December 16, 2010
Dear Parents,
First off, watch the video of the kids singing The Horizon Cookie-Baking Company song. We recorded them singing it in class today, and you can see the clip by cutting and pasting this link into your browser:
http://voicethread.com/share/1606588/
Tomorrow is our bake sale. Thank you to all of your who are cooking today with your child, helping to sell tomorrow, or helping by buying the warm clothes to donate to the mitten tree.
Horizon House on Channel Five News! Monday, look for Ms.Schwartz, Mrs. Powers, and four Horizon House Students (including our very own Kayla Cousino) on the morning news. They will be delivering the warm clothes that all of you have made possible by the cooking and the selling of the baked goods.
ABS Holiday Food Drive: if you can spare it, send in a can of food with your child to donate to the ABS Holiday Food Drive. All the donations go to the Williston Food Pantry. Thanks in advance!
In Economics today, we learned more about the difference between goods and services, and we read about how firefighters, by protecting all of us, are an example of people who provide a service to the community.
In 2nd Grade Math, students are learning "all the math facts in the world" (up to 20) by making a giant chart of them and noticing all the patterns. They're also solving challenging word problems such as "John had some crayons. he gave 5 to Jen. Now, he has 7 crayons left. How many crayons did John have to start with?"
Another one they did today was,
“ Ruben has seven snowballs. Samantha has nine more snowballs than Ruben. How many snowballs do they have in all?
We realized that it really helps if we use unifix cubes or pennies as our snowballs. That way, you can act out the problem as you’re reading it – and get to the answer. Second-Grade parents, challenge your child to explain to you using coins or a diagram how he or she would solve one of these two problems.
Continental Math: 2nd graders have been tackling some tough math problems and learning great strategies for taking them apart and solving them. Thanks again, Horizon-Parent CML Coaches
In 1st Grade Math, Students are on unit 3. The unit is called Lobster Legs and Whale Tails
This unit helps children continue to develop a solid understanding of basic operations and place value in the context of problem solving. They start with the crab problems that were introduced in unit two and then end up creating new problems using some lobsters. Then Mrs. Powers introduced a collection of games and activities designed to provide practice with addition facts to 10 and counting sums of money to 25 cents. The children have been doing a lot of sorting and graphing using some sea creatures. The upcoming lessons will focus on multiples of 2, 5, and 10. They will have opportunities to count and compare small collections of nickels, dimes and pennies. First-Grade parents: feel free to get out some money at home and have your child identify the coin and sort them into groups. Then have them count the coins by 1's, 5's and 10's.
In their Fundations class, the 2nd graders are learning the difference between there and their. They are also learning that in the words hunted spilled and splashed the endings sound very different, but they are all spelled with -ed.
Polar Express in Pajamas on Wednesday!
We will be watching the Polar Express on Wednesday as part of our holiday celebration. We will watch it and drinking hot chocolate for about an hour and a half in the morning. We are inviting the kids to wear their pajamas to school on Wednesday as a celebration of the hard work they have been doing over the last several weeks. There will be an official flyer in Friday's folder. Does anyone have any extra “hot cocoa” powder they’d like to donate for this event?
That’s about it for now. Stay warm, everyone.
David
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Monday, December 13, 2010
December 13, 2010
Hello Parents!
A few notes:
1) The kids did a great job today presenting our advertisement for our upcoming bake sale. They presented, and then they sang the Horizon Baking Company song to our neighbors in Harmony House. The bake sale, as most of you know, is taking place on Friday -- from the morning sing-along through lunch and after school. We'll be doing shifts.
2) As part of our Economics unit, students, on Friday, did a lesson called, "Camp Mini-Haha" where everyone pretended they were going to go on a camping trip and needed to buy some essential items and some optional items. the classroom was turned into a store. Instead of real camping gear, we had several hundred cards laying on tables depicting, for example, different models of tents for different prices. Students were given $200.00 and needed to create a smart and frugal shopping list including food, a tent, etc.
It was a blast.
3) For our read-aloud book, we are reading a book called Toys Go Out (2006) by Paul Zelinsky. It's a book about a handful of stuffed animals who start out inside a backpack that "smells like a wet bathing suit." Later, Lumphy, the buffalo, gets peanut butter all over him. The stuffed animals debated: Is food on a stuffed animal dirt? "It's just food," says Lumphy. "It's not dirt." "Nope. Food is dirt," says Stingray, "when it's mashed into your fir it's dirt." We debated that question too.
Well, Lumphy is scared to death of the washing machine, not to mention the basement where his stuffed-animal friends tell him there are things like spiders and ghosts and sharks and things. Today we read about how Lumphy hides in the closet in the girl's soccer shoe (head-first) so he won't have to get washed. But, he gets stuck, and now, who knows when anyone will find him and get him out.
Kids shared how they would have this problem turn out if they were the authors. Ask your child how they think it's going to turn out for Lumphy.
4) At-Home Reading: students picked their five books today from our class library to put in their cubbies and read during the week. Many also had a chance to choose two books to sign out and take home. If your child didn't bring home books today, he or she will finish choosing tomorrow. Please help your child collect and bring back classroom books he or she has finished.
5) There will be a half day tomorrow.
7) My apologies for being out of touch for the last three weeks or so . I didn't write during Report Card/Conference time, and then the Bolger family got hit by the bug, and it's rattled through all of us in the last ten days or so. But we're on the mend, now, and I'm glad to be reconnecting with you about all that's happening in here.
Take care, everyone.
David
A few notes:
1) The kids did a great job today presenting our advertisement for our upcoming bake sale. They presented, and then they sang the Horizon Baking Company song to our neighbors in Harmony House. The bake sale, as most of you know, is taking place on Friday -- from the morning sing-along through lunch and after school. We'll be doing shifts.
2) As part of our Economics unit, students, on Friday, did a lesson called, "Camp Mini-Haha" where everyone pretended they were going to go on a camping trip and needed to buy some essential items and some optional items. the classroom was turned into a store. Instead of real camping gear, we had several hundred cards laying on tables depicting, for example, different models of tents for different prices. Students were given $200.00 and needed to create a smart and frugal shopping list including food, a tent, etc.
It was a blast.
3) For our read-aloud book, we are reading a book called Toys Go Out (2006) by Paul Zelinsky. It's a book about a handful of stuffed animals who start out inside a backpack that "smells like a wet bathing suit." Later, Lumphy, the buffalo, gets peanut butter all over him. The stuffed animals debated: Is food on a stuffed animal dirt? "It's just food," says Lumphy. "It's not dirt." "Nope. Food is dirt," says Stingray, "when it's mashed into your fir it's dirt." We debated that question too.
Well, Lumphy is scared to death of the washing machine, not to mention the basement where his stuffed-animal friends tell him there are things like spiders and ghosts and sharks and things. Today we read about how Lumphy hides in the closet in the girl's soccer shoe (head-first) so he won't have to get washed. But, he gets stuck, and now, who knows when anyone will find him and get him out.
Kids shared how they would have this problem turn out if they were the authors. Ask your child how they think it's going to turn out for Lumphy.
4) At-Home Reading: students picked their five books today from our class library to put in their cubbies and read during the week. Many also had a chance to choose two books to sign out and take home. If your child didn't bring home books today, he or she will finish choosing tomorrow. Please help your child collect and bring back classroom books he or she has finished.
5) There will be a half day tomorrow.
7) My apologies for being out of touch for the last three weeks or so . I didn't write during Report Card/Conference time, and then the Bolger family got hit by the bug, and it's rattled through all of us in the last ten days or so. But we're on the mend, now, and I'm glad to be reconnecting with you about all that's happening in here.
Take care, everyone.
David
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
October 19, 2010
October 19, 2010
Dear Parents and Families,
We have been writing up a storm this week. Today, we talked about how a story can be as simple as you telling about something funny you saw; it could be something you notice that someone has said. You decide to tell someone what you heard. That’s a story.
When you open your eyes and notice the cool things that are happening around you --- your story practically writes itself. I had kept a journal on the amazing things that came out of my kids’ mouths when they were young. I ended up typing it up, and I have been reading from it this week. I have been pleased to see that the kids have gotten excited: “I’ve got a story!” cried Jagger this morning. “Can I tell it?” And when he told it, it was a great story. “Write it down!” we all said, and by the end of writing time, Jagger had written four stories. Many others followed suit – telling their stories and then sitting down to purposefully write them. We also focused on using “talking marks” (quotes) and writing what people say to give the story energy.
In the coming days, I would like to begin a home-school journal wherein your child writes to you from school, and then your homework is to read it and write back. More on this next week.
In Reading, we are working in reading groups (“guided reading”). Here is where I challenge students with books with more challenging text and more unpredictable storylines. Meanwhile, other students are reading books at their desks independently (books that are “just right” for them; they can read them comfortably on their own.) And of course, there is the at-home reading. Your child should have come home with this week’s reading log. Please fill it out and return it on Monday.
Your child’s reading level:
I am going to need a few more days to email your child’s assessed reading level to all of you. It’s been a surprisingly-busy week. In the meantime, I have let your child know what book level (by letter) I think is a good one for him or her (each book should have a letter written in the top right-hand corner – the letters go from A to Z and are roughly associated with grade-level from K to grades 7 and 8). You can look at the books your child is bringing home to get a quick look at his or her assessed independent reading level at the beginning of this year. Here is a chart that tells how the letter roughly correlates with grade-level (of course there are overlaps.)
A-C= Kindergarten
B-I = Grade One
H-M = Grade Two
L-P = grade Three
O-T = Grade Four
S-W = Grade Five
V-Y = Grade Six
X-Z = Grade Seven, Eight, and Above
Do you wonder if a certain book is the right independent level for your child? Look here before hitting Barnes and Noble. You can go on the Scholastic website to make sure you’re not overshooting or undershooting. Scholastic has a leveling database; if you type in the name of a book, then click on the book’s image, they’ll tell you the letter associated with the reading level. Fountas and Pinnell also has a database on their website (it’s excellent), but they charge you about $15.00 for 20 visits.
Here is how you access the Scholastic Database:
1. Google Scholastic Book Leveling
2. (There is no login necessary)
3. Go to the top where it says Shop by Grade and Search
4. In the Search window, type the name of the book you are leveling.
5. When the book image appears, click on it.
6. Find the Guided Reading Level on the left.
7. Jot that reading level in the top right-hand corner of our hard-copy book.
Good luck. This should be helpful.
Speaking of Scholastic, you should have received in your child’s folder an instruction sheet on how to order Scholastic books online. Let me know if you have any questions. It’s a smart way to order: no lost checks or order forms.
Timeliner: Today, your child also brought home a brief “Timeliner” project as part of our study of “Today and Long Ago.” Please fill this out over the break and return it on Monday, too. I have enclosed a sample of the final product in the Friday Folder. Thanks for helping.
Our Stone Soup Harvest Festival was a rousing success today. We ate delicious soup and bread, and we dosey-doed around the garden to some awesome fiddle music. Special thanks to Kim Van Buren for ladling out the soup for hungry mouths!
Take care, everyone.
David
Dear Parents and Families,
We have been writing up a storm this week. Today, we talked about how a story can be as simple as you telling about something funny you saw; it could be something you notice that someone has said. You decide to tell someone what you heard. That’s a story.
When you open your eyes and notice the cool things that are happening around you --- your story practically writes itself. I had kept a journal on the amazing things that came out of my kids’ mouths when they were young. I ended up typing it up, and I have been reading from it this week. I have been pleased to see that the kids have gotten excited: “I’ve got a story!” cried Jagger this morning. “Can I tell it?” And when he told it, it was a great story. “Write it down!” we all said, and by the end of writing time, Jagger had written four stories. Many others followed suit – telling their stories and then sitting down to purposefully write them. We also focused on using “talking marks” (quotes) and writing what people say to give the story energy.
In the coming days, I would like to begin a home-school journal wherein your child writes to you from school, and then your homework is to read it and write back. More on this next week.
In Reading, we are working in reading groups (“guided reading”). Here is where I challenge students with books with more challenging text and more unpredictable storylines. Meanwhile, other students are reading books at their desks independently (books that are “just right” for them; they can read them comfortably on their own.) And of course, there is the at-home reading. Your child should have come home with this week’s reading log. Please fill it out and return it on Monday.
Your child’s reading level:
I am going to need a few more days to email your child’s assessed reading level to all of you. It’s been a surprisingly-busy week. In the meantime, I have let your child know what book level (by letter) I think is a good one for him or her (each book should have a letter written in the top right-hand corner – the letters go from A to Z and are roughly associated with grade-level from K to grades 7 and 8). You can look at the books your child is bringing home to get a quick look at his or her assessed independent reading level at the beginning of this year. Here is a chart that tells how the letter roughly correlates with grade-level (of course there are overlaps.)
A-C= Kindergarten
B-I = Grade One
H-M = Grade Two
L-P = grade Three
O-T = Grade Four
S-W = Grade Five
V-Y = Grade Six
X-Z = Grade Seven, Eight, and Above
Do you wonder if a certain book is the right independent level for your child? Look here before hitting Barnes and Noble. You can go on the Scholastic website to make sure you’re not overshooting or undershooting. Scholastic has a leveling database; if you type in the name of a book, then click on the book’s image, they’ll tell you the letter associated with the reading level. Fountas and Pinnell also has a database on their website (it’s excellent), but they charge you about $15.00 for 20 visits.
Here is how you access the Scholastic Database:
1. Google Scholastic Book Leveling
2. (There is no login necessary)
3. Go to the top where it says Shop by Grade and Search
4. In the Search window, type the name of the book you are leveling.
5. When the book image appears, click on it.
6. Find the Guided Reading Level on the left.
7. Jot that reading level in the top right-hand corner of our hard-copy book.
Good luck. This should be helpful.
Speaking of Scholastic, you should have received in your child’s folder an instruction sheet on how to order Scholastic books online. Let me know if you have any questions. It’s a smart way to order: no lost checks or order forms.
Timeliner: Today, your child also brought home a brief “Timeliner” project as part of our study of “Today and Long Ago.” Please fill this out over the break and return it on Monday, too. I have enclosed a
Our Stone Soup Harvest Festival was a rousing success today. We ate delicious soup and bread, and we dosey-doed around the garden to some awesome fiddle music. Special thanks to Kim Van Buren for ladling out the soup for hungry mouths!
Take care, everyone.
David
Friday, October 8, 2010
October 8, 2010
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
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 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
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