The Week of October 7

Upcoming Events

No School- Teacher In service

Oct. 18

Parent/Teacher Conferences

Oct. 21-24

Please sign up for a parent/teacher conference if you  haven't done so already. I am excited to talk together about goals for the year. If this week doesn't work for you, please contact me so that we can plan an alternative time to meet. 

Field Trip to Robtoy Farm - October 24

9:00-12:00

Long Ago and Today

On Thursday we traveled to the Shelburne Museum! We took part in Life in Early Vermont workshops. Students made their own candles, churned their own ice cream, visited an old one room school house and played some fun games! The field trip was our first exposure to our upcoming Global Studies project: Long Ago and Today. On Friday, Ms. Kylee shared an Edison Phonograph from her Grandmother's collection of antiques. The students worked together to apply their prior knowledge to figure out what the phonograph did. It was really fun to see them engage in conversation, build on each others' ideas and learn to agree and disagree with each other. 

Habits of Mind

This week we focused on persistence. Throughout the week we read several mentor texts showing examples of characters demonstrating perseverance. We read Girl Running Bobbi Gibb and the Boston Marathon and The Little Engine that Could.  Students worked in partnerships to sort examples from our classroom that showed persistence or not. Then we began work on the covers for our Habits of Mind Portfolio. 

Readers' Workshop

In reading, we continue to work hard on building up our good habits!  In the coming week, I will begin to meet with guided reading groups and pull students in for specific strategy instruction. We are really building up our independence and our reading stamina! Thank you to all the families who are reading at home. Please remember to send your child's reading bag back each day.

Good Reading Habits
Take a sneak peek at the beginning- check table of contents and author's notes
Check your sneak peek
Do something at the end of your book
Read more and more
Set goals and make a plan for reading

Writers' Workshop

In writing, we are working on zooming in on a tiny seed idea. We read a student work sample on Monday, and noticed how the author used feelings to tell the reader more. We brainstormed feeling words and worked to go back and revise our writing to add feeling. It is awesome to see how much these students are growing and ENJOYING writing time! I can't wait to share their work with you at conferences! 

Math

The first graders are becoming experts at recognizing many different patterns on the number rack. This week, we read stories about our friends in class and used our number racks to solve several types of story problems! We also learned a new math station where we practiced estimating and practiced measuring  items around our classroom. 

Restorative Practices in the Classroom 

The first and second graders are learning to work together, and build a community where we are all welcome, respected and cared for. My number one goal is to build a connection with each child. In my eyes, teaching the social/emotional curriculum is just as important as the academic curriculum. When students feel supported, and that they are respected and cared for, they are more able to focus on learning, take risks and persist when things get hard. 

I work hard to model and demonstrate solving problems in a calm, open minded way. In our room mistakes are celebrated because it shows that you are trying and learning.  Our focus is on regulating emotions, repairing with the person who was harmed and making a plan for the future, not on punishment or shame. 

On Fridays, we have enjoyed coming together to have our Friday Circle. This circle is special and is focused on building routines and habits to support our classroom community. We enjoy listening to each others ideas and getting to know each other.