The Calm Before the Storm!

After a hectic start to the week, today was a dream! The kids wrote in their Christmas cards for you and wrapped their presents quietly and calmly. We watched part of The Polar Express this morning and followed up with the end after lunch. We served hot chocolate with peppermint sticks...yum! Then off to the singalong where our class sang "I Want a Hippopotamus For Christmas" to the rest of the kindergarten, first and second graders! Very cute! The day ended when they opened their gifts from me...a book, of course! I asked them to put several books into their homework bags for the long break. However, I didn't supervise each child as they packed their bag...hopefully you'll find reading material! I had planned on sending the first packets of math work home today, but with all the other stuff headed your way, I decided to wait until after the holiday.
Have a very Merry Christmas and see you in the New Year!

Tomorrow and beyond...

Your children are SO very excited about Christmas! Each moment is more exciting than the next! Tomorrow they'll be bringing home so many things...crafts, corrected work, books borrowed for vacation, etc. Much of it I'll be able to put into their homework folders, but please check the folders right off because your Christmas cards and the like will be inside!

Tomorrow we'll see The Polar Express and the kids are invited to wear and/or bring pajamas to wear while they watch. We'll be having hot chocolate with peppermint sticks while we're on the Polar Express! We'll also meet with the kindergarten, first and second grade classes for our annual sing along...this isn't a concert for an outside audience, but I'll take pictures!

Whew! One more day for me and then you get them for the last two, long days before Christmas! Have fun!

Merry Christmas!
Michelle

Gingerbread Houses!

Here's a slide show of our class making the gingerbread houses! They loved making them and were very creative with the decorating! They did really well spreading frosting on the graham crackers...I thought they'd need more help. Enjoy!

Brrr!

What a change in temperature! You don't need me to tell you that it's been COLD! I am happy to say that each child went out in a warm coat with snow pants today! Unless the wind chill is below 0 degrees, children go out to recess every day!

It was great to see so many families at Open House! The kids were SO excited to write you the letters inviting you to this special night! And I'm happy to report that the Smart Board is now functional and we used it today for reading groups (the books they read can be projected on a Smart Board) and Fundations (after each practice word, one child was chosen to write the word on the Smart Board). They are more excited than I thought they might be...I suppose the novelty will wear off! Now I've got to find a way to use it for the overheads our math program uses each day...

Speaking of reading groups...what a bunch of readers we have here! They're starting to read anything they can get their hands on! I'm happy to say that they love books and are very excited to be learning to read! I sure hope Santa brings books this year! I've been asking children to choose more than one book each night and more and more the extra books they choose are books of their own choosing from our classroom library-AND they really can read these books! Please try to avoid telling them words that stump them and instead ask questions like, "What would make sense?" Some words you will need to just tell them (today one reading group had the word "proud" which is tricky to read and many kids didn't know the meaning) but as they become better readers, they'll be more likely to read tricky words in the proper context!

We've embraced the holiday season! We've studied the Jewish holiday Hanukkah and Christmas traditions in several places in the world. We plan to make gingerbread houses on Friday and I hope you don't mind donating the necessary supplies! I've begun saving milk cartons and we'll be using frosting to "glue" graham crackers to the cartons. Then they'll be able to use candy to decorate them! It should be an exciting Friday!

We'll be spending one more week practicing Unit 4 skills in Fundations...words with -ll, -ss, and -ff as well as words with -all. The trick words are really "tricky" this unit and require one more week of practice as well as continued practice with past skills and trick words! SO much to learn!

Have a great weekend!
Michelle

Fantastic Friday!

What a busy week! We had our field trip to the Flynn Theater yesterday to see the Vermont Symphony Orchestra along with Bill Shontz, from the children's musical duo Rosenshontz! Bill Shontz sang and the audience had a chance to participate and sing along with him...it was really fun!
Next week our school's Open House is scheduled for December 8th from 6-7:00! The kids are excited to show off their new room and show you all around their classroom and the rest of the school building! You have very excited tour guides!
December is a very exciting month for first graders! We began learning about December holidays celebrated by families in our country and around the world. Because December 2 was the first night of Hanukkah, we read a story explaining why Jews celebrate Hanukkah. Several hands shot up as children made the connection between the King of Syria and the King of England...both the Jews and the Pilgrims fought for religious freedom! We'll be learning about how Christmas is celebrated in several places around the world and have many projects and activities planned!
Math homework tonight is a math game...we've played a version of the game in class and your child will recognize it and want to "beat" you! Have fun!
I'm placing a link to an article that I enjoyed reading about "curiosity" in young children! It was written by Bruce Perry who is well known as an authority in brain development. It might help you understand why very young children ask, "What's that?" over and over and over...I hope you enjoy reading it! Click here to check out the article!
Have a great weekend!

Welcome December!

Just a quick reminder that our field trip to see the Vermont Symphony Orchestra is tomorrow. We leave at 10:30 and will return at 1:00. The cafeteria will be closed at that time and children need to bring lunches from home!
We've just begun a new writing unit about "small moments." The lessons are designed to help kids "slow down" their writing and include many rich details about one event. Now that they're able to write for extended periods of time and use spaces and approximate spelling, the writing content can become more complex. We read a book called A Chair For My Mother which has an example of a small moment. Ask your child to tell you about the book (the family has a house fire and needs to save money to buy a chair) and small moments!

Friday News!

Hello!

Every week seems to go faster than the last…formal reading groups are under way and the kids are REALLY excited to be reading! I don’t know if you remember learning to read, but I do remember! It’s like finding the decoder ring in the bottom of your cereal box! Short books will be coming home in the homework folders…please take the time (only 5 minutes, I promise!) to listen to your child read and celebrate the hard work and learning!

Our field trip Thursday was rained out and rescheduled for Tuesday morning. We’ll be leaving bright and early at 8:15! With the rain and winds, the phone company wasn’t sure if there’d be any technicians available to climb the pole and show the kids the “cherry picker” lift…the most exciting part of the field trip!

More math homework is coming home tonight. This game will stay at home after you and your child play it several times this week. You might find it fun to play again in a few weeks!

You’ll also find a book order in the homework bag. The orders are due on the 20^th.

I’ve updated the blog with photos from this year’s class! If you click on one of the pictures in the slide show it will bring you to the web site with the entire album. The photos will be larger and better quality! Enjoy!

Math Homework Begins...

The very first official math homework comes home today! Bridges calls math homework “Home Connection” and the activities come home approximately once a week, sometimes with less frequency. The Home Connections are usually in a game format. They are meant to be played each day over several days. Sometimes there’s a page that comes back to school but the game always stays at home. I suggest that you find a special place to keep the games to revisit in the future. You could save a shoe box and have your child decorate it to keep the games in one place.

In addition to the “official” homework, you may also find games coming home to provide additional practice on specific skills. Last week I sent a game home with several children to provide extra practice with ten-frames. It was a Bingo game that your child had played several times with me in class. Your child was asked to teach you the game! This type of homework is very motivating for young children and helps teach and reinforce necessary skills. Please try to find time each evening to play a game or two!

Enjoy!

September 17, 2010

Dear Families,

Yet another busy week and the first full week at that! The children seem tired but happy and we’re moving ahead with all areas of study.

During Fundations this week, we reviewed letter names and sounds and even more importantly…formation! We’ve been seeing some, shall we say, creative letter writing! All students are benefitting from the printing review. Both Mrs. McGuire and I have shared with the classes that in order to communicate effectively with writing, letters and words need to be read easily by others. We sky write each letter (ask your child to show you) and then use special Fundations paper with a sky line (again, ask your child to explain), plane line, grass line and worm line to help children form letters properly. They seem to enjoy the exercises!

About homework…until we begin formal reading groups, the reading homework will consist of you and your child sharing books each day. Many of you will still be reading to your child, but ask to see if your child recognizes any words they know on the page. Many children know the words “the”, “my”, “to” and other words and are excited to find those words on book pages! Beginning Monday, I’ll put a reading graph in your child’s homework folder. Each night, please read to/with your child for at least 15 minutes. Have your child color in an apple for each 15 minutes you spend with books! I’ll collect them from the folders the following Monday! If your child needs more printing practice, you’ll find paper and instructions in the homework folder on Monday as well. I usually send home the reading and spelling homework on Monday and collect it on Friday.

Math update…the class as a whole seems to love the Bridges program. Lessons early in the school year are meant to introduce daily routines and review and extend skills from kindergarten. Each day children have “number corner.” It has several calendar activities and then a short lesson. Children are learning to recognize patterns, identify coins by name and value, practice telling time to the hour, in addition to having daily lessons practicing addition and subtraction strategies.

You’ll notice that a fundraising packet came home today with your child. This year our school chose a company called Meadow Farms Fundraising. The directions are on the envelope and seem clear enough. Inside there are directions for online ordering if that seems easier for your family. As always, fundraising is a choice. If you choose to participate in the fundraising, checks are payable to Hinesburg Community School and packets are due on October 1^st. Thanks!

Thanks to Ryann for being our first Star Student of the Week! Her mom, Elisabeth, and her baby brother, Lucas, came in to share all about Ryann! We learned that Ryann likes all shades of blue, but turquoise most of all. Her first word was “shoes” and she’d like to be a horseback riding teacher when she grows up! Happy birthday, Ryann!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Classroom News September 10, 2010

It’s really hard to believe it’s already September 10th and two weeks of school have been put to bed! Your children are settling in very well! It can be challenging at times with two classes, but we’re all learning how to adapt!
We’ve begun assessing children to see what they learned and remembered over the summer. The assessments are primarily literacy based and give us a sense of where to begin reading and spelling instruction. Next week we’ll begin formal spelling and phonics instruction using the Fundations program. This week we practiced reading centers so the children get a feel for how reading group time will flow. This week the centers transitioned from art and play centers on Tuesday to more literacy-based centers on Friday. Early in the year, centers for children include listening to books, looking at “just-right” books, practicing spelling words and high frequency words using stamps and letter tiles and unifix letter cubes. As they learn to operate with more independence, I’ll be able to begin formal reading groups!
Math began on the very first day and is in full swing! Each day our math lesson begins with Number Corner. The Number Corner has a calendar component where students practice days of the week, months, and compose and de-compose equations based on the day’s number. Each day of the week has an extra special focus and name. We have Money Monday; Time, Tally, Temperature Tuesday; Wednesday Workout; Thursday Thinking; and Friday Figuring. When Number Corner is done, there’s a daily math lesson. The Bridges math program is so well designed for young children. For example, one of the Workplaces (which are number centers and there are six available daily) children count and sort bugs. At the end of that particular workplace, children are asked to inventory the bugs on ten counting mats, which each have ten spots. Then they count the bugs (by tens) to insure that all 100 bugs are present and accounted for at pick up time. Bridges has incorporated “counting by tens” in such a natural way that the children enjoy learning what can otherwise be a mundane task. I think it’s fair to say that we all enjoy math time!
This week your children continued writing during Writing Workshop. Each day during Writing Workshop we meet for ten minutes at the beginning and either myself, or Mrs. McGuire, teach them something new that they may include in their writing. So far, our lessons have focused on helping them be independent writers. Each and every child is able to write a story using pictures and then use words to tell the story. We’ll be working on getting the story on paper first and then as Fundations starts up, we’ll work on capitalization and punctuation, as well as spacing. Right now it’s most important for children to see themselves as writers…independent writers!
You should have received the school picture flyer this week in the home-school bag. If you need additional flyers, please let me know!
Have a great weekend!

Back to School

Welcome back! It's nearly time for school to start again! I've only had access to the new classroom since Monday so I'm busily unpacking all the boxes! I'm really looking forward to meeting with families during the next few days to get to know you and your child better!
See you soon!

More Movies to Enjoy!

Here's another movie showcasing artwork and writing about the book The Dragonling! The kids are very excited to be "movie stars"! Enjoy!

April 1st News!

Hello! Another busy week here at school! We've been reading a book called The Dragonling. It's about land far, far away where the coming of age ritual involves going on a dragonquest. The young boy in the book is a bit jealous when his older brother brings home the dragon...until that night he goes out to see the slain dragon and finds...a dragonling! He has a very difficult decision to make! Our class drew and painted dragons of their own and then wrote stories about their dragons. You'll see the paintings and hear some of the stories below.


The Secretary of State of Vermont is holding a poster and essay contest for school age children with the theme "Vermont Symbols" such as the state flag, state flower, state bird, etc. Each child in our class created a poster using one or more Vermont symbols. The art work and creativity is evident!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Today each child wrote a story about leprechauns! They were wonderfully creative! Here are a few selected stories for your enjoyment...

My Pot of Gold Story
By Devyn

One day I was riding my bike. Suddenly, my bike's wheel flattened! I looked at my bike's wheel. I saw a little shoe in my bike's wheel. It was a leprechaun shoe. Then I heard a tap tapping noise. I followed the noise. It led to a bush. I quietly pushed the bush to the side. You won't believe what I saw! It was a leprechaun. A real, live leprechaun. I quickly snatched the poor leprechaun up.
"A lilttle fella like you can't get away from me. Tell me where the gold is now or I will pinch you. So, what's your choice?"
The leprechaun chose not to tell me. So I pinched him. Then I went home. On the way I saw something shining in the bushes. It was the gold! That was the happiest day of my life!

My Pot of Gold Story
By Olivia

Once when I was coming up from recess I saw a leprechaun. It led me to its gold, but all I found was a nice batch of pudding. "He tricked me," I said, "but this does look yummy!" Then I called all my friends and we all ate it together. Yum!

My Pot of Gold Story
By Chan

One day Chan was riding his bike. And then he heard a rustling noise. He stopped. He looked behind some bushes. There in front of Chan was a leprechaun stuck under a root. The leprechaun said, "Help me get out of this root!" "OK," said Chan. He pulled the leprechaun out from under the root. The leprechaun said, "Thank you and good day, sir." But then Chan yelled, "Wait!"
The leprechaun turned around and said, "What?"
Chan said, "I did a favor for you. You have to do me a favor."
"OK," said the leprechaun. "What do you want?"
"Lead me to your gold."
"OK," the leprechaun said. And so the leprechaun did lead Chan to his pot of gold. The end!

My Pot of Gold Story
By Kyle

One day I was playing lacrosse. Then I heard a tapping noise from behind the net. I looked behind the net. It was a leprechaun and I turned my lacrosse stick upside down and trapped the leprechaun in my net.
"Where is your gold?"
"What gold?"
"You know."
"Fine. You tricked me. It is under your mom's car." And it was.