Week of Janaury 26th

This week we started a new unit in math on Geometry.  We learned about 2 dimensional and 3 dimensional shapes.  We learned that we can combine 2 dimensional shapes to make other 2-D shapes.  We also learned how to identify 3 dimensional shapes.  We will continue to learn about these shapes over the next couple of weeks.

In writing we are continuing to write teaching books.  We have learned how to go back and make them better by using our word wall to help us spell better, adding capital letters and punctuation.  We also learned how to make sure that we introduce what our writing is at the beginning of our books and wrap it up at the end.

In reading we continue to learn about how we can learn from reading informational text.  We are practicing reading and then writing about what we learned.  Students are really enjoying reading informational text.  They love to learn from these books!

On Friday afternoon we had our 3rd Mix-it-up day with the same 5th grade class.  Today we made Valentine's for Veterans which will be sent to them.  They had a great time making these with their 5th grade partner.  Check out the photos below:)

This week in Social Studies we talked about the 7 continents and where they are located on a map and globe.  We also looked at the United States.  We then learned about where England is and some of the things we have adopted in our country that originated there like the pencil, soccer and Christmas greeting cards.  Next week we have a couple of parents coming in to share about their Cultures with the class.  We can't wait!

Have a wonderful weekend,
Nancy

This slideshow generated with Smilebox

Week of January 19th

This week we learned all about Martin Luther King Jr.  We read some books and a Scholastic News with information about him.  We then wrote about what we wish we could do in the world to make it a better place.  Check out some of the photos below that show some examples of our work.  They are also on a bulletin board in the hallway that you can check out if you are in school.

We also had a visit this week from a parent who came in to tell us about some items in our everyday life that originated or happen in France.  We got to taste a baguette with olive oil which is a type of bread from France.  She also showed us pictures of some Farmer's Markets that she visited when she was in France that were similar to the one we have right here in Shelburne.  The children enjoyed the baguette and the special oil she brought in to dip the bread in:)

In math we have started a new unit on Geometry.  This week we learned about some two dimensional shapes, the rectangle, triangle and hexagon.  We learned that their are different attributes that define a shape and some that do not define a shape such as sizes and colors.  We will continue with geometry over the next couple of weeks.

In Writing we continue to work on our Teaching books.  Next week we will look at editing some of those books.

Have a wonderful weekend,
Nancy

Hands on Nature

We had Hands on Nature on Tuesday of this week.  We learned about the squirrels that can be found in Vermont.  They are the grey squirrel, red squirrel and the Northern/Southern flying squirrel.  We learned that the red squirrel likes to eat mushrooms and pine nuts.  They like to burrow and tunnel through the snow.  They stock pile their food into what are called a "midden".  The grey squirrel eats acorns, beech nuts, grubs and eggs.  They like to hide their food in lots of different places.  The flying squirrel is active at night (nocturnal).  They store their food in the trees that they live in.  We got to see a puppet show. We did a sort where we looked for patterns of similarities and differences in the characteristics and behaviors of three squirrel species.  We got to explore squirrel pelts, squirrel bones and explored tracks.  We saw a video showing how the flying squirrel glides from tree to tree.  It was a lot of fun learning about squirrels.  We would like to thank our Hand's on Nature Moms, Marcela and Janet for coming in and helping us learn about squirrels!

In math we learned about 2 types of penguins.  We learned about Rockhopper penguins and King penguins.  We measured a string to show how long each of these penguins is and compared it to ourselves to see if they were bigger or smaller than us.  We talked about how important it is to be precise when we measure and to always start at 0.  Next week we will be starting a unit on geometry.

In Writer's workshop we continue to learn about how to write teaching books and are getting lots of practice writing our own.  We have talked about how we need to think about who our audience is when we write and what questions they might have about our topics.  We also learned that we can teach with our pictures by adding arrows, words and zooming in.  Today we learned about ways that we can spell words.

I hope everyone has a nice long weekend!  I'll see your children on Tuesday:)
Nancy

Introducing Miss Colleen

Hello!
My name is Colleen Riddle and I am VERY excited to be starting full time student
teaching in your child’s classroom! This semester is going to be full of fun and lot of
learning to support me in my last step before graduating from Champlain College. Since
I am going to be in your child’s classroom for the next couple months I thought I would
introduce myself.

 I was born and raised in Monmouth County, New Jersey. I grew up with two
brothers and four dogs. At a very young age I knew I wanted to be a teacher. I chose to
attend Champlain College for the many internship opportunities it provides for early
education majors. After almost four quick (too quick) years, I will be graduating in May.
I am so happy to be part of Mrs. Nakhleh’s first grade!

Please feel free to contact me  with any questions. I look forward to meeting you!

Miss Colleen
colleen.riddle@mymail.champlain.edu

Week of January 5th

Create your own picture slideshow

I hope that everyone had a wonderful break!!!  It's nice to be back in school with your children.

This week we welcomed back Colleen Riddle who will be with us full time until  April 10th.  She is a student teacher from Champlain College.  She was with us the first half of the year one day a week so the students know her.  She will be observing, helping students and teaching lessons through out her time here.  During her last 2 weeks she will teach the class on her own each day.  She is excited to be with us and to have the opportunity to work with your children.

This week we have begun a Unit on informational text.  We will be learning about informational text in both Writer's Workshop and Reader's workshop. Students learned about some non-fiction text features and have begun writing informational books on topics that they know. In writing we are referring to our books as teaching books.  We learned  that like teachers, writers need to plan out their writing.  They need to first think of an idea, then they need to say it across their fingers and sketch it across the pages.  Finally they write out the words.

In Literacy this week we also had our first grade share of the pieces we shared with you before break.  We broke students into groups across the 1st grade classrooms and each first grader read their story to a group.  They were very excited and enjoyed sharing their pieces once again.  Check out some of the 1st graders who shared in our classroom.

In math we are wrapping up the 1st part of Unit 4 working with number lines and adding and subtracting.  Next week we will be spending a week learning about some types of penguins and measurement.  It will be a lot of fun.

Have a wonderful weekend!!
Nancy