Guidence Class with Mrs. Francke

Our school guidance counselor, Mrs. Francke, comes to our classroom once every two weeks to teach a guidence lesson. These social skills lessons focus on topics such as understanding and showing empathy towards others, or using self-control by waiting your turn to speak. This month, she has been discussing caring for others. She has been working on a secret project with the children that will be coming home soon. Stay tuned...

Sit Spots

For our last ECO lesson, the children created their own "sit spot" in the woods.  For this week's blog entry, I elicited help with the post by asking them to answer...

What are sit spots?

Joseph says, "You sit down and build your sit spot.  If you're quiet, some animals will come out."

Parker says, "You can sit down near a tree on the ground.  You can decorate [your sit spot] with things from nature.  You bring your backpack with you to hold some bird seed to give to animals and we bring our ECO journals."

Maeve says, "It's somewhere where it's quiet.  I used sticks, leaves, and pinecones [to make my sit spot].  If you are really still and quiet, an animal might come."

Ask your child to tell you about the sit spot he or she created at Harrison Forest!

Working with Numbers

This month we began a new unit in math that focuses on using addition and subtraction to understand place value.  Prior to this, students have learned how to add numbers together by counting all and then counting on.  For example, 9 + 3 is solved by counting on from 9 (10,11,12 ) to reach the total.  They are now learning to decompose and compose numbers to make 10 or take from 10.  For example, when adding 9 + 3, if they take 1 from the 3 and add it to the 9 they can quickly add 10 + 2 using what they already know about adding numbers to 10.  In class, we celebrate the different ways the children solve problems and share their thinking.  Learning a variety of strategies for solving equations helps the children become more efficient in their problem solving.

We will also continue to practice telling time to the hour and half hour, and have begun to learn the names of several 3-D shapes.  We are focusing on the sphere, cube, cylinder, and rectangular prism.  Ask your child to see if he or she can find any of these 3-D shapes at your house!

Celebrating Susan Koch and Thanksgiving

We had a beautiful assembly Tuesday to honor Susan Koch, Vermont Teacher of the Year. Governor Peter Shumlin, Secretary Rebecca Holcombe, and the State Education Board Members joined us in the gym for heartfelt speeches, and beautiful music.  Music teacher, Samantha Funk led all of the school children as they sang and signed the Vermont State Song.  The first graders gave Mrs. Koch a surprise with our own song, written and composed by Susan Picking.  Here are the words:

MRS. KOCH

Joy shows in the smile she wears

We feel how much she cares

Learning is a gift we share

Breathing in Nature’s air

Vermont’s Teacher of the Year

Mrs. Koch from Montpelier

She teaches 1st grade right here

Let’s give her a great big cheer

Mrs. Koch likes outdoor  fun

Go out on the  playground and run

Plant seeds and watch em grow in the sun

and bloom when winter is done

Vermont’s Teacher of the Year

Mrs. Koch from Montpelier

She teaches 1st grade right here

Let’s give her a great big cheer

Celebrate our diversity 

work together in community

As we build our history 

At UNION ELEMENTARY

Vermont’s Teacher of the Year

Mrs. Koch from Montpelier

She teaches 1st grade right here

Let’s give her a great big cheer

Later on Tuesday, we had a great visit to the Montpelier Police Station.  We toured the holding cells, 911 call center, and were able to climb inside a police car!

Four Winds

We had great lesson today on coniferous trees! We examined, identifed, and sorted native evergreen branches and cones, and reflected on our learning by writing in our nature journals.

Writing site words on the boards

They are words that people want you to know in your heart and not on a piece of paper. - Tyler

There's three kinds of sight words. There are heart words and sight and snap words.- Parker

Veteran's Day Parade!

Today we joined Union students and local veterans in the Montpelier Verteran's Day Parade. Dispite the rain, our energy was high and our singing was loud and joyful! Several students repeated our beloved "Grand Old Flag" song for the entire parade. They definitely brought smiles to the parade watchers and veterans! Thank you to MJ and Cedric's mom, Brigitte for walking the parade route with us!

We're Bloggers Now!

To date, I've generally used our class blog to keep parents informed of what we're up to, and to showcase student work. We're stepping out from that to start including more student-created photos, videos, and text. Students will be learning with our Tech Teacher, Jeffrey Jarrad, how to take videos and write material for our blog. Our first post includes videos by students who interviewed each other about their favorite parts of our trip to the Montpelier Fire Station. The videos are on the Page named "We're Learning How to Video and to Interview Each Other".

Montpelier Fire Station

On Wednesday our class took the first community field trip to the Montpelier Fire Station. We learned about the work that is done in the fire station and had a chance to explore inside a fire truck. October is Fire Prevention Month. The firefighters wanted us to remember to change the batteries in our household smoke alarms two times a year (daylight savings time may be a helpful way to remember) to be sure they are working properly. Also, to make a plan with your children in the case of an emergency. Practice that plan like we practice fire drills at school, and don't forget that if you ever have a fire at your house, "get out and stay out"!

Buggy About Insects

This month students had the opportunity to complete an optional independent project at home. Students chose an insect to learn more about and created a model of it. Stay tuned for next months optional project!

Highlights from the week...

It's been a busy week! We wrapped up several units of study such as our insect unit and "small moments" writing unit.  We also completed our reading unit on "building good habits for reading". The children finished presenting their insect projects and made "insect hotels" at ECO to help insects get ready for the winter.  Our next literacy units will get kids thinking about and practicing reading and writing non-fiction!