Happy Forest Celebration

Happy Forest Celebration
Feb. 21 

You probably have already heard from your student...we've earned pajama day! The first and second graders have been working hard to follow our classroom expectations. We have been working on quick, quiet and safe transitions from activity to activity throughout our day. 

The Week of February 10

Upcoming Events

Author Visit

John and Jennifer Churchman visit W.E.S.

February 17

Game Day

Teachers and staff members will host a mix of W.E.S. students in the afternoon on Friday for a game day!

Feb. 21

End of Trimester II

Feb. 21

February Break

Feb. 24-March 3

February Book Orders Due

Feb. 21

100th Day of School

On Tuesday we celebrated the 100th day of school! We enjoyed reading The Wolf's Chicken Stew, making a 100th day hash and enjoyed some fun cup stacking activities! In spelling, we made a chain of 100 spelling words. Students sorted and read their words aloud, and then picked out their 7 hardest words. They wrote a word on a strip of paper and our chain was created! The colorful chain is hanging in our room!



Silly Faces!

Readers' Workshop 
In reading, we are working hard to become experts on nonfiction texts. This week, we learned to use the whole page to help us unlock them meaning of unknown words. We are continuing to use text features to figure out key words as well. Students are learning to talk with their reading partner, and give them a "tour " of their books. We are learning to use sentence starters to help guide meaningful and productive conversations.


Writers' Workshop
The first and second graders focused on elaboration this week. We learned to identify and write twin sentences as a way to tell our readers more and more and more! We will learn to write introductions and conclusions before wrapping this unit up. When we return from vacation we will begin a punctuation/capitalization inquiry. 

Big Buddies
On Wednesday, we did a fun Habits of Mind activity on Collecting Data with our Senses. Students had to use their senses to guess the sounds and smells of popcorn popping without seeing it. We tasted and touched the popped kernels. It was lots of fun!

Valentine's Day

We spent the whole week focused on kindness and friendship. In class we brainstormed things that make us feel loved, and ways to treat others to show our love/friendship for them. I introduced the kindness nook to students on Tuesday. I invited students to notice when someone did something kind for them. They could write it down and place a heart shaped note in our nook.  On Friday, we read My Heart is Like a Zoo  by Micheal Hall. We modeled our valentine bags after his creative heart illustrations. Students were charged with creating an animal from the book. Each animal had to have at least one heart in it.  We had fun sharing our special valentines with each other. I loved all of my special treats! Thank you all so much!

Science
I am totally amazed by the work the first and second graders are doing in science! This week, we focused on constructing explanations about how sound is produced. Ms. Russin and I co-taught a lesson using tuning forks and water. It was fascinating to hear how clearly they explained sound production. Students drew models, and came to a consensus on how sound is produced. Later in the week, we created an experiment to determine how sound travels. We bounced a ball at one end of the hall and noticed how different groups of students hear the sound at different times. It is such a joy to work with these kids! 


Friday Circle
On Friday we had our weekly Restorative Justice circle in class! We have loved beginning our circles by singing one of our favorites...
Lean on Me by Bill Withers

https://safeyoutube.net/w/69Kz 
here is the link to our song! 

100th Day of School

I hope everyone is home safe on this snowy day. I had hoped to send this home on Thursday with all students, but the weather just didn't cooperate! On Tuesday, February 11th, we will celebrate the 100th Day of School.  As a class we will make a 100 Day Hash. On Monday, your child will bring home a brown paper bag. Please count out 100 snack items such as pretzels, goldfish etc. and send them into school on Tuesday. 

Thank you all :) Mrs. Marcelino 

The Week of January 27

Upcoming Events

Winter Sports Day
Feb. 5

Big Change Round-Up- Final Day Feb. 21
Each student has a special pouch to keep their change in. Let's see how much change we can gather! Our class will be creating a change jar to keep in our room. Anything helps! 
Let's Go Waterville :)

 



Teacher In-Service/ No School 
February 7

100th Day of School Celebration
February 10

Valentine's Day Exchange 
Feb. 14
On February 14, our class will exchange Valentine cards and have a small party. You will find a class list in your child's folder today. If you are planning to make valentines, please be sure each child in the class gets one. If you would like to send in a special treat to share please let me know! 

Author Visit:John Churchman 

February 17

  John and his wife Jennifer write the Sweet Pea & friends series based on their Essex, VT farm.  The picture books are beautiful using photos of their animals at the farm.

Lunch Bunch

The first and second graders have loved earning lunch bunch in the classroom! Keep up the reading at home and make sure to return reading logs to me when your child finishes!

Writers' Workshop

This week, we worked on planning our informational books! Students brainstormed ideas, and used a web to think of important information about their topic. Up next, we will organize our ideas and create headings for the different sections in our books. 

Readers' workshop

The first and second graders loved our shared reading this week. We read two nonfiction texts and worked together to apply the different strategies we have been learning. Students loved reading Tigers and Pyramids  both DK readers. We also worked on brainstorming key words and using nonfiction text features to understand those key words.

On Thursday and Friday, I worked with some students to administer the Fountas and Pinnell reading assessment and the first grade math assessments. I am so proud of all the growth students are making! 

Vermont Symphony Orchestra Visit

We had a great presentation from the V.S.O. on Friday afternoon. It was a great connection to our Sound unit of study in science!