Fire Prevention and Week of Sept. 15th

This week the Shelburne Fire Department visited our school to teach us about fire prevention.  They talked to us about ways we can keep ourselves safe in a fire and the difference between tools and toys.  We practiced crawling through a smoke house and "Stop, Drop and Roll".  We also had fun learning about their fire truck and had an opportunity to climb in the back seat of the truck.  It was a great morning of learning for us.  Check out the photos on the smile box.

We began our first Science Units this week.  During this time all the Firefly classes have been blended together and regrouped.  We will be studying three units this year.  In my classroom, students will be learning about changes in the earth and Materials Engineering by using the engineering process to build walls. Mrs. KillKelley is teaching a unit called A Work in Process:   Improving a Play Dough Process.  Students will learn about solids, liquids and Chemical Engineering through this unit.   Miss Blair will be teaching a plant unit that will teach students about Agricultural Engineering and give them the opportunity to use the engineering process to create bee pollinators.  We will be switching units about every 12 weeks this year.

During Reader's Workshop we worked on finding "Just Right" books to put in our book boxes.  The class used the 5 finger test to find the books that would help improve their reading.  In Fundations, we finished Unit 1 which entailed learning how to write each of the lower case letters in the alphabet and reviewed letter sounds and key words to help remember those sounds.  Next week we will begin unit 2 which focused on practicing spelling CVC (consonant, vowel, consonant) words.  We will practice these words by tapping out the sounds we hear with our fingers, then writing them.

This week we also wrapped our "All About Me" collages we made on the iPads.  The students used an app called Pic collage to make these.  I will be exploring the best possible way to share these with parents soon!  They did a great job and were very engaged during this time.

Math continues to be focused on decomposing and recomposing numbers to 20.  We have been using number racks, tens frames, tally marks and other models to show numbers in different ways and find different ways to make numbers.  The Habits of Mind and Interaction we are working hard on right now are "Justifying Our Thinking" and "Listening to Understand".  We are practicing "revoicing" our partners ideas to make sure we are focused on these to habits.

Monday is picture day!  Please check this week's Friday Folder for the picture paperwork your child needs to bring back to school on Monday.  Tuesday is Hands On Nature day.  We will probably be going outside for part of this lesson, so make sure your child comes to school prepared to do so.

It was nice to see so many families at Curriculum Night!  If you were unable to attend, there is a Curriculum Packet in this week's Friday Folder that includes any curriculum information you need to know about first grade.  I have also posted the Powerpoint from the evening on our Team Webpage.  Also the link for signing up for October conferences is live so you can go on and sign-up.  It can be found on this page as well as our Team page on the SCS website.  Please let me know if you have any questions.

Have a wonderful weekend,
Nancy