Apple Orchard

 We were so lucky for such perfect apple picking weather - not too cold, not too hat. This morning we  enjoyed the crisp air, beautiful views, laughter, fun, and apples at the orchard. We have just about completed our study of butterflies and will be moving on to learn about the life cycle of an apple tree. Mr. Brees, the owner of the orchards gave us a brief overview of the apple trees (INQUIRE with your child how you know an apple is ripe!) and then we all set off to pick apples. Upon returning to the classroom, we will think about which senses we used throughout the trip and make a graph of things we smelled, tasted, heard, saw, and touched while on our field trip. Over the next few weeks, we will be learning more about our five senses and the life cycle of an apple tree. We will be exploring apples though cooking, dissection, read-alouds, and many more activities.

Thank you to Leah, Julie, Josh, John, and Leon for accompanying us on our trip. We appreciate having extra adults available to guide children through the orchard!  

Self-Portraits

We've also spent time looking closely at ourselves, drawing our first (of many) self-portraits.  Again, be sure to stop by the open house on Thursday between 6:15-7:15 to view our final artwork of ourselves.  By looking closely at ourselves, we notice the similarities and differences each of us have - and how we all work together to create a class community.  

Looking Closely

 We've not only been looking closely as a scientist with the study of our sunflowers, but also looking closely as an artist.  Students have been working on some sunflower art.  Be sure to stop by the open house on Thursday to see the final sunflower painting in the hall!  

Number Writing and Friendly Competition

Friends have been focusing on a different number each day this week - writing numbers comes easy to Kinders, however, we often find the challenge is writing them the correct way - top to  bottom, no reversals.  We provide a variety of ways to help children learn the "Kindergarten way." Ask them to sing you some number writing songs to the tune of skip to my lou!  

During work places, children are not only practicing identifying numbers, counting, etc., but are also building friendly competition, learning to play fair, and most importantly, have fun while playing cooperatively.  Many of our math practice in the classroom is in the form of partner games.  INQUIRE with your child about the game, "Butterfly Race."  

More Teachers....

Meet Mrs. Guyette, a friendly helper who visits our classroom, helps  us on the playground, and all around the school! 

Super Helpers!

Meet Karlynn!  You may have heard her name from your child - she is a teacher in our classroom who is always going above and beyond to help our students learn! 

Sharing

We started daily shares at morning meeting this week.  Sharing might be about a visit to a grandparent, store, library or friend’s house. It might be sharing a special rock from a collection, or a special happening with a friend or sibling. After the child shares, he or she asks the circle, “Are there any questions?” In the conversation that follows children learn much about each other, especially respect for someone else’s ideas. Please help your child to be prepared to share on his or her sharing day - this may be something from home but might just be news (my favorite).  Also, help your child remember to not bring TOYS, stuffed animals, cars, legos, etc to school for sharing. If you have any questions about what is appropriate to share, please email me.  This is a great opportunity for students to practice their speaking and listening skills at school! 

Sunflowers

 This past Spring, our class of first grade students learned more about the structure and function of plants through a study of sunflowers. These students planted sunflower seeds they collected in the Fall, and planted them for this year's Kindergarten class to study as an example of plant Lifecycle.

Last week, children travelled to Harrison field to play a cooperative game and collect two GIANT sunflowers for study in the classroom. INQUIRE with your child about how tall they think each plant is.

During centers this week, children have been exploring these sunflower heads, the stems, and the roots.  Through hands on exploration using a range of science tools (goggles, glasses, tweezers, and magnifying glasses) students spent time dissecting the head of the sunflower. Students asked questions, made observations, and made predictions about how things happen.

"We Had A Good Day"

At our end of the day circle, students gather and often sing, "We had a good day." After singing the song as a class, we often reflect on what we learned, what was challenging, strong choices made, etc. If you are every wondering what questions to ask your child, try some of these:

The Structure has Returned!

Morning Meeting Greeting

To help create community , we begin each day with a greeting at morning meeting. We spend\ a large part of our day learning about our peers, making each other feel welcome, singing, dancing, and playing games. Thish week, we'll add in sharing (see letter sent home). We end our morning meeting with a message about the day ahead. Children read the message and often spend a few minutes practicing important literacy skills. Here are some pictures of friends greeting each other with a "pinky shake". INQUIRE with your child what this greeting looks like.  

Parent's Group Meeting

Tuesday, September 30th 

6:30 to 8 pm

Union Elementary School Cafeteria

 

Please join us for an evening of Parents Group information, meet our current Board members, share your ideas and sign up for activities.

 

Refreshments and childcare will be provided.

 

Please RSVP about childcare to unionschoolparentsgroup@gmail.com or call Jennifer Matthews, USPG President at 223.1213 (h) or 505.0009 (c)

Open House

Please bring your family to visit UES on Thursday, October 2nd from 6:15-7:15. Come to check out their classrooms, projects they've been working on, and meet their interactive arts teachers. Hope to see you here!

Writer's Workshop

Since the first day of school, your child has taken on a new role - that of a writer. Each day we've learned how writer's get started, how to come up with a topic, how to visualize, have practiced story telling with a partner, and every day - putting those stories onto paper with drawings and words.  Each child has learned that they are all writers - and that writer write what they know to share stories and teach other people about what they know.  This week, many students began adding words to tell more about their story.  In September for Kindergarteners, this may look like a label in their picture, or words on the bottom that the child has stretched out and wrote.  Much attention is spent on helping the children believe that they are independent "can do" writers.  We are encouraging children to do their best guess spelling - which often looks like just one sound or a few sounds from the word.  If your child is writing at home, encourage this best guess spelling. Tell them to say the word slowly, and write the sounds they hear on their paper.  Always telling them exactly how to spell words instills a belief in children that they can't write.  Thanks for helping your children at home develop independent writing habits!  You'll be amazed as the weeks progress how quickly they begin to develop their story telling and writing skills!  INQUIRE with your child what their story was about today!

Photo Fun!

We had a little fun with our photographer after many minutes of trying to get the perfect class photo.  Students had both individual photos taken, in addition to a class photo.  Photos will go home with your child when they arrive in our hands.  Keep an eye out for them in their green photos - and don't forget, please help your child remember to bring this folder to and from school every day.