Holiday Sing-along and Party

Wednesday, December 21 everyone at UMS had lots of holiday fun! We had a whole-school sing-along in the morning where our music teacher, Ms. Mutz, led everyone in singing lots of songs about Christmas, Hannukah, and Kwanzaa that the students had practiced during music class. We finished the sing-along with the teachers getting up to do a surprise rendition of Jingle Bell Rock! In the afternoon each classroom had a party. Our class made Rudolph craft projects, taught our parents and siblings how to play the driedel game, had our own sing-along, and finished with some wonderful treats! Thank you to all of the family members who joined our party! It is always so nice to have you spend time in our classroom! I hope your holiday break was lots of fun and we will see you in the New Year!

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Holiday Projects

Over the past two weeks our class has been learning about different December holidays, reading many wonderful holiday books and creating lots of fun crafts projects. We made paper poinsettias, paper plate santas, 3D Christmas trees, paper wreaths, thumb-print Rudolph cards, and hand-tracing menorahs. When I told the class that I would be making a blog post about this the kids asked me to write a request that you not look at the photo slideshow until Christmas! Many of them have been taking these projects home to hide away as gifts. So this is your "spoiler alert!" The photos below show the class making our varous holiday projects!

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Magnets

For the past three weeks our class has been studying magnets! We have been reading books and conducting experiments to discover many of the fascinating ways that magnets work! We learned about types of magnets and how magnets attract and repel. Children experimented to discover that magnets are strongest at their poles, a small magnet can sometimes be stronger than a large magnet, and only some types of metals attract to magnets. We also learned that the earth is a giant magnet! During certain experiments we practiced predicting the outcome before we conducted the actual experiment. Students predicted which objects would "stick" to their magnet and which objects could be placed between a magnet and a paper clip without preventing the magnet from attracting the paperclip. Our book of experiments is coming home tonight so you can see many of the things we learned! We had so much fun with this unit! If you ask, your child should be able to tell you the meaning of the vocabulary: magnet, attract, repel, north pole, south pole, compass, and force.

I have added new photos to our magnet experiment slideshow, so even if you have seen it before, give it another look!

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NED

This past Friday November 18 all of the students at UMS got to watch a very cool assembly called The NED Show! NED stands for Never Give Up, Encourage Others, and Do Your Best. The performance was a very funny, one man story teller who told the children a fast-paced, interactive story focused on doing your best, treating others the way you want to be treated, and never giving up until you reach your goals. Throughout the entire story he did some really fantastic yo-yo tricks that complemented the story and showed the children that you can really learn to do some amazing things if you keep practicing! Below are a few photos from the NED show! Be sure to ask your child about the performance. It was a hoot and we all loved it!

Thanksgiving Projects

This past week our class did several projects to get us thinking about Thanksgiving and feeling thankful. We have been working on Small Moments stories during writers' workshop, so this week each child wrote a story about a time when they felt thankful. We also made Thanksgiving trees, where we each colored a tree, wrote things that we are thankful for on paper leaves, then pasted them to our trees to show the many things we treasure in our lives. Many of the leaves said things like "my family," "my home," "my cat," or "my brother." This was a very sweet project! Our class finished the week by making big paper turkeys, which many of you saw hanging outside of our classroom door at conferences yesterday! Below are some photos of us working on these projects.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Turkey Trouble!

Today our class did the first of a few fun Thanksgiving projects that we will complete over the next week! We read two silly books called Turkey Trouble and Run, Turkey, Run, both about turkeys who find funny ways to escape the farmer who is trying to make his Thanksgiving meal! We finished the day by making cookie turkeys using an oreo, candy corn, and some other little goodies to make a turkey face. Our turkeys did not have a very long life span! You can see our photos below!

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Harvest Party

On Friday October 28 classes at UMS had harvest parties to celebrate the season! Students in our class made black cat and "candy corn people" projects, ate treats, and danced to The Monster Mash! We had a very fun celebration with many parents and a few younger siblings coming to join us! There are some really great photos of our party below.

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Colchester High School Dramatic Performance

The week before Halloween a group of students from the high school drama department paid a visit to UMS! They put on a very funny Halloween skit about using team work. In the play a witch is trying to pick her giant pumpkin for Halloween, but it proves to be harder than she thought! She needs the help of her friends the vampire, the ghost, the mummy,and the bat to help her pick the pumpkin and make it into pumpkin pie.

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Fire Station Visit

October is Fire Safety Month and this week all four first grade classes are taking walking field trips to the Colchester Center Fire Station just up the street! Our class made the trip yesterday with Ms. Barnett's class and we learned so much! We got to explore different fire trucks, learned about some of the equipment kept in the trucks, and we learned all about the uniform that fire fighters wear when they respond to a fire. We also learned ways to be fire safe and how to make a fire safety plan and practice it at home. Below are some photos from our trip!

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Guidance

Guidance update from Mrs. McCleary

We have just finished up a guidance unit that focuses on some of the necessary skills needed to be a successful student. We have read several really great books! Ask your child about My Mouth is a Volcano which deals with learning how to not interrupt or Personal Space Camp which explores the idea about personal space and not “popping someone’s comfort bubble”. Both of these skills are important in creating a comfortable learning environment where everyone respects the needs of others.

A Bad Case of Tattle Tongue is another great book that we read recently. Tattling is something that lots of first graders struggle with. It is difficult for them to figure out when is it tattling and when is it reporting so we think about the Tattle Rules.
1.) If it is dangerous then you must tell an adult.
2.) Have you tried to solve it on our own first? If not, you need to try two ways to solve it before you ask for help from an adult.
3.) Is it a now or later problem?
4.) M.Y.O.B. Mind Your Own Business. If it is not dangerous and it doesn’t involve you stay out of it.

Hopefully your child will be able to carry this learning over from school to home!

Sylvester and the Magic Pebble

On Monday morning all of the first grade classes at UMS took a trip to the Flynn Theater in Burlington to see the play Sylvester and the Magic Pebble. We had listened to the book Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig read aloud to us last Friday when we had a guest reader in the room. Listening to the story read before seeing the play helped us build background knowledge about what we were going to see. When we returned from the theater each student thought about what they would wish for if we were to find a magic pebble! Each of us created a page for a class book showing what our wishes would be.

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Updated links

Happy Friday!

Today I added links to the "Literacy Links" and "Math Links" tabs on our classroom blog. I also began teaching the children how to access the school website, find our blog, and click the links to play math games. This is really exciting because if the children play math and literacy games on the blog at school and really enjoy them, they can go home and play the same ones from your home computer!

I also added a link under the "Literacy Links" tab to a website called "Spelling City." This website is fantastic because it enables you to enter the Red Words and word family words (this week we worked on the "-ag" family) your child brings home each week, then play games with them. The website generates games and activities using the words you enter! What a better way to practice the weekly spelling list!

One more fantastic link under the "Literacy Links" tab is Storyline Online. This is a HUGE hit in our classroom (just ask your child!). The site is a collection of popular children's books read aloud by famous actors (such as Betty White and James Earl Jones). Everyday at snack time we use the smartboard to watch/listen to one of these books outloud. Now you can watch them at home too!

Keep checking the tabs for new additions. I will keep adding things as I discover more great learning tools!

Guest Read Aloud

Today our class had a special guest come read to us in class. One of the officers from the Colchester Police Department took some time out of his busy day to read the story Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig. We are hoping to have an officer come read to us once a month on Thursday or Friday afternoons! This is such a fun way to make a positive connection with important people in our community. It is also nice to hear different voices reading to us from time to time!

On Monday October 17 our class will be attending the play Sylvester ant the Magic Pebble at the Flynn Theater. Reading the book today helped us to build background knowledge about what we are going to see at the theater!

The Colors of Us

Our first social studies theme in first grade is called "All About Me." During this unit first graders learn about themselves, their friends, why we are all special, and how we can all work together! At the beginning of the school year each class read a book called The Colors of Us which shows a child's creative look at how we all look different and are all special and unique. During the month of September we worked hard to create self portraits similar to the ones in the book. We learned that by mixing white, brown, black, red, and yellow paint together in different proportions we are able to make a range of skin colors. We started our project by decorating name plates and painting background paper, then painting paper to look like our skin colors. We cut out heads, necks, noses, and ears from our skin colored paper. To finish we picked the hair and eye color that we thought best suited us and added these along with eyebrows, eyelashes, and lips to our paintings. Our end result was a collection of beautiful self portraits which were hung up in time for open house and are still decorating our wall! Below you will find photos of our process as well as the finished paintings!

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Guidance

Each Tuesday afternoon our school counselor, Mrs. McCleary, teaches a guidance lesson in our classroom. She brings books, posters, and projects to help us learn about important social skills that help us in first grade. So far this school year we have learned about waiting our turn to speak instead of interrupting, and tattling vs. reporting. Below are some photos of children in our class decorating their own "Tattling Rules" to take home.

Anchor Charts

As we establish our learning routines in the classroom the children and I have been creating anchor charts to remind us what to do. We talked about the way an anchor keeps a boat right where someone wants it, and learned that an anchor chart keeps our thoughts "anchored" to the idea we want to focus on while we are learning and practicing. Below are some examples of anchor charts we have created so far this year. We will continue to create anchor charts to help us all year!

Our School Rules

Ways to Read a Book

Guidlines for Independent Reading

What To Do When You Finish Writing

"When I'm done, I've only just begun"

Check Out the New Links On Our Blog!

At Curriculum Night last Thursday I promised updates to our classroom blog, making it more exciting and interactive. Today I began adding tabs to the top bar on the blog. There has always been the tab that says "Home," which shows my regular posts about what is going on in our class. Next to it you will start seeing additional tabs with permanent links, information, and other resources. Today I added a tab called "Math Links" which contains math games children can play to reinforce skills, and a tab called "UMS/CSD Links" which contains links to other blogs such as Mr. Antonicci, the specials teachers, the district spotlight, guidance, etc. This tab also contains a link to the school lunch menu so you always have access to what is coming up.

Please check in on these tabs as I may add new and interesting things to them! I will be adding new tabs as I have time. Be on the lookout for a tab with literacy games! I hope this makes our blog more enjoyable and gets the kids to visit the site as well as the grown-ups!

Our Teamwork Puzzle!

Last week our class read the book, Swimmy, by Leo Lionni, and over the past several days we have been putting together a teamwork puzzle. If you aren't familiar with Swimmy, it is a wonderful book about a group of tiny fish who learn to swim together, looking like one giant fish, so that they can swim through the ocean without being eaten. They chase the bigger fish away! Each little fish is an important piece of the the big shape. We created a giant fish puzzle on poster paper and worked together as a team to put it together. This helped us to work as a team and to see that if any of us were missing, the puzzle would be incomplete. We are all important team members in our first grade class! There is a photo of our puzzle below. Come see it this Thursday at our Open House!

Subscribing to the Blog

Happy Friday! You may have noticed that our classroom blog looks different. I have switched over to a blogspot address, and will slowly making the blog more interesting and interactive. One new thing you will find is that over on the right hand side of the blog there is an option to "follow by email." What you can do is to type your email address into the "follow by email" box, and an email will be sent to you each time I update our blog! That way you don't miss anything and also don't have to constantly check to see if I have added a post. I hope this helps us to stay more connected!

XOXO Mrs.Kelly

Math Stations

In first grade math will be structured as a mini-lesson, learning a new concept all together with the teacher, followed by rotating between varied math work stations to explore math tools and concepts. Some of these will include computer math games, building or patterning with math tools such as pattern blocks, shaped blocks, legos, or unifix cubes, working in the student math journal (a practice workbook), playing a group game with cards, money, dice, or other tools, practicing a new skill such as making tallies, making change, counting by groups, etc. Below are some photos of children working in math stations thus far in the year!

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EEKK Reading

Over the past two weeks our class has been working hard on the skills of being a respectful reader when reading independently and reading with a partner. We sometimes refer to partner reading as EEKK reading, which stands for "elbow to elbow, knee to knee," and reminds us of the way we sit when sharing a book with a friend. The kids have been practicing sitting side by side (elbow to elbow, knee to knee) and whisper reading one book as a team. Below are some cute photos of EEKK reading!

Constitution Day

Friday September 16 was Constitution Day. UMS students celebrated with an assembly led by Mrs. Barnett's class and discussions in class about what the United States Constitution is (we discovered that it is really like a list of rules for everyone who lives in the United States). This was great learning for everyone at the time of the year when we are all creating rules and expectations in our classrooms. Our class talked about why our country has rules and what some of them are. We talked about why people everywhere need to have rules and decided that rules really help us to stay safe, have fun, and learn new things! We then charted our three school rules (Be Safe, Be Kind, Do Your Best) and spent a week writing lots of examples for what it looks and sounds like when we are doing each one. We will put these on a poster, sign them, and hang them on the classroom wall to refer to all throughout first grade!
Below are some Constitution Day photos.

Hopes and Dreams

Happy last day of summer/almost  first day of autumn! The first six weeks of school in elementary grades are a wonderful time when we work hard to learn routines, become a team of learners helping each other to grow, and set goals for the year as we begin first grade curriculum. We have now been in first grade for 16 days and have decided on our classroom rules and our personal hopes and dreams for the year. Our next step is creating classroom jobs that will help us to take care of our room. Creating rules, hopes and dreams, and jobs with young children gives each one of them the opportunity to have a say in what goes on in our classroom and allows each child to take ownership for our space. Rules, goals, and jobs also allow us to add structure, accountability, and predictability to our classroom environment. Putting these things in place from the very beginning of school year will help us to Be Safe, Be Kind, and Do Our Best as we learn all year long!
Below you will see photos of each child's hope and dream for the year. Put your cursor over each photo to read their hope and dream.

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November Parent Conferences

Hello families! I am writing a clarifying note about conference sign-up forms. Everyone received two entirely by accident, so don't worry if you are feeling confused! I sent one home last week, then was sick with the flu for four days, and when I returned I completely forgot what I had done and sent them again! If you sent one in already, disregard the second copy!
Also, new lunch forms for the next two weeks went home today. I truly appreciate the ability to plan ahead and fill out paperwork ahead so the sooner you can return them, the easier it is for me. We have so much to do each day in class that having the lunch forms collected and tallied up early is a big help. It allows me to have my focus where it needs to be; on all of these eager first grade learners!

Some New Photos of Our Class

Practicing penmanship on our brand new mini-whiteboards.These kids used pattern block templates to make pictures out of geometric shapes!I love this photo of some of the class sharing books in our classroom library!I love this photo showing how well the kids have learned to sit and listen to each other during circle time!These kids used pattern block templates to make pictures out of geometric shapes!   I love this photo of some of the class sharing books in our classroom library!I love this photo showing how well the kids have learned to sit and listen to each other during circle time!These kids used pattern block templates to make pictures out of geometric shapes! I love this photo of some of the class sharing books in our classroom library!