May 11, 2015

May 11, 2015

Hello Parents!

First, Happy Belated Mother's Day! I hope all you moms and grandmas were treated right.

Well, we worked hard last week to finish up our fiction stories. We got them typed up, and I submitted a piece of writing from every child to the Scribe.  Now, we'll just have to wait and see who is fortunate enough to get featured. As I recall, it takes several weeks for the magazine to get put together and printed. It will be online for everyone to see, while kids whose writing is picked will receive a hardcopy.  I am proud of the writing all of these kids have done.

In Reading, I met with one of my  first-grade groups, and those kids brought books home to read tonight (hopefully) and return tomorrow.

In Writing, we got back to writing in our Home-School Journals. Now, with the Reading Restaurant and the Scribe behind us, we can return to our more every-day literary pursuits like writing back and forth with our moms and dads.

In Read-Aloud, Sam Gribley (My Side of the Mountain)  receives a visitor on Christmas Day. Ask your child who it is, and what news he brings Sam.

That's about it for now. Have a nice week, everyone!

Mr. B.

Ps:  Here is one of our recent fiction stories. It is by Miranda Stewart. Thanks, Miranda!

Stella the Star

by Miranda Stewart

Grade 1

Once there was a star named Stella. It was a really beautiful night, and all the stars were twinkling so bright, including Stella. 

Suddenly, Stella's light in her star went out. She was so, so, so sad, and  she suddenly burst into tears. Tomorrow night was the very, very, special Starlight, Star-bright show, and they were performing for a really famous star. He was so famous because he was the best actor in Starlight, Star-bright Village. Stella really wanted to perform. She hoped her light would be  back on by then.

The next day, all the stars woke up at sunrise. They all woke up early. They were excited because they had practice – including Stella. Then, just before the show, Stella's light came back on. She was so excited, and she performed! The really, really famous star loved it.  “Actually,” he told Stella, “it was outstanding and perfect.”

                                                                         The End

 

May 6, 2015

May 6, 2015

Hello Parents!

Today, we got caught up on "picking from the treasure chest".  We had many exotic items to choose from, and every student got a chance to pick  something to celebrate our reading over the last couple of months. Hooray!

In My Side of the Mountain, we read about how winter has come, and Sam suddenly realizes that he forgot to gather his firewood!.

We all forget to do things now and then (or more often!) and we learn over time to be more mindful about the things we need to do.  Talk to your child about Sam Gribley and what it would be like if you were living in a tree, and you got your first snowstorm of the year. What if it buried all the sticks you could use to make a fire and you had  forgotten to get your wood in before the snow? What would you do?  When you are out in nature, you HAVE to be mindful. You have to remember important things like that. Your life could depend on it. Ask your child if he or she thinks it's hard to remember things.  What does he or she do to help to remember (write a note to oneself?, make a chart? draw a picture? ) 

We are acting tomorrow! The Flynn theater is again sending their teacher-actress. Susanna Olson, to teach us how to have greater success with understanding our reading by acting it out! We had a blast last week. Tomorrow is going to be fun. If you are interested in coming in to participate, let me know.
We'd love to have you.

Mr. Bolger

March 24th

March 24, 2015

Notes from the Classroom.

Hello, Parents! 

1) Congratulations to our wonderful Odyssey of the Mind Team (including current and former Horizon students Lauren Davis, Jasper Wood, Boden Moreau, Nina Zimakas, and Wiley Tharp). They came in first place in their division at the recent meet for  Problem #4, "Losing Your Marbles."  See the photo below. We are so proud of you. Special thanks to Katrina Moreau and Deborah Miuccio, OM coaches. 

2) Tomorrow (Wednesday), we will be searching for animal tracks on our ABS nature path from about 1:00 pm. to 2:00 pm.  If you are interested in joining us, we'd love to have you :) Be sure to take your winter boots to school! 

3) Jumprope for Heart is this Friday, March 27th, for those who are participating.  

4) Horizon Reading Restaurant, an evening event celebrating our writing from this year, will take place on Tuesday, April 14th. There will be two shifts: 6:30-7:10 and  7:15-8:00 pm.  Our classroom will be outfitted in a woodland/pond-habitat scene.  The  kids will be invited to dress up (resourcefully, not expensively) as an animal of their choice. Your child will be in the first or the second shift. We will be choosing the shifts in the next couple of days. 

5)  We began "Typing Club" today during our Tech Lab time. The kids are beginning to learn their  home row: jfjfjfjfjjjjjfffff...

6) Last week, we did a fun experiment with pennies, tinfoil, and buckets of water. Ask your child about that. 

7) This week in writing, we are working hard to finish up or first full drafts of our Research papers. Stay tuned.

8) Conferences: if you haven't signed up  for one yet, please do by clicking on the first link below (class blog) and scrolling down to the conference schedule. See which times are free, and send me an email to lay claim to one of them. 

9) Reading Logs:  you should have a reading log (sent home in the Friday Folder on Friday) at home. Let me know if you don't have one. Many new toys in our treasure chest for this  week!  Read, read, read! 

10) Welcome back, Elsie! Our old classmate, Elsie is coming back from North Carolina to visit her friends at ABS!  Elsie and her mom, Leigh, are on the road right now, and they will be joining us on Friday morning to sing in the front hallway. Then, they will come down to the classroom. We can't wait. We have really missed Elsie!  

That's it for now! 

Mr. B.

March 16, 2015

Hello, Parents. Below you  will see a message about a new, student/teacher-focused, school-wide fundraiser raffle that is happening this week.

 I have a free raffle ticket for each of my students. Wednesday, during our library time they will get to  put their ticket in an envelope of their choice --- an envelope that corresponds to a one-on-one or small-group invitation/opportunity  being offered by an ABS teacher.

Please click on the blue(here)link below, and introduce your  child to the raffle choices.  That will help them be prepared for Wednesday. 

If your child wishes to buy tickets additional tickets (@ $0.25 apiece) you can send in the cash  or coinage, and they will be allowed to visit the library before Morning Meeting to purchase raffle tickets.

I'm sorry for all the fundraising during this season, but I think this is quite creative, it actually involves the children, it invites them to make a decision,   and it asks them what they LIKE out of all the choices available (giving you parents and giving us teachers an interesting  insight into what makes this  kid or that kid tick!).

Any amount is appreciated. If you could send in something like $2.00, that would buy your child eight tickets to choose many interests or maybe they'll just stuff one raffle box! 

Thanks, and good luck. 

____________________________________________________________

Hello Families,

FAP is excited that this week begins our first ever Lucky U activities raffle.  

In case you didn't have a chance to read up on it yet, here are a couple key details:

- Every student receives 1 free ticket

- Additional tickets are for sale all week at 25 cents each, with a suggested limit of $5

- Students will choose which activities they want to enter for a chance to win

We have been very fortunate that so many of the Williston Schools faculty and staff have volunteered their time, resources and creativity to come up with a wide range of choices for students to enter to win, some happening during the day at school and others taking place outside of school hours.  In order for you to be informed, and help your child make great choices you can view the options HERE.

Please let your teacher or FAP rep know if you have any questions.

March 15, 2015

Hello Parents! 

Wow! We have been busy. 

Can you help at home with your child's research?  We are hard at work on our animal-research papers. There is a section in your child's classroom research packet that says, "Come up with three cool facts about your animal." By that, I mean, "think about your animal, and think beyond what it eats and where it lives and what it looks like. Think instead about three interesting questions you have about your animal, and write down what you find. For example, if you are studying chimpanzees, you might wonder, "Can chimpanzees learn sign language the way gorillas can? Or you might ask about the dragonfly you are studying, "Are there dragonflies anywhere in the world that are poisonous? Or, do people eat dragonflies anywhere in the world?" Since kids usually need guidance to think out of the box on topics like this,parents, you can really help them -- both with coming up with the interesting questions and with safely navigating the internet to find the answers.  So, please help your child this week on this task.  Then, send in via  email or hardcopy what you have discovered!  I hope we'll have most of our research writing done by Friday. 

The Horizon Band plays to sell-out crowd!   The WSD variety show, Friday, was a blast. The Horizon Band, including Erik Urch and Harry Bowen on guitars, played "I've Just Seen a Face" by  the Beatles, and "The Letter" by the Boxtops. I'll send the link in a follow-up email.  Also, congratulations to Adam Curtis for his violin performance and to many Horizon alumni who performed. Mrs. Powers and I felt so proud. 

The Big Basket Raffle: we need donations!   Because I was busy with the Variety Show, I guess, I fell a little behind on promoting our Big Basket Raffle. I will forward a flyer and an explanation to you right after I send this email.   Please consider donating. We don't have much time left.  Thanks, guys. Every little bit helps. 

Choose Your Own Adventure (last Friday).  I am sure you already heard all about your child's "Choose your own adventure"  adventure  on Friday. It was great fun for the teachers, too. I played snow soccer with the kids, and it was wonderful to interact with them in a whole new way. 

Conferences: see the schedule on our class blog, and email me your preferences for meeting times. 

Have an awesome  week, everyone. Looks like we have a lot of 41 degree days ahead of us. Hooray!  We have a "pool" going in the classroom. Every student has picked a day when they think the snow will entirely leave the  hill from  behind  our classroom. 

Ask your child which day he or she picked (and why). 

Mr. B.

Conference Sign-Up. Updated Sunday, March March 22nd

Hello Horizon Parents!  Here is the updated schedule for Parent-Teacher conferences.  Please email me if you wish to sign up for a slot or if you have any questions.

Looking forward to our conference!      (Updated: March 22nd)

Mr. Bolger

Friday, March, 13th

4:00 p.m. ____________________

4:30 p.m. ____________________

Tuesday, March 17th

4:30 p.m. Jamie Wilson (Megan)

5:00 p.m. Tammy and Kate Sevene (Kylee)

Wednesday, March 18th

4:00 p.m. The Urches (Isabella)

4:30 p.m. The Browns (Audrey)

Thursday, March 19th

3:00 p.m.

4:00 p.m. The Ackerlys (Will)

Friday, March 20th

3:00

3:30 The DeLucas (Nate)

4:00  The Mathises (Audrey)

Mon. March 23rd

7:00 The Curtises (Adam)

7:30 The Stewarts (Miranda)

8:00 ____________________

8:30 The Woods  (Jasper)

9:30 The Johnsons (Phin)  

10:00 The Wolnys (Hanna)  

10:30  ____________________

11:00   ____________________

11:30   ____________________

12:00 The Moreaus (Boden)

12:30 The Lamoreys (Greta)

1:00  _____________________

1:30  _____________________

3:00 _____________________

3:30 _____________________

4:00 _____________________

4:30 _____________________

Tues. March 24th

2:45 The Sheas (Quinlan)

4:00 ____________________
4:30  Jamie Wilson (Megan)

Wednesday, March 25th

3:00 Nikia Drown (Neaveh)

3:30 The Bowens (Deacon)

4:00 The Skapofs (Zoey)

Thursday, March 26th

3:00 Stephanie Martin (Blake) 

3:30 The Burnett-LeGrands. (Taeshaan)

4:00 ____________________

4:30 ____________________