Some Project 'Finish Up'

Hopefully, your child brought some of his/her artwork home for you on Friday!  They had a wonderful time adding details to their 'measurement tree' and 3D tree.  We have some incredible artists!

VSO Concert at UMS

Last week we were treated to a performance by three very talented musicians from the percussion section of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra!  They taught us a lot about music and instruments from around the world and were very entertaining while they did it!

1st Graders and Coding!

By now many of you may have heard about our 'hour of code' today in first grade!  We started by inviting Ms. White's class to join us during morning meeting.  We connected the idea of computer programming to writing a strong 'how-to' (procedural) piece of writing.  You can see in the pictures below that Ms. White was following directions from first grade students on how to draw a snowman.  We then had an opportunity to try some coding as a large group and in pairs later in the day.  Some great apps are:  ScratchJr., Kodable, and Lightbot.  I think that students really enjoyed these activities and we will continue to practice more coding as the year goes on.

Hour of Code

I am hoping that many of you have already heard about our new interactive projector!  While the level of enthusiasm and motivation are high I want to introduce our class to coding.  This is the perfect week as it is 'International Hour of Code' week.  If you are curious to learn more please use this link.  I know that you may be wondering why I'll be doing this and the answer is simple.  I want students to know that they are creators and inventors!  Over the next few days ask your child about coding and what his/her thoughts are around the activities.

Daily 5 Choices

Students have been very excited to work at Daily 5 stations during literacy!  These activities happen while I am meeting with 'book clubs'.  Each week there are some new choices for stations which always make it more interesting and fun.  The objective is to keep students engaged in reading and writing activities through a variety of methods. 

Magnet letters for 'red' word practice.

Writing station

Art station

Technology in Room 6!!!

Today students (and Mrs. Hughes) were very excited to begin using our new interactive projector!  Our class was chosen to pilot this new piece of technology.  Along with something called 'mirror 360' we now have the ability to show multiple screens (from multiple sources) all at once!  The boys and girls were most excited about the fact that two people can write on the board at once and it's soooo much easier to write.  Keep watching for all of the things we'll do with this incredible gift!

This was at 8:30 a.m. this morning.  By 12 noon we had a great whiteboard installed which looks fantastic!

Guidance: Bullying vs. Normal Problems

In guidance Mrs. McCleary has been teaching us the difference between a bully and someone who may be mean to us just once.  Ask your child if they remember what a 'bystander' is and how he/she can be a 'helpful bystander'.

Sharing our Writing!

This morning we had an opportunity to read our most recent published 'small moments' to Mrs. Anderson's kindergarten students.  We have been talking a lot about writing for readers so it was great to have new 'audience' members!  I tried to grab photos of each group as quickly as I could (I hope that I didn't miss anybody).

Art and More Art!

Today, we took some time to begin two (yes...two!) art projects.  One is connected to our math unit on measurement (I forgot to take pictures, but will be sure to showcase the final projects) and the other is connected to winter and literacy!  The fun idea for our snowman project came from Deep Space Sparkle!  If you'd like to see what our process will be please use the following link.

School-Wide Meeting

Once a month we have school-wide meetings.  These are run in a similar format to our regular classroom morning meeting.  Each classroom will have an opportunity to share something they've been learning, teach a greeting, or teach an activity.  Today's meeting was primarily led by some kindergarten classrooms, but it was neat to have Mr. Antonicci do the 'share' about his blog. 

Small Moment Publishing

This week students have been hard at work publishing one more small moment (personal narrative) before we begin a new type of writing next week - technical writing!  I have been blown away by these stories, how hard students have worked, and how carefully they edited.  We will be celebrating by sharing our stories with Mrs. Anderson's kindergarten class tomorrow!

Reading Workshop

Today was an exciting day for first graders!  Boys and girls were able to choose which 'Daily 5' station they wanted to go to for the first time today.  This is a literacy time which provides students the opportunity to practice reading/writing in a preferred way as well as allows me to pull 'book clubs' (reading groups).  I got very wrapped up in the Daily 5 today so I forgot to take pictures. Sorry. :(  Pictures will come soon!

Holiday Party

Please use this link to check out our sign-up for our classroom holiday party. Thank you!