Monday, September 30, 2013

Marvelous Monday

We had an awesome day back together in Room 3 today!  Everyone worked so hard all day long.  We started sharing during Morning Meeting.  Everyone is assigned a day that is their share day.  In first grade, we don't bring in items for show and tell, we use our voices to share about something that is important to us.  Today, we shared about our pets and a recent trip our family took. 

Our WOW word this week is persuade- to convince someone to do something.  I have a feeling this group of first graders are excellent persuaders because they used this word PERFECTLY in sentences from the get-go.  Apparently, many of us are very good at persuading our parents to do things.  (According to the students at least!)

In reading we are working to sound out words that we don't know and ask ourselves when we make a guess, "Does that make sense?"  We met in reading groups for the first time this year and practiced this skill along with our sight-words.  We are also continuing to answer the "W" questions about texts we read.  

We used a number grid for the first time in math.  Number grids are tricky because you have to remember to go the beginning of the line below to the next number.  We practiced counting up and back using a number grid and learned a new game called "Roll to 50".  This game is fun because the number you roll means different things.  



We are still writing stories about events and things that are important to us using the hand method- Topic, Detail, Detail, Detail, Wrap-up.  Some of us are even starting to add extra details!  We have very talented writers in this class!

We are still learning about important people and placed in our Community.

Please remember to order lunch for you child below:

Lunch Menu 


Thursday, September 26, 2013

Math Number Stories

We've been working to draw and tell number stories in math. Check out these awesome first grade number stories.




 

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Word Story Wednesday

Please remember that tomorrow is Open House.  It begins at 6:30!  Parking will be limited. You are able to park at Holy Cross Church and we will provide transportation from there.

Mayzee brought in her favorite book to share, The Pout-Pout Fish.  We LOVED this book!  We were laughing out loud at the surprise ending!  We used this book to work on one of our reading standards, Ask and answer questions about key details in a text. (Who, What, Where, When, Why and How). Thanks, Mayzee, for sharing this with us! 

We are working in writing on creating a topic sentence, showing three supporting details and wrapping it up.  We use our hands to help us.  Ask your first grader to show you what they've learned.

See you tomorrow night and remember to fill out the lunch menu!

Thanks!



Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Menu and Open House

We had a great day today in Room 3!  In reading, we are working to retell events in a story and make predictions about what we think might happen next.  We read Charming Opal today and the first graders loved it! It is all about loosing teeth, which we could relate to quite well. 

If you haven't yet, please be sure to fill out our menu for next week:

Lunch Menu

Open House is Thursday at 6:30.  Please park at Holy Cross Church, there will be a shuttle to bring you to Open House.  Thanks so much, parking is very limited here at school.  




Monday, September 23, 2013

Collaboration

Our new WOW word is collaborate- to work together.  We did a wonderful job using this word in sentences for the first time.  Our very first Student of the Week is Mayzee!  We learned so much about Mayzee this morning.  We are excited for her to bring in her favorite book to share with the class.

We have TWO red words this week in SWR, am and look.  We will be practicing writing and spelling these words all week.  We are working on the phonemes, f, m and c.  We will still work on word spacing and we will learn about when and where to use capitals and periods.  Our word family is the ___ab family this week.  (Wow! That's a lot of word work!)

We learned about number stories in math today.  We practiced addition number stories and had fun sharing our stories with a partner.  We will have our first math test on Friday this week. 

Please sign up for the lunch Menu for next week.

Lunch Menu September 30-October 4

Open House is this Thursday.  We hope to see you there.

Friday, September 20, 2013

School Wide Celebration

We filled our first warm-fuzzy bin this morning so we had an immmediate school-wide celebration- EXTRA RECESS!  It was so much fun to be outside with the entire school!  



We also worked very hard during literacy today.  I think there was a common theme... :)  



Have a wonderful weekend.  Your children have had a great week at school!

Thursday, September 19, 2013

A Note From Our School Social Worker

Dear PPS Parents, Guardians, Caretakers,
My name is Maddie Sivo (Ms. Maddie to the kids, and formerly Maddie Grandgeorge). I’m the school social worker at PPS. I work with kids and families with varying needs and challenges . I often meet with kids during lunch in my office, and will sometimes allow them to invite a friend or two to work on social skills and help build positive friendships. If you are not comfortable with your child being invited for these small groups, please let their teacher know, or you can contact me directly at grandgeorgem@csdvt.org or 264-5918.
Also, as cold weather approaches, it can be a challenge for some families to pull together enough warm clothing (especially with the amount of stuff kids misplace at school!). If you have warm clothing or boots to spare, send them my way! It is also ALWAYS helpful to have gift cards to grocery stores on hand for families who are having a hard time making ends meet. Your generosity is much appreciated.
Thank you!
--Maddie Sivo
 
 

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Pink out the Park!

We are learning all about our Community in Social Studies and we have an exciting upcoming Community Event- Pink Out the Park!  From our recreation office:
On Saturday, October 12 starting at 9AM, The Colchester CANsur-vive Team will promote breast cancer awareness and host a fundraiser at Bayside Park in Colchester, with the first-ever “PINK OUT THE PARK” event. The public is encouraged to come to the park dressed in PINK. Prizes for craziest and wildest pink costumes.
 
5K Walk/Run 9:00 AM  $15.00 per
Register online at Active.com Search for COLCHESTER
http://beta.active.com/colchester-vt/running/colchester-cansur-vive-5k-2013?keywords=na 
Lots of Family Fun
Bake Sale • Raffles •  Origami Boat Release
Prizes  • Pink  Race Car  and more!
Pink Picture at 10:30AM
(WEAR PINK!)
100% of all Proceeds go to Making Strides Against Breast Cancer
 

We are hoping to have district-wide representation from all of our schools in attendance!  I would love to have students and families from our classroom attend and run/walk together.  It will be a great way to partake in a community event as a group.  My fiance and I registered today and are looking forward to seeing some of you at this event!  If you register, be sure to let me know.  I ran the Colchester Causeway 5k and 15k with families from PPS last year, and it was one of the highlights of my spring.  I'll send more details out as we get closer to the event.  Think Pink!

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Comparing Numbers

Today we worked in small groups to compare four numbers at a time.  We worked on taking turns, deciding which number was higher/lower, and being good group members.  We like playing Top-It because many of us have played a version at home called, "War." 

At our literacy centers we had some amazing writing happening!  Many students have planned a book to write.  We can't wait to read them when they're all done.  We worked on our typing skills and we also built many words at the Word Work center.



In SWR we added "___at" words to our very first word family.  It was fun to remember all of the words we thought of yesterday that have "at" in them. 

Please remember to sign up for lunch next week by Wednesday.

Monday, September 16, 2013

Anticipation

This morning we rotated through all five of our literacy centers for the first time.  We loved being able to go to each center and wrote impressive writing pieces at the Writing Center. 

Our WOW word of the week is anticipate- to expect something to happen.  Kaylie said that she is anticipating the arrival of her baby brother (!), and Jacob V. said that he anticipates we will have indoor recess because of rain.  We will work all week to use the word in sentences. 

In SWR we learned how to put spaces between words when we write.  Our red word of the week is see.  We are also learning words in the "__at" family.  We brainstormed many, many "at" words.  

In math we are continuing to use tallies to keep track of numbers.  Today, we listened to hear pennies land in a jar and kept track of how many pennies we heard with tally marks.  Your child will have math homework in his/her folder for the first time today.  There are four sheets stapled together.  Please complete ONE sheet each night of the week Monday-Thursday and send it back to school the next day in their folder.  If you have any questions, let me know.  

We started our Social Studies unit about Community today.  We discussed what a community is and the types of people and places we find in our communities.  Help your child notice places as you drive around town!   

Our lunch order for NEXT week is ready, please use the link below to fill out your order.

Lunch Menu


Friday, September 13, 2013

34th Project Inside Out

34TH PROJECT INSIDE OUT

The Project Inside Out fundraiser starts today! PIO is funded by money raised through fundraisers and donations.

As an added bonus if anyone buys 2 or more items from the BUY LOCAL COLLECTION they will receive a buy one get one free Jay Peak Waterpark Pass. The student who sells two or more items from that collection will also receive the buy one get one free waterpark pass.

Each child will be bringing home a catalog. Look though all the materials. Someone will find that they are the lucky winner of an item from the catalog!

GOOD LUCK!

Looking forward to PROJECT INSIDE OUT 2014!

Twitter

Did you know that our class is on Twitter?  We post snapshots of our day there and connect with other classrooms in our district.  We love twitter!  Find us here!  If you're on twitter make sure to follow us. 

Here is the link for next week's Menu:

Menu Link

Have a great weekend!


Thursday, September 12, 2013

Picture Day

Whew! Picture Day is always a fun day at school!  It was raining all morning and afternoon so we had to take our classroom picture in the library instead of outside on the playground.  We did get a (slightly) earlier picture time of 11:10; it was helpful to get pictures in before lunch! 



We've been working hard all week on learning the routines of our Daily Five literacy rotations. We are getting really good at Read to Self, Read with a Partner, Listen to Reading, Word Work and Work on Writing.  The stories we've written so far are very impressive.  Please continue to have your child log onto RAZ-Kids from home. 

In math we've been learning about tally marks and what to use them for.  We discussed how to use tally marks to keep track of counting.  It is easier and quicker to count by 5's then ones than it is to count by 1's all of the time.  Remembering to cross on the fifth count every time is confusing for some of us.  If you can, practice at home!  We learned a new game today called Roll & Tally.  We rolled a dice (in some cases two) and tallied the number that we rolled.  We also kept track of how many times we rolled which numbers by tallying as well.  Other skills we practice every day are counting by 10's, 5's, and 2's (this is the trickiest one- practice often!) and writing numbers.

One skill we know students are going to need is typing.  We've  added a typing rotation to our literacy centers to practice locating letters on the keyboard.  Once we are familiar with the letters, we will begin to learn about the home-row and where to place our (tiny) fingers.  We use netbooks for this because the keyboard on a netbook is more condensed than a laptop or desktop.  We are lucky to have so many wonderful resources at our school and in our classroom.     

It was been a wonderful start to the school year, I'm looking forward to another 5 day week to really settle into our classroom routines.  

We have P.E. on Tuesday and Thursday each week.  Please remember to send your child in with sneakers on these days. 

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

School Calendar 2.0

There have been many conversations about a proposed new calendar for all schools in Chittenden County.  From our district blog,

"Essentially, the revised calendar would mean that students would return to school a week earlier in August, leave a school a week later in June, and have additional vacation time—with optional remedial instruction—scheduled throughout the year. The driving idea behind the proposed calendar is to minimize learning regression over a long summer recess while also allowing for additional time throughout the year for students and teachers to rejuvenate."

As families in Chittenden County, it is important that you are informed about this.  Look for the memo that went home in your child's folder for additional information and meeting times about the new calendar.

For more information visit:

Colchester School District Blog about Calendar 2.0

School Calendar 2.0 Blog

BFP Article about School Calendar 2.0

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Listening to Reading and Picture Day

It was a wet, rainy day here today which means we were inside for all of our recesses.  Inside recess can be fun, but it's also fun to get outside to play!

Today we learned about a new routine for our Daily Five literacy rotation, Listen to Reading.  In our classroom, we have a listening center with books and books on tape/cd.  We also will use Tumble Books to listen to reading this year.  Tumble books is an awesome web-based book site where you can listen to books.  You can also access Tumble Books from home. 

We began comparing numbers in math today using the words less than and more than.  We played Top-It to practice using these words with numbers.  You can play with any deck of cards from home too, ask your first grader to teach you! 

Thursday is Picture Day!  Please remember to send in your forms if you are ordering pictures.  Our picture time is 12:40 which will be after lunch and recess.  I will do my best to make sure we have clean faces and brushed hair, but please keep that time in mind when selecting your picture outfits! 


Monday, September 9, 2013

Reading with a Partner

We had an awesome first Monday at school together.  We learned one of our reading routines this year which is Read with a Partner.  When we read with a partner we share our favorite books quietly and ask at least one question after.  Some questions you can ask your partner are, "What was your favorite part?  Did you like it? Would you read it again?  Who was your favorite character?"  We also learned a little bit about Word Work and building words with magnetic letters.

Our red words this week are I and can.  We build upon our old words so each week we add to our list of red words.  We tapped these words out, wrote them, whispered them and even yelled them!  We also learned about how to form the letters s, t, and b.  When we write it is important to have our legs under the table and sit up straight.  We practice this a lot! 

The first graders have done a great job reading on RAZ-Kids.  Starting this week, students will be expected to read at least one book on RAZ-kids each night Monday-Thursday from home.  If you don't have internet at home, let me know and I'll send books home. 

We learned a new game in math called Bunny Hop.  Ask your child to teach you how to play Bunny Hop or Penny Dice.  They are enjoying these games that reinforce counting and moving along a number line one number at a time.  Skip-counting is very important!  Practice as much as you can with your first grader. 

The new menu link is here:

MENU LINK

Remember to sign up by Wednesday. 

Picture day is Thursday


Friday, September 6, 2013

I Scream, You Scream...

We all scream for ice cream! Sunday, September 8 is customer appreciation day at The Village Scoop which means all ice creams are on the house! Hope to see you there! 

Thursday, September 5, 2013

RAZ-Kids

Today, we learned about an awesome reading resource we use in First Grade- RAZ-Kids.  RAZ-Kids is an online reading program that allows students to listen to, read, and take a quiz about many books.  As the students progress in RAZ-Kids, they can earn stars to decorate their rockets and move through levels. 

We will be using RAZ-Kids in the classroom, but the best part is, you can access it at home because it is a web-based program.  You can download the app for your iProducts or access from a computer. 

To access RAZ-Kids from home click:

RAZ-Kids

the username for my class is terrienm

Students should choose their name only when reading.  I can view reports of who is reading when and access quiz results to see where your children are successful and where they might need extra-help.  You can access their reading too!  There is a Parent link at the top and you can see which books your child is reading and send them encouraging messages.  It is a great way to communicate about reading with your child! 

Please let me know if you have any questions about this.


Wednesday, September 4, 2013

SWR


Today we learned our routine for SWR.  SWR (said, "swer") is an acronymn for Spelling, Writing, Reading.  SWR is a program we use for spelling and handwriting.  Each week we will have a red word that we practice all week long.  Red words are sight words and words we just need to know.  We practice spelling our red words by tapping out the letters on our arms.  This helps us use our bodies to remember the spelling.  We write the words and letters we are working on in our SWR notebooks.  We earn dots for forming the letters and words correctly. 


Please remember to sign up for lunch NEXT WEEK here: MENU 

Please also remember to sign up to follow the blog- you will receive an email from Feed Burner that you need to accept.

We have P.E. tomorrow, wear sneakers!

Thanks! 




Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Terrific Tuesday!

We had a wonderful day together today.  We learned a poem about a Mouse (in our House!), worked on counting and skip-counting and practiced reading with our friends. 

The first graders are very excited to show you their Raccoon Poems they are now experts on.  We read that poem slowly, quickly and in different voices.  We had a great time!

Please remember to fill out the lunch form for next week.

Thanks! 




Lunch Sign Up for NEXT WEEK

Hi Everyone,

We are going to try to get on a schedule for ordering lunch and breakfast.  Please use the link below to sign up for NEXT WEEK's lunch.  If you could complete this by Wednesday (Thursday at the latest) that would be helpful.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Lunch Menu

Happy Tuesday!