Happy (Almost) Halloween!

The excitement has been building here, as I'm sure it has been at home ;)

Our work this week included making text-to-text connections, writing complete sentences, editing our writing, and streeeeeeetching out words so we can write them.  We continued practicing place value and computation, and did a bit of review with comparing numbers.  Some of the Trimester 1 targets we're working toward are counting to 120 by 1s, 5,s, and 10s, and writing pieces in sequence (beginning, middle, and end).

Special thanks to Zoe's family for donating two pumpkins to our classroom!  We used them for this week's STEM lesson as we discussed observation and how we use our senses to make observations about our world.  We focused on the senses of sight and touch for this lesson, and brainstormed words we can use when we write statements about our observations ("I see", "It feels", "I noticed", etc.).

On Tuesday, we will be attending an assembly in the morning up at the High School-please be sure that the kids wear comfy walking shoes :) .  In the afternoon, Sergeant Fulton will be here to talk about Halloween Safety with us.

On Wednesday, Sophia's mom will be here to guide us through a kids' yoga session!  Please help the kids choose clothes they can move in easily. :)

New book order forms are coming home today!  They are due November 9th (a Thursday-no school Friday the 10th).  Please be sure to submit them online or turn in a paper copy no later than that afternoon so I can place the whole order together.  Thanks!!  PS-I don't send a December order, as they don't always get back in time for the holidays.  If you would like to order books that will be given to your child as gifts, just let me know and I can stash them here until you're able to pick them up. :)  Our online classroom code is H63NZ.

The PTCFast link for conferences is now live: https://www.ptcfast.com/schools/Windham_Primary_School_1

Several of the kids have indicated that they are coming to the Fall Festival here at WPS this weekend! I am also hoping to get in one last kayak trek before the weather changes.  Whatever your weekend plans include, I hope you have time to relax and enjoy your family!

Becca

Hello!
What a beautiful autumn week we've had!  I hope you've all had a chance to get outside and enjoy it, especially this weekend!

We had a great week in 106C!  We compared versions of The Three Little Pigs, practiced identifying and writing complete sentences, and wrote about our observations of the seasonal changes outdoors.  Guest speakers from Windham Public Safety came to talk with us about being safe in case of a fire.  Our math work included more computation practice and discussing place value (ones, tens, and hundreds) and showing that we can use ten frames.  We had fun with Stuffie Day on Friday and are already working toward earning our next 25 Caught You Being Good cards!

 

 



Thank you for supporting the Caring for Classrooms fundraiser that went home last week!  Last year, our class raised over $400 for classroom materials, which provided us with books, a microscope, several math tools and games, and other items which this year's class uses and enjoys. :) . The classroom gets 100% of the donations-here's a link, if you would like more info: http://www.caringforclassrooms.net/cgi/SchoolResult?mode=init

Thank you for your book orders!  Another book order will go home next week.  Our classroom code is H63NZ.  Please submit book orders no later than the due date.  I am required to log in and approve/submit all parent online orders, which is much easier to do all at once :) .  We can also earn extra bonus points (which equals extra books for our classroom library) if our cumulative order reaches various points, so it is very helpful if all orders are submitted at one time.  Thank you!!

I know that several families expressed interest in volunteering-please review the volunteering letter from the last 2 weeks' blog notifications and send me your availability as soon as you can so that I can build a schedule and send it out.  Thanks!

Thank you also for turning in...
-Library books on Mondays
-white Reading Folders (with the books!) on Mondays
-Eagle News on Mondays, and
-the purple Homework Folder on the first Monday of the month. 

Please don't put notes, money, etc. in the white or purple folders-they should be sent in Eagle News or in a separate envelope to ensure that I will see them in time.  Thanks :)

AND-thank you for reading the blog!  :) :) :)

Don't forget to check the Upcoming Events calendar!  :)
Have a great rest-of-the-weekend!
Becca

Hello!
It was so great to have all of the kids back this week!  :)  I hope everyone had a chance to enjoy the long weekend!  Here in first grade, we worked with vowel teams, talked about schema connections, and tried our first Estimating lesson with some autumn "leaves".  Our addition and subtraction of basic facts with sums and differences within 20 are becoming much more fluent, and we had a blast during STEM on Thursday as we made predictions about the chemical changes in a piece of apple if it is left out in the air, sealed in a container, or immersed in lemon juice.  Our lab report is in this week's Eagle News.

 

 

We earned our first 25 "Caught You Being Good" cards!  The class voted to have Bring Your Stuffie to School Day!  We will do this next Friday, October 20th.  Please help your child choose one stuffed animal that he or she can fit in his or her backpack.  Thanks!

 

Next week, we'll be learning about fire safety and bus safety!

 



My kids and I saw so many things in New York that I wished I could show our class in person.  One of the most special things was an amazing butterfly garden in Battery Park-I thought of our class butterfly right away!  Just imagine this picture x 50:

 

 

 



Everyone looked terrific for Picture Day!  :)  Retakes will be November 21st.

 

Have a wonderful October weekend!  I'm going to a teacher's conference tomorrow with my daughter, who is doing her educator internship at WMS.  :)  Hope you find something exciting to do, too!

 

Becca

 



 

 

Hello!
It was a very quiet week here in first grade, with several of us under the weather...hopefully the long weekend will give everyone a chance to recover and come back ready for some fun October activities next week!  Here's a sneak peek at our STEM lesson for next Thursday and a hint about a new piece of equipment in our classroom...can you guess what it is?

We enjoyed reviewing the concept of a cycle during STEM, practiced addition and subtraction during Math and learned about graphing, and continued working on some writing pieces in our Writing folders.  Some of us moved to a new level in Reading as well.

Thank you for your book orders-they are set to arrive tomorrow or early next week.  :)

School Picture Day for first grade is Thursday!  Don't forget to check out the Upcoming Events here on the blog for other important dates :) .

I hope you have some exciting plans for the weekend!  I'm looking forward to reading at the Children's Museum tonight for Joyful Children's Day, then my kids and I are headed to New York City for the weekend. 
Whatever your plans, enjoy your time together!
Becca

Happy October!

Can you believe we have already been in school for a month???  The days are flying by!!!

This week, we worked more with ten frames and addition facts!  We also started switching classrooms for WIN (What I Need) time, tried out our new Daily Five literacy routine, talked about "watermelon" and "seed" stories in Writing, and enjoyed learning about chemical and physical reactions during STEM time on Thursday!  Our lab reports are in Eagle News today-be sure to ask us about our experiment!

Many thanks to our friend Zoe and her family for our butterfly experience!  .

Thank you for returning homework books in the white Reading Folder on Mondays!  The purple homework folder with the homework menu and Reading Incentive calendar are due on the first Monday of the month.  Many people choose to keep the purple folder right inside the white one, which is fine.  Please make sure that your first grader keeps his or her reading books in the white folder when they are not using them.  Thanks!

I hope you have a great weekend!  Next Friday I'll be reading aloud at the Children's Museum of Maine between 4 and 8 PM for Joyful Children's Day (10AM-8PM)-maybe I'll see you there!

Becca

Happy Friday!
It was a whirlwind week with new learning, review of past learning, and our anticipation of the arrival of autumn!
We looked back at short vowel sounds a bit this week, and enjoyed a couple of episodes of "Between the Lions" to help us with that work.  Next week we'll move on to vowel teams and "kite" and "jelly bean" words.  We started to delve into the steps of story writing, and wrote five more Leader Books (one more week and we will all have had a turn to be the leader!)  In Math, we reviewed ten frames and played a fun tens-and-ones game with a giant die:

 

On Thursday, we had our first outdoor safety drill and a fun STEAM (adding Art to our usual STEM) activity.  We learned the parts of a butterfly's life cycle and their body as well-head, thorax, and abdomen.  Then, we created our own butterflies to bring home!  Zoe's family was kind enough to donate a monarch caterpillar to our class, and it formed its chrysalis last weekend-hopefully we can catch it emerging early next week!

 

And, some photos of our STEM day last week:

 

 

 







 



 



Here are some pictures from our first day of first grade!

 

 

 

And, because this blog doesn't already have enough pictures, I thought I would add some photos from Washington, DC that I took last weekend.  I was in work sessions at the National Education Association pretty much the whole time, but did get about two hours to go to the Smithsonian and then I walked to the Lincoln Memorial and other monuments one night.  I thought the kids might like to see some of the things I saw, especially if they've never been to DC, and we were so busy this week that I didn't get to show them (they might recognize a few from "Night at the Museum"):

 

Museum of Natural History                                                 The Hope Diamond

 Made from Legos-Mus. of American History

Capitol and Washington
Monument (above);
 
Vietnam Memorial

Lincoln Memorial
               Rotunda at the Museum. of Natural History



PS-On Friday, October 6th, the Children's Museum of Maine will be hosting a Joyful Children's Day from 10AM-8PM.  I am volunteering there as a read-aloud-er sometime late in the afternoon/early in the evening-maybe I'll see you there!

I hope you all have an awesome weekend!!
Becca





Happy First Friday of First Grade!

Thank you for helping your child choose their Sharing items!  They had fun presenting their special treasures :).

This week we started taking turns being the Leader of the Day!  For our first turn, the class is interviewing each leader and creating a book about him or her.  We have been learning a lot about one another's families, favorites, and talents!

Our Math work this week focused on number sense for 1-120.  First graders should be able to read, write, order, and skip count by 1s, 2s, 5s, and 10s to 120.  Thanks for helping us practice at home!

If our homework and reading folders are back from being laminated, we will start on Monday.  Please read the directions for each (the guidelines are right on the folder).  Thanks!

STEM was really cool this week as we explored prisms and light!  We did another chromatography experiment too.  Next time, we'll be applying what we've learned by doing an experiment with leaves.  This will help us understand why and how leaves change color in the fall.  Special thanks to Mrs. Vance, one of our secretaries, who stopped in and stayed to do the activity with us!  I hope the kids have had fun experimenting at home with their prisms!

 

 

Thank you for returning Eagle News each Monday! :)

Thank you for marking your child's belongings with his or her name, too! :) :)

Everett the Bear had a great time at Wyatt's house last weekend.  Today he is traveling to Gage's house to have some fun for a couple of days!!  I wonder who will earn a visit with Everett next week?

Have a great weekend!  The play that I am in opened last night, but I'm hoping to get outside too in the next couple of days! :)

Becca