Family Newsletter

 Dear Families,

Here is our week in review:

Social-Emotional Learning:

• This week, the students filled the classroom buzzy jar again for being safe, kind and responsible.  This time, we had a special celebration with Ms. Scott.  She joined our classroom and we learned more about coding and how to use our robotic Bee Bots.  In fact, the students learned how to create their own mats, upon which these Bee Bots will be programmed and move around.  What fun!  We will continue this work next week too.

• This week, the students at ABS filled the Beehive too for being safe, kind and responsible.  This time, we all celebrated with special paper crafts.  The students had multiple choices and I also gave them brand new coloring folders to use during our Mindfulness times.  They love to color and create.

• This week, Ms. Addie read the book “The Rabbit Listened” by Cori Doerfeld.  This sweet story is about how we can react to and handle setbacks and disappointments.  While we have many different strategies available and people react in many different ways to the same situation.  Sometimes the best approach is simply to be a kind friend and listen to the person who feels wronged or disappointed.  The students shared their understanding of the book and practiced revoicing each other’s ideas as a way to be active listeners themselves and accountable for our learning.  They did an outstanding job!

• We also had another restorative circle with Ms. Nicole, our school SEL Coach.  This week we talked about what makes us all unique and different and how we can celebrate those differences.  We also read the book “Lovely” by Jess Hong.

You Can: 

• You can support your child’s social-emotional development at home by listening to their reactions and frustrations at home too, just like we learned from the book.  As you all know, young children experience strong feelings for all kinds of situations, big and small.  When they feel listened to, they have the capacity to proactively choose self-regulatory methods and skills that work best for them.

Reading:

• We are excited that mid-year reading assessments are completed so we can return to our regular routines in reading classes with small groups, stations and independent reading.  This week, the students also participated in partner reading, a time when they share a “just right” book with a reading partner who also has the opportunity to do the same.  In partner reading, we focus on sharing literature and help each other develop fluent reading with an emphasis upon reading out loud to each other.  This week, the students were also encouraged to share their understanding of the books shared.  They did this through drawings and words.  We will continue this work next week too.

You can:

• You can support your child’s emerging fluency skills in reading by encouraging your child to read out loud to you at home.  Reading to a stuffed animal, a pet, or a sibling also works great.  The importance is to encourage your child to read aloud to develop fluent reading.  Reading fluency in first grade is primarily focused upon making the reading sound like spoken language with pauses at periods and expression which reflects the general plot/context. In class, we sometimes read with various voices too as a way to engage our young learners.  They love to read with whisper voices and different animal voices.  Perhaps they are ready to try this at home too?

Writing:

• This week, the students started their first chapter of their personal narrative stories.  These stories are about themselves, about something real that has already happened and they will contain a clear beginning, middle and end.  This week, the students learned about story starter sentences and words to continue writing.  They did a nice job and shared their stories with each other in our closing circle. We will continue our personal narratives next week while also developing stamina in writing class.

You Can:

• You can support your child’s understanding of personal narratives by asking your child what he/she is writing about.  How did they start their stories and what other details do they plan to include in their stories?  Verbal story-telling is a powerful way for authors to organize their ideas before writing down the words.  If you recall, the students started this process last week, so hopefully they have many things to share at home with you!

Math:

• Mid-year math assessments have also been completed and we are back to our regular math stations and group rotations again.  This week, we continued working on developing greater skill and understanding of accountable talk and how mathematicians use precise language to explain their thinking.  The students were encouraged to re-voice their peers’ explanations of various mathematical equations or expressions while using the phrases “I heard you say…'' or “You said that…”.  They did an outstanding job actively listening to their friends and discovered that they learned so much from each others’ thinking!

• This week, first grade mathematicians worked on place value and developing skills for comparing numbers using the symbols > (greater than), < (less than) and = (equal to).  They learned a new game to apply these skills and used visual representations to assist in the completion of this work.

• First grade mathematicians also continued to practice telling time to the hour and half hour.  This week, they learned a new bingo game reflecting digital and analog times.

You can:

• You can encourage your child to compare numbers and quantities at home.  Rather than saying something is “bigger” or “smaller”, encourage your child to use the words “greater than” or “less than”.

News and Reminders:

• Please take a moment to read the communication from our school/school district about our upcoming report cards.  The school district will communicate with you via the School Bell and through specific emails.  This will not come from me.  The report cards will be different this year.  This is particularly important for families of older siblings who are used to “the old way.”  For example, report cards will be emailed to you.  They are scheduled to be sent out on 1/29/24.

• It is getting really cold outside.  Please make sure your child comes to school with weather appropriate clothing (hats, mittens, snow pants and snow boots).  Please send in a pair of “inside shoes'' as well, such as sneakers.  It is difficult for your child to navigate the whole day with large, uncomfortable boots and they often drag first and slush into our learning spaces.  Thank you.

• Many students have asked for more snack and still feel hungry after eating snack.  Please make sure you check in with your child about potentially packing some additional healthy options for your child.  They are hungry and growing fast!  Thank you.Please also talk to your child about the importance of eating during snack/lunch times as many students forget to eat because they get distracted by talking/socializing with their peers.  Thank you.

Have a great weekend,

Maria

Family Newsletter

 Dear Families,

Here is our week in review:

Social-Emotional Learning:

• This week, the students continued to practice perseverance and resilience at school.  They were encouraged to use their strategies from their perseverance wheels created last week as a way to choose an option to learn how to better self-regulate.  

• This week, first graders also learned about accountable talk.  They learned that while it is important to listen attentively and respectfully to the speaker, it is also important to stay engaged while that person is speaking.  They learned how active listening helps us learn and they learned how accountability in conversations can lead to better learning outcomes too.  We practiced different conversation topics and used different questions and statements to help us stay engaged.  Next week, Ms. Nicole, our school SEL Coach, will join our math class and help our students embed social-emotional learning skills and strategies in math class.  We are so excited to welcome her to our math class!

You Can: 

• You can help foster these conversation strategies at home too by encouraging your child to have a calm body and give eye contact when someone else is speaking.  You can also encourage your child to ask relevant follow-up questions, such as “Can you tell me more about…” or “What do you mean by….?” and re-stating the information just shared.  You can foster your child’s development of accountable talk by encouraging your child to see himself/herself as an equal member in the conversation, with wonderful insights and ideas to share on the topic.  When people feel that their ideas matter and are heard, they can show more engagement and interest.

Reading:

• This week, first grade readers continued to participate in mid-year reading assessments at ABS.  At this point in the school year, we assess fluency, comprehension, phonics and phonological awareness.  Information about these assessments will be shared at our upcoming conferences in March and they will also help inform our report cards, which go out on Monday, 1/29/24 (Please see below for more information regarding this year’s report card)

You can:

• Thank you for supporting your child’s reading at home.  Reading a variety of texts help our young learners develop confidence and skill.  Please read your child’s carefully selected library books too.  While our students are encouraged to select “just right” books (books they can read independently), they often choose high-interest/choice books, which require a skilled reader to read them.  Thank you for taking the time to enjoy these books together and for having daily conversations about the books read.

• Your child is bringing home an extra Scholastic magazine this week for home reading.  This is optional, as always.  Please consider reading this magazine together and solve the questions on the back.  There is no need for your child to bring these back to school.

Writing:

• This week, first grade authors continued to edit and revise their writing pieces.  They are expected to reflect proper finger-spacing, letter formation, use lower case letters when writing and reflect proper capitalization and ending punctuation.  This week, we learned about, and wrote about Martin Luther King Jr. and we wrote our weekly reflections in our Friday Journals.  They are doing great using GUM (grammar, usage and mechanics).

You Can:

• Thank you for supporting your child’s emerging writing skills at home too.  As mentioned before, we work on penmanship, letter formation and finger-spacing at school, but it is helpful when our young learners hear the same message from many different people to help them change inefficient and incorrect penmanship.  Breaking inefficient habits takes time.  With patience and positive feedback, along with repeated practice and time, I am confident that all students will develop a love of writing and see writing as an efficient tool to facilitate new learning and help self-regulate strong emotions and feelings.

Math:

• We finished all mid-year math assessments with the help of Mrs. Singh.  Thank you Mrs. Singh for helping us!  The students were assessed on basic number sense, place value, and their ability to compose and decompose numbers.  They were also assessed on their understanding of telling time to the hour and half hour, using analog and digital clocks.  They did a fantastic job!  What a group of mathematicians we have!  We are so proud of their mathematical thinking and progress.  

• This week, we also started doing some number talk work around equality in mathematics.  Equality in first grade means that the two different sides of the equal sign show the same quantity (number of objects).  The students were encouraged to share their understanding by deciding if an equation was true or false and why.  The students were also challenged to make the equation true if it was a false representation of equality.  For example, we looked at some of the following ones: 10=6+4, 8+2=9+1 and 12=9+3 and 13+2=20-5

You can:

• Thank you for supporting your child's understanding of numbers and how they relate to one another.  It is clear that these young mathematicians love numbers and math!  Thank you for finding moments when your child can practice telling time to the hour and half hour too.  As mentioned last week, telling time to the half hour using an analog clock can be very challenging.  With repeated practice and exposure, I am confident all students will learn to master this skill as well.

News and Reminders:

• Please take a moment to read the communication from our school/school district about our upcoming report cards.  The school district will communicate with you via the School Bell and through specific emails.  This will not come from me.  The report cards will be different this year.  This is particularly important for families of older siblings who are used to “the old way.”  For example, report cards will be emailed to you.  They are scheduled to be sent out on 1/29/24.

• It is getting really cold outside.  Please make sure your child comes to school with weather appropriate clothing (hats, mittens, snow pants and snow boots).  Please send in a pair of “inside shoes'' as well, such as sneakers.  It is difficult for your child to navigate the whole day with large, uncomfortable boots and they often drag first and slush into our learning spaces.  Thank you.

• Many students have asked for more snack and still feel hungry after eating snack.  Please make sure you check in with your child about potentially packing some additional healthy options for your child.  They are hungry and growing fast!  Thank you.Please also talk to your child about the importance of eating during snack/lunch times as many students forget to eat because they get distracted by talking/socializing with their peers.  Thank you.

Have a great weekend,

Maria

Family Newsletter

 Dear Families,

Our new student intern from UVM started with us this week.  Ms. Addie will be with us full-time until later this Spring semester.  We spent the week getting to know her, while also showing her our classroom routines and activities.  Here is a letter from Ms. Addie so you can get to know her as well.  In this week’s Home Folder, your child has a permission slip regarding pictures/videotaping for Ms. Addie’s teaching licensure program at UVM.  Please read and return as soon as possible.  Thank you.

Here is our week in review:

Social-Emotional Learning:

• This week, the students learned about the importance of perseverance. They learned about different strategies that they can use when they feel “stuck” and learning is hard.  They created a perseverance spinner with strategy choices.  They will be encouraged to use this spinner to develop independence and resiliency during more challenging times.

• This week, we also had restorative circles discussing the importance of making safe choices at school. We continued our learning about our “circles of control” and the things we can control at school and at home.  We also learned about things that we cannot control, such as the actions and words of others.  As always, the students did an outstanding job listening respectfully to their peers’ ideas, while also sharing their own understanding and experience.

You Can: 

• You can support your child’s perseverance in many different ways at home too.  Please encourage your child to  try different strategies when things get hard or challenging at home.  Encourage your child to try one or two strategies as a way to get “unstuck” and try the task again.  For example, if your child is getting frustrated when cleaning up his/her room, encourage your child to take a quick break before continuing the task.  Perhaps your child would benefit from breaking up the task into smaller chunks and start by cleaning up just one item first, or perhaps your child needs some assistance?  Here are some of the other strategies we learned at school:

1. Ask an adult for help

2. Use positive self-talk such as “I can do it” or “I can try again”

3. Take a break, a drink of water

4. Do 5 deep breaths before returning to the task

5. Ask a friend for help

6. Re-read the directions/check your work 

Reading:

• This week, we continued reading our books about Mercy Watson by Kate DiCamillo.  We are on the last book in the series now.  We will finish this author mini-unit with some special reading responses and activities to celebrate what we learned about the characters, the plot and the author’s craft.

• This week, the students continued to participate in mid-year reading assessments.  At this time, we assess phonological awareness skills, phonics, fluency, and reading comprehension.  The students read words, short phrases and longer texts/books to show their understanding. We will continue next week too.

You can:

• You can support your child’s reading progress at home too.  Daily reading is vital to the development of reading fluency, comprehension and a positive attitude towards learning in general.  Thank you for reading with your child and thank you for re-reading the decodable/short texts we send home.  We also appreciate that your child accesses Lexia and/or razkids at home too.

Writing:

• This week, first grade authors continued to revise their new year’s wishes by editing finger-spacing, letter formation, word spacing and ending punctuation.  First grade authors also used graphic organizers to outline and plan narratives.  They learned that authors jot down big ideas before they start their writing.  They also learned that authors sometimes sketch these ideas too.  Graphic organizers help authors stay on task and include relevant details in their story-telling.

• First grade writers practiced their hand-writing this week as well. They were encouraged to adhere to proper penmanship and start their letter writing on the top.  Sometimes first graders get into the habit of writing their letters “from the bottom up”.  While their letters might look fine and are legible, this habit can create muscle/fine motor strains for later, more fluent writing.  

You Can:

• Please encourage your child to start all letter writing from the top.  If you are noticing that your child starts his/her letters on the line (“from the bottom”), please encourage your child to start on the top instead.  Breaking inefficient hand-writing habits can be tricky and difficult and might not seem like a problem now, but it potentially can slow down and strain your child’s writing in the future.  Thank you for considering!  I included a letter-writing sheet for you to look at as well so you know what we address at school.  This is just for your reference.  We practice these skills at school.

Math:

• First grade mathematicians worked on mid-year math assessments, with opportunities to show their understanding of numbers, parts of numbers and the relationship between numbers through addition and subtraction tasks. 

• First grade mathematicians also continued to build a deeper understanding of telling time to the hour and half-hour, using analog and digital clocks.  They also learned how to use precision to draw the time/clocks as well.  They did an outstanding job.

You can:

• The students are making nice progress in learning how to tell time.  Telling time to the half hour is always tricky in first grade because it is challenging to look at the long hand and connect its placement for the half hour.  With continued practice and exposure, I am confident our young learners will master this as well.  Thank you for supporting this learning at home too.

News and Reminders:

• There is no school on Monday, 1/15/24 (Martin Luther King Jr. Day)

• Here is an updated student contact list.  Please discard any old ones you may have as some information has been changed and updated.  Thank you.

Have a great weekend,

Maria

Family Newsletter

 Dear Families,

It was great to be back with the students again.  From their stories, it seemed like everyone had a restful vacation filled with a variety of activities (and, unfortunately, also some illness).  Thank you for keeping your children home when they are sick, run a fever or do not feel well.  As a community, we can work together to keep each other healthier.  Happy New Year and Welcome back to school!

Here is our week in review:

Social-Emotional Learning:

• This week, we reviewed our schoolwide expectations and practiced being safe, kind and responsible.  The students are amazing; they filled the classroom buzzy jar twice this week!  The first time, we had a surprise “snowball fight/avalanche”, using paper snowballs and fleece snowballs that we played with.  This celebration was particularly special since the students said they really miss not having snow outside (Fingers crossed that we will get some snow this weekend). The second classroom buzzy celebration was also a surprise.  We had a dance party with special disco balls and lights.  The students are amazing dancers too!

• This week, the students learned how to show empathy, patience and understanding in situations when accidents happen.  Our Second Step puppets Snail and Puppy joined the class to act out different scenarios to help the students navigate the conflicting emotions that can be present in these situations.  The students had opportunities to share their thinking, reflect on body language cues and ask questions. They also practiced different responses to the scenarios.  They learned that checking in with each other and being honest and telling a peer that something was an accident can go a long way in repairing the harm that occurred. 

• We had a restorative circle with Ms. Nicole this week too. This week, we learned more about the things we can control in our lives, such as how we talk, the words we use, and how can can choose to have safe bodies in the hallways.  The students shared about things they can control at home too.  They did great!

You Can: 

• You can support your child’s emerging empathy and emotional intelligence by engaging in authentic conversations when conflicts arise at home, in the car, or at an after-school location between your child and a peer/sibling.  Young children thrive when their voices are heard and listened to.  Having the chance to verbalize the hurt, the surprise or the frustration felt helps young children navigate their emotional responses.  It is equally important that our young learners hear and learn to understand that there might be another perspective to the same situation.   What happened could have been an accident, thus making the other person feel equally sad or upset.  One scenario we practiced in class was about two children playing at recess and one accidentally dribbling a ball in a puddle of mud which splashed water all over the other child.

Reading:

• This week, the students participated in small group reading, independent reading, and partner reading.  They received a new reading menu too, which we will work on for two weeks before sending it home.  The reading menu provides multiple choices for the students to choose from when they engage in independent reading.  They can practice trick words/heart words, read both choice and “just right” books, read online or read with a partner.  The students check off their choices so they can reflect on their learning choices at the end of the week.

• Our mid-year reading assessments will start next week in the classroom.

You can:

• You can support your child’s reading progress by encouraging your child to read every day at home.  At this point in the school year, we hope your child is showing enthusiasm and interest in reading books to you as well.  We hope you keep the small texts/decodable books we send home in a special place even if there is no time for your child to read them that week.  Keep these texts/books as resources for another week and try again. 

Writing:

• This week, first grade authors started writing their new year’s wishes.  They wrote about their hopes for the world and for themselves for the new year.  Their ideas are wonderfully creative and insightful.  Some students hope for a kinder world, with more play and happiness, while others hope for snow and candy for everyone.  Some students hope to get a pet, while others hope to finish a video game.

You Can:

• You can support your child’s writing at home by encouraging your child to write about a wide variety of topics.  Wish-lists, thank you cards, letters and shopping lists are great ways to include your child in the family while also practicing grammar, sentence structure and letter formation.  These first graders love to write.  We often see a small group of children write their amazing books and stories during our morning choice time and even during our mindfulness block!  I am so happy to see that they have made such a special connection with writing.  They also love to share their writing, so please make sure that you listen carefully and intently to their stories.  After all, they worked hard on putting words down on paper instead of just telling you!

Math:

• This week, first grade mathematicians reviewed our math habits of mind and interactions.  They practiced private think time, active listening and how to best use their words and drawings to share their mathematical explanations.  We practiced our math class routines; with group work, independent work and whole class number talks.  As always, we ended our math classes with a brief sharing circle, a time when the students celebrate each others’ resilience, perseverance and growth mindsets in math.

• This week, we started a new mini-unit on telling time.  In first grade, the students will learn how to tell time to the hour and the half hour using both an analog and a digital clock.

You can:

• You can support your child’s emerging understanding of telling time by including concepts of time in your conversations at home.  Telling time can be challenging for young learners.  It is tricky for young children to learn how to “read” an analog clock when most clocks at home are digital.  It is also tricky for children to learn how to tell time because they have not developed a true “sense of time” yet.  To them, a minute can feel like an hour, while an hour can feel like a minute depending upon the situation (granted, grown-ups can feel this too!).  The social language makes it hard for children too.  Adults often say “I’ll be there in 2 seconds” but it might take 10 minutes.  We all do this.  Consider helping your child to learn how to tell time accurately by using precise language instead, referencing a clock.  Point out the actual time.  Instead of saying “soon” or “later”, point to the clock and say the time.  Tell your child you will play the game, do what is being asked, or have dinner in 15 minutes when the long hand/short hand is on...Being very precise will help your child develop an understanding of time.

Technology:

• This week, Ms. Scott joined our class to teach us about coding.  The students worked in small groups using BeeBots, small plastic robotic bees that they programmed to move along various paths. Ask your child to explain.
  
  

News and Reminders:

• In an effort to help facilitate playdates and student get-togethers outside of school, the link to our classroom contact list was emailed to you in this week's news letter. I hope your family can connect with others from our classroom.

• Please see this letter from Ms. Filion, our school principal regarding our school policy concerning smartwatches/electronics:
  
  

Dear ABS Families and Caretakers, 

We wanted to reach out and share with you that we have seen an increase in the amount of students who are coming in wearing smartwatches.  While we understand that these can be fun for kids to have, we are noticing that they are becoming more of a distraction to the magical learning that is happening in the classrooms.  Per the policy in our handbook on electronics, we are asking that you refrain from having your student(s) wearing these at school to better meet the focused learning needs of our students and to reduce social and emotional distractions that they often cause.

To increase focus and decrease distractions during the school day, the expectations are:

● Students will not wear a smartwatch (or have other personal devices) with them during the

school day. 

● If a student is observed to have their smartwatch/ device with them or using it during the school day, he/she will be asked to give it to their teacher for the remainder of the day.

● Prior to dismissal, students will retrieve their device to take home and a friendly reminder will be sent home to discourage them from coming to school again.

Thank you, in advance, for understanding that student learning is at the center of this decision.

Be well,

Angela Filion

ABS Principal

Have a great weekend,

Maria