Our Last Two Days

Our last two days were filled with friendship, remembrance, and fun. We reflected on our time together and made memory books and necklaces, visited Harrison Field and planted sunflowers for next year's kindergarteners to use for their life cycle study, and most importantly we laughed and played together and cherished the time spent as a class. I have a special place in my heart for this amazing group of kids! See you next year second graders! Have a wonderful summer! Love, Mrs. Dostie

Last Weeks

Wow! The weeks are flying by and the school year is almost at an end. This has been an amazing year with a wonderful group of kids! We are spending our last weeks finishing up our writing with a short unit on realistic fiction. We are using what we have learned throughout the year to create some fun, true stories. You many have heard about our final unit in math, in which the children are creating a paper farm. They are using addition, counting by 1's, 2's, 5's, and 10's, spatial reasoning, and problem solving to purchase buildings, roads, land, and animals for a farm. This fun, hands-on project is a great way to end the year, allowing them to use math and be creative. Ask your child to tell you about some of the animals he or she has chosen for the farm! We have had a science and literacy focus of birds for the last few weeks and will continue it until the end of the year. We have been using our non-fiction books about birds to not only learn facts about them, but to also discuss features of non-fiction texts. The past few days, the children have been independently looking for examples of non-fiction features such as diagrams, captions, glossaries, and sidebars and recording why these features are useful to a reader. Next week we will use our knowledge of these features and the information gathered about our own Vermont birds to create a class “Bird Guide”. Don’t forget that we will have our last field trip next Wednesday, June 11th to ECHO, and this Friday is Birthday Breakfast!

A Week in Review

We had a very active, interesting week with many walking trips in our community. Monday we visited the State House and had a lovely tour. Since the legislature was in session, it was a busy place to be. We peeked in on our senators and representatives hard at work and even got to talk with representative Mary Hooper. The kids were excellent listeners, asked great questions, and were respectful to the people around them! On Wednesday, we enjoyed a beautiful walk with our 3rd grade buddies to the High School to plant lettuce. We played a composting game, tasted different types of lettuce, and planted lettuce that will be enjoyed later in June at a “lettuce party” during lunchtime. Thursday was ECO. We spent the morning in Sabin’s Pasture with Mrs. Koch’s class looking for birds and recording our observations in journals. We explored the pasture, and made “bird balls”. The children used grasses, yarn, and small twigs to make balls of nest building materials for birds to use. We hung our balls in trees with the hope that the birds will have a great resource for their nests. Finally, on Friday we celebrated our May birthdays with some yummy treats and took part in a lesson for Reading to End Racism led by Anya’s dad Brian. In addition to playing a game about making people feel included, Brian, read us Daisy and the Doll.

The story is about a little girl who encounters prejudice but stands up for what she believes. The children have also been working hard on a special Mother’s Day gift. I hope you have a relaxing, fun Mother’s Day with your amazing children!

Show Time!

Reminder! It’s Almost Show Time... Families, Our first grade spring performance is tomorrow, Wednesday, April 16th at 6p.m. Here are a few last minute reminders to help your child prepare for a great show! *Students will meet in their own classrooms at 5:45, 15 minutes before the show. Plan to walk your child to their classroom, then head to the auditorium to find the perfect seat! *Students should wear black pants and comfortable shoes. * Students should should wear a simple t-shirt from home to school. Teachers will provide students with their show t-shirt that evening. Other planned props will be provided in the classroom at this time as well. * Students should have a light dinner before arriving. Thank you, -The First Grade Team

Attention Parents!

Upcoming dates: Thursday, April 3rd – Book Fair Our class will visit the book fair from 10-10:30 am. If you would like me to assist your child in choosing books, please let me know. Also, please let me know if you do not want your child to use book money to purchase items other than books (erasers, bookmarks, toys, etc.). Friday, April 4th- Birthday Breakfast We are celebrating Liam and Elsie’s birthdays this month from 8:30-9:00 am. Please join us! Tuesday, April 8th – Kellogg Hubbard Library We will continue our community field trips in April with a visit to the Public Library. We plan to leave school at 12:30 pm and return by 1:15. I am looking for volunteers to accompany us on our trip. Please let me know if you are interested! Thanks! Linda

Patricia Polacco Author Study

We recently began an author study of the talented Patricia Polacco, who is an author/illustrator of numerous children's books. Her Russian and Ukrainian heritage often plays a role in her stories which sometimes center around memories from her own childhood. We are using Patrica's work to discuss and compare characters in her books, and to learn and use interesting vocabulary words. Try reading one of her books with your family!

Weeks in Review

I'm a little late with my postings so here's a look at what we've been up to lately! We continued our sound waves unit with several experiments including one where students drop an object in water and see the waves. Since sounds waves are invisible, we tried to imagine what they would look like with this experiment. We also experimented with sound vibrations by investigating a rubber band experiment. Can you see the vibrations when you strum the rubber band? Can you make the sound change? For each experiment, we have focused on the scientific method and named each part of the method using our own experiments as a reference. We celebrated the 100th Day of School and Valentine's Day and took a community field trip to the Montpelier Post Office. Did you enjoy your letters? We have been working hard on completing our non-fiction "teaching books" and are eager to share them with you on the 7th!