December 15, 2017

Important Dates:

December 25-January 2: No School
January 10: Early Release

Hour of Code:
Last week, every classroom in JFK celebrated Hour of Code. During this time, students had the opportunity to work on introduction to coding concepts. They loved it and everyone did a great job! We used an app from Kodable for our Hour of Code. This is a free app you can download to an iPad.



Winter Performance:
Thanks to everyone who was able to come to the winter performance! The students sounded great! They worked really hard on the songs in music class and it showed in their performance. The students' mandalas were hanging in the hallway. The students made these in art class. 

Literacy:
We are finishing up our literacy units next week. Our unit during reader's workshop has been learning all the good habits that readers use when starting a book, working with a partner, and solving hard words.

In writing, we have been working on our small moments, writing about a small event that happened to us. In our writing, we have learned to use dialogue, movement, and feeling words. I am so impressed with what the writers have done!

Math:
We are also coming to the close of our second math unit. This unit has built on all the concepts of our first unit. The mathematicians are becoming more flexible with numbers and how to break them apart and put them back together. They are also becoming more flexible in their thinking.

We also celebrated our time with the St. Mike's buddies. These college students came in every Friday during math to work with the students. We had a pizza party and enjoyed time together.

Where did November go?!

Important dates:
December 4: library
December 13: early release
December 14: Winter performance


Only a few days left in November! I can't believe it! It was so great to chat with everyone during parent/teacher conferences. Every child works so hard during the day! I loved sharing their work with you and celebrating each child's growth.



Literacy:
We continue to develop good reading habits. Students are learning to ask themselves questions as they read and ask questions to their reading partners.

I am so impressed with the students' writing! They love writing time and hate for it to end! We continue to develop our writing of small moments, I shared many of the students' writing during our conferences. The writers need to think of an idea, plan it, sketch it, write it, and then revise it. Revision has always been a tough part for first graders, but this group takes it so seriously! Students work together to ask questions of each others' writing. This prompts the writers to add more. They are using editing marks to add in words and phrases, plus they are using revision strips to add even more.


Math:
Before vacation we took our first unit test in math. Our new unit builds on the concept we learned in unit 1. The mathematicians discovered that there is a pattern that can be used when finding combinations of a number: 1 +9 = 10, 2 + 8 = 10, 3 + 7 = 10, etc.

The start of a new month

Important Dates:
November 8 - early dismissal (12:15)
November 20 - no school parent/teacher conferences
November 20-24 - no school


This past week was a quick one: no school on October 30 due to the storm, Halloween on Tuesday, and lots of fun work in reading, writing, and math!

For our Halloween celebration we made healthy spider treats. The PTO also provided popcorn. Yum!

I had the honor this weekend of presenting with 3 of our ELL teachers at the Northern New England Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages conference on Saturday. We had  a big turn out for our presentation. We ran out of chairs, had people standing and sitting on the floor, and then more people came! We finally had to turn some people away because there just wasn't any more room. I am so lucky to be able to co-teach math with Sarah Forbes. Thanks for all you do Sarah!

Literacy:

We have started to learn how to read with a partner. Partner reading is an important part of our literacy time. Partner work on asking each other questions about the books and help each other to use learned strategies when they are stuck on a word. The students are doing a great job transitioning from our whole group mini-lesson to independent reading to partner reading.

During read aloud, I am reading books that focus on a small moment. This will help the students as they write about their own small moments. One book we used this week was Roller Coaster by Marla Frazee. It's a book I've just discovered and it's fantastic to teach about small moments.

Mrs. Lapointe came in at writing time and helped us revise our writing. The writers are doing a great job of going back, rereading their work, and adding more to help it make sense.


Math:

Our fact power is growing! The mathematicians love developing their math fact fluency during fact power time. Students are working through their levels and applying this new learning throughout math time!

We continue to work on combination problems. During our work, the students have discover the "turn around fact" rule. This rule means that 1 + 3 = 4 is the same as 3 + 1 = 4. Here is a video of a student explaining the discovery.

Bones and Big Pumpkin

Important Dates:
November 8 - early dismissal (12:15)
November 20 - no school parent/teacher conferences
November 20-24 - no school

We had our first whole school celebration last week! Each grade represented one of the HEART expectations. Then we had a whole school parade which ended in the cafeteria where we got to see a science and magic show!

And... we filled out jar again! I can't believe how many hearts this class earns! More info about our celebration next week.


We examined bones this week! I had sheep bones that the students got to examine. Then, we talked about our own bones. The students drew and labeled skeletons. Then they created skeletons out of Q-tips!

Literacy:
We are having fun with Halloween books. One of my favorite books is Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman. The class was able to connect the bigger theme of teamwork in this book to the book Swimmy by Leo Lionni.

We have such a class of writers! Our unit we are working on is writing about small moments. The writers think about a small moments (such as me dropping a basket of markers) and then stretch it out to write a whole book about it. We have such daring writers! They get right to work and they don't want to stop!

Math:


We have learned a new type of math story problem. These are called combination problems. In these problems, we are given the whole (the total) and need to figure out the parts (addends). An example is:
I had 9 things on my plate. Some are peas. Some are carrots. How many of each could I have? How many peas? How many carrots?

In these problems we find many equations that equal the sum. This picture shows one student's work.

Getting rid of the germs!

Important Dates:

Monday, October 16 - library
Wednesday, October 18 - Early Release
Wednesday, October 18 5:30 PTO meeting
Thursday and Friday October 19. 20 - No School
Monday, October 23 - Morning Meeting

Last week we sent home invitations to come to our morning meeting on October 23. We do morning meeting from 8:20-8:50. Hope to see you there!

We earned another class celebration this week! I can't believe how many hearts this class earns each day! They are rock stars with our heart expectations: Honest, Engaged, Appropriate, Responsible, and Timely. It was almost a tie when we voted on our celebration: Wild Kratts or extra indoor recess. Since the class has been working so hard and the vote was so close, we did both!

We had Nurse Liz come and talk to us all about germs and how to keep ourselves healthy. Liz taught us how to wash our hands correctly. Then, she put special "germs" on our hands. The students looked at their hands under a black light. then everyone had to wash their hands and recheck. We all did great using the hand washing technique that Liz showed us. Bye-bye germs. We don't want you here!

Literacy:
We read three great books this week:
The Recess Queen, by Alexis O'Neil
Alphabet Adventure, by Audrey Wood and Bruce Wood
Alphabet Mystery, by Audrey Wood and Bruce Wood

As readers, we are looking for how a character changes in the story. The students did a great job noticing how Jean, the Recess Queen, changed from the beginning to the end. Now, we are even looking for these changes in characters in our own independent reading.

Math:
The class is a doing a great job on using the number line to show addition and subtraction. To reinforce this concept, we played a Froggy on the Number Line Game that Miss Sarah created. We have worked hard on:

1) Understanding that numbers get bigger on the number when you add and you are going forward. Numbers get smaller on the number line when you subtract and you are going backwards.

2) Addition is part + part = whole
     Subtraction is whole - part = part

Another great week!

Important Dates:

Monday, October 16 - library
Wednesday, October 18 - Early Release
Wednesday, October 18 5:30 PTO meeting
Thursday and Friday October 19. 20 - No School


Wow! This class works so hard! I am amazed by all the work they do and how hard they push their brains.

One day this week we earned 189 hearts! Another day we earned 188 hearts! Unfortunately, I had to stop counting the hearts because children are putting the hearts in their mouths. We have been talking about how when you put a heart in your mouth and then put it in the heart jar, the germs go on all the hearts. We are working hard at not spreading germs. Once that habit stops I will get back to counting hearts.


Literacy:
We finished the book One this week. Oh how I love this book. After reading the book, we watched a class act it out and then we acted it out too.We also have done quite a bit of writing in our writing journals about the book.Finally we ended the week by working on a project based on the story. I love this book. The kids did too.

We also discussed the different ways and places people like to read. We have been trying out places in the room to see what works best for each of us. We then made an anchor chart showing the different

places we all like to read.

We also have started Word Study. We learn spelling during this time of the day through the Fundations program. This program is highly interactive plus I am making most of the lessons on the smartboard. The kids love using technology in their learning.

Math:
We've continued our work of understanding ways to represent our thinking and connecting our representation to the equation. The number line is our new math tool that we are exploring. The number line is another way for mathematicians to represent their thinking. Exposing students to a variety of math tools helps students become more flexible with their mathematical thinking.

Another class celebration!

Important Dates:


Monday, October 2 - Library
Wednesday, October 18 - Early Release
Thursday and Friday October 19. 20 - No School

We had a fantastic week. I can't believe how much we accomplished. We also filled our heart jar again! Our celebration was to learn how to use chopsticks. We ate popcorn with the chopsticks. Then the students got to bring the chopsticks home.

The class earned a ton of hearts this week! One day we earned 112! Wow!

Literacy:
We read the book The Big Orange Splot. In this book, Mr. Plumbean lives on a street where all the houses look the same. Then one day, his house ends up with a big orange splot. His neighbors expect Mr. Plumbean to fix his house so it looks like all the others Mr. Plumbean has other plans.

We loved this book. After reading the book, the class made their own houses. They painted their
houses and then used paper to decorate their houses to show their hopes and dreams.  I have these hanging out in the hallway.

We also started one of my all time favorite books, One by Kathryn Otoshi. This book is about bullying, acceptance, and standing up for others. Love this book. We read half of it, and the students wrote predictions in their writing journals.

Everyone now has a bag of books! We have been talking about how to build your reading muscles. There are easy warm up books, just right books, and challenge books. The students have made thoughtful decisions about which books to put in their bags in order to build reading muscle. We also started a poster in the classroom on what independent reading expectations.

Math:
We continue our work on story problems. Now, we are analyzing problems to see if they are addition or subtraction. The mathematicians then write an equation, representation, and an answer with a label as they solve the problems.

A big thank you to Chase's aunt for sending in popsicles to help us get through those hot days!

Bathroom Expectations

We reviewed bathroom expectations today. Our class is doing very well with following the bathroom rules. As part of our review, I showed the class a video that another school made. Many of us can not get the song out of our heads. The students asked to share it with all of you so it will get stuck in your head too! We hope you love it as much as us! Enjoy!

A new favorite book

Important Dates:

Monday, October 2 - Library
Wednesday, October 18 - Early Release
Thursday and Friday October 19. 20 - No School

Last Friday I was out for appointments and the guest teacher left a wonderful note! The class did great! I'm so proud of how hard they worked to show expected behaviors! Unfortunately, I am out this Friday also. I am a school Wellness Leader and I have a wellness conference to attend. The class and I reviewed our expectations and they are ready to rock it!



Literacy:
This week a read a book that was new to me... and it has quickly become one of my favorites: Charlotte and the Quiet Place by Deborah Sosin and Sara Wooley. The discussion the students had about this book blew me away! After reading the book, we first focused on what we find noisy and hard to deal with... on Friday the students will be drawing and writing about their own quiet places. This student wrote: The fire alarm is loud.

We also have started talking about how to make or reading muscles stronger. We used weights as an analogy... weights that are too light won't make your muscles stronger but are a good warm up. Weights that are too heavy are good all the time either. As Andrew said, "You need books that are just right: a little hard, but not too hard."

We also started putting books in our bags. Our bags of books will be read during reader's workshop. These are mostly just right books, with a few warm ups and a challenge book or two. I love helping the readers get their bags of books set up because I get to know what they like to read and their interests.

Math:
Can you believe we are already working on story problems?! Wow! This week, we have focused n addition story problems. The students need to write and equation, draw a representation (picture), and have an answer with a label.Students often work together during math time, to share their thinking and compare solutions. This way, the mathematicians learn that often there is more than one way (multiple pathways) to solve a problem.

We are also very lucky to have interns from St. Michael's College join us for math. On Thursday, 2 students from Professor Tapper's Teaching Elementary Math class come and help us out. The interns get a great experience seeing math in action and we get some extra help.

Lots of learning!

Important Dates:

Monday, September 18 - first library day
Monday, September 18 - Picture Day
Wednesday, October 18, Early Release
Thursday and Friday October 19. 20 No School

We earned our first celebration! We filled our heart jar and Thursday we dumped it into the heart monitor. The class brainstormed a ton of great ideas for our celebration, but with the weather being so gorgeous, we had to celebrate with an extra recess. I can't wait to see what we do next time!


We continue to work on building and practicing our expectations throughout the school. This week we created our Guest Teacher Expectation. I am out today (Friday) for appointments. The class worked really hard to decide what their jobs are when there is a guest teacher. After creating a list, every student signed it. I'm sure they are doing great today!

School News:
Our wonderful liaison Tul Niroula was featured in a Seven Days article. I was lucky enough for 2 years to have him help me in the classroom during math. JFK and Winooski are so lucky to have him as part of our staff. We can't do our job without him and the other liaisons.

Literacy:

We read some great books this week! Dream Big, Little Pig, by Kristi Yamaguhi tells the story of Poppy the Pig who is chasing her dream. This connected nicely with our development of our own personal dreams.

We also were able to read the book I Am Peace, by Susan Verde, illustrated by Peter Reynolds. This book doesn't come out until September 26, but Sara Raabe met the illustrator this summer and was able to get a copy early. Thanks for letting us borrow it Sara! I'm buying our own copy as soon as it comes out.

During our literacy time we also started developing our classroom rules. Students wrote in their writing journals about a rule they thought was important. Many students focused on the feelings of others. Here is one student's work which says: Help your friends whey they are feeling sad.

Math:

 Wow! A lot of work during math time this week! We are exploring the use of 10's frames in many ways: manipulatives, paper and pencil, and through games. Here is a video of some students learning how to count on while using the 10's frame.

Rocking in our School Shoes!

Important Dates:
Wednesday, September 13 - early release (12:15)
Monday, September 18 - first library day
Monday, September 18 - Picture Day

We are working hard as a team to create our classroom expectations and learning community. One of our big goals this week is listening when someone is talking. I am seeing improvement in it already!

We are also developing classroom routines and expectations. We have developed classroom jobs. And today we put together materials for our Take a Break table.

Literacy:
This was a great week of some of my favorite books! We started the week with Pete the Cat, Rocking in my School Shoes. We used this book to work on building a sense of school community. As a class, we wrote a big book that shoes Pete rocking in his JFK shoes!

Next, we moved onto talking about hopes and dreams. Building our hopes and dreams is an important part of Responsive Classroom. This process has the kids realizing what they like, what they want to learn, and to be future thinkers (thinking ahead and setting long term goals). Our first book we have used to spark our thinking is Happy Dreamer by Peter Reynolds. I will let you know when everyone's hopes and dreams are published and hanging up. Make sure to ask your child about what ideas they have for their hopes and dreams.

Math:

I co-teach math with Sarah Forbes. We are working on understanding numbers, representing numbers, and ways to organize representations. We also are learning how to explain our thinking and listen to understand while others share. Some of the math we are working on right now is a review while we learn how to use mathematical habits of thinking and interaction. Ask your child to tell you about 10's Frames! We ended the week playing a game of In the Doghouse! Students worked on different concepts, including: number identification, addition and subtraction.

Welcome to first grade!

Important Dates:
Friday, September 1 - no school

Monday, September 4 - no school
Wednesday, September 13 - early release (12:15)

I love the start of a new school year! It's so exciting to have a group of new friends and to form our classroom learning community.

Throughout the first six weeks of school, we focus on community building, classroom and school wide routines, and develop our class and individual classroom goals. The bonds we build during this time help us all to succeed and allow us to take risks in our learning.

Literacy:
We did enjoy reading a Pete the Cat this week. Oh how I love those Pete the Cat books! Then we each made our own Pete the Cat. They are hanging up in the hallway. Make sure to stop in and see them.

Math:
We have been reviewing counting and representing. In first grade, we work really hard on representing our thinking and the sharing our thinking with the class. It's been a great start so far!

I sent home a class letter on the first day of school with lots of info. Feel free to contact me with any questions.

Our weekly schedule looks like this:

Monday: P.E.

Tuesday: Art

Wednesday: P.E.

Thursday: Music

Friday: Guidance

Library will be every other Monday. I will try to keep you all informed on which Monday is ours!

I will be updating this site every week and I will send out an email to let you know when it is updated. Have a good evening!

End of Year Slideshow

I have loved this year so much! Thank you for all the support and for sharing your child with me this year.

I told the students I would post the slideshow I made. I hope you enjoy it as much we did! We've watched it 5 times already.

I'm looking forward to seeing everyone on the last day tomorrow! Have a good night. :-)

June 4, 2017

Important Dates:

June 7: Big Blue Trunk
June 9: All School Celebration
June 16: Last day of school, dismissal 11:00

The leadership team at school is collecting data. Please fill out the survey at this link: https://goo.gl/forms/aOWW8GPp0ZU5jNNj1


Library:
Mr. Gile read a really fun book to the class: The Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors by Drew Daywalt. After reading the book, we had a rock, paper, scissors battle. Faith was the winner!

Music:
The class used instruments with their singing in music class this week. They look and sound great!

Catching up!

Important Dates:

Tuesdays: library
May 29: No School
June 16: Last day of school, dismissal 11:00

I can't believe we have only a few weeks left. The students and I are having a difficult time trying to realize that we won't be a class all together next year. I have had so much fun with the group!  I am not ready to say goodbye to this class.

The leadership team at school is collecting data. Please fill out the survey at this link: https://goo.gl/forms/aOWW8GPp0ZU5jNNj1


Shelburne Farms:
We had a great time at Shelburne Farms. I think it only rained getting on the buses. We were able to catch bugs, salamanders, worms, and frogs in the pond and forest. We learned you need to rub dirt on your hands before picking up these creatures. a lot of students fell asleep on the bus ride home. I took a long nap as soon as I got home after school!

Foster Grandparent Recognition Dinner:

Earlier this month, I was able to go to the annual Foster Grandparent Recognition Dinner. It was fun celebrating Nana (Marion Kennedy) for all the help she gives us. Hooray for all the Foster Grandparents!