Week of January 5th

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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

Week of December 15th

We had a busy week working on our Holiday gifts for families.  We hope that you all enjoy these gifts as the children worked very hard on these to have something special for you at home!!!

I want to thank those parents who were able to come today to hear your child's Mo Willem's story and see their Book Creator project on the ipad.  If you were unable to come in, the stories will go home in January after we share them with other first graders.  If you would like to see the Book Creator project, I can e-mail you a video version of it.  Just let me know.  Enjoy the slide show below from our share.

I hope that everyone has a wonderful Holiday.  I also hope your children enjoy their vacation and I look forward to seeing them in 2015.

Have a wonderful break,
Nancy

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Week of December 8th

It's been an interesting week with our Snow Day.  I hope everyone had a chance to have some fun!

Our team earned $184 at the Holiday Craft Fair this weekend!  A HUGE thank you to all the families that donated supplies, worked our booth and bought our candle holders and pictures.  We couldn't have done it without you!  The money we have earned will help pay for our Firefly field trips.

During Writer's Workshop we have been busy creating our own Pigeon or Elephant & Piggie stories inspired by Mo Willem's writing and illustrations.  Everyone is very engaged and doing their best work on these books.  We are looking forward to sharing these with our families next Friday.  Invitations to this event were sent home in Friday folders today.  We will also be sharing our work from our Mo Willem's unit with other 1st grade classrooms after the break.

We began a new Math unit this week and have spent a lot of time exploring the number line.  We have been developing stronger number sense through this exploration and have been learning about different ways we can use the number line to solve problems.

Thanks so much to everyone who has sent in tooth brushes, tooth paste and dental floss for the "Meet the Needs" food drive here at school.  This year we have many needy families and your donations will have such a positive impact on their lives during the holiday season.

Have a wonderful weekend,
Nancy

Week of December 1st

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Firefly enjoyed two field trips this week.  On Wednesday, we went to the Flynn Theater to see Charlotte's Web.  We enjoyed a great show that was very true to the book Charlotte's Web.  On Thursday, we spent our day at Shelburne Farms learning about solids, liquids and gases.  We made pizza dough, sauce and cheese, then combined them all with some delicious veggies to make pizzas.  We spent some time outside exploring the farm and playing games while we were waiting for our pizza to cook.  At the end of our time at Shelburne Farms we had fun singing songs and enjoying our homemade pizza.  Many thanks to all the parents who joined us to chaperone this field trip.

We also spent some time this week getting ready for the Holiday Craft Fair.  We have lots of sparkling candle holders and tea lights to sell. A big thank you to all the families who donated items for our candle holders and photo booth.  We hope to see everyone at the Craft Fair tomorrow.

Have a great weekend,

:)Deb 

Happy Thanksgiving

Today was another Mix-It Up Day.  Our 5th Grade friends joined us in our classroom at the end of the day to participate in some fun Red Ribbon Week activities.  It's such a beautiful thing to see first graders and fifth graders building friendships and having fun together!  We colored sneakers which will be spread around the school and pledged how we can be kind to others.  Next time you are in the school look for the sneakers.  Everyone who was in school on Friday made one.  

Please make sure you read the note that came home in your child's Friday folder. It has information about the first week we are back at school and information about the craft fair.  I want to thank parents who made donations for the craft fair and who have volunteered to help out on the day.  Also students will need to bring lunches from home on Wed. and Thur. the week after break.  We are also looking for parents to help out on our Field trip to Shelburne Farms on Thurs, Dec. 4th from 9:15-1:45.  

There will be no share in December because it is a short month.  Also there is no homework going home this week because of the holiday so there won't be any due the first week in December.  

A note from Miss Blair on our team:
There is a family on our team who is going through a difficult time and could use our support. I've seen how powerful this SCS community can be in rallying together to bring people in need faith. After much discussion with the whole staff, we feel the most appropriate way to give this particular family what they need right now is through visa gift cards/grocery store gift cards/gas cards. If you can, please help us to show this remarkable family what it's like to feel the love and support I know we're capable of. Thank you in advance for your kindness.


I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving and a nice long break!!

Nancy

Week of November 10th

On Tuesday we had Hands on Nature.  The focus this month was; From standing snags to lying logs, dead wood is essential in a forest, though its importance is often overlooked. As wood decays, a succession of plants, animals, fungi and bacteria come and go, each furthering its decomposition. At every stage, snags and logs are hubs of activity, providing food, shelter, perches, travel corridors and many other functions in the forest ecosystem.  We watched a puppet show where we met some inhabitants of standing snags and rotting logs and learned how they contribute to the process of change and decay.  We had a visit from Dr. VanRottinglog and her time machine and witnessed what happens to a snag and log over a period of time.  We then got to go outside to investigate rotting logs and look for evidence of living things - plants, animals and fungi - that live on or in it.  We then recorded our observations in drawings and words in our Hands on Nature Science Journals.  I'd like to thank Janet, Marcella and Kate for helping us to learn all of this wonderful science.  Check out the photos from Hands on Nature.  

On Tuesday we also had a visitor from CVU's Sport's Leadership group who read some books to the class.  They loved hearing her read.  

This week we have begun to create ebooks with our Small moment stories on ipads. Students are using a program called "Book Creator" to do this.  They are doing a wonderful job!!

In math we continue to focus on adding subtracting and using number stories to help us determine the difference between numbers.  

In Reader's Workshop we are reading lots of Mo Willems books, looking at characters, settings and story order.  

We are looking for help with the Craft Fair for our team.  Please check your child's Friday folder for information about this event.  

Just a reminder that Book orders are due next week.

Have a wonderful weekend,
Nancy






 

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Week of November 3rd

This week we began a unit of study on Mo Willems.  He is the author of the "Knuffle Bunny" series, "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus" series, the Piggy and Elephant series and many more.  We learned how he has only been an author for 10 years and was originally a screen writer for film as well as a Stand-up Comedian.  He was inspired by the "Peanuts" comic scrip when he was a kid.  He writes wonderful children's stories that are very humorous.  We will be reading lots of his books and doing various activities.  Below are some of these that we have done so far:

 In math we learned some new games that can be played over and over again in our work places.  This unit is helping us strengthen our strategies for adding and subtracting math facts.

In Writing we are working on editing our Small Moments and will be publishing one next week using an app called "Book Creator" on the ipads.  We will publish another of our small moment stories in December and will pick a date to share both of these with families.  Stay tuned for that invitation at the beginning of December.

In Fundations we finished Unit 4 on bonus letters.  Next week we will begin Unit 5 and be learning about the glued sounds "am" and "an".

I sent home our first Scholastic book order forms today.  You can use the link on the blog to order on-line or order from the paper order forms that went home in Friday folders.

Have a wonderful weekend,
Nancy