Week of February 11

Upcoming Events 

School Wide Maker Day
Every year before winter break, we always do a school wide refresher of our PAWS rules and expectations. This helps teachers, staff and students reflect on our school wide rules and what we all can work on. This year, if students earns a PAW before Feb. 22, they will take part in a school wide Maker Day! Teachers and staff are teaching special projects from baking, to wind powered vehicles, to building a harmonica! Each student selected their top interest and was placed in a group of their choice. We are looking for parent volunteers to help out. Please contact me if you are interested! 
February 22 from 8:30-11:00

Trimester II Ends
February 22

February Vacation
February 25-March 5

Report Cards go Home
March 8

Classroom News
What a week! We had a lot of special activities happening. This week we celebrated the 100th day of school, Valentine's Day and met our pen-pals from Eden Central School. I have been busy conducting winter bench-mark assessments in reading, math and writing.  Most of these assessments are 1:1 interviews so they require me to work outside of the classroom for a few days. I know it is hard while I am out of the classroom, but the students did a great job while I was out. We also had ANOTHER snow day on Wednesday... and on top of all of that, my children have both had the stomach bug and it has really taken its toll on us. If your child is sick please keep them home until they are ready to return. We will be reviewing hand washing  and coughing/sneezing etiquette in class.  I am looking forward to warmer weather  so we can all get outside!  

100th Day of School Celebrations

On Monday we had a great time celebrating the 100^th day of school! Students loved organizing their collections, writing equations to match their models and having the kindergartners come visit! Of course, we loved making and eating our 100^th Day Hash. Students listened to The Wolf’s Chicken Stew. This is an adorable story about a wolf who tries to fatten up a chicken in order to eat her. He makes her groups of 100 snacks. The story has a surprise ending.. be sure to ask your child about it! Later we sorted our snack items and compared which item we had the most of/least of etc. Thank you to all the families who sent in snacks. We also used our iPad to visit the aging booth an app that takes your photograph and ages you 100 years! The photos are great, be sure to check them out! 

Valentine's Day 
On Thursday the kids celebrated Valentine's Day by making special heart decorated bags and exchanging valentines with each other. I was home on Thursday.... and missed the party but I think they had fun! On Friday after our trip, we enjoyed heart shaped cookies and other special treats I had made for the kiddos. 

Hazen's Notch Field Trip
On Friday we met our pen-pals from Eden Central School. We enjoyed snowshoeing at Hazen's Notch and getting to see what a beaver pond looks like in the winter. We really lucked out and had perfect weather for the trip. Mrs. Day also gave each child a nonfiction beaver book to keep and some additional books to add to our nonfiction collection in class. 

Field Trip Reminder

Hazen’s Notch Field Trip

Reminder

2-15-19

Tomorrow we  meet our pen-pals from Eden Central School  and visit Hazen’s Notch! We will spend the day snow shoeing and visiting a beaver pond. Please make sure your child has all of their warmest outdoor clothing and boots, and perhaps even a rain jacket or poncho if you have one. Please remember to pack a lunch and snacks for your child.

Thank you – Mrs. Marcelino

Hazen's Notch Field Trip

Hazen’s Notch Field Trip

Feb. 15, 2019

On Friday we will meet our pen pals from Eden! We will be going on a field trip and we will leave Waterville School around 9:00 and arrive at the Hazen’s Notch Association lodge at around 9:30, where we’ll drop off our lunches and meet Rolf Anderson, our field guide. 

We will again board the bus for a quick trip across the road to a parking lot, where we will put our snowshoes on. We’ll then follow our guide on snowshoes to an active beaver pond. We’ll learn about beaver life, and discuss how beavers survive in the winter. This should take about 1 to 1.5 hours in total. (There is a bathroom at the main lodge and one at the parking lot where the bus will be).

We’ll return to the bus around 11:30 a.m., board the bus to ride back to the lodge for lunch. 

        After lunch, we’ll board the bus and return to our schools. We’ll return WES students first, and then return to ECS.  We should be back to our respective schools no later than 1:30 pm!

* This trip is entirely paid for through the CLiF (Children’s Literacy Foundation) grant that Eden Central School received this school year. Anne McPherson, our school counselor, and Mrs. Day wrote a mini grant within this larger grant, to go on an outside nature exploration with her 2nd grade class. We thought it would be the perfect opportunity to meet our WES pen pals, and invite them on this journey with us!  Each student will receive their own non-fiction book on beavers as part of this grant.  Each classroom will receive a few other beaver books to keep as resources.  We will also write about our experience in the field, as well!  

The Week of January 28th

Upcoming Events 

Last Winter Sports Day

 February 6


February 12
100th Day of School!! 

Valentine's Day Celebration
February 14
This one is just for the students! On Thursday afternoon we will exchange valentines and enjoy some special snacks. If your child would like to make valentines for our party, please make sure they make one for each child in class. There is a class list and reminder in your child's home-folder.


Trimester II Ends
February 22

February Vacation
February 25-March 5

Report Cards go Home
March 8

Hanging out with these girls during recess! The snow was up to our waist, but we didn't give up!! 

Readers' Workshop
In reading the first and second graders have been working on using multiple strategies to solve hard words!  On Thursday, we met with our Big Buddies and practiced using our strategies as we read some new books after a BIG book shop! We are also working on building up our reading fluency. Students are working in small readers' theater groups. For the last two weeks we have been practicing our plays! When we are ready, we will perform our plays for you! 

Writers' Workshop
We had such a fun time writing our pen-pal letters! The first and second graders worked on planning, writing and revising their letters over the week. We will be sending them off to Mrs. Day's second graders this week! We also worked more on planning out our informational books. Students made a table of contents for their books and worked on planning out what they will teach others. 


Science
Last week, we built our bird feeder prototypes! Students worked hard to build their bird feeders, making sure to incorporate all of the attributes needed to attract their type of bird. On Monday, we did a show and tell. Students told each other about their bird feeder and how it worked! It is really fun to see the creativity and innovation inside each child! Our next unit will be on technology which will begin in March. 

Math
In math the first graders worked on making and using a life sized number line. The number line is a linear model used at all grade levels. We built our own number line in class and used it to add and subtract. Later, the first graders used a paper number line to solve addition and subtraction equations on their own!