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