Dear Parents,
We did a ton of fun learning today! In the morning, we read a book called "Night in the Country" by Cynthia Rylant. Pick it up at the library if you have a chance. We noticed that Rylant uses a lot of descriptive words, but more important, she pays attention to the cadence of her prose. She says things in a way that feels and sounds nice to read. She repeats phrases a lot, too, and that makes us feel comfortable and happy. In 2nde-grade Fundations, we took it out again after talking about this week's assessment. We thought of all the words we could think of that use "-igh-" to make the long I sound: right, might, fight, and sight, but not bite.
In the afternoon, we got a great surprise with the arrival of 10 huge pumpkins donated by Gardener's Supply (Thank you, Gardener's Supply!). Allison Curtis, Jessica and Mark Lamorey, Kelly Bowen, Heather Burnett, Deborah Miuccio, and Denise Johnson came in and helped with the slimy pumpkins, the scary spiders, and the tasty treats. Thank you, everyone, for your delicious donations! When we finished, we sewed a few bowls full of pumpkin seeds in the brush up on the hill behind the classroom. Maybe we'll be lucky and find next fall that we have grown our OWN pumpkins.
Happy Hallowe'en , Everyone!
Friday, October 31, 2014
Friday, October 17, 2014
Oct. 17, 2014
Dear Parents,
Thank you again for coming in to parent-teacher conferences over these last couple of weeks. You know your kids better than anyone, and I learn so much from your insights. Please email me if you think of something you forgot to bring up or if you have any questions that come up as a result of our getting together.
Check out the new photos of our race-car designers. A big thing we learned in building these cars was that you have to make your axles parellel or the car will veer off the ramp. We are not sure yet whether lighter cars or heavier cars go farther. We still have to test that. We decided that if we can find a way to make our Wintergreen-Mint wheels less wobbly, we can then focus on heavier vs. lighter designs. Again, congratulations to all the kids for patience, creativity, cooperation, and good sportsmanship. Congratulations, again, to Phin and Nate for their winning design.
One last thing: please leave us a comment if you see something that interests you on our blog!
Thanks. Have a great weekend!
Mr. Bolger
Thank you again for coming in to parent-teacher conferences over these last couple of weeks. You know your kids better than anyone, and I learn so much from your insights. Please email me if you think of something you forgot to bring up or if you have any questions that come up as a result of our getting together.
Check out the new photos of our race-car designers. A big thing we learned in building these cars was that you have to make your axles parellel or the car will veer off the ramp. We are not sure yet whether lighter cars or heavier cars go farther. We still have to test that. We decided that if we can find a way to make our Wintergreen-Mint wheels less wobbly, we can then focus on heavier vs. lighter designs. Again, congratulations to all the kids for patience, creativity, cooperation, and good sportsmanship. Congratulations, again, to Phin and Nate for their winning design.
One last thing: please leave us a comment if you see something that interests you on our blog!
Thanks. Have a great weekend!
Mr. Bolger
October 17, 2014
Dear Parents,
Take a look at these iPad apps, math games, and links to reading, geography, and science that you can access at home!
1) Here is a list of the iPad apps we have loaded onto our iPads here at school for our teaching. I will be using a number of them this year. We thought you would like the list in case you want to load them onto your iPads at home to supplement, for example, your child's phonics work, math facts practice, or storytelling.
Take a look at these iPad apps, math games, and links to reading, geography, and science that you can access at home!
1) Here is a list of the iPad apps we have loaded onto our iPads here at school for our teaching. I will be using a number of them this year. We thought you would like the list in case you want to load them onto your iPads at home to supplement, for example, your child's phonics work, math facts practice, or storytelling.
| App | Content/Curric |
| 30Hands | presentation |
| A Life Cycle App | science |
| Adobe Voice | presentation |
| Advanced Puzzle Map of the USA HD Lite | geography |
| AudioMemos | tool |
| Bob Books #1 | literacy |
| Book Creator | digital storytelling |
| Build A Word Express- Phonics | phonics, sounds |
| Daisy the Dinosaur | coding |
| Doodle Buddy | art |
| DoodlecastPro | virtual whiteboard |
| Dragon Dictation | Assistive Tech |
| DropBox | (for teachers) |
| Educreations | virtual whiteboard |
| Everyday Math | content specific |
| Explain Everything | virtual whiteboard |
| Finger Count | math- numbers |
| Follett Enlight | library- eBooks |
| Geoboard | math |
| Google Docs | Google docs standalone app |
| Google Drive | productivity |
| Google Earth | geography |
| Google Sheets | Google spreadsheets standalone app |
| Go Sky Watch | content specific |
| Haiku Deck | presentation |
| iBooks | library |
| iMotionHD | animation/photo |
| iMovie | movie making |
| iWrite Words | literacy |
| Kaleido Paint | art |
| Kidblog | blogging |
| Lexia Core 5 app | need to explore the exact name to get the right one |
| Little Story Maker | digital storytelling |
| MultiTouch Math | math |
| Notability | note taking, recording |
| Number Pieces Basic | math |
| Number Rack | math |
| Percussive | music |
| Percussive Free | music |
| PhotoSync | transfer images |
| Planets by Q Continuum | science |
| Pocket Zoo | science |
| Popplet Lite | mindmapping |
| Puppet Pals- directors pack | digital storytelling |
| Puzzle Map | geography |
| QRafter | QR readers |
| Read on Site free | litteracy |
| Scribble Press | literacy - digital storytelling |
| ShadowPuppetEDU | digitalstoryelling |
| Singing Fingers | music |
| Skitch | mark up photos |
| Skype | communication |
| Sonic Pics | digital storytelling |
| Spelling City | spelling/phonics |
| StoryPatch | literacy |
| Subitize Tree | math |
| Tangram | math |
| Tangrams - by Tangible Play | math |
| Tell Time | math |
| Tellagami | digital storytelling |
| The Weather Channel Max+ | science |
| Toontastic | digital storytelling |
| Voicethread | productivity |
| Word Wall | literacy |
| YouTube | for viewing only |
2) Math Facts Games From Ms. Schwartz's Home Page:
http://www.wsdvt.org//site/Default.aspx?PageID=3971
3) Math, Reading, Geography, Science, etc. from the Harmony Team's Great Home Page:
http://inspirefirstgrade.pbworks.com/w/page/19992533/FrontPage
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
October 8, 2014
Hello Parents!
Just a quick note to say that we will be eating lunch in the classroom or out in the garden tomorrow. it's Elsie's last day, and we want to have a nice lunch together before she gets in her car and heads for North Carolina!
By the way, we began designing and building race cars today. We want them to be sturdy yet quick on the ramp. Ask your child about his or her design so far.
If you are interested in having your second grader take part in Continental Math, please let me know. It involves getting together for about 40 minutes per week in a small group of budding mathematicians with a parent leader -- having fun with facing intriguing math problems and learning strategies to solve them.
 |
| Interning at the Library -- Tae, Neveah, and Blake practiced being librarians with Ms. Blaine. |
Calling all Musicians and/or Singers: we are looking forward to our Stone Soup Harvest celebration in the ABS garden on October 23rd. I have lined up a couple fiddle players and I'll be on guitar. There will be some square dancing and lots of "This Land is Your Land." If you would like to join us to eat hearty soup or even to sing a few songs with us (or play a guitar or violin or gut bucket or knock a couple of rocks together to keep the beat) we would so-love to have you join us. After all, Stone Soup is all about sharing what you have with the community. So come on down!
Democracy in action: we have a nice bench along the side of the Morning Meeting rug. We are trying to figure out what is the best way to let everyone have a turn on the bench but not have it be too long between times on the bench. First and second graders alike chimed in with some wise suggestions and strategies. We voted and we learned what a "majority" is. Ask your child what we decided to do!
That's about it for now. I'm really enjoying getting together with you all for conferences.
David
 |
| Name this barnyard animal |
Wednesday, October 1, 2014
October 1, 2014: Sign-Up for Parent-Teacher Conferences
Sign-Up
for Parent-Teacher Conferences
(Updated Tuesday, Oct. 7th.)
Hello
Parents. Please look at the following slots that are available for
our fall Parent-Teacher conferences. Email me your first, second, and
third choices. I will try to give you your first choice, and I'll
schedule on a first-come-first-served basis. Email or call with
questions.
Monday,
Oct. 6, 2014
3:00
____________________
3:30
____________________
4:00
Kate Moreau
Wednesday,
Oct. 8, 2014
3:00
Tammy Sevene and Jeff Wheelock
Thursday,
Oct. 9, 2014
3:00
____________________
3:30
____________________
4:00 Kelly Bowen
Friday, Oct. 10, 2014
2:45 Allison Curtis
Monday,
Oct. 13, 2014
2:40 Zuzana Brochu
2:40 Zuzana Brochu
3:00
Nikia Drown
3:30 Denise Johnson
4:00 Kristi and Travis Mathis
Tues. Oct. 14, 2014
12:00: Stephanie Martin
Tues. Oct. 14, 2014
12:00: Stephanie Martin
Weds,
Oct. 15, 2014
3:00 Deborah Miuccio
3:30 _______________
4:00
Jackie and Erik Urch
4:30
Brennan and Jen Brown
5:00
Jamie Wilson
5:30 Amy and Max Skapof
6:00
____________________
6:30 Eileen and Matt DeLuca
7:00
Shelly and Joe Stewart
Weds. Oct. 22, 2014
4:00 Kristi and Travis Mathis
Weds. Oct. 22, 2014
4:00 Kristi and Travis Mathis
Friday, Oct. 24, 2014
2:45 Tim and Amy Shea
2:45 Tim and Amy Shea
Note:
If you can’t make any of these times, email me and we’ll arrange
an alternate time (in the morning before school or during one of my
planning periods.)
Thank
you. I’m
looking forward to getting together with you.
David
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