Update January 8th

We will continue much of the same work that we started last week, this week.  With the warmer temperatures this week, we hope to get out to recess each day this week.  Students will need to have snow boots, snow pants, coats, gloves and hats in order to play in the snow.  Otherwise, they will play on the hardtop during recess time.

*In Math, we continue to focus on place value. Students are doing well with making exchanges when the ones place is 10 or higher.  A simple game that you can play at home is Dollar Exchange.  I will teach this game tomorrow during math.

One-Dollar Exchange: Players roll the dice and put the number of pennies on their Place-Value mats. Whenever possible, they exchange 10 pennies for 1 dime. The first player to make an exchange for $1 wins! 

*In Spelling, we are working on words that have digraphs.  Digraphs are when two consonants work together to produce a new sound, such as -ch, -sh and -th.

Looking Ahead:

No School, Monday, January 15th for Martin Luther King Jr. Day

No School, Tuesday, January 16th for Professional Development

We will have no spelling list the week of January 15th.

Update January 1st

Happy New Year! I hope you had time to rest and relax with family and friends over the holidays.  We will start back at school tomorrow (Tuesday.)  

*Students can continue to leave snow clothes at school throughout the week and take them home on the weekends if that works for you and your family.  However, as a reminder if the wind chill is not over 20 degrees, we won't go out for recess.  Fingers crossed that we may get out later on this week!

*Throughout the Winter, we will not visit our 4th grade Book Buddies at Crisafulli because of the weather.  Over the past several years, we've found it too difficult to travel during the winter months due to snow on the trail and cold weather.  Therefore, we will begin writing letters to our book buddies over the course of the next few weeks.   First graders will begin a new writing unit, Opinion Writing shortly.  Part of this unit is to learn to write a letter.  We will tie this into our correspondence with our Book Buddies.

*There will be no spelling list this week.  Spelling will start back up next week.

*In Math, we will begin the 5th unit of Everyday Math 2.  Our focus this week will be on place value.  We will use base 10 blocks and coins to study the ones and tens places.

*In Science, we will continue our study of Light and Sound.  This week, we'll how light is blocked, goes through or is reflected using different materials.

*In Writing, we continue to edit stories for punctuation, spelling and adding details.  We will transition to Opinion Writing mid-month.

Looking Ahead:

Monday, January 15th- No School MLK Jr. Day

Tuesday, January 16th- No School- Professional Development

Update December 18th

Our Family & Friends celebrated my daughter, Arya's 3rd birthday this weekend at The Maker Farm in Westford.  We had a fabulous time!

*This Thursday, Winter Party!  Looking forward to celebrating with the class.  Thank you to everyone that is volunteering or donating items!

*Friday P.M.- All school holiday sing-a-long.

No School December 25-January 1st.  We will return to school on Tuesday, January 2nd.

*Last week, we spent most of the week indoors due to the temperature.  Just for reference, we do not send kids out to recess if the temperature/wind chill is below 20 degrees.  I hope we can get out and enjoy some fresh air this week! If you would like your child to leave their snow clothes at school each day during the week, please discuss this with your child and let them know it's okay to do so!  It can be a lot of work for them to carry snow clothes in big bags back and forth to school each day.  I'm happy to have kiddos leave their snow clothes at school and make sure they go home every Friday.  If this is something you want your child to do, just let them know.  Otherwise I'll continue to have them bring them back and forth.

*Thank you for sending water bottles in each day!  It's really helpful for the kids to have water bottles at their tables throughout the day for our frequent water breaks!

*Last week, we finished up Unit 4 in Math.  This week, we will catch up with math journal pages we've missed, play games to increase our fact fluency and combinations of 10.  I will also meet with students individually to quickly assess their fact fluency to better group them in math groups for our math rounds.

*There will be a spelling list this week but no spelling the week we get back from vacation.

*In Science, we will continue to talk about instruments or natural objects that make light.  Students will work to write their own light book during Science this week.

*We will continue learning about holidays this week.  Our focus this week will be on:

*Las Posadas

*Kwanzaa

*Diwali
*Hanukkah

*Christmas

*I want to wish you and your families a happy winter break.  Thank you for all you to do to support your child at school.  They are all excelling and showing great growth.  Thank you!

Update December 11th

*This Tuesday, we will have school store for first grade in the morning.

*We will begin to learn about Fall/Winter holidays this week and next.  The holidays we will focus on throughout the next two weeks are:

Diwali

Hanukkah

Las Posadas

Kwanzaa

Christmas
*If there is a winter holiday your family celebrates that's not on this list please let me know.  I would love to add a holiday your family celebrates to our list to learn about!

*In Math, we will finish Unit 4 of Everyday Math.  Our focus this week will be on combinations of 10, adding 3 numbers together and 10 more/10 less.

*In Writing, we will continue to talk about adding ending punctuation, adding fancy words and details to our stories.

*In Science,  we will begin a new unit called "Light and Sound." This week, we will observe how light can help you see.  We will play a game called "spotlight," observe different types of light and write a story about light.

*As our weather turns to snow in the forecast, please remember that students need proper attire to play in the field at recess.  Please consider sending in snow attire in a reusable shopping bag with your child's name on it.    Reusable shopping bags stand up on their own and do not break which is helpful in our crowded coat room.  In order to play in the field, students need:  boots, snowpants, a winter coat and gloves.

*We will welcome our first Mystery Reader and Parent Volunteers to our classroom this week!  Thank you for helping out!  Volunteer time will be a combination of clerical work and working with the kids!

*Progress Reports will be available for parents to view in iPortal starting at 4pm on Friday, December 15th. 

Looking Ahead:

*Thursday, December 21st 2:00 Winter Party

We will have our holiday party this day.  I will send an email early this week with volunteer and donation information for this party.

Monday, December 25-Monday, January 1st- No School

We will return to school on Tuesday, January 2nd.

Update December 3rd

*This Thursday, December 7th is a 12:20pm Early Release.  We will have snack in the morning.

*In Math, we will work on double facts (2+2, 4+4,) explore with shapes and practice combinations of 10.

*In writing, we will work on adding fancy words and interesting endings to our stories.

*Thank you for sending in donations for the class to create businesses.  We will finish up making goods and hope to sell to our classmates (using my school coins) on Thursday.

*We will begin collecting new hats, mittens and scarves for children that need them this week and next week.  The Kindergartners will sort and count the number of items we receive!

*Thank you for all of your donations for the Turkey Trot to benefit our school!  We raised over $5000 (wow!) We will celebrate with a school wide dance party in the Spring.

*I will begin planning our Winter Party soon and will be in touch with parents that have requested to volunteer or donate items.  If you're interested in planning the party, please let me know!  The Winter Party is scheduled for Thursday, December 21st at 2:00pm.

Looking Ahead:
No School December 25-January 1st.  We will be back in school January 2nd.

Update November 27th

*I hope you had a great Thanksgiving weekend!  I know my family is excited to move onto the holidays now.  We picked out our Christmas tree yesterday! 

*In Spelling we will continue with King-Ed words.  We also have a few tricky power words on our list, including ARE (so very tricky!)

*In Math, we are continuing our work with non-standard units of measurement.  Today, we measured using pencils of varying lengths.  The kids aren't sure if pencils are the best measurement tool.

*In Social Studies, we are beginning to make goods for our businesses.  Please consider donating the following items to our classroom to help with businesses:

*glitter glue

*sequins

*letter beads

*empty toilet paper rolls

*empty paper towel rolls

*balloons

*ribbon

*cardstock

Items donated do not have to be new.  We'll gladly take your scraps or extras!

*This Wednesday, November 29th will be our Turkey Trot in the afternoon from 1:45-2:45.  We are very close to making our $5000 goal!  Please dress students for the weather (right now the forecast is 52 degrees and sunny!) Please also send in a water bottle, clearly marked with your child's name to use while we're outside.  Here's a video made by staff to get kids excited for the trot! https://vimeo.com/244086517

*On Friday, we will welcome our Book Buddies to Robinson for our monthly meetings!

*You will begin to see books coming home more frequently from me, 2-5 times a week!  Please have your child check the reading pocket of their BEE Binder each night to check for books.  It's helpful to have all books returned the next day.  Thanks!

Update November 19th

This is a very short week at school.  I hope you are able to enjoy some time with family and friends over the long weekend.

*Monday, November 20th- 2 Hour Delay.  School begins at 11:05.  Students will head right out to recess and lunch.  Parent/Teacher Conferences begin at 8:15am.

*Tuesday, November 21st- No School.  Parent/Teacher Conferences begin at 2:00pm.

*Wednesday, November 22nd- 12:20pm Early Release.  

Robifulli Turkey Trot 10:15-11:15am.  We will run, walk and dance around the field to raise money for our school.  Please dress students for the weather.  Currently the forecast is 48 degrees and rainy.