Information Writing

We began a new unit of study for writing this week which focuses on non-fiction information writing. The students will begin by using what they learned during "Small Moment" narrative writing, to write with focus and detail. We will continue to work on revising our writing independently and with the help of a partner. The children will also learn about different ways to structure writing with an introduction and conclusion, as well as using some features of non-fiction writing such as headings, labels, and diagrams. Finally, we will continue to work on authors craft, spelling, and punctuation.

Community Field Trips

Our class had two recent walking trips as part of our community study. We visited the Montpelier Police Station and learned about how the police department helps protect and serve our community, and today we went to Bear Pond Books to learn about a merchant in the community. We heard three stories and spent some time browsing at the books. Check it out!

Trick Words

Each week the first graders are introduced to three "trick words". These are common words that appear often in early leveled readers. They all have some sort of "oddball" spelling that doesn't follow the typical spelling rules. It is important that first graders not only read these words, but also know how to spell them. I will be doing several lessons during the week on "trick words", and the students are assessed on how to spell them each Friday. Here is our current list: the, of, and, to, a, was, is, he, for, as, his, has, you, we, I, they, one, said, from, or, have.

Veteran's Day Parade

We were thrilled to be part of the Veteran's Day Parade this year! We proudly sang "Grand Old Flag" and "This Land Is My Land" as we waved to the spectators. The children also delivered their Thank You notes to the Veteran's including Union's own Todd Keller. Thank you Veteran's!

Publishing Our Small Moments

We have come to the end of our first writing unit this year. Small Moments (narrative writing) invited children to tell stories of their own lives with focus and detail. The children learned how to capture their ideas by planning for their writing, then learned how to "zoom in" and find focus to their words. The first graders learned different types of authors craft to help bring their stories to life and how to revise and edit their work with a partner and on their own. The children have each chosen a story to "publish" by revising and editing one more time, adding color to their drawings, and creating a cover. We will be sharing our writing after the Thanksgiving lunch on Wednesday, November 20th. Please feel free to stay and enjoy hearing the wonderful stories we have to tell.

Kindergarten Cave

Mrs. Kane created an amazing cave in the upstairs hall last week to display the art her kindergarten classes made. They learned about the prehistoric cave paintings in Lascaux, France then created art in that style. The class loved the work and enjoyed listening to a story about it.

A Busy Week!

Last week was full of fun, enriching activities. We had our Four Winds lesson on erosion, and learned about "agents of erosion" such as wind, gravity, water, glaciers, and humans. On Wednesday, we visited the Montpelier Fire Department and had the pleasure of having Montpelier fire fighter (and grandfather of one of our classmates) help lead the tour. The fire station is one visit of many that the first graders will be making to places in our community this year. Thursday was ECO day. The children learned what to look for on a leaf when identifying trees, then used that information to help them identify trees in Harrison forest. We also visited our "sit spots" and journaled about the leaves we found. Finally, in small groups we created a leaf mandala. Check them out below! Friday, we watched a slide show on Keith Haring and discovered the artistic contributions Keith made in his community of New York City, as well as other communities around the world with his murals and sculpture. The children looked closely as several of his pieces and noticed what they had in common such as bold lines, 1-3 bright colors, outlines, movement, and community relationships. Ask your child to tell you more!

WOW Words

Our literacy focus this week was on finding rich, descriptive words in different text. I chose two books about autumn to read to the class and we worked to find examples of WOW Words. In the story, Leaf Jumpers by Carole Gerber the children found words such as flutter, vivid, and broad. In The Little Yellow Leaf by Carin Berger, we chose soar, amber, and scarlet. The children were placed into small groups and each given a task: find the word on a photocopied dictionary page, highlight the word, read the definition, write the word on an index card, record a kid-friendly definition, and share your findings with the class. Each student also drew a picture of the word they learned about to help them remember it's meaning. We will work to use these vivid words in our writing and daily conversations.

Current Themes

We completed our insect unit last week and are now beginning a year long study of communities for social studies. The children will examine how different communities work, starting with our own classroom community then examining the school community, the community of Montpelier, our state as a community, and so on. We are looking forward to several walking field trips throughout the year including the fire station, police department, state house, and other local businesses. In science this month, we will be examining the scientific method through the study of bulbs. Students will plant bulbs this week, observe and record bulbs inside and out and make predictions about when they will emerge in the spring. We will also be discussing the theme of "Autumn" through read alouds. Next week, students will be listening to stories about fall and identifying descriptive words. We will define these words and try using them in conversations and our writing.

ECO

Last Thursday we were lucky to be able to be outside all morning on such a beautiful fall day! We joined Heather Bates' class to review ECO routines, continue our insect study, and learn about "sit spots". The children explored the field, participated in an insect relay race, and created insect models using materials found in the woods. We also harvested two sunflowers that we had planted as kindergartners to bring back to school for drying and collecting the seeds. The highlight of our morning was creating "sit spots" in the woods. The children chose a place in the woods that appealed to them and started to work to make it their own. Some collected sticks and began building a "fort". Others founds stumps for chairs, a branch with leaves for a broom, and pine cones for "food". The purpose is for the children to feel comfortable in the woods, develop a love of nature, and build a desire to take care of the earth. We closed our morning with a "Thanksgiving Circle" and each share something we were thankful for from our day in the woods. Each child thoughtfully told something they were thankful for and most mentioned their sit spots. The children are very eager to return to the woods and revisit their sit spots!

A Visit to Harrison Field!

Our class enjoyed a visit to Harrison Field on Friday to check out the sunflowers we had planted last June, and to look for insects. We had a wonderful time!

ECO

It's almost time for our first Educating Children Outdoors (ECO) day! I am looking for ECO volunteers to join us for the morning of Thursday, October 3rd and support the class or a small group of students. I will do a short meeting in the morning with a mini lesson for the day, then we will plan to leave school for Harrison Field and Forest by 9 am. We will return in time for recess/lunch at 11:20. Please let me know if you are available to help this year! Thanks!

Greater Than or Less Than

We have been practicing several math skills so far this year such as reviewing numbers to 100, writing numbers, and extending patterns. Today we started a new work place that asks students to compare numbers using the language and signs for greater than or less than. We have also been playing a whole class game where students guess the hidden number in my pocket by asking a series of greater than or less than questions such as, "Is your number greater than 32?". By process of elimination, they are able to guess my number. Ask your child about greater than or less than tonight!

Writing in First Grade

I am so excited about teaching writing this year! The first grade teachers all purchased new Units of Study written by a renowned professor/author and leader in her field, Lucy Calkins. These new units align with the Common Core curriculum that our state has adopted. We began our formal writing this year with a unit on writing about "small moments" in our lives, much like a short memoir. The children are working on having a beginning, middle, and end to their stories and building independence and stamina for writing. They did an amazing job today with their stories and I'm eager to continue our work tomorrow!

Hopes and Dreams for First Grade

We began the second week of school by reading a wonderful book called, The Curious Garden by Peter Brown. In the story, a young boy decides to become a gardener in order to bring beauty to his dark, gray city. While reading the story, I talked to the children about how this boy had hopes and dreams and worked hard to accomplish them. We then began a discussion on making personal goals for the school year, and shared what and why we have these dreams for ourselves. Ask your child to share his or her hope and dream for first grade with you!

The First Day of First Grade!

We had a wonderful first day of school! We learned routines of the classroom and took some time to notice what is the same and different from last year. We learned a new morning song and bug song for our insect unit, and made a paper bee for our bulletin board. The children listened to two stories and had time to read independently from their book baskets. It was a busy, exciting first day!