The Week of March 2, 2022

 

Upcoming Events

Drum Daddies visit WES

March 10 from 1:00-2:00

Drum Daddies is a collaboration between three soul brothers: Rockstars Grammy-Award winning Speech of Arrested Development, and world-class Franti and Spearhead drummer Manas Itene and social activist James Ehlers. James, not a rockstar, by the way, but inspired by the healing power of music, has invited his brothers to bring rhythm, joy, and harmony to the youth of Vermont.

Report Cards go Home- March 11

Parent/Teacher Conferences- March 17 and St. Patrick's Day 

I look forward to meeting with you to talk about your student! Please contact Ms. Debbie in the office to schedule your conference. If March 17 doesn't work for your family, please reach out and we can set up another time. 

No School- March 18

Mask Optional School Day Begins March 7

Monday was the official first day of optional mask wearing, although there were several students who chose not to wear masks last week. Because the change came quickly, we really didn't have a chance to discuss this as a class before Thursday morning which was confusing for lots of us. On Thursday we did talk about the changes, and how this is a choice families need to make together. Students and teachers in our classroom will be welcomed and treated with kindness and respect regardless of their choice. Please reach out if your student if struggling with this change, and we can work together to figure out how to navigate through this. 

New Units of Study all Around

Returning from February break for me is fun and exciting. The days are getting longer and I feel a sense of rejuvenation! 

In Reading, we began a unit of study on reading fluency, phonics and reading comprehension. Students are reading some fun plays in their reading groups which is perfect for fluency practice. We will be studying Folk Tales from around the world in our weekly read alouds.

In Writing, we began exploring opinion writing. Together as a class began to uncover what an opinion is, by reading a fun mentor text called Duck Rabbit. Students began to share their opinions on toys and candy when we had to choose one treat from our Big Buddies! 

In first grade math, we are beginning a unit of study on the number line. Check out the link below for more details.

Unit 4 Overview

WES Olympic Celebration 2022

On Friday, WES students took part in our own 2022 winter Olympics! Students experienced many winter events ranging from ice hockey to bobsledding! In the afternoon, each student was recognized and recieved a medal! 

The Week of February 14

 

Upcoming Events 

February Vacation Feb. 21-March. 1

Report Cards go home- March 11

Spring Conferences- March 17 

No School- March 18.

Valentine's Day Celebration

On Monday we took time to exchange our special treats. Students really enjoyed and appreciated the yummy snacks and special valentines! 

Diversity Mini Unit 

 

Valentine's Day was a great way to kick off our mini unit on diversity. Students spent time watching videos, listening to poetry, listening to music, dancing and listening to biographies together. On Thursday, we watched some amazing athletes who compete in the paralympics. On Friday we read Mae Among the Stars written by Roda Ahmed.  Students were shocked to hear that Mae Jemison, the first african american woman astronaut was told she should pursue a different dream because of the color of her skin.  We loved the saying in the book, "If you dream it, if you believe in it, if you work hard for it, anything is possible." We spent time talking about our dreams for the future and painted pictures together to share our dreams with others! 

check out this incredible drummer- click on the link below. 

https://video.link/w/wsENb

we also loved the book Mixed by Aree Chung 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mn0ep5u0kZo&ab_channel=WeAreTeachers

Writers' Workshop

This week, we fixed up our favorite page from our informational books! Each student conferenced with a teacher and worked to add upper case letters, punctuation and appropriate spelling corrections. We created a google slide show to share with our Waterville community. Students typed their pages, learned to insert google images and had fun choosing unique backgrounds and fonts. 

While students conferenced with a teacher to fix up their writing, other students LOVED working on a free choice writing project. Some students worked on writing graphic novels with partners/groups, while others continued to work on informational writing, and some students enjoyed creating stories based off of some fun picture prompts. 

Movie Day 

The first and second graders were flexible thinkers when we learned that the special WES Olympic Celebration had to be postponed! Today we watched Raya the Last Dragon, enjoyed popcorn and cupcakes and cleaned our classroom from top to bottom! We also made some fun new name tags for new table spots when we return from vacation. 

The Week of Feb. 7

 

Upcoming Events

Valentine's Day Party/ Valentine Exchange- Monday, Feb. 14

Please email me if you plan to share a treat with the class. 

Be sure to include all students when making valentine cards and treats.

Cooking in the classroom with Ms. Meghan - Thursday, Feb. 17

Ms. Meghan our Farm to School coordinator, will lead a cooking lesson in honor of Black History Month. We will learn about the contributions black farmers have made to the development of agriculture. 

https://www.farmproject.org/blog/2017/2/4/hikqys8igvv0bo368aco3mrb1rv7d1 

Click on this link to see some of the people and inventions we will be learning about.

February Break- Monday, Feb. 21- Tuesday, March.1

100th Day of School Celebration

We took 100 red cups and broke them into 4 groups. Students were challenged to build the tallest structure with their 25 cups. It was really fun!

Collections of 100 Things

Students worked together to display their collections. Students worked to group the items to make counting 100 items quick and reliable. Students grouped by 10s, 5s and 50! 

Build 100 with Pattern Shapes

Students used pattern shapes to cover the number 100! It was challenging but fun. 

Spelling on the 100th Day 

Students worked in small groups to write and read as many words as they could from around our room. As a class we wrote and read 87 words correctly! We also figured out we would need only 13 more words to make 100.

Winter Benchmark Assessments

I am so happy to be back in the classroom:) This week, I conducted literacy and math assessments with the first and second graders. It is pretty incredible to see the progress that these students have made in spite of the curve balls COVID has thrown us! 

 Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions or concerns. I will be working on Trimester II report cards and looking forward to sharing this information with you. In the spring, I will hold another round of conferences so we can meet and talk about growth and goals for the end of the year. 

Birdhouse Engineering Challenge

On Friday, we worked on finalizing our bird house plans, adjusting our prototypes and having fun helping each other! Students worked together to change and rebuild their birdhouse as problems came up. Thank you to all the families who donated items. Here are some photos from our workshop! 

Computer Update

 

Computer Update

These last few months have brought lots of changes and shifts and I want to thank you all for your support and flexibility. With the latest guidance from the DOE we will no longer use the remote learning model. I will no longer send home laptops with the students unless families request that I do. I will continue to send home their bookbags as I know lots of families read with their student at home, and it can be fun to see what  your child is reading here at school.  Thank you for all you do!