Family Newsletter

 Dear Families,

It is bittersweet to say goodbye to Ms. Addie. Today was her last day at ABS.  We are so excited for her new adventure as a classroom teacher in Vergennes but we will surely miss having her in our classroom every day.  We hope she will stay in touch and perhaps even visit one day!

Here is our week in review:

Social-Emotional Learning:

• This week, the students continued to practice using self-regulatory strategies more independently.  This entire school year, they have had opportunities to master and practice using a variety of strategies to use when they experience emotions/feelings that are disruptive to their own individual learning focus and positive relationship-building.  While we do not expect our young learners to fully be in control of their emotions, we hope that they discover the confidence and positive trust in self that comes from being willing to try some of these strategies.  We reviewed our “super-powers” of self-control and the power of using your own assertive voice when advocating for yourself.

• This week in our restorative circle, we talked about setting boundaries and maintaining positive and healthy friendships.  Ms. Nicole helped us share our thoughts around what makes a good friend and what we can do to use our assertive voice when somebody uses unkind words and/or actions.  The students used a (non-working, cordless) microphone as a prop to boost confidence and strength when verbalizing their thoughts.  Ask your child to explain more.  They loved it!  We will continue this work when we return from our April break.  Stay tuned.

• The students also participated in a series of activities to create a culminating book project to reflect our thoughts and worries about Ms. Addie’s departure.  It is crucial that young learners have full participation in any closure, or goodbye.  They did, as always, an amazing job sharing their thoughts in a collection of letters that they wrote to Ms. Addie.

You Can: 

• You can support your child’s self-control at home too.   Think about how you can facilitate your child’s emerging skills as your child encounters a situation or task that feels challenging or unfamiliar.  Having a solid understanding of these strategies and skills can help our young learners develop better stamina,  self-esteem, and a sense of control.  At school for example, we review a special daily breathing activity to find those mindful moments.   We also encourage our young learners to find a quiet spot or use some positive self-talk. In our classroom, we also practice restorative chats and circles as a way to resolve conflicts, repair harm and create positive relationship-building skills. Ask your child for a favorite, “go-to” strategy.  I am confident your child can teach you some of the skills and strategies we’re learning at school.

• As the school year draws to a close, consider talking to your child too about how to wrap up this year on a positive note.  Talk to your child about worries and/or concerns your child might have for the upcoming year?  Validate your child’s worries and concerns for the summer break too.  While a long summer break can be positive and relaxing for many, a long summer break away from friends and familiar routines can be overwhelming and lead to anxiety.  As always, please consider reaching out to classmates and schedule play dates and get-togethers outside of school. 

Reading:

• First grade readers continued to rotate through small groups and independent reading stations this week.  At this point in the school year, we encourage all students to show increased reading stamina during independent reading times.  All students have access to decodable books reflecting skills taught so they have ample opportunities to engage in repeated practice.

• Ms. Addie continued to read from the Magic Tree House series for our daily read alouds and I have been asked to continue this series after the April break too!

You can:

• Your child is bringing home an assortment of new and familiar books/texts/poems in this week’s Friday Home Folder (our apologies if there are multiple copies of a book or packet.  That is because the packing was done by several adults over several days.  The students helped too).  Please consider asking your child to practice these books/texts at home in the next few weeks.  To encourage home reading over vacation, your child also has a “Lucky Listener” sheet inside the Home Folder.  Please follow the directions and return on Monday after the break for a special buzzy award.  Have fun reading at home!

Writing:

• The students finished their animal report pieces this week.  They did an outstanding job writing about their animals and sharing information about their animal.  Your child also created a special artifact to represent an adaptation specific to this animal. Please look for these inside your child’s backpack as well.

Math:

• First grade mathematicians started to learn about geometry.  This week, we primarily focused upon the various attributes of 2-dimensional shapes, such as triangles, trapezoids, rhombuses, hexagons and circles.  We also learned how squares are special types of rectangles.  Ask your child to explain why!

• After our April break, the students will continue to learn more about these types of shapes while also learning about 3-dimensional shapes and their corresponding attributes.

• First grade mathematicians also participated in an end-of-unit math assessment addressing their understanding of three addends.

You can:

• You can support your child’s understanding of geometric shapes by engaging in conversations around their corresponding attributes at home.  Make it more challenging, and ask your child to guess which shape you are thinking of by asking only a series of yes or no questions.  We played a game called “There’s a shape in my pocket” and it was very tricky to ask clarifying questions which would help us figure out which shape was hidden.

News and Reminders:

• There is no school April 22-26 (Spring break)

• Please see this message from the ABS Front Office:

Any time a student is going to be absent or has a change to their dismissal/end-of-day plan, please notify the following:

1. The classroom teacher

2. Front Office: absfrontoffice@cvsdvt.org

3. ABS Team Assistant Celeste Plouffe, cplouffe@cvsdvt.org

Reminder: If there is any change to your student's typical end-of-day plan, please be sure to contact the school BEFORE 1:00 PM (or 12:00 pm on Wednesdays). Changes in your student(s) schedule will not be accepted after this time unless it is an emergency.

Reminder: If there are any medical updates on your child, please be sure to contact the school nurse.

Have a great April vacation week off from school.  I hope you will all enjoy some special family time and relaxation.  See you all when we get back.

Maria

Family Newsletter

 Dear Families,

It was another great week in first grade! Because it was a short week, we got to have some new experiences in math! See below for more details!

This will be the last Family Newsletter that I write as I end my solo teaching on Wednesday and say goodbye to Allen Brook on Friday. I am so grateful to Mrs. McCormack for being an amazing, kind, and supportive mentor teacher throughout my time in this class. In the short 14 weeks that I have been a part of this classroom, I have shared so many wonderful moments of laughter and joy with Mrs. McCormack and your children. I will miss them so much as I move on to my own classroom and future as an educator. Please accept my most sincere thanks for raising such wonderful human beings. 

Here is our week in review:

Math:

• This week, first-grade mathematicians worked on building some of the things we wrote about in our animal research projects. As part of their projects, they identified one thing that their chosen animal had that they did not. In math this week, the students then identified how they would build it and what materials they would use. On Thursday and Friday, they worked to build those designs using all sorts of materials. Some created wings, others created ears or tails. Some students even created teeth like their animal!

You can:

• You can ask your students what they created. These will be sent home on Monday so they can show you what they made. In the meantime, ask them to share their design process and how their design and what they actually created were different. Did it come out exactly the way they planned? Did they need to use additional materials? 

Social-Emotional Learning:

• This week, first graders worked on doing some self-problem-solving. These are connected to our work on self-control! We worked on these three steps to solve a problem during instructional time:

• Read the room

• Check the board

• Ask a friend

You Can: 

• You can support your child’s self-control at home too.   Think about how you can facilitate your child’s emerging skills as your child encounters a situation or task that feels challenging or unfamiliar.  Having a solid understanding of these strategies and skills can help our young learners develop better stamina,  self-esteem, and a sense of control.  Every day, for example, we review a special breathing activity to find those mindful moments.   We also encourage our young learners to find a quiet spot or use some positive self-talk. In our classroom, we also practice restorative chats and circles as a way to resolve conflicts, repair harm and create positive relationship-building skills. Ask your child for a favorite, “go-to” strategy.  I am confident your child can teach you some of the skills and strategies we’re learning at school.

Reading:

• This week, first-grade readers continued working on fluency and small group work. Miss Addie continued reading the Magic Tree House.  First-grade readers were encouraged to develop independent reading skills during times when they are not with a teacher.  This week, first graders learned to navigate some new stations during these independent times.

• First-grade readers also practiced reading decodable texts and word lists.  They are encouraged to read every day to develop self-esteem and confidence as readers. Decodable texts are great for practicing these skills since the words can be “sounded out” since they reflect the skills we have been working on in class.

You can:

• You can support your child’s reading at home by encouraging your child to read independently every day.  Not only will your child develop reading skills and reading confidence, but your child will also have opportunities to practice self-control and problem-solving skills.

Writing:

• This week, first-grade writers finished up our Animal Research projects. We worked on the drafting process by checking our work for proper punctuation and capitalization. We also wrote our work again on final drafts using Sharpies. The children wrote on large pieces of paper using the draft of their work that they and Miss Addie had both edited and drew their final drawings so that their hard work could be shared with others. 

You Can:

• Ask your child about their animal! What animal did you research? What did you learn about it? How is your animal different from humans? Those questions are ones that they answered in their research project and I’m sure they will be so excited to share! 

• Ask about the drafting process. What did you do to make your writing look neater? How did you change your writing to put it on the larger sheet of paper? 

News and Reminders:

• I will continue my solo weeks until 4/17 and my last day at Allen Brook will be 4/19

• There is no school April 22-26 (Spring break)

Have a great weekend,

Addie

Family Newsletter

 Dear Families,

As many of you have already heard, the schools in our district will be closed on April 8th due to the solar eclipse.  Your child has a set of eclipse glasses for this amazing event inside their Home Folders (or book bags if they did not return their Home Folders). More information about the solar eclipse can also be found in the Wildcat Buzz this week.

Here is our week in review:

Social-Emotional Learning:

• This week, first graders talked about how we can collaborate with others and focus on compromising in writing and choice time.  The students were encouraged to share their ideas and thinking and reach a compromise to find a common solution.  During choice time, the students worked together to make a plan and collaborate during play-time while navigating several stations and choices.

• The students worked with Ms.  Nicole too.   We reviewed the different strategies we have learned for showing self-control and respect.  We focused on the importance of not distracting peers in their learning.   Shouting out, yelling or making loud noises are unexpected behaviors. Allowing others to speak without being interrupted, feeling safe and navigating our school building with safe, calm bodies are choices we should all strive towards mastering.

You Can: 

• You can support your child’s self-control at home too.   Think about how you can facilitate your child’s emerging skills as your child encounters a situation or task that feels challenging or unfamiliar.  Having a solid understanding of these strategies and skills can help our young learners develop better stamina,  self-esteem and sense of control.  Every day for example, we review a special breathing activity for finding those mindful moments.   We also encourage our young learners to find a quiet spot, or use some positive self-talk. In our classroom, we also practice restorative chats and circles as a way to resolve conflicts, repair harm  and create positive relationship-building skills. Ask your child for a favorite, “go-to” strategy.  I am confident your child can teach you some of the skills and strategies we’re learning at school.

Reading:

• This week, first grade readers continued working on fluency and small group work. Miss Addie continued reading the Magic Tree House.  First grade readers were encouraged to develop independent reading skills during times that they are not with a teacher.  This week, first graders learned to navigate some new stations during these independent times.

• First grade readers also practiced reading decodable texts and word lists.  They are encouraged to read every day to develop self-esteem and confidence as readers. Decodable texts are great for practicing these skills since the words can be “sounded out” since they reflect the skills we have been working on in class.

You can:

• You can support your child’s reading at home by encouraging your child to read independently every day.  Not only will your child develop reading skills and reading confidence,  your child will have opportunities to practice self-control and problem-solving skills.

Writing:

• This week, first grade writers learned what fiction and nonfiction books are. We worked on learning how to figure out which books are fiction and which are nonfiction. We created an anchor chart to define those two genres and even participated in a book sort in small groups! 

You Can:

• Are you reading a wide variety of books at home?   Consider having conversations about different types of books with your child.   Ask your child to explain what makes one book a fictional story while another book is nonfiction.   Go on a book hunt in your bookcase  or at the library.   Collect a few of each genre and compare.

Math:

• This week, first grade mathematicians continued working on problem-solving strategies when working with their math partners and making independent work choices. In our classroom, we say “Let’s compromise” to get ready for our problem-solving steps.The students have practiced choosing between a variety of strategies to solve problems while staying focused on math learning.  They are getting very comfortable with choosing between “rock-paper-scissors-shoot”, “eeny-meeny-miney-moe”, “the 3 firsts rule” and “being a flexible and kind friend”.   Ask your child to explain more.

• First grade mathematicians continued working on the mathematical concepts of equality.  They also had the opportunity to show their understanding in our end-of-the unit assessment.  Next week, we’re diving into adding three numbers and more place value concepts.  Stay tuned.

You can:

• You can support your child’s developing understanding of problem-solving by encouraging your child to compromise at home too. Consider using our steps (or even better, create your own that fit your family) and encourage your child to compromise when two parties disagree.  Perhaps you are getting ready to play a boardgame but there is a disagreement about which board game to play.  Use the strategies to compromise.  There are countless situations during the day at home when children (and adults) compromise.  Celebrate and praise your child when he/she is showing self-regulation and a willingness to let somebody else decide the task or the outcome.  

News and Reminders:

• Ms. Addie will start her solo weeks on Monday.  She will be the lead teacher for the next couple of weeks and I will be a supporting teacher in the classroom.  We are so proud of Ms. Addie and excited for her.  We are confident she will do great!

• The is no school on Monday, April 8th (solar eclipse)

• There is no school on April 10th (Eid al Fitr Holiday)

• There is no school April 22-26 (Spring break)

• Please see this message from the WCS Theater:

WCS Theater Presents:

THE ADDAMS FAMILY, a comical feast that embraces the wackiness in every family, features an original story and it's every father's nightmare: Wednesday Addams, the ultimate princess of darkness, has grown up and fallen in love with a sweet, smart young man from a respectable family– a man her parents have never met.

Google Doc Link to Poster:

Ticket Sale Link: https://willistoncentral.seatyourself.biz

Have a great weekend,

Maria

Family Newsletter

 Dear Families,

It was so nice to be back in the classroom again this week.  Thank you Ms. Addie for helping us out at the beginning of the week when I was still away.  It seemed like the students had a fantastic week off from school with extra family time, sports, board games, books and trips.  

Here is our week in review:

Social-Emotional Learning:

• Coming back from a week off can be challenging for our young learners so this week, we revisited and practiced school and classroom expectations.  The students practiced what it means to be safe, kind and responsible in different settings and they did such an outstanding job that we filled the classroom buzzy jar again!  This time, we celebrated with extra recess and spent a good chunk of time outside in the sun together, running, playing with bubbles and drawing with chalk.  We hope to go outside more often but since the fields are pretty muddy and wet, we are asking that parents make sure they check their children’s backpacks every day and return an extra set of pants and socks if a pair went home muddy.  Thank you for helping us spend more time outside and more comfortable time indoors learning together!

• The entire school community provided additional opportunities for our students to practice safe, kind and responsible choices this week too in some special SEL activities provided in the cafeteria.  The students made cards to spread kindness and they had a special lunch today called “Mix it up”, when they were encouraged to sit with new peers to get to know new friends.

• We also started using a “Worry Jar” in our classroom this week.  Ms. Addie read the book “Ruby has a worry” by Tom Percival and the students discussed the different types of worries that they might experience.  They shared worries about a loose tooth, nightmares, or going to a new place.  As we know, we all experience big and small worries.  Sometimes those worries can interfere with our learning and relationships with other people.  Our classroom “Worry Jar” provides the students with a place (the jar) to put their “worries” in.  The students draw or write their worry down on a slip of paper and put it inside the worry jar.  It helps them move on and return to their learning knowing that the worry has been noted.  We check in and discuss worries together or one-on-one.  

You Can: 

• You might want to try a worry jar at home too.  Consider using a small plastic jar or basket and place some small notepads/papers next to it for your child to jot down his/her worries.  Consider modeling to your child that adults worry too.  Talk to your child about how we can manage some worries alone and some worries together.  It is important to show our young learners that adults have worries too.  We worry about the weather, a trip and about other peoples’ feelings too.

Literacy:

• This week, the students had opportunities to read independently, on Lexia, and in small groups.  We focused on building reading stamina and showing responsible choices to others.  We also revisited what it means to be an independent reader, engaged and focused upon our own work.

• This week, Ms. Addie started a new read aloud in our class too.  She is reading the first book in the Magic Tree House series.  While enjoying this book, the students also participated in many discussions around story elements, such as character development/traits, setting and how to retell the story sequentially from the beginning and middle to the end.  When the book was finished, the students wrote about what happened, showing their understanding of the beginning, middle and end of the story.  They were encouraged to add some pictures to match their words.  The students were also encouraged to re-read their own writing as a way to check on their own writing to make sure it made sense, showed proper age-appropriate grammar and ending punctuation.

Math:

• This week, first grade mathematicians continued to build a deeper understanding of equality in math.  They are learning to understand the meaning of the equal sign.  In other words, they are learning how to balance two mathematical expressions to make them equal.  This week, we explored how subtraction and addition symbols can be used to create balancing/equal equations.  They learned that 5+2=7-0 for example.  Ask your child to explain.

• First grade mathematicians also participated in a mid-Winter math assessment which will inform our next steps in terms of place value and missing addends work.  More information will follow as we dig deeper into these concepts.

Jason Chin:

• Here is a letter from Jason Chin to the students of ABS and WCS. As you may recall, we visited WCS before the February break to learn about his books and illustrations.  The students of ABS will have another author visit soon.  On April 4th, the children’s book author Marty Kelley will visit us.  If you and your child want to learn more about this amazing author, click here.

News and Reminders:

• If you didn’t get a chance to sign up for our parent teacher conferences yet, please use this link and follow the instructions, please.  Thank you.  I am looking forward to seeing you all again and sharing about your child’s amazing learning.

• It is Basket Raffle Time again!  This is one of FAP’s biggest fundraisers of the year.  The Big Basket Raffle is on Saturday, March 23rd. The event is held in the WCS cafeteria and old gym.  The event starts at 6:00 (with the first drawing at 6:45).  A Fun Night runs at the same time for students.  Our class theme this year is ‘A Day at the Beach”.  Please read the note from FAP to get some ideas for items to donate.  Thank you for helping this event be a success! Please see this link for information about this amazing fund-raiser.  Here is the link to Fun Night too.

Have a great weekend,

Maria

Family Newsletter

 Dear Families,

What a fantastic week we had on Harmony and in our classroom!

On Monday, the students visited Williston Central School to see the play “Aladdin” that the students of Summit House performed.  They did an outstanding job and our students enjoyed the experience very much.

On Tuesday, we had our field-trip to Catamount.  We were lucky that the weather was a little warmer and the sun was out.  We spent a couple of hours together, learning about snowshoeing, trees and animal tracking.  It was fun to explore the outdoors in the snow.  Thank you parent chaperones who helped us and the students be successful.  We could not have done this without you!

On Wednesday, we added new movement activities to our math Number Talks and warm-ups.  The students showed their understanding of the concepts “greater than”, “less than”, and “equal to” by writing their equations and moving their bodies to different locations in the classroom representing these equations.  As a class, we collected the outcomes of these activities and equations.  We collected this data for the entire week in a game called “Race to the Finish” led by Ms. Addie.  On Friday, we had a special celebration and students had the opportunity to play their favorite math games..

On Thursday, we had 4 Winds.  Here is a message from the 4 Winds Institute: Sound is what we hear when something is vibrating. The vibrating object – whether a violin string, a singing bird, or a gurgling brook – creates a sound wave that travels to our ears, where we interpret its meaning. Sound waves need a medium like air, water, or a solid through which to move; they cannot pass through a vacuum. The Earth’s atmosphere, hydrosphere, and geosphere provide a way for sounds to travel. Many animals depend on sound to learn about their surroundings and to communicate with others of their kind. The students learned more about sound through different stations.  They rotated between the classrooms and explored sound with different objects and they were encouraged to observe pitch, volume and the vibrations.  

If you and your child would like to learn more, please see this link for additional information on this month’s lesson.  Thank you parents for bringing hands-on science exploration to our students!

On Friday, we celebrated all day!  The students filled the classroom buzzy jar again this week.  As you know, the students celebrated with comfy clothes and hats at school.  They worked so hard this week and showed respect, responsibility and kindness to each other.  We played games in all classes and enjoyed some extra songs and dances too.  Ask your child to explain what the special surprise was at the end of the day! 

News and Reminders:

• It is Basket Raffle Time again!  This is one of FAP’s biggest fundraisers of the year.  The Big Basket Raffle is on Saturday, March 23rd. The event is held in the WCS cafeteria and old gym.  The event starts at 6:00 (with the first drawing at 6:45).  A Fun Night runs at the same time for students.  Our class theme this year is ‘A Day at the Beach”.  Please read the note from FAP to get some ideas for items to donate.  Thank you for helping this event be a success! Please see this link for information about this amazing fund-raiser.  Here is the link to Fun Night too.

• There will be no school 2/26-3/1 due to our Winter Break.  When we return, Ms. Addie will be our guest teacher for the first two days back due to my trip to Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon.  I will return on Wednesday 3/6.

Have a great week off from school everyone!

Warm Regards,

Maria