Published Book Reviews

First Grade Researchers

Did you know...

Did you know....

Did you know.....

Editing and Revising

As we finish up our opinion writing unit, students are using checklists to make sure their reviews are complete.  Students look at their writing and check to make sure it has a catchy introduction, multiple reasons, details, and even a closing. As they do this, first graders revise their writing by adding more or sometimes taking out confusing parts.  Students are also editing for punctuation, spaces, and spelling.  This week, we'll finish publishing a final draft.  The next few weeks in writing will be focused on mechanics, as students spend some time doing some imaginative writing.  

Countdown is on

Yesterday, students took some time to figure out how many days they had left in first grade. With June 14th as our last day, we counted up a total of 35 school days (4 left in April, 21 in May, and 10 in June).  Check out how many different ways first graders went about solving this real life math problem.  Students are now enjoying the countdown - today we're at 34 days left - where did this year go?

Birthday Breakfast - Friday!

We will be hosting April birthday breakfast, this Friday, April 29th. We will be celebrating students who had a birthday this month. We will meet for morning meeting, sing happy birthday, and enjoy a light birthday snack. Please email me if you plan to attend - all immediate family members are invited - whether you have a birthday child or not! You are welcome to bring younger siblings to these monthly birthday breakfasts (during other parts of our day, we ask that you leave younger siblings at home). WE NEED SOMEONE TO HELP THE MEYERS WITH BREAKFAST - please let me know if you can help out!

Bird Identification Books

Thank you to all the families that have been helping your child learn about their bird. I am looking for some additional bird book resources that may help us continue to study these birds in the classroom. Do you have any books you could loan to our classroom for a few weeks? I'm looking for as many as you have  - so if you can donate, our classroom would appreciate the help. Be sure to label the book with your name so we can get it back to you. Thanks!

THANKS!

Thank you parents group and FAMILIES for donating so many great books to our classroom.  The books you purchased from the Book Fair and donated to us are really appreciated - we've already read so many of them.  Thank you for helping our classroom library grow - book choice for first graders is a big motivator into reading success! And THANK YOU to those families who are always contributing magazines - we especially love exploring the Ranger Rick series - they're so engaging!

A Sneak PeeK!

First graders have already started getting ready and practicing for their show. As a reminder, our first grade show celebrating our community will take place in the auditorium on May 19th at 6:00.  Mark it in your calendar!

Comprehension

First graders are shifting their focus from word solving, to the heart of what reading is all about - understanding our books. INQUIRE with your child tools they use to help them keep track of what's happening in their books. Do they use one more than another? What happens when they come to a word they haven't heard of? How do they figure it out? 

We love finding new activties to explore with. Mrs. Wrigley's class and ours did a collection switch - we had so much fun this week exploring with gears. INQUIRE with your child whether they experimented with these tools and what they learned while playing with them.  

Upper Playground

As we begin transitioning and thinking about 2nd grade, students are learning how to play safely and respectfully on the upper playground. On Monday morning, all first graders learned about the rules of the upper playground from Mrs. Giffin. We are now transitioning to this playground for our recess time.  Before school and after lunch recess will continue on the lower playground for now.  INQUIRE with your child how they liked using this playground? Who did they play with? What did they play? What rules surprised them?

Bird Project - We Need Your Help!

                         Bird Research

Optional Independent Project

This spring, students will be engaged in an integrated bird research project.  We will be studying a variety of Vermont birds and their habitats in the classroom and while outside for ECO.  Students will be immersed in reading and writing about bird survival, and designing bird homes.  All students will be looking closely at how birds are unique and will compare and contrast characteristics of particular bird species.

Each student in the first grade has chosen a Vermont bird to study in depth.  We are also extending their learning to home.  We would like you to help your child get started with this project at home. Please refer to the bird your child has chosen and help them research facts about their animal. They can use the web, books, and magazines to begin their research.  Please help them find information about these topics and any other interesting facts particular to their bird:

• habitat
• diet
• movement
• protection
• physical characteristics

We will be doing the majority of these projects at school. Help with the research portion of the project is greatly appreciated. Please help your child find information from the web, book stores, homes, and libraries.  Any materials collected can be used in the classroom as well. A web is provided to help you and your child organize the information.  Please make sure to label your resources to ensure they are returned to you.  Projects will be due Friday, April 29th but if you finish earlier, please send it in!

Thanks for your help,

The First Grade Team

April 2016  PE Newsletter

Dear Families,

Thanks to you all for supporting the Jump Rope for Heart event at Union Elementary School!  Students in second to fourth grade benefited from strengthening their hearts and raising funds for the American Heart Association. The students raised over $10,000, which is the most our school has ever raised!  In a few months students will get their thank you gifts and find out the rest of the results from the American Heart Association.

Beginning this month, grades 2 to 4 will start volleyball, and the lower grades will begin a dribbling, kicking and trapping unit.  Playing volleyball is a way to improve physical strength and health.  Throughout the unit students will learn and participate in activities that will increase their agility, hand-eye coordination, fast reflexes and vertical jump.  Other volleyball-related activities will help your child learn vital life skills including: competition, staying upbeat, working hard and being active.  Your child will not only learn how to be good team player, but also learn good sportsmanship.

The lower-grades unit focuses on the development of foot striking skills such as dribbling, passing, striking and trapping the ball. Students will learn through experimentation, exploration and enjoyment. These fundamental foot skills provide a developmentally appropriate first step towards participating in soccer.

Union Elementary School PE program will be hosting a Family Fitness Night on May 12th. Four fitness stations will be open and available for families to participate in heart healthy activities including: cardio-respiratory, muscle strength and endurance, flexibility, and nutrition.  We hope that parents and family members will come and participate with their children. We will send more information regarding this in the near future. Stay tuned!!

Best,

MJ and Emmanuel Riby-Williams

Be Prepared!

ECO REMINDER

We will have ECO tomorrow morning (Thursday), and will travel with Mrs. Bates’ First Grade Class. The forecast looks especially rainy so please be prepared.

Please make sure that your child is prepared with suitable outdoor gear for inclement weather. Winter to Spring weather can fluctuate a bit.

Please help your child with the following:

• winter boots
• long pants
• water bottle
• back pack
• warm jacket with a hood
• snowpants/rainpants
• hat, mittens, scarf
• wool socks and extra socks
• Extra pants in case first pair get wet

Thank You!!

Post Office

Our March community outing brought us to the post office to learn about how mailman and postal workers help our community.  Our class traveled with Mrs. Bates' class to learn about the process of sending and receiving mail from close by and beyond.  I am impressed with the amount of thoughtful and in depth questions our class had about how it works.  Students continue to learn about how each of these community places helps people live, work, and be happy in their home. 

Tweet Tweet

If you weren't in school for conferences, be sure to stop by the bulletin board outside our room to check out these beautiful depictions of birds.  What a great kickoff to our bird unit - we had so much fun looking closely at different bird features, getting an introduction to the variety of birds that are out there and using our artist skills to depict nature. Next week, we look forward to choosing one bird and begin learning all about that particular bird's features and survival techniques.  Look out for an upcoming home-school project all about your child's chosen Vermont bird!

Song Residency

We enjoyed an anti-bullying residency run by Susan Picking that was focused on learning through music.  Throughout the week, students engaged in conversation about what to do when you're in a difficult situation with your peers.  All first graders learned a song called, "Be Kind" to remind them about being kind, being nice, being help, and most importantly, believing in yourself!

Book Fair

We are visiting the Scholastic book fair on Thursday, April 7th. Your child may browse or shop at this time. If you would like your child to buy an item, it helps to have a labeled envelope with planned purchases listed on the outside or a note saying that the choice is theirs. If your child is free to choose at the fair, please let me know. I generally encourage students to buy only books when shopping at school. If you would like them to purchase trinkets, please indicate this on the envelope as well. Families can visit on Friday afternoon after school and evening as well to purchase books. Our classroom will have a wish list available at the book fair of books that could enrich our curriculum. Please consider helping out our classroom library and donating a book.