Last week we attempted to look for signs of Spring at Harrison Preserve but were saddened to see snow. We made the best of it and instead found ways to protect and help the birds. Students thought that perhaps they too would be confused by the not so spring like weather we've been having so they set up on helping gather materials that could be useful to them when making nests. Some children even created a huge nest that a visiting bird could snuggle up in! Later last week, we began looking closely at birds, and learning how to draw them. We were inspired by a photograph inside the book, "Tea with Lady Sapphire" to recreate. 
Students are finishing up the second of three bends in our Opinion Writing unit. They have worked hard to write reviews and share their opinions of different things. Next time you go out to eat, buy a new toy, watch a movie, etc. help your child to express their ideas out loud. Can they share their opinion? We often do this all the time - now encourage your child to work with you to write a review online. Enjoy this experience of engaging in real world writing with your child! Next week, we'll begin the last bend and learn more about writing book reviews - a great skill to get kids to think more deeply about the characters in their books!
As we continue to learn more and more ways to solve hard words - words with multisyllabic syllabes, variety of vowel teams, etc. students are also beginning to learn a variety of tricks to understand what they are reading. As text gets more difficult, our energy is often focused on the decoding and fluency, and sometimes, the understanding and comprehension gets left behind. We all know this is the basis of reading - the reason we read - and in first grade, students are learning ways to make sure this happens. Predicting, visualizing, making connections, inferencing, etc are just a few ways readers work hard to understand what they are reading. Our focus over the next few weeks in our whole group lessons will be to dig deeper into the text!
We continue to use a variety of IPAD apps to help us strengthen our number sense. As we solve double digit addition, students use manipulatives and ten frames on an IPAD to make friendly tens and share their thinking with peers. Working together in math helps us all grow and build on each other's great ideas and ways at solving problems. Students continue to learn a variety of ways to solve problems. INQUIRE with your child how to use the "tape diagram." How is this like a number bond?
A little time for silliness in between our serious photo shoot. We welcomed a new friend last week and have been enjoying getting to know her. This week, we begin to say goodbye to a dear friend who we will truly miss!
Our ECO outing today brought us up cliff street to get a bird's eye view of our city of Montpelier. Students have been exploring city maps this week to get an idea of how to navigate from one place to another. Students mapped out their way and made predictions prior to the walk of different landmarks they thought they would see from the top. INQUIRE with your child what places they spotted from this amazing view. We then took a new route to Harrison for a little outdoor exploration. 
Can sound make vibrating materials move? That was the question our scientists posed last week. To test this out, students used their voice to make salt "jump" on a plastic covered bowl. INQUIRE with your child what their "conclusions" were. 
We've been waiting for a little dusting of snow before we got our snowshoes out this year. We were in luck last week, when the forecast called for a little bit mid week. Mrs. Wrigley's class and ours set out for an adventure - and what an adventure it was. INQUIRE with your child how their hike went last week! In preparation, students learned about different animal gaits and how animals bodies move through the snow. After a relay in the field moving like hoppers, waddlers, walkers, and bounders, students set out to look for signs of animals in Harrison. 
