitat.  Lastly, we started comparing our own height/length to that of our chosen animal of study.  One student modeled this in class for us.  The animal (an orca), we learned, can grow up to 26 feet.  We measured this out in yarn and compared it to the height of the student (whose height was also represented by yarn).  It was amazing to see how big some of these animals can grow!

• We also wrote letters to our pen-pals and to Ms. Danielle, a teacher at ABS who will leave us for a job as a teacher at another school.  We will miss her so much and we wish her all the best!  Thank you Ms. Danielle for helping us at school!

First Grade Math:

• First grade mathematicians worked on adding multiple addends.  They also continued developing a deeper understanding of place value, exploring numbers past 100.  We used popsicle sticks to show the difference between 12 and 21, for example.  We also used popsicle sticks to show the difference between 101 and 110.  When we use popsicle sticks to build our numbers, we bundle them into groups of tens and groups of 100.

• First grade mathematicians also played a game called “Pick two to make 10” and “Pick two to make 20”.  This was a game we played as a class; teacher versus students.  (They won both games!)  Ask your child to explain how we played this game.

News from Ms. Love, our school nurse:
Tick Prevention and Control Recommendations

The following prevention and control recommendations may be implemented in accordance with local school guidelines and regulations:

 

Personal Protection: Initiate personal protection by wearing long pants, long shirt, hat, gloves, and boots (covering lacings). Daily tick checks (personal inspection), and showering immediately with a washcloth is also important. 

 

The CDC (2013) recommends the use of a repellent with DEET (N, N-diethyl-m-toluamide) to be applied on skin, depending on the age of the person, and application according to label directions. Repellents containing 20% or more DEET can protect up to several hours. Always follow product label instructions when applying any repellent. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provides approved protection times for skin applied insect repellents at http://cfpub.epa.gov/oppref/insect/. 

 

Clothing: Products containing permethrin kill ticks. Permethrin can be used to treat boots, clothing, and camping gear; it remains protective through several washings (CDC 2013). 

 

Please contact Nurse Love with any additional questions or concerns at slove@cvsdvt.org

 

News and Reminders:

• We switched our essential arts again this week.  We now have PE on Mondays and Tuesdays and Enrichment on Thursdays and Fridays.  Since the weather is getting warmer, we will most likely go outside for PE.  Please make sure your child has appropriate outdoor clothing.  Mud-pants and rain boots are great.  Extra socks, pants and indoor sneakers are great too.  Thank you.

• Please make sure your child’s chromebook is fully charged at home before returning it to school.  We use it almost every day now in writing class.  Thank you.

• Here's a link to this week's Bell.

Have a great weekend,

Maria

Pictures from our week at school

  Our new nonfiction magazines for everyday reading:

Playing word study games with our new "table mates":

Speech bubble creations based upon the book "Say Something" by Peter Reynolds:

We created our own mural in the classroom for all to see before they were brought down to the main lobby:

Doing animal research:

Word of the week with Ms. Patti: Famous.  

Ask your child to share synonyms and antonyms.

Our new nonfiction mural in the classroom.  So far, we have learned about photographs, bold print, charts/diagrams, captions, glossaries and headings.

Family Newsletter

 Dear Families,

Here is our week in review:

Social-Emotional Learning:

• We listened to "The Feeling Song" in class this week.  We talked about how we all experience different feelings at different times throughout the day and we can anticipate these in others by paying close attention to their facial expressions and body language.

• We switched our classroom seats again!  All the students got new spots in class and although we cannot sit close together, they all got new “table mates” next to them!  We celebrated our new buddies by playing some word study partner games.

• We listened to the book Say Something by Peter Reynolds.  We participated in a school-wide reading response and helped create a mural in our school lobby.  Students were encouraged to create speech bubbles, sharing something they can do to make the world better.  We all have great ideas.  Let’s share them!

Reading:

• We continued our work on recognizing non-fiction text features in books and magazines this week.  We will continue this work next week too when we will search for maps, labels and words written in italics.  Encourage your child to find these text features at home when you read together.

• Mr. Alex and I continued meeting with reading groups and individual students this week.  It is wonderful to meet in our small groups and share our reading comprehension and questions.  In our groups, we always include word study as well.  The students are encouraged to read as writers too.  In other words, they are encouraged to pay close attention to the words, sentence structures and spelling patterns of words when they read.

• Thank you for supporting your child at home with the Iditarod reading logs.  The students are so proud handing in their reading logs on Tuesdays and checking off their own trail maps as they move ahead on the Iditarod trail.  The official race ended this week.  Dallas Seavey won and completed the race with 10 remaining dogs!  We will continue our kid Iditarod reading challenge until April 9th, however.

Writing:

• This week, first grade authors started using books and online resources for their animal research.  We used pebblego as a guide.  We learned to follow a special format to help us write our words efficiently.  First, we read or listen to the text.  Then, we make sense of the information learned.  Lastly, we write down the information using our own words.  

First Grade Math:

• First grade mathematicians are working hard!  This week, we played a clock memory game.  It is a partner game and you need to find matches for analog and digital clocks, telling different times.  It is amazing to see these young mathematicians learn together and help each other tell time.  They collaborate so  nicely. We are so proud of them.

• First grade mathematicians also continued work on adding multiple addends.  They were encouraged to use strategies that work for them.  As mathematicians we all have different skills.  What works for one student might not work for another.  Some students find double facts, while others find groups of ten.  This week, we used ten-sided dice and built the numbers with unifix cubes. 

News and Reminders:

• We will switch our essential arts again next week.  Starting on Monday, we will have PE on Mondays and Tuesdays and Enrichment on Thursdays and Fridays.  Since the weather is getting warmer, we will most likely go outside for PE.  Please make sure your child has appropriate outdoor clothing.  Mud-pants and rain boots are great.  Extra socks, pants and indoor sneakers are great too.  Thank you.

• Please make sure your child’s chromebook is fully charged at home before returning it to school.  We use it almost every day now in writing class.  Thank you.

• Here's a link to this week's Bell

Have a great weekend,

Maria

Pictures from our week together

 Friday Workshops: Sled Dog Scavenger Hunt with our Pen-Pals:

Guest Reader Online: Mrs. TH

Explore Time in the classroom and Buzzy celebration: Pipe Cleaner Craft