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!