For your child....please share!

                                                                              

Hi!                      

Welcome to first grade! I have been busy getting ready for the start of school, and I just can’t wait to see you on the first day of first grade. I will meet you on the lower playground on Wednesday, August 26th.  

Have you ever looked closely at insects? This year we will learn the names for insect body parts, and will look closely at many insects. Could you see if you can find a dried insect to share here at school? We will be pinning them and comparing all the types of insects that we see in Vermont.  You can bring them to school on the first week of school.  

Here are a few examples:

It will be so much fun to learn together this year. I’m looking forward to seeing you soon! I am sure you have had a great summer with your friends and family.  Be ready to share your summer adventures with your first grade class.     

Love,  

Ms. Closter

                                                             

Integrated Arts Schedule

Below is the integrated arts schedule for our class this upcoming year.  We will have guidance every other Friday, library every week, and technology will be integrated throughout the day.  This year, we will have MJ as our Physical Education teacher.  As always, please remember sneakers on PE days and books on library days.  We are hoping to have ECO continue on Thursdays, however this is TBD.

Mon-PE

Tues- Art

Wed- Library

Thurs-PE

Fri- Music

Arrival/Dismissal Changes

The first day of school will be on Wednesday, August 26th. The school year will begin at 8:15 this year.  Car pickup and bussers will be dismissed at 2:45, followed by walkers at 2:50.  Please help your child be on time for school and picked up at the appropriate time.

Also this year, please be sure to follow the procedures outlined by the front office for absences and after-school changes.  I can not guarantee that my school email will be checked during school hours, and therefore, changes will need to be made through the front office. Your efforts to have weekly routines for your child is always helpful and relieves stress for your child.

Absences should be called in to the front office by 9:00.
After school changes should be called in to the front office before 1:00 (no emails).

Classmate Summer Adventures

Caught toothless with a book in her hand...she's ready for 1st grade! 

Summer isn't over yet!

This summer is flying by! I can't believe it's already August! I'm still on Block Island,  working a bit and spending time with friends and family. Block Island has great beaches, beautiful sunsets, and lots of sunshine! I hope you all are enjoying your summer and also getting to spend some time with your family and friends. I've been back to Vermont for a few weekends, and can't wait to get back for good.  I stopped in at the classroom to begin the back to school setup this week, and look forward to getting back in there more next week.  Here are a few photos from my summer in RI and VT so far. I'd love to share your adventures as well so feel free to send me a picture and I'll share it on the blog for all our classmates!  I've heard from some of you, and can't wait to hear more! Feel free to have your child drop me an email with some fun info about their summer!  Look forward to more news about 1st grade in the upcoming weeks.  If you have any questions in the meantime, I'm always available through email! Look forward to seeing you all!

Summer Learning Opportunities

Thank you all so much for taking time out of your busy schedules to come back to UES for Kindergarten Math night in our classroom on Wednesday.

Your enthusiasm and your child's excitement for teaching you all three math games put a smile on my face for the evening. It was so fun to listen to the math discoveries partnerships were making, and claims of new assertions for scoring points or making a ten pair. 

Every student should have received (that night or in their folders on Thursday)  their own math packet, dice and card deck for playing games to strengthen numeracy over the summer.  Please spend some time playing these games, or other math related games this summer. Your child will be familiar with many of the games that were included!

Have fun with numbers together, and keep up the great work supporting your child in practicing counting skills, asking questions and asserting problem solving possibilities in mathematics.

**MORE SUMMER LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES WILL BE SENT HOME NExT WEEK for LITERACY!**

Montshire Field Trip Information

Monday, June 15th
*Arrive to school at 8:00 - bring your child directly to the classroom.

*Bring a snack (no snack program today) and bagged lunch (no glass containers please) and a water bottle in a backpack.

*Wear comfortable walking shoes for the trails, Woodland Garden, and planet walk.

*Apply sunscreen before arriving at school. Pack extra lotion in backpack.

*Wear a swimsuit under your clothes.

*Bring a change of clothes, and a towel for the water exhibits in Park.

*Bring a plastic bag for wet bathing suit.


PLEASE DO NOT SEND $ for the gift shop or to purchase food at the Museum - we will not be going!


Chaperone Information

Arrival: Please meet us at the bus at 9:30 A.M.

Departure: Please meet us at the bus at 1:20 P.M.

Carpool with other chaperones if possible

Familiarize yourself with Montshire Museum http://montshire.org/

INQUIRE with the students in your group what they learn, discover, and encourage the scientific focus of the year - questioning! Allow the children to explore, discover, and wonder about the exhibits.

STAY with your group the whole time as you explore the grounds

Visit the trails first, then the indoor exhibits, and water park at the end

Other visitors and exhibits need to be treated with respect. Help children remember this and encourage taking turns, walking while inside, and appropriate C.A.R.E.S. Behavior

Choose a good time to eat lunch for your group - the Hughes Pavilion provides a covered eating area outside. Do NOT eat in the indoor exhibit areas!

Directions: The Montshire is conveniently located just off Interstate 91 at Exit 13 (look for the “Museum of Science” signs) in Norwich, Vermont, five miles north of White River Junction. The Museum is directly across the Connecticut River from Hanover, New Hampshire, home of Dartmouth College.

Classmate Performance

We were so excited to listen to the world chorus performances last week featuring singers and ukelele players - one from our own class.  Everybody did a phenomenal job - such hard work went into learning each song that was performed! 

Chickens

Last week, a handful of chicks broke out of their shells and were welcomed by their Kindergarten friends.  Students learned about how to care for chicks and what they need in order to survive. Students enjoyed talking with the chicks and even reading them stories during reading time. We spent a lot of time observing what the chicks look like and how they are responding to their new environment outside the egg. On Friday, we said goodbye, and wished them well - a teacher from UES, who lives on a farm, has brought them home.

During literacy last week, we continued to journal and learn more about life of a chicken on a farm. We read a range of "Little Red Hen" stories and engaged in many retells of the famous story.  

We also began reading a variety of fun fictional chicken stories.  For these last few weeks of Kindergarten, children are using their imagination, while learning about characters, problem, solution, and events to compose their own chicken stories.  Students are also thinking about what other imaginary stories they can write, what kind of characters they could develop and what kind of action they could develop for other stories.  

\

Seeds

Through the end of the school year students will spend time learning more about seeds.


If you have seeds at home that you will no longer use, we are looking for donations to the class. Please send them to school in a sealed container labelled with the plant name and any information you know about the seed or plant. We will be doing a variety of sorting activities to learn more about how seeds travel, and grow into plants.

THANK YOU!

Cooperation and Community

These last few weeks of school will focus on community, cooperation, and frequent visits to Harrison Field.  Last Friday, students from Mrs. Wrigley's class joined our class to work together to play various beanie baby games in the field, clean up brush in the field as  a way to take care of our community, and also spent some time journaling the changes that happened over the last week in our flower boxes (we planted sunflowers at our last ECO).  

Painted Faces

End of Year Breakfast

We will be having an end of the year family breakfast next Thursday, June 11th.  I'm looking for families to volunteer to bring in breakfast treats (muffins, fruit, juice, etc) for our class and their families.  I am hoping to have morning meeting with everybody and celebrate the end of the year with all of you (even though I'll see you all next year).  I'll be sending home a note about this, but if you'd like to help donate some breakfast items, please let me know.  The breakfast will be from about 8:20-9:00ish.  After  the breakfast, I'd like to send home your child's art/writing portfolio of creations from their  Kindergarten year (it can be bad news to send this stuff home on the bus...)