Lantern Parade

Hello UES!

We are happy to announce that we will be hosting a FREE Community Lantern Making Workshop on Saturday, February 11th with Gowri Savoor in the UES Art Room!  We will be making the lanterns with willow branches and paper.  A picture of this style of lantern is below (this is the style that the fourth grade students will be building!)  This is truly a fun experience for ALL ages!  Bring your children and make a lantern together, or come enjoy some creative time all to yourself! 

We thank Coldwell Banker Classic Properties for sponsoring this event. The daylong workshop will be from 10:00-3:00 with an hour break for lunch. 

- Workshops are free to attend for all.  Donations will be welcome.
- All tools and materials will be provided. If you have a pair of hand-held pruning shears, please bring them along, you'll find it useful to have a pair of your own.
- Children must be accompanied by an adult.  Not suitable for children under six.
- There will be a limit of 20 participants for the workshop. Sign up soon!
- For more information and to book your place, please contact Kristina Kane at kristinak@mpsvt.org

Thank you! Kristina

100 Day...Coming Soon!

Family Homework Project

“100th Day of First Grade”

Dear Families:

Our 100th day of First Grade is next month - can you believe it?!? To celebrate, please help us prepare to display 100 in many ways. You can  help your child by working with them to choose  one of the activities below :

• Create a poster or paper containing 100 things
• Design and wear a t-shirt with 100 things on it
• Glue and wear 100 things to a hat
• Make and wear a necklace with 100 things

Ideas of materials to use when decorating:

pasta, stickers, gems, Legos, cereal, ribbons, pom poms, buttons, crayons, coins etc.  Be creative!

****Be sure to have your child bring or wear their project to school by the 100th day: Wednesday, FEBRUARY 8th.****

Brr...

Did you know 1st graders can still work hard, despite being really chilly! You may have heard from your child, that last week, our school was having some complications with the heat - we bundled up for the morning and still continued on with our learning.  I think they did a better job than me! 

Earth Science

This month students are learning about Earth and its place in the universe, particularly relationships with our moon, the sun and stars. Students will be introduced to patterns in nature that occur naturally because of earth's relationship with universal bodies in our solar system. Students will make observations, predictions and become familiar enough to describe these patterns and why they occur, including: 

-Night and Day (a daily pattern)

-The Phases of the Moon each Month (a monthly pattern

-The Seasons (an annual pattern)

Students are also expanding their vocabulary by learning the meaning of Earth science words, and using them through literacy, discussion and inquiry-based activities. These words include, but are not limited to: Earth, universe, sun, stars, moon, axis, orbit, rotate, revolve, spin, 365 days, seasons, day, night, light, heat, horizon, daylight, reflection, shadow, sunrise, sunset

You can help your child become more familiar with these "very big" science ideas that even adults often question and grapple with by making simple observations with them. 

Lunar phases:

Look at the night sky, what does the moon look like? What shape is it? Is the shape the same or different than the last time you looked? Is the  moon a source of light and heat?

Seasonal changes evident in the night sky:

Where are the stars and do they make shapes in the sky? Are they close to the horizon or above you as you look up? 

Sky changes show evidence of night and day:

Can stars be seen during the day - does that mean they are not there? Where is the sun when it is night? Is the sun a star? Does the sun give Earth heat and light? What time does the sun begin to light the sky in the morning? What time does the sun disappear for the night? Is it the same time every day? Is it the same time in Winter as Summer?

Enjoy the wonders of our universe through conversations with your child, and by making observations as well as asking questions together. 

Snapshots from PE

The dribbling, volleying, and striking unit has started in first grade.  This unit builds upon manipulative skills previously introduced, and presents more advanced activities for students to learn and practice.

How Do We End Our Day? Check out the video!

ECO day at NBNC

ECO Day

North Branch Nature Center

Dear Families,

The First Grade classes will be going to the North Branch Nature Center on Tuesday, January 31st for a day of learning and winter fun!

Some classes will attend for the morning, while other classes will go for the afternoon.  Transportation will be via school bus to and from. Griggs, Closter, and Wrigley will travel for the morning session from 8:45-11:15 am. Koch and Dostie will attend for the afternoon session from 11:45-2:15 pm.

Students must dress appropriately for a day in the snow, ice, or whatever a cold Vermont January day might surprise us with.

We would love to have parent volunteers join us to help with activities. Please e-mail me if you can help!

Dr. King

Last week we read books and talked in length about who Martin Luther King, Jr. was. We talked about equality and his dream and compared what it was like for a child 40 years ago to how we are treated today. The kids noticed how different it is today and we thanked MLK for standing up for his rights and making the world a better place through peaceful problem solving. Students made many connections with MLK, Jr. and noticed how he too showed many of the same behaviors we talk about every day - assertion, empathy in particular. I was impressed with all that the children shared and reflected on about making peace in our world. We are currently working on developing our own dreams, and I have been impressed with the conversations and deep thinking children are bringing to these conversations.

Mentor Texts

As we continue to read informational texts, we are also doing the same in writing. Using mentor texts, students are learning from other authors. We are spending time using mentor texts to guide us in learning new ways to share information.  INQUIRE with your child how they share information through their writing.  

"Tea Party"

First graders are becoming experts in non-fiction topics. We are diving deep into informational books during both reading and writing.  Students are learning a variety of comprehension tools to help them navigate the complexities of this genre.  This week, we've been having "tea parties" where first graders converse with peers and have conversations about what they've been learning in their books. First graders are beginning to enter the stage of reading to learn and are loving choosing topics of interest from the real world.  

Special Celebration

Our class has just earned more hoots (600!)  It’s time for a special celebration!  Our class will have “stuffy and PJ day tomorrow.  Please help your child bring in a small stuffy from home to help them continue to follow CARES on Wednesday!

Fact Fluency

We love developing fluency in addition and subtraction by playing competitive math games each day.  This strengthens our fluency, and also encourages turn taking, and empathy through competitive play.  INQUIRE with your child what kind of math games they like best? 

During our lesson time, students have been extending their knowledge of friendly tens by learning to subtract from teen numbers. When taking away 9, they are looking for the most efficient ways to take awya from the group of ten. INQUIRE with your child how they use adding and subtracting when solving problems such as these above.  

Handwriting

Each day, before students dive into writing workshop, they spend 5-10 minutes on their handwriting. Too often in first grade, students begin writing so fast, that they forget to slow down and think about letter formation. We strive for top-down letters, and find it helpful to continuously practice letters in isolation.  We encourage this to carry over to their writing, and ask that you do the same at home.  

Nonfiction Reading

These past few weeks during reading workshop have focused not only on reviewing and adding more good habits for solving tricky words, but strengthening our ability to become "super smart" when reading nonfiction! Before our holiday break, we began to focus on looking closely at pictures, captions, drawings, and text and thinking about what more we can learn, retelling information while thinking about the importance of why the author wanted us to learn this information (inquire with you child how they can get a "three scoop" cone, and also on finding key words and using these key words to learn more about a topic. Nonfiction text can be more challenging for first grade readers, and finding ways to teach them to dig for deeper understanding is our focus. First graders have been spending a lot of time reading to learn - and having so much fun with it. INQUIRE with your child what nonfiction books interest them!

Happy New Year

To welcome in the new year, first graders reflected on ways to improve in the classroom. Students thought about and made new years resolutions.  Stop by the classroom hallway and check out your child's 2017 resolution for first grade.  

Welcome Back

Monday morning it was nice to start the day chatting and catching up with friends.  Students reconnected after a week with a "holiday break friend search." Everybody had an opportunity to find out what we all did over our vacation. From flying to FL, to riding bikes, to watching movies, it sounded like everybody had a fun and relaxing time with their families.  It's always so nice to reconnect with each other after some time away!