Last Day of First Grade: 6/14/12

June 5th: Venus transit website

http://www.transitofvenus.org/

Week of May 21st

Dear Parents,

As a reminder, there will be no school next week on Monday, May 28^th in observance of Memorial Day.

On Thursday, May 31^st the school will celebrate Memorial Day with a concert. Our class will be singing with the kindergarten and second grade classes. The concert will begin at 9:00am.

Have a great long weekend!

Reminders: Please donate a book for the book swap!

Farm Fest is this weekend  on Sunday, May 27^th.

Reading: As summer approaches, I just wanted to remind parents again how important it is for your students to keep up their reading over the summer.  At this age, many of the students are just getting the hang of reading fluency, and we don’t want them to lose any momentum!

We are currently reading Magic Treehouse #18, Buffalo Before Breakfast by Mary Pope Osborne.

Writing: Much like reading, it is also important to keep your students writing over the summer. They have come a long way since the beginning of the year, but they are still growing as writers. Practice over the summer will help to enforce techniques they learned during the school year, and will also strengthen handwriting.

Spelling: Lesson 29, words with

-e

Math: We took our Unit 8 assessment this week, which covered counting money, addition, place value and fractions. Everyone did very well! 

Science/Social Studies: This week our students put together a presentation on dairy. Check It out at farm fest!    

 

Sincerely,

Mrs. Craft

p.s. There are some new pictures posted on our blog. Feel free to check them out!

Spring Concert: May 24th

Judson's Violin Concert

Week of May 14th

Dear Parents,

The Parent Appreciation Night Concert is next week on Thursday, May 24^th at 6:30 pm. The students will meet in the classroom at 6:15.

Hope to see you there!

Help Needed: As a contribution to our farm fest presentation, please send in an emptied, clean dairy container with your child next week: yogurt, milk, cheese, ice cream, etc. Due by Friday, May 25^th.

Reminder: Please donate a book for the book swap!

Reading: We are starting end- of-the-year reading assessments with the students. I can’t believe it is this time already! It is fun to see how much each student has grown as a reader!

We are currently reading Magic Treehouse #17, Tonight on the Titanic by Mary Pope Osborne in conjunction with the 100^th anniversary.

Writing: Students published their non-fiction research reports. They presented their writing to the class. It was fun learning about a wide variety of topics!

Spelling: Lesson 27, words with

i-e

Math: We are extending work with money to include dollars, and work with place value to include hundreds. We are also beginning to explore fractions.

Please continue to practice at home: time (hour, half-hour, quarter-hour, am vs. pm), money (penny, nickel, dime and quarter), and counting by 2s, 5s and 10s.

Science/Social Studies: Students were introduced to the scientific method this week. We conducted an experiment in which students were required to research a question, develop a hypothesis and record results.    

Have a great weekend!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Craft

 

Week of May 7th

Reminders:

1. On Monday, May 14th the 1st and 2nd grades will be visiting the Lebanon Opera House for a field trip.

2. Students have noon dismissal on Thursday, May 17th.

Field Trip: Meacham Farm: May 7, 2012

Week of April 30th

Dear Parents,

First, a quick reminder that Green-Up day will take place in Hartland this Saturday, May 5^th.

Also, we are anticipating two upcoming field trips:

-Monday, May 7^th: Meacham Farm

*If you would like to join, just let me know. We will be there from 9:45 to 2:00.

*Students should come dressed appropriately for a farm-no shorts or sandals please.

*If your child is having hot lunch, we will pick up brown bag lunches from the cafeteria.

-Monday, May 14^th: Lebanon Opera House

Reading: We have been practicing phonics within our reading. This week we have been looking for long a words in our books, and recognizing the letter combinations that make the long a sound. This is something you can do at home too. 

We are currently reading A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond. We are talking about the geography mentioned in the book (Peru and London).

Writing: The students recently celebrated their writing by publishing a chosen piece and sharing it with the class. We are moving on to non-fiction research papers.

Spelling: Lesson 26, words with

a-e

Math: Students have learned to identify polygons and the following shapes: sphere, cylinder, rectangular prism, cube, cone and pyramid. We are also learning about symmetry.

Please continue to practice at home: time (hour, half-hour, quarter-hour, am vs. pm), money (penny, nickel, dime and quarter), and counting by 2s, 5s and 10s.

Science/Social Studies: On Monday, our students planted in pots which they made. Thanks goes to Mrs. Kelly for this opportunity!  

Have a great weekend!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Craft

Reading Workshop: Partner Time

Week of April 23rd

Dear Parents,

This Friday our first grade class will be joining with the 5^th grade  (our reading buddies) to release the salmon the 5^th graders have raised in Mrs. Ziegler’s classroom. They will be released in the stream by the library.

Next week, we will be preparing for Green-Up Day by cleaning up around the school. Green-Up day will take place in Hartland on May 5^th.

Reading: At this point in first grade, many of the students have made great strides in reading. PLEASE help them continue this momentum over the summer. It will be extremely important to make reading a big part of your student’s summer plans.

We completed Roald Dahl’s Fantastic Mr. Fox, and are moving on to A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond.

Writing: The students have been excited about their own creative writing pieces. We have been sharing our work with one another and topics range from personal life experiences to creative fiction Spelling: Lesson 25, words with

-un and -ub

Math: We are moving on to Unit 7: Geometry and Attributes. Students are identifying shapes and their attributes and using vocabulary such as corner, side, and polygon.

Please continue to practice at home: time (hour, half-hour, quarter-hour, am vs. pm), money (penny, nickel, dime and quarter), and counting by 2s, 5s and 10s.

Science/Social Studies: Students have been learning about and observing clouds: cumulus, cirrus and stratus.

Have a great weekend!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Craft

 

Spirit Week: PJs and Stuffed Animals

ELF Lesson: Edible Birds' Nests: April 6th

Week of April 2nd

Dear Parents,

Next week is Spirit Week. Below are the themes of the day:

Monday-Beach

Tuesday-Movie

Wednesday-Twins

Thursday-Pajamas and Stuffies

Students are welcome to come dressed in appropriate attire for each theme.

Reminder: There is no school on Friday, April 13^th.

School will resume on Monday, April 23^rd. I hope you all have safe and wonderful breaks.

 Reading: Our students are all growing as readers. I am noticing at this point in the year that many are starting to take an interest in chapter books. They are eager to move to the next level. This is fun to see. Thank you for your support at home!

We have been reading stories from Beatrix Potter’s Tales of Peter Rabbit and His Friends as a class read-aloud.

Writing: This week students wrote about topics of their choosing in order to generate more excitement and interest around writing. We discussed ways to come up with a topic, and how to stretch out our words to help with spelling.

Spelling: Lesson 23, words with

-ug and -ut

Math: Students are learning to associate the time shown on an analog clock with that on a digital clock by identifying the number of minutes on the face of a clock based on the 5-minute marks.

Please continue to practice at home: time (hour, half-hour, quarter-hour, am vs. pm), money (penny, nickel, dime and quarter), and counting by 2s, 5s and 10s.

Science/Social Studies: This week we focused on healthy eating. Students learned about the major food groups through the “My Plate” program.

 

Have a great weekend!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Craft

Week : March 26th

Dear Parents,

Next week we will be celebrating Health Week here at HES, with the theme of “Healthy Behaviors.”

We will have a couple of assemblies related to this theme, as well as a color of the day and a healthy snack to match that color. The colors are as follows:

Monday-Red

Tuesday-Orange/Yellow

Wednesday-Green

Thursday-Blue/Purple

Friday-Rainbow

Reading: We are preparing to launch a non-fiction study which will extend across the areas of both reading and writing.

We are engaged in a Roald Dahl author study for read-aloud. We read The Magic Finger last week, and The Twits this week.

Writing: We have begun our third and final essay on friendship. We are focusing on various phonics techniques in our writing and reading such as: suffix of –s vs. –es, consonant blends, and spelling conventions for long vowels vs. short vowels.

Spelling: Lesson 22, words with -eg and -ed

Math: Students were introduced to the quarter this week, and practiced finding the value of collections of quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies.

Please continue to practice at home: time (hour, half-hour, quarter-hour, am vs. pm), money (penny, nickel, dime and quarter), and counting by 2s, 5s and 10s.

Science/Social Studies: With the help of Mrs. Bushey, 1C has created a new bulletin board display to celebrate sugaring season. Come check it out!

Have a great weekend!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Craft

Week: March 19th

Dear Parents,

Ms. B and the Hartland students are putting on another fabulous play this year-Charlotte’s Web.

This is a story that is near and dear to our hearts in 1C, as we listened to the book as a read-aloud earlier this year.

Showtimes are as follows:

Friday, March 23^rd: 7:00 pm

Saturday, March 24^th: 2:00pm and 7:00pm

Enjoy!

Note: We have a redesigned school website. Check it out at: http://www.hartland.k12.vt.us/

Reading: Keep up that reading at home, both by reading to your child and by listening to him or her read. Parents, thank you for your support. It is fun seeing the students grow as readers, and I know your help at home has much to do with their success!

We completed Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder. We are writing about how times are different now vs. then. Upcoming read-alouds include Roald Dahl books and Tales of Peter Rabbit.

Writing: Students completed their second painted essay around the theme of friendship.  We will do our third and final essay on friendship next week.

Spelling: Lesson 21, words with

-et and -en

Math: Students were introduced to the centimeter this week.

Please continue to practice at home: time (hour, half-hour, quarter-hour, am vs. pm), money (penny, nickel, dime), and counting by 2s, 5s and 10s.

Science/Social Studies: We are focusing on the concept of human development (what we can do now vs. 19^th century), as it relates to examples in Little House in the Big Woods.

Have a great weekend!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Craft

Week: March 12th

Dear Parents,

Just a couple reminders as we move into the last three months of school. First, although most of the snow has melted, students still need to come to school with snowboots as we approach the spring season. This is due to the slushy and muddy playground.

Occasionally students come to school without a snack. We do not promote sharing food, so these students may go without food until lunch-time. Please try to remember to pack some sort of snack. Thank you for your help with this!

Conferences: Unless you receive a request, conferences are not mandatory for this quarter. However, if you would like to meet, we can schedule a time during the week of April 9^th (Monday-Thursday). Just let me know your time preferences.

Reading: Students have been continuing their reading exploration in groups based on common reading interests and they discuss books together. We have also been working on incorporating phonics into our reading: diagraphs (-sh, -ch, -th, -wh), long vowels vs. short vowels, -ing, words that end in –ed, and sight words.  Students are quick to notice and point out phonics techniques as they read.

We are still reading Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

Writing: Students are working on their second painted essay around the theme of friendship.  We are using the book, George and Martha  by James Marshall.

Spelling: Lesson 20, words with

-ill

Math: Students are working on addition and subtraction facts.

Science: This week we did a lesson on heat energy as it relates to liquids vs. solids and melting vs. freezing.

 

Have a great weekend!

Week: March 5th

Dear Parents,

On Monday of next week we have a half-day (noon dismissal). On Tuesday, students do not have school due to a teacher conference day. Things will be back to normal on Wednesday.

Don’t forget-clocks change on Sunday. We spring forward one hour…

It sounds like some students have had the opportunity to practice Xtra math at home. Thanks for your support!

Reading: Students have been exploring their reading lives. Thank you for your interview in the homework packet. Students have formed groups based on common reading interests and discuss books together. We hope this will increase students’ interest in reading. 

We are reading Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder as our read-aloud. We recently read the part about sugaring as spring approaches-how appropriate!

Writing: Students are finishing up their first painted essays. They have been writing about friendship, inspired by the 

book, Peach and Blue. We will continue this theme next week with a new book.

Spelling: Lesson 19, words with

-in and -ig

Math: Students have been working with a math model called the “function machine.” It is basically a different way to think about addition and subtraction.

Science: We have started a pen-pal correspondence with a family of farmers (Cloudland Farm), Students wrote letters to the family this week. We asked them many questions about life on their farm, and our students shared a bit about their own lives as well.  Their website is: www.cloudlandfarm.com     

Have a great weekend!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Craft

ELF Lesson: Tracking, March 2nd

VINS Field Trip: February 17th

Week of February 27th

Dear Parents,

In order to reinforce math skills, we have started a computer program called Xtra Math with the students.  This program can also be used on a computer in your home or elsewhere outside of school. We encourage you to log on with your student and check it out. To log on, I have included a flyer in your student’s Friday folder with the necessary instructions. If you encounter a problem, please let me know. The more opportunities students have to practice math, the better! Thank you for your support with this.

I am posting a few pictures from our ELF lesson this week on our website. Additionally, you can find links there for both Xtra math and a great Dr. Seuss website (we celebrated his birthday this week).

Reading: Students have been working on strategies for checking comprehension as they read: rereading to understand, making a picture in our minds as we read, and talking about the tricky parts with a partner. We have been doing an author study on Dr Seuss this week, and have read several of his books.

We are reading Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder as our read-aloud.

Writing: Students wrote about their favorite Dr. Seuss book. We are also beginning our first painted essays (this will introduce students to the essay format they will use in upper grades). The theme is “friendship.”

Spelling: Review

Math: “Easy” facts: +1, +0, doubles and facts whose sums are 10.

Science: We had a great ELF lesson today thanks to Laurie and Dave. Students learned about animals and their tracks. They practiced tracking “the bear”

 (a.k..a. Dave Broder).

 

Sincerely,

Mrs. Craft