September 4, 2014

Hello, Parents!

A couple of highlights from today:

Ask your child about what we did after Read-Aloud  to simulate Timothy Frisby's walk to Thorn Valley. (A: we walked through the thick grass instead of taking the bike path -- about 200 yards  -- to understand how difficult it must have been for a teenage field mouse to set off on his own and walk 30 miles to get to Thorn Valley to attend the rats' school -- all the while needing to keep an eye out for hawks and weasels and foxes.   I then had the kids turn around and run back to the playground while I ran after them flapping and crying out like a hawk.

We also had Morning Meeting in our classroom garden to take full advantage of the autumn sun. We will be planting spinach and brussel sprouts with the help of our school gardener, Andrew. We'll be doing all the math involved with counting out the days we have left to grow something (about 55)  -- talking about tens and ones and days elapsed and days still to go.

Have a good night.

Mr. B.

September 3, 2014

Hello Parents!

Just a short note to let you know what we did today.

This afternoon, we began our read-aloud book, "Racso and the Rats of NIMH." We had read "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH" at the end of last year, and the kids loved it. If your child is a 1st grader, you might consider taking Mrs. Frisby out of the library and reading it to your child to gain some more context for "Racso..."

In Racso and the Rats of NIMH,  A colony of super-intelligent rats have used their ingenuity to become very comfortable living with electricity, an elevator, air conditioning, and all the stolen grain they want under a rose bush in Farmer Fitzgibbon's back yard.  They decide, though, that they want to live with more integrity, so they abandon their comfortable life and travel to Thorn Valley where they will grow their own grain and they will do without electricity.

We talked about the hard work involved in farming and the fact that you need to have hope. You plant in the spring and you have to hope that you'll get a harvest.

Following read-aloud, we headed out to our classroom garden. I had planted potatoes (and a lot of hope!) in the spring when school was getting out. I put names of all my students on the potatoes. Today, we hit the garden, we found our name tags, and we dug up our potatoes! It was hard work, but it was fun.  Your child brought home a potato this afternoon that you are welcome to boil or bake or fry.  In class, here, we plan to wash our spuds and cut them up and make french fries for snack!  Yummmmm. If you have a great idea for seasoning french fries, send it in!
We'd love to use it.

Other things we did today: we went to Art, and we finished up our drawings/paintings about what we did over the summer. This picture will be the springboard for our writing our first writing piece of the year.

Note: 1) no home-school journals this week.

         2) Please remember to fill out your reading logs and send them in on Friday.

Thanks!

Mr. B.

September 3, 2014

Hi Parents,

Here are some upcoming dates you could put on your calendar. More information will follow.

- On September 17th we are having a Parent Information night. It will take place in Horizon from 6:30-7:30. From 7:30 to 8:30 pm there will also be a Learning Expo  taking place.There will be an article in this week's school bell explaining what this is all about.

- On  September 26th our team will be going to Shelburne Farm. A permission slip for this will come home shortly.

- On October 2nd we will be having a Horizon Breakfast. It will be from 7:30-8:30 a.m. We will send you a link on Sign-up Genius . You can sign up if you are able to donate a breakfast item.

Our current Science unit: "Doing Weird Experiments" to get smarter about how to test things.

Thanks. See you all soon!

Mr. Bolger

August 27, 2014

Hello Parents!


It was a very busy day, as you can imagine, but many, many good, first-day things happened like kids spontaneously helping each other tie their shoes, and  kids getting silverware for each other in the lunch room. One boy saw his friend come into the classroom feeling sad this morning, so he helped write his name tag for him. Second graders helped first graders figure out how to find their lockers, and first graders were saying things like, "Can I use that marker when you're done?" to a table mate.  We all ate lunch together (see the picture), and had recess together. We also had Art. During Morning Meeting, we sang about our class to the tune of "This Old Man". We managed to come up with a verse for everyone.  That was fun.

Please don't forget that tomorrow is PE, so  please send in those sneakers.

Your Homework for tonight, Mom or Dad:
Look at, and respond to, your child's Home-School Journal. Just a couple of lines would be just fine -- or a question or a picture or a riddle.  Then, throw a rubber band around it, and send it back in tomorrow.
Thanks!

Mr. Bolger

May 21, 2014

May 21, 2014

 

Hi Parents,

Today was our last Four-Winds program. Thank you so much to Brennan Brown, Becky Tharp, and Kim Jennings. You guys were terrific this year. You brought lots of energy, a love for the science, and a special patience and enthusiasm for each kid. They ALL benefited from your being here.

Parents, if you want to follow up on what we learned today, it was about how people and animals find our way. How do we remember where to go to get home? How do birds know how to go south and then come back to the same tree in the spring time?  Ask your child some of these questions.

Also, you could ask about some of the stations (5) that we did today.

We learned to use compasses; we played "Directions Simon-Says," (ex: Simon says, "take two steps to the north..."); we used a treasure map to find hidden treasure; we sat quietly and realized how well we can picture the layout of our home from our memory. We pictured ourselves entering our house after school (mud room? kitchen? living room?), and then we drew a bird's eye view of our bedrooms.   Thanks to Kim, we ended the class with popsicles (our hidden treasure). 

Ask your child about the bird's nest we've found in the tree up on the hill behind our classroom.  What did we see in the nest?)

Reading Log: I am attaching one here in case you don't have one and would like to fill one out for this week -- for the treasure chest pick on Friday.

May 12, 2014

May 12, 2014

Hi Parents,

Thank you so much for the beautiful flowers. I hadn't been thinking about Teacher Appreciation Week, so I was totally taken by surprise when the kids walked in first thing and gave me their flowers.  I was honestly touched. Thank you for taking the time to find a flower and do the impossible --- getting it here in one piece. We put them in a vase, and they brightened up the room. 

Then, all across the day, the kids kept asking, "Can I take a flower home?" So, I decided,
"Sure. Of course I should share these with you guys."    Thank you, again.

Another wonderful thing that happened was that Karen Allen and your kids created a book about our class! It features every one of our students (and we're going to photoshop in Hanna!) Karen got it published, and she came in and read it to us today. It tells about how, when you are having a blue day,  remember that you always have friends by your side. Thank you, Karen!

         
​

Field Trip to the Montshire Museum:

Don't forget that our field trip to the Montshire is on Friday.We leave right at 8:15....it would be helpful if your child could be sure to have breakfast at home due to the tight schedule.

We plan to arrive there at about 9:45 am.

I have heard from three parents/grandparents who wish to be chaperones. We may not have any more room on the bus, but if you would like to chaperone and you are able to drive to the Montshire (and are able to pay for your day pass) we'd love to have you.

Remember we have a late pick up that day. We plan to arrive home at ABS at 3:30 pm. Please plan to pick up your child then.

There is no cafeteria, at the Montshire, so if you are chaperoning, remember to take your own cold lunch.

There is a gift shop.  I will be downplaying it, and I'll tell the kids that I won't be buying anything myself.  The kids who wish to buy something usually  bring something between $2.00 and $5.00.

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH: Today, Mrs. Frisby learned that the Rats have a plan to move away from the farm. We wondered why they would want to move away -- especially since they would lose their comforts like electricity and electric lights which they somehow have been smart enough to figure out how to use!

The next chapter is called, "A Sleeping Powder For Dragon." 

I hope your week is off to a good start.

Mr. B.