Community Walk

We had our first community walk of the year to Harrison Field today. We introduced this space to our new students and had fun exploring and collecting leaves. We brought the leaves back to school and used them for a fall art project!  In first grade we will be taking many walks in town to better understand our Montpelier community. Future trips include visiting the fire and police station, post office and library!

Four Winds

This year Sophie and Michelle (class parents) are teaching the Four Winds Lessons to our class.  This community based education program brings science learning to our classroom with fun, hands-on activities.  This year's focus is "patterns in nature".  Today we looked for patterns in the insect world and learned about what defines an insect and the variations of these animals.  This lesson complimented our first grade study of insects perfectly!  Sophie and Michelle performed a puppet show, then the children discussed the parts of an insect and put together their own insect models.  We then went outside to capture and observe insects.  Finally, we wrote about what we learned in our science journals.  In October, we will learn about patterns in leaves!  For more information, please check out the Four Winds Nature Institute website at:
http://www.fwni.org/psd.html#all-sorts-of-insects

Week in Review

Here are a few highlights from the week...

Having fun on the playground!

We continued our number bond work with a game.  The children put 8 beans in a cup, shook them up and spilled them on the table.  They then counted how many red and how many white to find the parts that make 8 and wrote the equation above.  The equation that reaches the top of the paper first wins!

Another math "workplace", building with polydrons. 

In Reader's Workshop we learned two new strategies: reading words in phrases rather than word by word, and going back to a book you've already read and rereading to learn more.

We learned another strategy to try when we read with our partners.  Good readers talk about the books we are reading so that we can build comprehension.

We have been talking a lot about expected and unexpected behaviors at school, and read about a boy named David who has a hard time following school rules.  We use this visual to help us remember what it looks like to have "whole body listening" when we are learning.

The highlight of the week for many first graders was making ant traps.  Our insect focus this week was ants (beetles were postponed until next week), and we learned about how ants survive and the characteristics that make them insects.  We conducted an experiment to see if we could lure some ants to our "trap", and made a prediction about how many ants might find our trap.  After leaving the traps outside (with a little honey and chocolate syrup), we returned to find that some had indeed attracted ants!  We counted them, recorded what we found, and returned the ants to the playground. Everyone had so much fun building, that the children continued to adapt their traps into choice time today!

Ask your child to tell you more!

Lunch Menu Change

Lunch menus are no longer being printed and sent home to families.  Please use the link on the side bar to access this month's menu, or through the UES webpage.  You may print this yourself to have a hard copy.

Our First Seven Days of School

Our first days together have been busy ones!  We have spent our time getting to know our new friends in the class, reviewing routines and expectations, and learning new things!

In reading, we are practicing what partners do when they work together:

And learning new strategies for becoming better readers:

In first grade, children are expected to become fluent with addition and subtraction numbers to 10.  We have been reviewing "number bonds" by looking for the parts of a number that make the total amount such as in the example below.  This week we have also been practicing our number formation and counting.

In writing, children are storytelling a "small moment" in their lives.  For this narrative writing, the children recount two or more appropriately sequenced events and use details to elaborate on their stories.  We have used the chart below to guide us in developing our ideas.

In Science, we are learning about insects this month.  Each week we will learn about a specific insect's life cycle, and how they have adapted to their environment to meet their needs for survival.  We will then make comparisons between insects and humans.  This week we have learned about bees, and next week's focus will be on beetles.  

We are also spending lots of time playing indoors and outdoors to continue to develop social skills and community building.  Ask your child to tell you more!