Science

Last Friday, we conducted our first experimented to help us learn about waves. Students thought about what scientists do, and followed the steps to doing an experiment. Partner groups experimented with what waves are to help them build background knowledge to sound and light waves. INQUIRE with your child what happened to the water when a marble, rock, and ping pong ball were dropped into a bowl of water. Also, INQUIRE with them what steps a scientist follows when conducting experiments. Tomorrow, students will explore the question - does sound make matter vibrate? We will continue to do one experiment each week as we continue to explore sound and light waves as well as the scientific process.

100 day projects

Thanks for helping your child create a 100th day project! We had a great turnout, and enjoyed sharing our projects with friends. All first graders were able to take a tour of all the first grade classrooms to see what their peers from other classes created as well.  

Movement

A day of rain in January.  We spent some time incorporating MANY movement breaks into our day - including some strength training!  Of course, we did some wishing of snow as well....  Each day, kids are encouraged to participate in a variety of mind and body activities to help them stay engaged and focused! INQUIRE with you child what movement they like best? Free dance, structured dance, kinesthetic movement, stretching, yoga, etc. 

Cooperative Class Community

Just a little over 100 pieces of K'Nex, and 18 people. How will we all have enough pieces to build something?  This class worked together to make a plan - how about we make just 1 really big structure? First graders find times throughout their day to work as a community! 

Cooperation

I caught these girls holding an impromptu problem solving meeting at choice time.  Although not all girls were involved in the disagreement, all were present to support each other and make a plan.  I'm impressed with the cooperation, empathy, assertion, responsibility, and self control our class shows on a daily basis. They don't even need a teacher to guide them! 

Can you believe these glasses made each of us 100 times smarter? Well, even if they didn't we certainly worked 100 times harder today! 100 words, 100 numbers, anything associated with 100 was done today. Many activities celebrating the 100th school day were done.  We now start the countdown to being 2nd graders.  Can you believe only 80 more days?!

Birthday Breakfast

What a great turnout we had for our January Birthday Breakfast.  This month, the breakfast will be a bit early, due to vacation. It will also be on a Thursday, not Friday.  So, mark your calendars - BIRTHDAY BREAKFAST willl be THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 18th at 8:20.  We will be celebrating three friends who will all be turning 7! Let me know if you can help out! 

Celebrating 100 days of FUN..and learning!

 You may have heard about a potential trip to North Branch Nature Center. This trip was planned at the end of last week, and my day was scheduled for Wednesday. The plan was to take the city bus to the NBNC, but I have been watching the weather, and they are still calling for 100% chance of rain. This does not sound ideal, so we will hopefully plan for another time this winter. Each first grade class was going to go on a different day this week, due to the space on the city bus, so rescheduling is not an option for this week, unfortunately.  Stay tuned for more info.

Note: Location Change

Technology

Our technology time on Wednesdays has been in the classroom these last few weeks, learning how to do new things on the ipads. Using the app, Explain Everything, children are learning how to take pictures, record their thinking, and use the drawing tool on top of their picture. Below, students take a picture of a nonfiction book from their book boxes, and talk about what the book is called, and give a sneak peak into what the reader will learn! They also used drawings to point to different nonfiction features.  

Explain Everything

The past two weeks we've been focusing our problem solving with subtraction problems involving teen numbers.  We've learned how to use a group of ten to take away nine from a teen number. Organizing our math thinking has helped us see more efficient ways to solve problems.  Students below worked on an app called explain everything.  After completing a problem and explaining their thinking to a peer, they record their voice explaining the steps they took to solve their math problem.  Students learned to save their work and add on each day.  We are becoming quite technical with our progress in using ipads for learning. I love checking back in to their work, and listening to how each of them solved a problem that day.  This next step, explaining how they solved develops math language skill and such deeper understanding. 

double digits

We've been using an app called number frames to help us strengthen our understanding of place value and begin to work together to add double digit numbers.  Students work on their own to create one number and then together to add the two numbers together.  Understanding of tens and ones helps children develop this skill early on.  We've also been adding groups of ones and tens in a mixed way - 10, 20, 30, 31, 32, 42, 52, etc to help us develop fluency when adding not just by ones but by tens as well! 

MLK

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. The conversation and thoughtful responses continued throughout the morning. I was impressed with all that the children shared and reflected on about making peace in our world. Each response held a personal opinion and belief about their dreams for a better world.  

Need Your Help at Home

Dear Families,

We are just about to start a new unit on opinion writing during our writer’s workshop. The students will learn to grow opinions and insights about all that matters most to them as well as learn to write their judgments and reasons for them. They will learn to write reviews of all sorts - on their favorite toy, book, movie.

To introduce this unit, we would like the students to look around their homes for something that they enjoy collecting - lego figures, stickers, balls, marbles, rocks, hats, books, etc. We have sent a bag home with your child labeled with their name, please help them find a collection of around 5 of the same type of objects to bring to school. Please have your child bring them into school no later than Monday, January 25th.

Thank you for your continued support in our first grade studies!

Professional Learning

Hope you all enjoyed the day off with your kids, or at least the weekend! I spent the day at the high school in a variety of educational workshops.  One of them involved wellness and in addition to making a plan for increased student movement throughout the day, I got to participate in a game of pickle-ball - who knew this sport could be so fun! Another workshop focused on helping students who have executive functioning challenges find ways to better navigate their day.  I also explored a program called "Scratch" which is a programming game for kids, which I hope to explore with students in technology this week. Another workshop taught us all about using Twitter for education. I have since created an account and look forward to having you follow me on this new educational resource! If you have an account, search me @jillcloster!

Message from Chris Regarding Report Cards

Good morning everyone,

I hope you're all enjoying this beautiful, snowy Martin Luther King Day with your children!  As you know, we're approaching the half way point of the school year this week, and with that milestone comes the first report card of the year. We will be mailing out your child's report card on Friday, so please be looking for it in your mailboxes Saturday or early next week.

Your child's report card will have a lot of information on it that may not be familiar to you, and I’d like to share a few thoughts on the developmental scales we’re using to describe your child’s progress.  It’s important that we not look at the numbers on the report card as the traditional final grades (A, B, C, etc.) that most of us are used to -- the following scale is what you'll see when you receive the report card next week:

1 - Beginning to show growth toward grade level expectations

2 - Making progress toward grade level expectations

3 - Meets grade level expectations

4 - Exceeds grade level expectations

What you see here is a developmental scale based on growth and progress.  The numbers themselves should not be looked at as final grades; in other words, a “1” should not be considered an “F”, nor should a “4” be considered an “A”.  The numbers simply indicate how your student is progressing at the half way point of this school year.  

Meeting grade level expectations, a “3”, is the targeted benchmark for our students, but there will be numerous situations where a majority of our students aren't quite there yet given that we're only half way through the year.  It’s important to know, however, that areas in which a child is falling short of that expectation (a “1” or “2”) still indicate progress or growth. Something else important to consider is that this first report card should be compared to the growth and progress indicated on the report card you receive at the end of the year in June.  In other words, making progress toward grade level expectations in January will hopefully lead to meeting grade level expectations in June! 

I hope this information is helpful to you, and many of you will have some questions when you first take a look at the report card next week.  Your child's teacher and I welcome these questions!  I'd also like to remind you all that our third MPS Community Forum on "The Future of School" is next Wednesday evening, January 27 from 6:00 to 8:00 in the MHS library.   Proficiency based learning (and its connection to our standards based report cards) will be the evening's theme, and we will have pizza provided for all who attend beginning at 5:30.  We really hope to see you there!

Again, enjoy this snowy day with your family, and have a great rest of the week!

Give It Upp - TICKETS NOW AVAILABLE

“Give it UPP” Auction Fundraiser
Union Elementary School Playground Project (UPP)
Saturday, February 13 from 6:30-11:00
Vermont College of Fine Arts Alumni Hall

Early-bird tickets are $22 per person, or $40 per couple through January 23rd, after which tickets will be  $25 per person.  Tickets may be purchased from Capitol Stationers, or online from EventBrite.com at:https://www.eventbrite.com/e/give-it-upp-auction-gala-fundraiser-tickets-19294818321?aff=es2

Enjoy 3 Penny Cash Bar ~ Live & Silent Auction ~Savory Snacks & Desserts from VT Tech Culinary Arts & Hel’s Kitchen (Gluten Free Dessert Tray) the Dave Keller Band and More……

For More Details About the Event click here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8S2icl1_0EvM0dGV1MyM2tGbDg/view?usp=sharing

and the event Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/UPP-Union-Playground-Project-838245316235046/?fref=ts

100th Day Project

Family Homework Project

“100th Day of First Grade”

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: TUESDAY (CORRECTION FROM LETTER), FEBRUARY 2nd.*****

Responsibility

So proud to be taking care of by cleaning and organizing classroom spaces.  Thank you girls! 

PE News

Your children are happy skillful movers in physical education class! We have just completed  successful Basketball and Gymnastics units. One of the many highlights of these units was to see students who had initial difficulties performing some of these skills, showing enormous self-confidence and self-esteem in demonstrating these skills towards the end of the units. The basketball unit presented students with fundamental skills necessary for game situations.

Beginning in the month of January, we will start  Dribbling, Volleying and Striking Unit for grades K-1, and grades 3-4 will begin a Juggling Unit.  The dribbling, volleying, and striking unit builds upon manipulative skills previously introduced, and presents more advanced activities for students to learn and practice.  The juggling unit helps students develop self-esteem, self-confidence, coordination and concentration, and to improve arm and shoulder rotation.

We encourage parents and guardians to come see their children in action during their PE class. Let us know in advance so we can get a seat ready for you, or you can participate if you choose to do so.  Also, for your children’s comfort and safety, we need your help by making sure your children bring their sneakers on PE days.

Reading Aloud Like an Expert

In reader's workshop this past week students have been learning to read aloud like an expert.  As we head into our last bend in this nonfiction unit, students have switched roles and are now working as teacher experts.  After spending a few days with a  nonfiction text, reading it a few times, children have been going back into the text and marking interesting parts after reading, and looking at pictures/graphs.  Students use sticky notes to write they find fascinating, what questions they have, and write important thoughts down that come to their mind. Students will use these sticky notes as they partner read with someone else to guide the book conversation.  INQUIRE with your child what book they have chosen to become an expert in! As they finish up one, they move on to the next.  Did you ever think your first grader would be learning to take notes?? I don't think I was taught that until college! I'm amazed at how focused the children are doing this task. 

Mentor Authors

Before we sit down to write this week, students have been exploring a variety of nonfiction texts to do some of their own learning from famous authors. Children have been looking to these mentor authors to help them try new things in their own writing.  Children find nifty tricks, then share out with the group. They even try these out in their own writing. We are just beginning our last bend in our nonfiction writing unit and have been becoming increasingly more fluent and resourceful when writing. INQUIRE with your child what "chapter" book they are currently writing.  What are the different chapter titles called? How are they going about teaching their reader? Have fun learning about first grade teaching books from your child this week!  

Friendly Numbers

We continue to work on learning a variety of strategies to use when adding larger numbers.  Students can easily count objects, add on, and now we are introducing our friends to more efficient ways to solve numbers that when added together equal a number in the teens.  Have your child show you how they make a "friendly 10" to help them solve these addition problems more efficiently.  We are always looking and trying out different ways to tackle math problems. This is just one example of the many ways that children have been using. In the end, they each will do what works most efficiently for them - whether that be counting on, adding objects, or looking for friendly numbers.  Everybody uses their own strategies and what works for one person, may be different than what works for them. 

Happy!

What a great shirt to wear on the first day back at school after winter vacation. We were ALL so thrilled to be back at school, seeing our friends, and getting back to learning! Hope you all had a restful break.  

Shoes

Many students are 'forgetting' their indoor shoes as we get into boot season. Because we sit on the floor for parts of the day, it is important that students have shoes to wear (I don't need a wet bottom!) If you'd like, please feel free to leave a pair of indoor shoes in the classroom overnight.  For emergency purposes, students need to always have shoes on their feet during the school day! Instead of packing those crocks away, perhaps you want to leave them in your child's classroom as an 'extra' for the winter!