Good Evening,
I hope this finds all of you well and keeping warm as the nights become cooler. I have to say, overall, I was super psyched with how the kids handled post Halloween week and I was impressed with their focus. This week we started a geography unit (for social studies). The first two days had us looking at a map of the U.S., the state of Vermont, and a map of Waitsfield (Resort Map). We talked about terms like direction, location, map, map key, and symbols. The students worked on activities that had them finding items on a map and identifying symbols. Today we heard a reading of the book Me on the Map by Joan Sweeney. This story has a young girl showing readers herself on a map of her room, her room on the map of her house, her house on the map of her street--all the way to her country on a map of the world. When I don;t have a hard copy of a book, it is nice to be able to use online read-a-louds. It gives me access to so many more books!
On Wednesday, Mr. Cadwell conducted a design tech lesson that challenged kids to use marshmallows and toothpicks to build a structure that could hold books. The kids worked in teams of two and Mr. Cadwell related it to an earlier lesson that I had done back in October. There were some great attempts and most structures held 1 or 2 books. One structure held 25 books!
First grade math continued to focus on using addition strategies for fluency and efficiency. The students also compared quantities using the greater than, less than, and equal signs. Some of the students have been spending extra time learning or becoming more fluent with their complements of 10. This is a foundational skill that will be used for much of the work we do in 1st and 2nd grade, hence we spend a good amount of time working on it. I can explain what this leads to at our parent conference (if you are interested).
NOTES:
*Please don't forget to sign up for parent conferences. There are still 4 families that have not signed up. If you are uncomfortable meeting in person (Covid) and rather meet via Zoom, please send me an email by 11/15/21.
*This week the PTA provided winter hats for all of the students. They are a big hit and the kids love them. However, they all look alike and that can cause confusion if your kid drops their hat or someone takes one thinking it was theirs. Please, please put your child's name on the inside with a permanent marker.
*Thank you for the paper towel and toilet paper tubes. Please keep sending them in. I am trying to replenish my supplies from last year.
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| Sport Team Friday! |
*Fridays are "sport team Friday" at our school. This is something we started this year. If your child has a sport team shirt, have them wear it on Fridays.
That is all for now. I hope you have a great weekend. My oldest came home from college, for a visit, and I am looking forward to some family time and enjoying what looks to be a nice weekend.
Peace,
Tommy
