April 1, 2018

Important Dates:
March 26: Library
April 12 and 13: Parent Teacher Conferences
April 23-27: No School

We've done a lot since our last update!

It was great seeing so many students at the Fun Fair on Friday, March 23. Thanks to everyone who was able to come and support the PTO and our end of the year field trips!

We also filled our heart jar and had a celebration out on the big playground. My favorite part of the celebration was watching Jenny coach kids as they learned to climb the rock wall section of the playground. Good coaching Jenny!

Literacy:

We read The Day the Crayons Quit last week and then wrote letters to convince the crayons to come back.  We also read The Perfect Pet and students then wrote opinion pieces about which pet would be the best for them. Mohamed had us all convinced that the duck billed platypus might make a great pet!

We also did buddy reading with Mrs. Thompson's class. Our class is enjoying sharing their reading with others.

Math:
We finished up our place value unit. Everyone took their place value test on Wednesday. I'm impressed with the hard work the class put into this unit. I'll share the tests with you at parent/teacher conferences.

Fun Fair on Friday!

Important Dates:

March 23: Fun Fair 4:30-6:30
March 26: Library
April 12 and 13: Parent Teacher Conferences
April 23-27: No School

I'm updating our website early this week so I can remind families about the Fun Fair. Fun Fair is Friday, March 23 from 4:30-6:30 I hope to see you there!

Don't forget our book order is due Friday also! Here is the link: Scholastic Book Order. Our online code is DZPMV. Please get your order in by Friday, March 23.

Our new School Resource Officer, Officer Jason Ziter, came to our morning meeting on Monday to introduce himself to us and talk to us about school safety. He gave the kids a chance to ask questions and talk about any worries they had.

Literacy:
The writing this class is producing is wonderful! We have learned how to write an introduction and conclusion in our opinion pieces. We are using transitional words and phrases such as: because, another reason is, also The students write and write and write!

During reading workshop, the students are starting to understand what type of books they like to read. From 10:45-11:30, you can find kids all over the room reading their books. Favorite books include atlases, books by Mo Willams, and a new favorite series some students are hooked on: King and Kayla by Dori Butler. 





Math:
Our core math idea has been breaking apart double digit numbers. Now, we are also learning how to add double digit numbers which means the students have to break them apart, reorganize them, and put them back together! Amazing work these mathematicians have done!

March 16, 2018

Important Dates:

March 19: Library
Jump Rope for Heart: March 20

March 23: Fun Fair

I sent home a book order form today. Here is the online link in case you want to do your order online: Scholastic Book Order. Our online code is DZPMV. Please get your order in by Friday, March 23.

We fit a lot into this week!

Sara Raabe came in on Tuesday and talked to the first grade about school safety. The kids asked great questions.

Mrs. Demore's third grade class came down and read their nonfiction books they wrote.

Tracy Towers, the Tooth Tutor came to our classroom on Friday and taught us how to take good care of our teeth. We learned about visiting the dentist, brushing, and flossing. Each child has a bag that they brought home from Tracy.

We also had a whole school celebration! The entire school played bingo and it was a blast!














Jump Rope for Heart will be on Tuesday. We had to change it due to the snow day.

Literacy:
We started our opinion writing unit for writing. The students are learning how to state their opinion and back it up giving multiple reasons. In reading, the students are becoming the Boss of their Reading! This means they are monitoring their own reading to see if what they are reading makes sense. If it doesn't make sense, they are developing strategies to help figure out the hard words.

Math:
Wow! Lot's of great work in math this week! Students are deepening their understanding of tens and ones. We have also introduced greater than and less than signs. We also are working on  telling time to the hour and half hour.

Back from vacation!

Important Dates:

March 11: Daylight Savings Time

March 12: Library

March 14: Early Dismissal

        Social Media Presentation 5pm

March 16: Report Cards Home

March 23: Fun Fair

I'm so sorry I didn't update over vacation. I ended up being super busy and the time got away from me!

It was so good to see all the students this week We had such a great time catching up with each other. We ended up taking 15 minutes during the morning to just chat with friends! We had so much to tell each other.

Literacy:
We finished our nonfiction units in both writing and reading! To celebrate, we invited Mrs. Moulton's class in to hear our nonfiction teaching books that we wrote ourselves.

Then, we invited Miss Bushey's kindergarten class in and we read nonfiction books to them. Our class had prepared questions to ask the kindergartners throughout the reading to check for understanding.


Math:
The mathematicians continue to explore and build on their understanding of place value, using tens and ones. This is a huge leap in learning and requires flexibility in number sense and counting. This week, we introduced clocks and telling time to the hour and half hour.

100th day, Valentine's Day, and more!

Important Dates:

February 19 - Library
February 26-March 6 - No School

Another great week with lots of learning and fun!

This week we went to the Vermont Food Bank Veggie Vango for the first time. The kids did great but a couple grabbed a little too much to carry. The kids were very appropriate most saying, "Thank you," when receiving the food. I plan on bringing the class to the food bank on the scheduled dates. For more information:

http://www.wsdschools.org/vt-foodbank-dates-for-2017-18-school-year/

We celebrated the 100th Day of School on Monday. One of the activities we did was to read 100 books! Here is a picture of the list we made of the 100 books!

Valentine's Day was a fun but quick celebration! Since we had just an early release, we weren't able to do a lot of activities but we did enjoy opening all the Valentine's Day cards.

I sent home a book order form today. Here is the online link in case you want to do your order online: Scholastic Book Order. Our online code is DZPMV. Please get your order in by Friday, February 23.

Literacy:
We are almost done with our unit about becoming experts at nonfiction. The students are examining nonfiction books and thinking about the decisions the author made when writing the book. This critical thinking is then applied to their own writing of nonfiction books. The class has written books ranging from gymnastics, sports, cats, Nepal, Somali words, and more!


Math:
We have started our unit on place value. During this unit, the students will be learning how to break apart 2 digit numbers. This week we used tens frames to represent 2 digit numbers. Next week we will be introducing base 10 blocks.

Shadowland at the Flynn

Important Dates:

February 12 - Library
February 14 - Early Release 12:15
February 26-March 6 - No School


IMPORTANT CLASS NEWS: Just a reminder to check all snacks for nut warnings. If there is not a label on the snack your child brings in, I can't let them eat it in the classroom. But, your child will be able to eat it in Mrs. Fox's room. 

On Friday we went to the Flynn to see Pilobus: Shadowland. This show told a story through dance and shadows. (I've included a promotional video about the show at the bottom of this post.) We were lucky enough to win a free companion workshop. A teacher from the Flynn came to JFK on Tuesday and worked with each first grade class on how to create images using shadow. The kids were engaged and worked hard throughout the whole workshop.

We had great seats at the Flynn! We were in the front row of the balcony! The kids loved it!  After watching the show, we made our own artwork based on images in the show. The students worked for an hour an half on these projects!

  

Our Band Performances!

Important Dates:

February 5 - Library
February 9 - Field Trip
February 14 - Early Release 12:15
February 26-March 6 - No School


IMPORTANT CLASS NEWS: We have a new student starting with a nut allergy. No nut products will be allowed in the classroom. Please check all snacks for nut warnings.

We finished up our science unit on sound! The last few days of our unit focused on using what we learned about sound (vibrations, pitch, volume) and we created our own instruments! The children worked with their band mates to create a song. We then performed for second grade and many adults from JFK. Here are the performances!