October 8, 2010
Notes From the Week
(Some of this is a recap of notes I sent home on Monday and Wednesday.)
Monday:
We had a great field trip today to the Flynn. As you know, we've been studying Today and Long Ago. Laura Ingalls Wilder, who wrote the Little House on the Prairie series, lived at the end of the 1800s and traveled west with her family to homestead. She wrote all about the pioneer life. The play we saw today had a simple set and only four characters: Ma, Pa, Mary (her older sister), and Laura.
Our class learned about how people 130 years ago traveled not by car but by wagons and horses. They learned that many families grew and raised all the food they ate. They learned that especially if you lived in "the country" you might not even be able to see anyone else's house from your front doorstep, so you mostly played with your brothers and sisters. They learned that it took Laura and her family 3 months to travel from Wisconsin to Kansas by horse and wagon. They learned about homesteading, the threat of wild animals, and the threat of locusts. They learned that Laura became a writer by keeping a journal and by learning to describe for her blind sister, Mary, the many sights she saw.
Another thing we saw was the excitement -- a mixture of hope and fear -- that the Ingalls family-- and many other pioneer families felt whenever they headed off into unknown lands looking for land and work. Pa kept saying, "C'mon Ingalls Family! We got places to go!" He also was famous for saying, "THAT'S the pioneering spirit!" Another thing he said was, "When something bad happens, something good always comes of it."
Tuesday:
For writing, we talked about how sights and smells remind you of things that have happened to you. We took a walk up on the hill behind the classroom. We got very quiet and we felt the sun on our faces. We smelled the damp grass. We heard the rattle of leaves falling through the branches of trees. We went around and shared any stories we had about things we like to do with our families in the fall. We also picked grass and wrapped it with rubber bands to make sheaves of wheat. We’re letting them dry. Then, we’re going to use them to create a fall scene in our classroom.
Wednesday:
We took a walk down the hall and put sticky notes on paintings of fall that we liked. We talked about what we noticed. We planned our own paintings. Then, we returned to the classroom, read a story about Fall, and we each did rough drafts of a personal Fall scene that we’ll be painting and then writing about. We also read from James and the Giant Peach and we noticed how when James climbed into that peach, escaping his miserable aunts and his bare-wood bed, he must have been scared. We talked about how nice it was for him that Spider wove a comfortable hammock-bed for him, and Grasshopper and Glowworm said kind words to him, and…
“Already he was beginning to like his new friends very much. They were not nearly as terrible as they looked. In fact, they weren’t really terrible at all. They seemed extremely kind and helpful in spite of all the shouting and arguing that went on between them. ‘Good night, old green grasshopper,’ he whispered…”
We talked about how, just like James, our class is embarking on an adventure together this year – our classroom is our peach. And if we can all try to be thoughtful and kind and caring to each other, and apologize if we hurt someone, we, like James, will like our new friends very much, and they will like us very much, and we will end up having, together, accomplished very much.
Thursday:
Thank you to Hannaford Supermarkets for sponsoring an exciting, zany, energetic, emmy-award-winning producton called Foodplay. The two main characters were a coach and a student. They did juggling and dancing and prank-playing, and they did an excellent job of teaching kids to
1) eat five fruits or veggies per day (scary, isn’t it, parents?),
2) read the ingredients on the packages (and notice what the first ingredient is because that’s the biggest ingredient) and
3) Look out for high fructose corn syrup ‘cause it’s pretty-much just sugar.
Friday:
We began the day with a Morning Meeting sing-along. We couldn’t help it. “Cutter, Cutter, bo-butter, banana fanna fo-futter, fee-fi mo-mutter…. In Math, both first and second graders are deepening their understanding of patterns. With a new month, we have a new, emerging pattern to figure out in our Number Corner. In Reading, we are practicing picking books that are just right for us using the five-finger rule (as you read, every time you come across a word that you can’t read, you put one finger down on the page.) If you put all five down before the page is through, it’s a good reminder that you should put this book aside and read it later in the year. Right now, you should pick a book that is easier for you.
We ended the day with a great presentation from the Williston Fire Department. Special thanks to Thom Moore – firefighter and EMT, He’s Harley Moore’s dad.
Note: you should find a “Class Friendship List” (aka telephone list) in your child’s backpack today.
That’s it for now. Have a restful weekend.
David
Friday, October 8, 2010
Friday, October 1, 2010
October 1, 2010
October 1st, 2010
Dear Parents,
This was a week of reviewing and practicing our behavioral expectations while introducing another layer of academic work. In reading and writing (also known as Literacy,) we finished up our beginning-of-the year reading assessments; we wrote about our favorite secret place at home, and we introduced the idea of revising when we e read our piece to our friends and then added details we realized we had forgotten.
We studied two different story structures. First, we wrote a class-story following the story structure from the book, “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.” Our title was, If You Give Amanda Gagne an Apple…(she’ll want to feed it to our worms!) We read several George and Martha stories to learn about story elements. We made cool hand signals to symbolize problem, solution, setting, and characters, and the kids flashed them at the appropriate times as I read the stories.
In Fundations (our phonics study), we have been doing a quick review of open and closed syllables, digraphs (like sh and ch), and blends. Many of the programs we use these days, from Fundations to Bridges (math), use lots of manipulatives and it’s important to practice how to take them out, use them purposefully, share them, and put them away.
Reading Homework: Reading homework will formally begin one week from Monday. One of the things the beginning-of-the-year reading assessments do is give me -- and you -- the reading level that is just right for your child: the independent reading level for when they are sitting reading alone, and the instructional level -- the reading level that is a little too hard but within their range if you read with them. Next week, I'll share your child's level with you, along with a website that you can visit. It allows you to plug in any book and see if it's a good fit for your child... very helpful for when you hit Barnes and Noble, the libraray, or the Scholastic Book Fair.
In Morning Meeting, we learned the No-no…game. We also played Zip Zap Zop, and we found how important it is to do check-ins so that if someone is having a hard day, we can all know about it and give that person some extra kindness.
In Math, we were all very excited to turn over the very last card for September. We figured out the pattern! We can’t wait to see what October brings. We opened new Math work stations, and practiced counting by twos, fives, and tens – frontwards and backwards. We also sorted a whole pile of coins and played some coin games.
In our study of Today and Long Ago, we compared and sorted many items -- from jet planes to horses and from flat-screen TVs to old black-and-whites.
Next week, of course, we will be taking a field trip to the Flynn on Monday. We’ll be back by 11:30.
Apologies: we have a new email system this fall, and I have had to work through some email-group bugs. You will probably see another test from me in the next few days as I work out the kinks. I’m sorry if you haven’t been getting the end-of-the-week emails from me. Remember, you can always just Google Bolger Class Blog to get to these Friday Letters. I have a bunch of wonderful work your children have completed, but want to have a chance to go over it and assess it before I get it into the Friday Folders.
Note: I have a home project that I need help on: I need to look up several boxes of my library books on a special website that identifies their “level”. Then I need to mark the level on the book. It’s even kind-of fun. I just don’t have the time to do it, and would love someone to grab a bunch, take them home, and mark them.
Note #2: Join Continental Math!: this is a great small-group, interactive, math-learning opportunity . Once a week or so, your child gets together with a parent volunteer and figure out some interesting math problems. You gain good skills, you come to see yourself as a mathematician, and you have fun working through problems with your buddies. Your child doesn’t need to be brilliant at math, just curious and willing to try!
Have a great weekend.
David
Dear Parents,
This was a week of reviewing and practicing our behavioral expectations while introducing another layer of academic work. In reading and writing (also known as Literacy,) we finished up our beginning-of-the year reading assessments; we wrote about our favorite secret place at home, and we introduced the idea of revising when we e read our piece to our friends and then added details we realized we had forgotten.
We studied two different story structures. First, we wrote a class-story following the story structure from the book, “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.” Our title was, If You Give Amanda Gagne an Apple…(she’ll want to feed it to our worms!) We read several George and Martha stories to learn about story elements. We made cool hand signals to symbolize problem, solution, setting, and characters, and the kids flashed them at the appropriate times as I read the stories.
In Fundations (our phonics study), we have been doing a quick review of open and closed syllables, digraphs (like sh and ch), and blends. Many of the programs we use these days, from Fundations to Bridges (math), use lots of manipulatives and it’s important to practice how to take them out, use them purposefully, share them, and put them away.
Reading Homework: Reading homework will formally begin one week from Monday. One of the things the beginning-of-the-year reading assessments do is give me -- and you -- the reading level that is just right for your child: the independent reading level for when they are sitting reading alone, and the instructional level -- the reading level that is a little too hard but within their range if you read with them. Next week, I'll share your child's level with you, along with a website that you can visit. It allows you to plug in any book and see if it's a good fit for your child... very helpful for when you hit Barnes and Noble, the libraray, or the Scholastic Book Fair.
In Morning Meeting, we learned the No-no…game. We also played Zip Zap Zop, and we found how important it is to do check-ins so that if someone is having a hard day, we can all know about it and give that person some extra kindness.
In Math, we were all very excited to turn over the very last card for September. We figured out the pattern! We can’t wait to see what October brings. We opened new Math work stations, and practiced counting by twos, fives, and tens – frontwards and backwards. We also sorted a whole pile of coins and played some coin games.
In our study of Today and Long Ago, we compared and sorted many items -- from jet planes to horses and from flat-screen TVs to old black-and-whites.
Next week, of course, we will be taking a field trip to the Flynn on Monday. We’ll be back by 11:30.
Apologies: we have a new email system this fall, and I have had to work through some email-group bugs. You will probably see another test from me in the next few days as I work out the kinks. I’m sorry if you haven’t been getting the end-of-the-week emails from me. Remember, you can always just Google Bolger Class Blog to get to these Friday Letters. I have a bunch of wonderful work your children have completed, but want to have a chance to go over it and assess it before I get it into the Friday Folders.
Note: I have a home project that I need help on: I need to look up several boxes of my library books on a special website that identifies their “level”. Then I need to mark the level on the book. It’s even kind-of fun. I just don’t have the time to do it, and would love someone to grab a bunch, take them home, and mark them.
Note #2: Join Continental Math!: this is a great small-group, interactive, math-learning opportunity . Once a week or so, your child gets together with a parent volunteer and figure out some interesting math problems. You gain good skills, you come to see yourself as a mathematician, and you have fun working through problems with your buddies. Your child doesn’t need to be brilliant at math, just curious and willing to try!
Have a great weekend.
David
Friday, September 24, 2010
Sept. 24, 2010
Sept. 24, 2010
Dear Parents,
Good bye, Summer, and Welcome, Fall! The highlight of this week was our trip to Shelburne Farms. We learned how to make bread, we learned how to make cheese (while we chanted about Little Miss Muffet). We learned how to prepare sauce and toppings from the plants of the garden. Then, we rolled out the dough, spread the ingredients, popped our pizzas in the oven, and Yum Yum!
If any of you haven’t been to Shelburne Farms yet, you have to go. It’s an amazing place with cheerful, smart, kind staff people. They helped us pick up chickens, feed pigs, and milk a cow. They taught us about Reduce – Reuse – Recycle (and were very impressed that we already compost our cafeteria food waste at school). We sang songs and played lots of games. What a day! Your children wrote about their day at Shelburne farms, and a copy of their writing pieces are in the Friday Folder today.
In Math, the 1st and 2nd graders are both working with patterns. We think we have figured out the September pattern on our bulletin boards. We’ll know for sure in a couple of days.
In Reading, we finished our Read-aloud book, Sable, by Vermont author, Karen Hesse. What excellent writing! It’s a story about a Vermont girl who is dying to get a dog of her own when a stray appears on her doorstep. We won’t tell you what happens. You’ll have to read it yourself – but we loved it. Also in reading, we are just about finished with our beginning-of-the-year reading assessments. We will begin book groups as soon as we’ve had a chance to get a good, solid look at the data.
Yesterday and Today -- dried apples: we used a crank apple peeler today to peel, core, and slice apples. Then we put the apples in a dehydrator to make dried apple snacks.
Thank you, those of you who were able to make the open house – and thanks for your nice notes to your kids. We read them today. It was great to meet the parents behind these kids. If you weren’t able to make it, stop in and introduce yourself, and see the work your child has done --- the Hopes and Dreams dolls, the self-portraits, the Horizon flags, and the Math Art. If you weren’t able to make it, I have included in this Friday Folder a Horizon Parent Handbook, and your child’s “desk letter” to you. Please write something on the right hand side, and send it back for us to display. The kids stuffed their own Friday Folders today as a way of practicing listening skills. If you are missing any of the above pieces of paper, email me, and I'll look under the desks.
Overall, this group is settling in nicely. Lots of smiles! The kids have learned the schedule, the routines the expectations, and all the names of the many grown-ups who comprise our Horizon House. They now have a solid foundation as we begin to pick up the speed with the academics.
Other notes:
We collected and sorted insects in our Four Winds class today. We found a HUGE spider, but it wasn't poisonous.
Don’t forget our field trip the week after next to the Flynn Theater. Send in permission slips if you haven’t already.
We learned how to use an apple corer and we dried apples for a healthy snack today!
It’s a great time for apple picking – and a bag of apples is fun to sort – in a bunch of ways.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Mr. Bolger
Dear Parents,
Good bye, Summer, and Welcome, Fall! The highlight of this week was our trip to Shelburne Farms. We learned how to make bread, we learned how to make cheese (while we chanted about Little Miss Muffet). We learned how to prepare sauce and toppings from the plants of the garden. Then, we rolled out the dough, spread the ingredients, popped our pizzas in the oven, and Yum Yum!
If any of you haven’t been to Shelburne Farms yet, you have to go. It’s an amazing place with cheerful, smart, kind staff people. They helped us pick up chickens, feed pigs, and milk a cow. They taught us about Reduce – Reuse – Recycle (and were very impressed that we already compost our cafeteria food waste at school). We sang songs and played lots of games. What a day! Your children wrote about their day at Shelburne farms, and a copy of their writing pieces are in the Friday Folder today.
In Math, the 1st and 2nd graders are both working with patterns. We think we have figured out the September pattern on our bulletin boards. We’ll know for sure in a couple of days.
In Reading, we finished our Read-aloud book, Sable, by Vermont author, Karen Hesse. What excellent writing! It’s a story about a Vermont girl who is dying to get a dog of her own when a stray appears on her doorstep. We won’t tell you what happens. You’ll have to read it yourself – but we loved it. Also in reading, we are just about finished with our beginning-of-the-year reading assessments. We will begin book groups as soon as we’ve had a chance to get a good, solid look at the data.
Yesterday and Today -- dried apples: we used a crank apple peeler today to peel, core, and slice apples. Then we put the apples in a dehydrator to make dried apple snacks.
Thank you, those of you who were able to make the open house – and thanks for your nice notes to your kids. We read them today. It was great to meet the parents behind these kids. If you weren’t able to make it, stop in and introduce yourself, and see the work your child has done --- the Hopes and Dreams dolls, the self-portraits, the Horizon flags, and the Math Art. If you weren’t able to make it, I have included in this Friday Folder a Horizon Parent Handbook, and your child’s “desk letter” to you. Please write something on the right hand side, and send it back for us to display. The kids stuffed their own Friday Folders today as a way of practicing listening skills. If you are missing any of the above pieces of paper, email me, and I'll look under the desks.
Overall, this group is settling in nicely. Lots of smiles! The kids have learned the schedule, the routines the expectations, and all the names of the many grown-ups who comprise our Horizon House. They now have a solid foundation as we begin to pick up the speed with the academics.
Other notes:
We collected and sorted insects in our Four Winds class today. We found a HUGE spider, but it wasn't poisonous.
Don’t forget our field trip the week after next to the Flynn Theater. Send in permission slips if you haven’t already.
We learned how to use an apple corer and we dried apples for a healthy snack today!
It’s a great time for apple picking – and a bag of apples is fun to sort – in a bunch of ways.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Mr. Bolger
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Sept. 17, 2010
Sept. 17, 2010
Dear Parents,
We have had a great week! We finished our class rules, we wrote our hopes and dreams for the year, we decided on class jobs, we met our class pets, and we wrote about our first 12 days of school. We opened our class library, we talked about how to choose books that are just right for us, and we sang some great songs. Lastly, the students were so excited and proud to put up their “locker notes” from you telling them what you love about them! Thank you.
We began our fall Social Studies unit called Long Ago and Today. First and Second graders will be classifying things from the past and the present, and studying how some things change over time while other things remain the same.
Class volunteers: thank you, everyone, for sending in your "volunteer forms" telling us to what degree in in what capacity you could help out in our class this year. I love to have parents in the class, and as soon as we get our assessments done and our regular lessons up and running, I'll contact you to connect on how you would most like to participate.
Upcoming events:
Class Pictures (This Weds. 8:00 a.m. before our field trip): The individual pictures will be taken on “Retake” day – TBA. Note: This year the photo company has informed us that there will be an extra charge for picture orders that arrive after the pictures have been taken.
Shelburne Farms (Weds. 8:45 a.m. - 1:30 p.m). Please bring a bag lunch from home.
Curriculum Night and Dessert Social (Weds. 6:30-8:00 p.m.): see the orange colored paper in the Friday Folder. We hope you can make it. Sorry, we can’t invite students to this event.
Flynn Theater Field Trip (Monday, October 4th. 8:45-11:15): ”Laura Ingalls Wilder.” See the blue permission slip in the Friday Folder.
Happy Birthday, Olivia Roberts!
Have a great weekend, Everyone.
Sincerely,
David
Dear Parents,
We have had a great week! We finished our class rules, we wrote our hopes and dreams for the year, we decided on class jobs, we met our class pets, and we wrote about our first 12 days of school. We opened our class library, we talked about how to choose books that are just right for us, and we sang some great songs. Lastly, the students were so excited and proud to put up their “locker notes” from you telling them what you love about them! Thank you.
We began our fall Social Studies unit called Long Ago and Today. First and Second graders will be classifying things from the past and the present, and studying how some things change over time while other things remain the same.
Class volunteers: thank you, everyone, for sending in your "volunteer forms" telling us to what degree in in what capacity you could help out in our class this year. I love to have parents in the class, and as soon as we get our assessments done and our regular lessons up and running, I'll contact you to connect on how you would most like to participate.
Upcoming events:
Class Pictures (This Weds. 8:00 a.m. before our field trip): The individual pictures will be taken on “Retake” day – TBA. Note: This year the photo company has informed us that there will be an extra charge for picture orders that arrive after the pictures have been taken.
Shelburne Farms (Weds. 8:45 a.m. - 1:30 p.m). Please bring a bag lunch from home.
Curriculum Night and Dessert Social (Weds. 6:30-8:00 p.m.): see the orange colored paper in the Friday Folder. We hope you can make it. Sorry, we can’t invite students to this event.
Flynn Theater Field Trip (Monday, October 4th. 8:45-11:15): ”Laura Ingalls Wilder.” See the blue permission slip in the Friday Folder.
Happy Birthday, Olivia Roberts!
Have a great weekend, Everyone.
Sincerely,
David
Friday, September 3, 2010
Sept. 3, 2010
September 3rd,
2 010
Dear Parents,
Happy Friday! Ok. I’ll give your children back. For a couple of days. I’d like to take this opportunity to,
again, welcome you and your child to my class.
I’m looking forward to a happy, successful year. We’ve had a great time at school this week
getting to know each other. The students
have learned some of the procedures for using a variety of materials in the
classroom. They’ve also helped to develop our classroom rules, and above all,
we are learning that when we are kind and helpful, together we can do anything.
This letter
will encompass a variety of information to help the year go smoothly. First, homework (which will be
commencing soon): once
reading groups are up and running, your child will be bringing home a book bag.
S/he should read on a daily basis
for at least 15 minutes. There will
be a reading log to fill out on a
weekly basis as well.
At the 1st and 2nd
grade level, besides the 15 minutes of reading each night, you can expect, 1-2 times per week, math homework that is part of the
Bridges program. This will come home in
a math homework folder. It will always
be an extension of what we have done in class. It won’t be something that you
are having to teach your child. Students at this age should not be spending more than 30 minutes per night working on
homework (reading + math). If the
time spent on homework consistently exceeds this, or if you see that you child is struggling, please
let me know and I will make some adjustments.
If your
child would like to bring in a closeable
water bottle to keep at his/her desk and fill up throughout the day, I welcome that. In addition, we will be having a short snack
time each morning. I am encouraging kids
to bring (and trying , myself, to bring,
) a healthy snack. Some snack ideas are: fruit, vegetables,
cheese and crackers, string cheese, yogurt, granola bars, hard boiled eggs, apple
sauce, or pretzels. One of our students
in this class is allergic to tree nuts (if he eats them) -- but not allergic to peanuts , so peanuts are
a great snack choice.
Please also send in a change of clothes in a plastic bag that
your child can keep on the top shelf in his/her locker in the event that he or
she needs to change.
**** There has been a change in policy this year, and the school nurse
can no longer provide extra
clothing.
Important Dates:
September 6th-
No School (Labor Day)
Sept. 22nd - Field Trip to Shelburne Farms
Sept. 22nd - Class picture taken at 8:00 a.m. sharp
Sept. 22nd - Class picture taken at 8:00 a.m. sharp
Sept. 22nd
– Curriculum Night
Sept. 24th - Our first Four Winds Lesson
Sept. 24th - Our first Four Winds Lesson
Sept. 28th
– Early Dismissal
Reminder: If your child is leaving school at dismissal time in a
way other than their typical daily transportation (bus, walk, or pick-up)
please be sure to send a note to school.
You may email your note, but please do so the day before,
since I often do not have a chance to check my email during the day.
Please feel free to contact me at
anytime. We’re off to a great start,
and I look forward to getting to know
you all better across the coming months.
Onward!
Mr. Bolger
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Sept. 1, 2010
Dear Parents and Friends,
What a great first day of school. We began with Morning Meeting Greetings and sang "This Little Light of Mine." We also read a book called, "My First Day of First Grade."
In Math, we found seats for our 22 second-grade math students and we did a categorizing activity (ex: Everyone who is wearing white stand over here. Everyone who is not wearing white, stand over there..." ) We practiced "Circling Up" outside with Mrs. Powers' class, and we can now circle up it in 10 seconds! Someone had the smart idea of everyone holding hands and then taking a step backwards. We drew self-portraits to hang in our classroom, and we practiced secret hand signals for asking to get a drink or going to the bathroom. We learned other important routines like closing our lockers quietly, "signing out" to go to the bathroom, and pushing our chairs in and picking up our areas.
Later in the day, we composed our list of good classroom rules, and we ended with Afternoon Meeting and Compliments. I think these kids are going to sleep well tonight. It's hard work creating a civilization :)
We are encouraging students to bring in water bottles and leave them here. Also, if your child brings something for snack or lunch that requires being ripped open, I'd like to suggest that he or she keep a small round-tipped scissors in their lunch box to be able to cut the item open.
Shhhh: Mr. Bolger is bringing in some class pets, but everyone is going to have to wait 'til tomorrow to see what they are.
Sleep well, everyone, and celebrate your successful first day back at school!
Mr. Bolger
What a great first day of school. We began with Morning Meeting Greetings and sang "This Little Light of Mine." We also read a book called, "My First Day of First Grade."
In Math, we found seats for our 22 second-grade math students and we did a categorizing activity (ex: Everyone who is wearing white stand over here. Everyone who is not wearing white, stand over there..." ) We practiced "Circling Up" outside with Mrs. Powers' class, and we can now circle up it in 10 seconds! Someone had the smart idea of everyone holding hands and then taking a step backwards. We drew self-portraits to hang in our classroom, and we practiced secret hand signals for asking to get a drink or going to the bathroom. We learned other important routines like closing our lockers quietly, "signing out" to go to the bathroom, and pushing our chairs in and picking up our areas.
Later in the day, we composed our list of good classroom rules, and we ended with Afternoon Meeting and Compliments. I think these kids are going to sleep well tonight. It's hard work creating a civilization :)
We are encouraging students to bring in water bottles and leave them here. Also, if your child brings something for snack or lunch that requires being ripped open, I'd like to suggest that he or she keep a small round-tipped scissors in their lunch box to be able to cut the item open.
Shhhh: Mr. Bolger is bringing in some class pets, but everyone is going to have to wait 'til tomorrow to see what they are.
Sleep well, everyone, and celebrate your successful first day back at school!
Mr. Bolger
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