Autobiographies

Greetings,

When you all came for conferences we looked at the tremendous growth there has been in writing this year. We recently finished our narrative writing unit where we wrote auto-biographies. Students worked very hard on this unit and completed a first draft for each of their entries. Students used an editing process known as "Check Up On It" where they reviewed both independently and in small groups to edit their own and one another's writing. Students are now quite familiar with editing writing and know to look for capitalization, punctuation, logical illustration and spacing between words. Students also continue work in evaluating the positive aspects of ones writing. We are strongly  emphasizing the importance in identifying something kind or something we connect to through our and each other's writing. I have added clips of students reading aloud their work, enjoy!

Catching Up

Hello everyone,

I am sorry it has been so long since our last update; we have been hard at work! Since returning from vacation students have been working diligently to master basic addition and subtraction. We are examining the commonalities and differences that exist between these two operations. Students have enjoyed discovering the fact families such as 2+3=5, 5-3=2, 5-2=3, etc.

In literacy students continue to make great strides in their independent and group reading skills. We practice reading independently while applying phonics skills such as the “Hh Brothers” and having inquiry based reading discussions that require us to return to the text for evidence. This is helping to build stronger, thoughtful and aware reading habits.

Our opinion-writing unit began last week, students are excited to share their opinions on a range of topics through their writing. Striking up a conversation at home about opinions vs. facts would be a wonderful way to support our learning this week!

Last week we had a visit from Junk Man, a musician who literally creates instruments out of junk. It was inspiring to see so many creative ideas in how to use recycled materials. Students were thrilled by the performance and continue to make their own ‘classroom’ or ‘recess’ music using pencils, sticks, rocks, etc. It was a memorable day so be sure and ask your child about it if they have not already shared!

100th Day Celebration

Hola,

On Tuesday we celebrated our 100th day of school. We recognized this day with hundreds themed activities throughout the day as well as a student run presentation. Students shared a culminating project they completed at home.

In math we played a race to one hundred game where students rolled a set of dice to earn tally marks. During a portion of literacy time students went on a hundreds word challenge where they searched throughout the classroom and the school to record 100 words. Some students were so motivated they brought the work home to complete that night! We read stories with hundreds themes such as One Hundred Hungry Ants and Miss. Bindergarten Celebrates the 100th day of Kindergarten.


Leading up to this day there was a lot of preparation in which students brainstormed together as to what their 100th project would be. Students worked hard to complete first drafts of invitations for our celebration before sending them home. I was so proud to notice that each of the student projects were unique from their classmates. Thank you to all of the families who helped to support and make this hundreds project possible, students very much enjoyed working on them.

We ended the day with a celebration in which students sang a song for their audience before presenting what they did, following students presentation they recited a poem to close the ceremony. We had some wonderful and nutritious snacks to end the festivities with while students showcased work and mingled with friends and family. Thank you so much for all of your support, we had a wonderful 100th day!

SkippyJon Jones

Greetings!

Yesterday, we had our very first field trip to the Flynn. This was a very exciting day for all of us and we very much enjoyed the show. Students enjoyed the time to socialize and spend time in Burlington, for many it was their first trip to the Flynn. Students were wonderful listeners and enjoyed the view from the balcony. In our opinion the play was as good if not better than the book! I was stopped from snapping pictures in the theatre, but here are a few snaps from the bus!

Addition At Work

Greetings,

In Kindergarten we have been working hard to master our understanding of addition and applying this skill to our daily routines. Students have been very excited to notice that addition has long been a part of their routine, however they may not have realized it before. For example, last week a student commented on the addition we do each morning when we add up how many people will be having hot lunch. She said, "We do addition every day, it's sneaky!" These discoveries have been a wonderful part of our mathematical learning and I look forward to another week filled with their observations!


If you care to extend this learning at home challenge your child to find the addition in your routines or create some new traditions that include it! Students have also been spending time experimenting with money and the different forms of addition that exist in our currency, if you have a change jar kicking around pull it out!

Sharing: 2013

Hello everyone,


I want to thank all of you for helping me to redirect the focus of morning meeting shares. Students have come back for the second leg of the year with books, stories, projects, and treasures found in nature to share on their days. Thank you all so much for channeling this focus into something a little richer for all students to experience. It is so wonderful to see the students putting time into creating things that represent who they are as well as what they would like to share with the class. We have heard and seen lots of fresh new ideas. Keep up the great work!

Vegetation Exploration With Kristin Andrews

Greetings,

Today we were very lucky to have Kristin Andrews, who is the Education Coordinator for ANESU food service, come in and share some of her knowledge with us. Kristin came in and spoke with students about different fruits and vegetables they liked or knew of. Students then worked together to brainstorm a list of these favorites according to the colors of the rainbow.

Students worked together to create fact posters about different fruits and vegetables. These are now hung along our book counter. Following our discussion Kristen led the class in a prep and sample time where students were able to try pears, pomegranates, cabbage, peppers and many other delicious snacks.

As an extension we will be tracking our classes consumption of fruits and veggies on a graph that Kristin provided. Kristin will be returning in a few weeks to follow up on our findings and discuss more about the benefits of eating healthy!