The Week of September 23

Upcoming Events

No School 

Yom Kippur

October 9

Shelburne Museum Field Trip

October 10, 2019

If you are planning to accompany us on our trip, please return your chaperone field trip sign up by Oct. 4

No School/ Teacher In-Service

October 18

Helping keep our room clean and neat!

Go Noodle 
This is one of our favorite parts of the day! Be sure to check out https://app.gonoodle.com/ this app is totally free and lots of fun!

Fundations/Spelling 

The first and second graders have been busy reviewing letter sounds and handwriting. We have also spent time getting to know how to use our letter boards, white boards and how to sort words into categories. Students have practiced many different spelling activities and have the habits of our spelling time down pat! 

A few weeks ago, the first and second graders took the Elementary Spelling Inventory, a whole group assessment that helps identify spelling levels. I use this assessment plus classroom observations to form spelling groups. We will break up into small groups to practice different spelling skills including spelling patterns, sentence writing and punctuation. Students will also learn many sight words this year. In first and second grade, we call these words "trick words". These are words that don't follow spelling rules i.e. was 

Readers' Workshop

In reading we have been really working hard to learn new partner reading activities. Students are learning to see-saw read by page or by book, echo read and share a WOW page! Students are setting goals for their independent reading and I have begun conferencing with students each day. Next week, I will be out of the classroom onTuesday and Wednesday to administer the Fountas and Pinnell reading assessment. This assessment will help me to form small reading groups and set goals with individual students. 

Writers Workshop

In writing we have begun to zoom in on small moment ideas. We read the book Night of the Veggie Monster a great mentor text that we will refer to throughout our first unit of study. We practiced breaking ideas down from large, to big to small. 

School Wide PAWS Celebration

On Friday, our whole school celebrated using our PAWS by having a Chalk the Walk day! The first and second graders filled our PAWS jar 3 different times and took off 3 puzzle pieces from the puzzle in the hallway! Our school spirit is really amazing and I am so proud of this class!

Math

The first graders really enjoyed using computers on Friday! We practiced logging onto our computers and playing some fun math games that helped us practice our mouse skills along with counting by 1s and addition facts that make ten. 

Grandfriends Day

On Friday we had such a fun time singing, eating and playing on the playground with our families! Thanks to all of the families that made it out to celebrate Grandparent's Day. Here are some of the special rocks we made with our Big Buddies which we gave as gifts! 

Math Websites

Prodigy 

Save the Whales!

Whack a Mole

Counting Cars

September 25, 2019

Dear WES Families,

We are so excited to tell you about an upcoming field trip that the first, second and third graders will be taking on October 10. This fall, our classes will combine to investigate what our towns were like in the early 1800’s! This is our first big social studies unit of study.  Our two classes will compare and contrast life long ago with today. Through research the students will create a mock town to show what life was like long ago. To help students build their schema about life long ago we will visit the Shelburne Museum.

We are looking for chaperones to accompany us on this fun and educational day. We are planning to leave WES by 9:00 and will return by 2:30pm. The cost for parents to attend is $7.50 each.  Please save the date of October 10th on your calendar, and if you would like to come along,  return the attached form by October 4th.  

We will be attending a Life in Early Vermont workshop from 10:00-12:00 followed by lunch. Students and chaperones will have time to tour the museum until around 1:30.

Mrs. Marcelino and Ms. Thomas

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

___________________________ (your name)

_________Yes, I would like to chaperone on the trip to Shelburne Museum on October 10th.

I have the following requests or concerns regarding this trip: _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

*As we approach the date of the trip, we will send you further information about groupings and other important details.

The Week of Sept. 16

Thank you to all of the families who came to our Open House on Thursday night! The kiddos did a great job showing off our classroom! It was great getting to meet you all! 

Upcoming Events

After school Program Begins

Sept. 23

"Grandfriends Day"

Please join us for "Grandfriends" day a.k.a. as Grandparent's Day. If you don’t have a grandparent who can attend, parents and family members are always welcome! Our school will perform a special song for our audience, and then we will sit down for a delicious feast! Families are welcome to stay for recess until 12:00.

Sept. 27 
11:00-12:00

Picture Day 
Sept. 30

No School
October 9

Shelburne Museum Field Trip
October 10, 2019


Readers' Workshop
This week we worked more on the habits of partner reading. We practiced different ways we can read to each other. During independent reading, we are learning to set goals for ourselves and how to monitor our reading stamina. I have begun conferencing with students and working with small groups at my white table. 

Fundations/Word Study 
We  continued with our review of letter sounds and letter formation. Students are learning to write their first and last names with accuracy. On Friday, we began our first word sort activities. Students practiced sorting each other's names into different groups and then thought of their own way to sort. 


Writers' Workshop
In writing we explored books written by different authors such as Jim Arnosky, Gail Gibbons,  Ezra Jack Keats, Mo Willems, and James Dean. We read a few more mentor texts together and began charting how different authors write for different purposes. Students explored the writing tools station, began brainstorming ideas they would like to write about and began planning out their first narrative story! 



















First Grade Math 
In first grade we practiced counting to 20 both forwards and backwards on our small number path. We practiced  placing numbers on a number line. Students also learned how to use their math menu and how to keep track of the stations they are visiting. We are continuing to practice number formation and are reviewing familiar groupings up to 20 using popsicle sticks, tally marks,  and tens frames. 























Big Buddies
On Wednesday we spent time with our Big Buddies from the 4th grade! We had fun painting our special rocks for Grand-friend's Day!

Technology 
On Friday, we spent time on our Chromebooks. Students learned to log-in using their student gmail accounts. These accounts are not active email accounts, but they do allow students to use our Chromebooks and to access their google drive and google docs which we will use in the coming months.  We got to know the keyboard and how to use a touch pad mouse by playing some fun games. 

Technology Sites- Classroom Tech. Lesson

Keyboard Practice

The Week of Sept. 9th

Upcoming Events 

Open House
Sept. 19

6:00-7:00

After school Program Begins

Sept. 23

"Grandfriends Day"

Please join us for "Grandfriends" day a.k.a. as Grandparent's Day. If you don’t have a grandparent who can attend, parents and family members are always welcome! Our school will perform a special song for our audience, and then we sit down for a delicious feast! Families are welcome to stay for recess until 12:00.

Sept. 27 
11:00-12:00

Classroom Share Days Begin Sept. 16

Please look in your child's home-folder and plan ahead for your child's share. Share day items will be kept in your child's backpack or on our special share shelf in the classroom. Thank you for helping your child at home!

Morning Meeting Activity
Silly Soccer
Such a fun way to start our day together! 

Calm Down Time
After lunch each day, we have a 10 minute time where kids can color, draw, read or rest! It gives me a time to check in with students and it gives students a time to calm and regulate after lunch and recess.

Lock Down Drill Practice

On Wednesday and Thursday, we practiced a lock-down drill in our classroom. We began by reading the book I'm not Scared... I'm prepared! by Julia Cook. It was a gentle and light way to talk about a topic that often scares students. We learned to play Sheep, Shepherd and Wolf, a game which teaches  kids to listen and follow directions during important times. We will have a school wide drill in the coming month. Please don't hesitate to call me here at school if you have any questions or concerns.




Readers' Workshop
Students are learning to book shop and get to know how our library is organized. We practiced book shopping, and learned how to pick books we are interested in, can understand and decode most words in. We also learned about hard, just right and easy books. Kids used 10, 5 and 2 pound weights in class to help learn about leveled books.  We also began partner reading! What a fun week! 

Math 
In math, the first graders are working on becoming independent at our  math stations, and are learning to use our math tools to solve problems. This week students had problems to solve at each station, such as creating a pet house out of polydrons or measuring the length of our green rug with unifix cubes! We are learning to rotate around to stations and clean up. This week I began a small group station. Students practiced counting and ordering numbers on our large number path! We reviewed forward and backward counting from 0-20.

Friday Trip to the River

On Friday we walked down to the river to gather some river rocks for an upcoming project! We spent the afternoon exploring, building and searching for the perfect rock!





































Science/Global Citizenship 
This week, we learned about our five senses and learned the words "mindful" and "unmindful". Students did a classroom sort to help them identify actions and thoughts that are mindful or unmindful. We introduced our mindfulness station and practiced using it to help us throughout our day. In class, we are learning the phrase "regulate, replace, repair, return to routine". I use this process with kids as they are learning to become mindful about their actions.