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!

This free picture slideshow personalized with Smilebox

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.

A free picture slideshow by Smilebox

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!

Title 1 Support Update

Here is an important message for all students who may be eligible for Title 1 support services:
 Title 1 services are starting next week.  If you received a permission slip in the mail, please return it to school as soon as possible.  If you did not receive a permission slip in the mail, your child is not eligible to receive services this trimester.  Please contact Lynn Mazza at 233-5239 or https://csdmail.csdvt.org/owa/redir.aspx?C=890c447747c148a8a62fb869944c8bd8&URL=mailto%3amazzal%40csdvt.org if you have any questions.

Some Second Week Activities

We have been first graders for 7 days, and it feels that we have done so much already! We have played group games outside on the field, opened sections of the classroom library and begun to read "Good Fit" books. We have begun stations exploring math tools and games, used puzzles, markers, crayons, and paint. We have begun Readers' Workshop, Writers' Workshop, word study, and math routines with counting and the calendar. We have also begun a big portrait painting project called "The Colors of Us," which you will see more of in future posts as it comes together. Below you will see some photos from this week.
*Please make sure to send in signed blog permission slips so that I am able to post photos of all students and some of the great shots of our whole class together!
A note for the weeks to come: Our dismissal at the end of the day can be lengthy and students are often hungry at the end of the day. This week I let bus students sit and eat an afternoon snack while waiting to be dismissed, if they had left over snack. The pick-up and ACE students leave so quickly that they do not get a chance to eat during dismissal but most bus riders do have some time. Most students have been taking this opportunity to have an afternoon snack, so please consider packing a little bit extra in snack bags for this afternoon snack. Thank you!
Have a wonderful weekend!>

Two birthday boys holding our class Birthday Bag!

We have begun learning to care for our books and decorated our own unique book boxes to store the books we are reading.

These students are drawing and writing something for the student of the day

These girls are using a template to draw geometric shapes

I love this photo because you can see some students in the front at a math pattern block station, and some students in the background at a painting station with me!We are starting a portrait painting project called "The Colors of Us"Painting backgrounds for "The Colors of Us"Here students are building and patterning with pattern blocks!

First Week of School!

Wow! We just finished a fantastic first week of first grade, and by the end of the day Friday I could tell that the children and I were all ready for some extra sleep this weekend! Our first three days as first graders were filled with learning routines, learning to care for our classroom, and learning about our learning materials and each other!
We won't be fully into our regular daily schedule for a couple of weeks, but I will try to regularly post pictures and some blurbs that explain what we are working on and learning about! Though we will not be following our regular schedule yet, we are hard at work becoming a community of first grade learners! Our first theme unit in first grade is called All About Me. We are reading books and creating projects helping us to celebrate ourselves and our friends as we become a classroom community.  We have just begun a self-portrait project that we will work on over the next few weeks to have ready for Open House!
Here are a few questions that might help generate some discussion at home about the first few days of school:
What books have you read in class?
What did you write about for your page in the class book, How I Spent My Summer Vacation?
What math tools have you learned about?
Would you show me the song and dance called "Tootie Ta?"
How did you decorate your name tag?

********Photos of our class coming soon!*******