Weekly Update

Thank you to all for a wonderful year! Your support of our special curriculum-related activities is appreciated and would not have been possible without you. Your learners are ready for the amazing experience of second grade.

Quick reminder to copy and save any pictures as I will prepare the class site for the 22-23 year in July.

Please be sure to return all overdue library books.

We will be having our end-of-year celebration on T, 6.21.22. Thank you to all who donated items!

The Twitter feed will change its name as the new mascot takes over for Aristotle. All followers will remain connected.

Best wishes for a peaceful summer. Feel free to send postcards from your summer adventures. I'll be in the building from time to time over the summer.

6.20.22 No school

6.21.22 Class ice cream sundae party

6.21.22 Full Day

6.22.22 Full Day

6.23 Half day for students

6.24 Half Day for students - Last Day of School

6.24.33 Graduation Day for the Class of 2033!

6.19.22 10:30 a.m.

Dear families,

Book exchange has ended. Please return all library books to Ms. Rattner for end of year inventory. Thank you.

We are wrapping up our Reading, Phonics, Writing skills with a celebration of skills in book Clubs featuring Iris and Walter. We also completed our final running records. One of the things that makes First Grade so special is the range of growth in so many areas. Reading fluency and sight words are just a few of the many skills we have worked on this year.

Friday 6.17.22 will be the last day for Show and Tell. If you are a fourth Friday person, please feel free to send your item on F. 6.17.22.

Summer slide is, in my opinion, a real phenomenon. Just a bit of practice each day will help keep our skills strong. If there are any skills in which we need more practice, a bit of targeted practice will help those skills as well. If you are looking for a tutor, please let me know and I’ll get you the names of teachers in the building who are available over the summer.

We have continued typing. It can be a tedious process to get all documents to print. It requires many clicks. However, we are hopeful to have all students connected via our Clever badges so that printing will be all set up for next year. We have learned how to type a capital and lower case, make the text different sizes and colors, and have even inserted a picture. This week we will learn how to make shapes in a Google Doc and even how to put shapes together to make an object.

We look forward to seeing you at the Flag Day/Field Day events on T 6.14.22. Please refer to the notes from the Main Office sent last week. My personal experience is that sending a bag lunch on Field Day is the best choice. Three will be 12 classes eating at the same time. The line for hot lunch will be long. You may also wish to consider bringing a blanket or chairs for the family picnic portion of Field Day. I also suggest sending a total change of clothes, shoes, socks, underwear as it may be dewy on the field and a few activities involve water. You are invited to cycle through the stations and cheer us on.

We will do our best to reschedule our walk to CPL. More info. to follow in our folders.

Please refer to last week’s update for a variety of links for summer review or summer enrichment.

If you’d like to copy and save any of the pictures in the Class Photo tab, please consider doing so soon. I will reset the site in early July and the pictures will no longer be accessible.

As the year winds down, I wanted to take a moment for all of your support of our learning and special activities this year. It has been a privilege to work with you and your child. Here’s hoping the return to normalcy continues next year! Best wishes for a peaceful summer.

Special Dates:

6.14.22 Flag Day (no rain date) and Field Day – Please wear purple grade level shirts - rain date 6.15.22 and I.L.L.

6.15.22 Possible rain date for CPL. More info in red folders.

6.20.22 No school

6.21.22 Class ice cream sundae party

6.21.22 Full Day

6.22.22 Full Day

6.23 Half day for students

6.24 Half Day for students - Last Day of School

6.24.33 Graduation Day for the Class of 2033!

6.12.22 12:15 p.m.

Dear families,

The last day of book exchange will be June 10. Please look around for any library books. Ms. Rattner offers a treat to the first classes who return all books.

We have had some learning about typing skills. We have learned how to access a Google Doc, type capitals and lowercase letters, type a period, question mark and exclamation mark. We even had some fun changing text color as well as searching for and inserting a picture. We will continue adding to our repertoire of typing skills this week. Your student's password gives them access to their Google account. Our Clever badges take us directly in when at school.

Please check the District calendar for special dates. There is a lot going on in the next few weeks. Yes, it is correct that Flag Day and k-2 Field Day are on the same day. We hope to see you there either as a spectator or volunteer running a center for k-2.

Please remember to wear sneakers for our walk to CPL on Th 6.9.22. Please return the white index card to school by M 6.6.22 to ensure that Ms. Joelle at CPL has time to make our cards. Please return books checked out at CPL directly to CPL or any Upper Hudson Library most convenient for you rather than school. Libraries below Castleton are like a different system. Any library in East Greenbush or Nassau, will be Upper Hudson. Once you cross the river, it changes to another system.

We’ve started a review of greater than and lesser than as it relates to place value. We will always look at the tens place, but also keep in mind the number of ones in the ones place. If the number of ones in the ones place is greater than 9, we will need to regroup. You may have noticed that on our pages, we have regrouped 2 tens 14 ones to 34 and 5 tens 16 ones to 66. We use our personal place value tiles to represent numbers to the 200 and beyond.

i-Ready results were sent on F 6.3.22. Congratulations to the first graders on their academic growth this year. If you’d like to reinforce any skills covered in First Grade you may use your passwords for Clever at home. This gives you access to apps such as eSpark Reading, eSpark Math, Zearn, Xtra Math as well as the lessons in i-Ready. All of the apps utilize an algorithm that will advance our skills as needed.

Links for summer work:

This is a standards-based Reading Series that we used several years ago. Students will not encounter this series next year. It is a wonderful resource for summer work. Below, please find the links for both the first and second grade books:

For continuation of skills during the summer:

Gr. 2 Reader 1 Gr. 2 Reader 6

Gr. 2 Workbook 1 Gr. 2 Workbook 6

For gr. 1 skills review during the summer:

Gr. 1 Reader 1 Gr. 1 Reader 6

Gr. 1 Workbook 1 Gr. 1 Workbook 6

Gr. 1 Reader 2 Gr. 1 Reader 7

Gr. 1 Workbook 2 Gr. 1 Workbook 7

If you’d like to copy and save any of the pictures in the Class Photo tab, please consider doing so soon. I will reset the site in early July and the pictures will no longer be accessible.

Field Day is coming up. The more volunteers we have, the more centers we can participate in. If you’d like to volunteer, please email Mrs. D’Amico or Mr. Beihler. Thank you in advance. More information regarding days and times will come from the Main Office. Please send an extra pair of shoes, socks, pants/shorts, and even underwear. I have done my share of Field Days and somehow all of these things come back wet. Nurse Brewer will not have enough dry clothes for all C.E.S. students.

Last call for Guest Readers! If you are interested, please sign up here. If you have already read and wish to come a second time, please feel free at this point.

We are in the process of planning some celebrations at the end of the year. Please consider signing up for a donation at this link. The exact date for the going to Second grade party is TBD during the week of 6.20 – 24.

Thank you for your continued support of our First Grade topics and celebrations.

Special Dates

6.7.22 A cool recess treat courtesy of the CES PTO.

6.9.22 Walk to CPL for summer fun info. and to receive our very own library card. Please wear sneakers on this day.

6.14.22 Flag Day (no rain date) and Field Day – Please wear purple grade level shirts - rain date 6.15.22 and I.L.L.

6.20.22 No school

6.21.22 Full Day

6.22.22 Full Day

6.23 Half day for students

6.24 Half Day for students - Last Day of School

6.24.33 Graduation Day for the Class of 2033!

6.5.22 8:00 a.m.

Dear families,

The homework packet for this week will contain homework for the weeks of 5.23-5.30 as well as 5.30 – 6.5 due to the extended Memorial Day weekend. This packet will not be recorded for the report card grade of Homework Completion. This will also be the last homework pack for the year. If you are interested in continuation of homework, please refer to the links below under 5.15.22. Summer packs will be sent the week of 6.13.22. If you wish to continue Math practice in preparation of second grade, please refer to this link. First grade review can be found at this link.

The last new topic in Math is double tape diagrams. These are used when comparing 2 sets. For example, when the word problem asks “How many more ___ than ___ . . .” or “How many fewer ___ than ___ . . .” a double tape diagram is your best bet. As with all problems, we may know 2 sets and be looking for the unknown total or we may know one set and the total. When given two sets, we will use adding to find the unknown. When given the total and one set, we may use subtraction starting with the larger set or adding with a missing addend.

The last day of book exchange will be June 10. Please look around for any library books.

Thank you to those of you who sent in supplies for our geometry celebration. We have many extra and will have some more fun building with 2D and 3D shapes this week.

It has been so exciting to have in-person family Guest Readers each Friday. If you are interested, please sign up here. If you have already read and wish to come a second time, please feel free at this point.

As the year winds down, we will begin to take supplies home so that our backpack is not too heavy on the last day of school. If you will not be at school on the last day, you may pick up your supplies in the C.E.S. vestibule M-F 9 – 2 daily.

Our jokes were very funny. I have not yet created the movie as we had some absences over the past few weeks, including my own. We’re back and ready to go. If you did not share your joke yet, we will share this week.

If you are looking for a tutor for either Reading or Math this summer, please send an email and I can get you in touch with the teachers that tutor over the summer. You can also access a wonderful reading series for free at the links for last week’s update. I have listed both the first grade and second grade books for your convenience. eSpark, Lalilo and Xtra Math, and Zearn will all remain active over the summer until the new classes are rolled over.

If you’d like to copy and save any of the pictures in the Class Photo tab, please consider doing so soon. I will reset the site in early July and the pictures will no longer be accessible.

We have begun the i-Ready Math and Reading benchmark sessions. We will continue this week and I’ll send the results home to you once we have all completed both sections.

Special Dates:

5. 26 MMA Purple note sent via Main Office on Th 5.19.22. Please wear purple grade level shirts

5.27 - 31.22 Memorial Day observance w/ 2 unused snow days

6.7.22 A cool recess treat courtesy of the CES PTO.

6.9.22 Walk to CPL for summer fun Info. and to receive our very own library card. Please wear sneakers on this day.

6.14.22 Field Day – Please wear purple grade level shirts - rain date 6.15.22

6.20.22 No school

6.21.22 Full Day

6.22.22 Full Day

6.23 Half day for students

6.24 Half Day for students - Last Day of School

6.24.33 Graduation Day for the Class of 2033!

5.22.22 1:15 p.m.

Links for summer work:

for continuation of skills during the summer:

Gr. 2 Reader 1 Gr. 2 Reader 6

Gr. 2 Workbook 1 Gr. 2 Workbook 6

for gr. 1 skills review during the summer:

Gr. 1 Reader 1 Gr. 1 Reader 6

Gr. 1 Workbook 1 Gr. 1 Workbook 6

Gr. 1 Reader 2 Gr. 1 Reader 7

Gr. 1 Workbook 2 Gr. 1 Workbook 7

Some reading/phonics related songs that we sing can be found below.

If you wish to receive a summer skills booklet, please sign-up here.

We’re looking for a few small marshmallows and toothpicks to build our own 3D shapes elated to our recent Math topics. Please consider donating at this link. We will be celebrating heading to second grade during the week of 6.20.22. The exact date is TBD. We would also like to celebrate all of the learning with Ms. Lant this year in the ILL. Thank you in advance.

Special Dates:

5.17.22 Strawberry Festival/ Budget Vote at MHHS

5. 26 MMA More specifics to follow from Main Office. Please wear purple grade level shirts

5.27 - 31.22 Memorial Day observance

6.7.22 PTO-sponsored cool treat during recess

6.14.22 Field Day – Please wear purple grade level shirts - rain date 6.15.22

6.20.22 No school

6.21.22 Full Day

6.22.22 Full Day

6.23 Half day for students

6.24 Half Day for students - Last Day of School

6.24.33 Graduation Day for the Class of 2033!

5.15.22 8:30 a.m.

Dear families,

Happy Mother’s Day to all of the mothers out there! We hope you enjoyed your special day.

We have moved on to 3 D shapes and time to the hour and half hour. We will round the year out with a return to word problems featuring tape diagrams. The key to solving a word problem is determining whether you have a part and the total or two parts. We’re looking for a few small marshmallows and toothpicks to build our own 3D shapes. Please consider donating at this link. We will be celebrating heading to second grade during the week o f6.20.22. The exact date is TBD. We would also like to celebrate all of the learning with Ms. Lant this year in the ILL. We have another reason to celebrate with her, she is engaged!

We will begin sharing our jokes on M 5.9.22. This is always a fun time!

We will be book shopping at the Book Fair on Th, 5.12.22. Please send all money in an envelope or baggies with your child’s name on it. Please indicate which titles you would like us to look for or whether we may select books of our choice. Thank you in advance.

We had fun coding our Ozobots during Star Wars week. May the fourth was last week and it is often called Star Wars Day because it sounds like “May the Force”.

We hope to see you at the Strawberry Festival/ Budget vote on T 5.17.22. Please look for our class display and leave us a note.

We continue to apply our word building knowledge to our poetry. We will conclude this unit and begin Book Study Groups in the coming weeks.

Some reading/phonics related songs that we sing can be found below.

If you wish to receive a summer skills booklet, please sign-up here.

5.12.22 Book Fair – *Please indicate either specific book titles or free choice when sending money* Selection pamphlet sent by Main Office soon

5.17.22 Strawberry Festival/ Budget Vote at MHHS *Please look for our display and leave us a note*

5. 26 MMA More specifics to follow from Main Office. Please wear purple grade level shirts

5.27 - 31.22 Memorial Day observance

6.14.22 Field Day – Please wear purple grade level shirts - rain date 6.15.22

6.20.22 No school

6.21.22 Full Day

6.22.22 Full Day

6.23 Half day for students

6.24 Half Day for students - Last Day of School

6.24.33 Graduation Day for the Class of 2033!

5.8.22 11:50 a.m

Dear families,

It has been an active few weeks! The Research Fairy made a visit to the classroom to congratulate us all on our research. Thank you to all of the families who donated treats for the celebration. We have completed sharing our animal research information and baskets. You can find our work on display at the Strawberry Festival on T, 5.17.22. The class was impressive with their public speaking skills. Our next public speaking project is the Joke Corner. Directions came home on M 5.2.22. If it did not make it home, please let me know and I’ll send another.

We have been reviewing our Snap Words for the year. Our Snap Words are words that do not follow the usual spelling patterns. We also continue to review the vowel teams discussed this year and apply them in our writing. We have been focusing on poetry in Writing. We have written class acrostics and then tried our hand at writing acrostics independently. We have also worked on a class haiku and then have written our own using our knowledge of syllables. Haiku is a three lined 5-7-3, seldom rhyming, often about nature poem. We will also have some of them on display at the Strawberry Festival.

In Math, we just started taking a look at a variety of 2D shapes. If you’d like to take a look at the module, you may do here. This week, we will move to 3D shapes. We have been combining shapes to make other shapes. For example, in this weeks’ homework you will see that the series asks us to use three triangles to make a trapezoid and 6 triangles to make a hexagon. All shapes will be provided for you.

We have several special activities this week. We will take some time to celebrate Star Wars Day (May the Fourth – May the Force). I have also signed out the Ozobots for classroom use. We will take our school photo and make the Ozobot into ourselves. The kit comes with some small cones to program the Ozobot to maneuver an obstacle course. We will also compare the Spanish alphabet to the English alphabet in celebration of Cinco de Mayo. We will also learn a bit about Mexican customs. You can find some content related to Cinco de Mayo on Clever.

Please take a moment to sign up for a summer skill-maintenance packet if you wish to review or even preview topics over the summer. I will make copies for those who indicate they are interested.

Thank you for all of your support for our topics, strategies, and celebrations this year. Keep your eye on Twitter for class-related activities. You can also find more pictures on the Class Photo tab.

5.5.22 Cinco De Mayo celebration

5.13.22 Book Fair – *Please indicate either specific book titles or free choice when sending money* Selection pamphlet sent by Main Office soon

5.17.22 Strawberry Festival/ Budget Vote at MHHS *Please look for our display and leave us a note*

5.24, 25, or 26 MMA More specifics to follow from Main Office

5.30.22 No School (may be accompanied by unused snow days)

6.14.22 Field Day – Please wear purple grade level shirts - rain date 6.15.22

6.20.22 No school

6.21.22 Full Day

6.22.22 Full Day

6.23 Half day for students

6.24 Half Day for students - Last Day of School

6.24.33 Graduation Day for the Class of 2033!

5.1.22 11:00 a.m.

Looking forward to seeing everyone on Monday, 4.25.22 and hearing about your spring break adventures!

Please use this link by 5.13.22 to receive a summer skill-maintenance booklet. I will copy only enough for those who wish to use a summer booklet in order to save on paper. Thank you.

Special Dates:

4.29.22 Earth Day/Arbor Day celebration. Plant your tree within 3 days to ensure the best results.

5.5.22 Cinco De Mayo celebration

5.9.22 Joke Corner presentations. Please see directions/rubric sent M 4.25.22.

5.13.22 Book Fair – *Please indicate either specific book titles or free choice when sending money

5.17.22 Strawberry Festival/ Budget Vote at MHHS

5.24, 25, or 26 MMA More specifics to follow from Main Office

5.30.22 No School (may be accompanied by unused snow days)

6.14.22 Field Day – Please wear purple grade level shirts - rain date 6.15.22

6.20.22 No school

6.21.22 Full Day

6.22.22 Full Day

6.23 Half day for students

6.24 Half Day for students - Last Day of School

6.24.33 Graduation Day for the Class of 2033!

4.24.22 12:15 p.m.

Best wishes for a peaceful break! 4.15 - 4.24

4.16.22 6:00 a.m.

Dear families,

We hope you can join us either in-person or virtually for our presentation at MMA. Please wear our purple grade level shirts on W 4.13.22. Thank you in advance.

It has been so exciting to have in-person family Guest Readers each Friday. If you are interested, please sign up here.

I will be sending a homework packet for 2 weeks; 4.11 - 4.24. This booklet will not be recorded for a homework grade. This booklet will be optional due to Spring Break.

We had a wonderful time sharing our animal research and our baskets this week. If you were absent, we will find a day this week for you to share. You can find some pictures on the class photos tab. We brought the lectern to the classroom, and we each had a turn using the microphone. We will surely not be among the high percentage of adults who fear public speaking. It really can be a fun time! This week, we hope to hear from the Research Fairy. You know the Tooth Fairy’s cousin who celebrated hard work after a research project! We will use the various treats sent in by families and have a celebration after the Research Fairy fills our animal baskets with the treats. Thank you to all of your support with this project.

Ms. Rattner and I have been collaborating on our poetry writing unit. We know that poetry can rhyme, but it does not have to. We can use familiar songs and poems as our inspiration.

We have been busy working in teams in a variety of ways over the past few weeks. We paired up with a second grade class to work on Peep Venn Diagrams to compare and contrast. We worked in small groups to create our Vowel Team Town using our knowledge of vowel teams and the sounds they make. We also worked in pairs to research our famous woman for our upcoming MMA presentation.

We will be taking home all of our snow gear prior to break. Typically, the hallway is deep cleaned and we are asked to remove all gear for the custodians. If you’d like to leave a pair of rain/mud boots, please send them back after break.

We are winding down the place value module in Math. We will be moving on to Module 5 which focuses on geometry and geometric attributes such as sides, faces and vertices. If you’d like to take a look, you may do here.

In reading, we continue to use our leveled books to focus on characters and their traits. We are also working on sharing our opinions about books with others. This connects nicely to our Writing topic of persuasive essays where we share our opinions with others. Our first topic was to select a center that we like, rate it and try to convince me to use it again for next year’s first graders. In this writing, we are sure to share our opinion, give a few examples. Last week we started to focus on introductions that grab the reader’s attention as well as conclusions that sum up our opinions.

In Phonics, we continue to work with our Snap Words. We have played Snapo several times using a variety of letters to select our words. Each student makes a tic-tac-toe grid and selects their own 9 words. You can see us playing on Twitter this week.

You may find a fun song related to soft g here and soft c here. Songs and other mnemonic devices are helpful to recall new information.

Thank you again for all of your support for our topics, strategies, and celebrations this year. Keep your eye on Twitter for class-related activities.

Special Dates:

4.13.22 Our class presents at MMA. You may join us in the balcony from 1:00 – 1:30. You may also watch us from the ink sent by the Main Office. Please wear grade level shirts.

4.15 – 4.24.22 April Break

5.5.22 Cinco De Mayo celebration

5.13.22 Book Fair – *Please indicate either specific book titles or free choice when sending money

5.17.22 Strawberry Festival/ Budget Vote at MHHS

5.24, 25, or 26 MMA More specifics to follow from Main Office

5.30.22 No School (may be accompanied by unused snow days)

6.14.22 Field Day – Please wear purple grade level shirts - rain date 6.15.22

6.20.22 No school

6.21.22 Full Day

6.22.22 Full Day

6.23 Half day for students

6.24 Half Day for students - Last Day of School

6.24.33 Graduation Day for the Class of 2033!

4.10.22 7:30 a.m.

Dear families,

We are happy to invite you in-person to our presentation at the March/April MMA. Please see the District email for more specifics. It is exciting to have guests back in the building! Please check out the sign up link for Guest Reader here.

Special Dates:

4.13.22 Our class presents at MMA. You may join us in the balcony from 1:00 – 1:30. You may also watch us from the ink sent by the Main Office.

4.15 – 4.24.22 April Break

5.5.22 Cinco De Mayo celebration

5.13.22 Book Fair – *Please indicate either specific book titles or free choice when sending money

5.17.22 Strawberry Festival/ Budget Vote at MHHS

5.24, 25, or 26 MMA More specifics to follow from Main Office

5.30.22 No School (may be accompanied by unused snow days)

6.14.22 Field Day – Please wear purple grade level shirts - rain date 6.15.22

6.20.22 No school

6.21.22 Full Day

6.22.22 Full Day

6.23 Half day for students

6.24 Half Day for students - Last Day of School

6.24.33 Graduation Day for the Class of 2033!

4.3.22 10:15 a.m.

Dear families,

We are on a roll researching our famous women for MMA. We are working in pairs. This can be very different from working alone. Teamwork is also a big part of our recent topic with Ms. Lant in the I.l.l. as well. Our Cubelet exploration is being done in small groups. You can find a link to ordering Cubelets here. I keep checking for the link for Ozobots to show they are back in stock.

In Math we have started using Tape Diagrams in place of Number bonds using the RDW – Read (the word problem), Draw (a representation for solving), W (the number sentence and word answer). We will also work with a second grade class comparing and contrasting Peeps. This week, for homework, you will see a page that asks us to use either a decomposing number bond or quick tens and ones. These are strategies that we use to represent the addition problem. You will notice that it is similar to our recent pages. The homework does not yet as for tape diagrams as we just started that strategy.

In Reading we have been focusing on character traits and how books may have similarities. We each took 2 books from our bin and shared with the class how they were alike. Here is a link to the soft G song. Other topics have recently included contractions here and syllables here. In phonics we continue talking about how bloopers can help us learn. You can find a tweet about our recent teamwork making Vowel town using our knowledge of vowel teams.

Please consider checking out the class site for new pictures and Clever for new content

MMA is not yet scheduled. It is likely that the March and April assemblies will be combined. I’ll keep you posted.

We may now have in-person Guest Readers. It was fun having District adults in the room to read. But, it is always special when families get to come in. You can check out the available dates here. Please bring a valid ID to be scanned in and receive a nametag.

We had a few students absent this week, so we postponed the animal sharing until next week. Please watch for the colored paper with your date.

Special Dates:

UPDATE - MAR and APRIL MMA will be combined due to NYS testing for 3-6. Watch for specific dates via Main Office Our class presentation at MMA – please wear purple grade level shirts – link from Main Office to follow.

Thank you for all of you support of our topics, strategies and curriculum -related activities.

4.15 – 4.24.22 April Break

4.28 or 29 MMA

5.5.22 Cinco De Mayo celebration

5.13.22 Book Fair – *Please indicate either specific book titles or free choice when sending money

5.17.22 Strawberry Festival/ Budget Vote at MHHS

5.24, 25, or 26 MMA

5.30.22 No School (may be accompanied by unused snow days)

6.14.22 Field Day – Please wear purple grade level shirts - rain date 6.15.22

6.20.22 No school

6.21.22 Full Day

6.22.22 Full Day

6.23 Half day for students

6.24 Half Day for students - Last Day of School

6.24.33 Graduation Day for the Class of 2033!

3.27.22 10:45 a.m.

Dear families,

We have just received word from Mr. Chevrier, via Mr. Derby, that we may now have visitors in the building. Please consider signing up as a Guest Reader one Friday between 8:15-8:30 at this link. Visitors must sign in at the Main Office with a valid ID. They will send you to the room after whole-school announcements. We hope to see you one day very soon!

Mrs. Kosinski and class

3.24.22 6:45 pm

Dear families,

The animal research projects are AMAZING. Please watch for the presentation day, date, and rubric coming home this week. We will most likely use three days in the same week to share our animal information as well as our basket creation process. Please take a moment to practice and send note cards if you wish.

Each morning, we read a morning message and proofread and edit a sample sentence containing purposeful errors related to recent topics or snap words. Recently, we began talking about ‘a vs. an' when mentioning one item. The rule is to use a for singular items beginning with consonant and use an for singular items beginning with a vowel. For example: a cat, an elephant. There are exceptions which are usually based on the way one would spell the beginning sound. For example, using the rule, one might say ‘an unicorn’, but it is ‘a unicorn”. This is because unicorn begins with /y/ sound not acting as a vowel. The English language is quite complex. A fun contraction song here. A fune syllable song here.

We continue to take place value to a deeper level. We can now use “quick tens and one” to represent numbers to the 90’s. We have begun talking about regrouping for both addition and subtraction. You may remember these concepts as’ carrying’ and ‘borrowing’.

We are preparing for our MMA presentation. We are studying famous women in pairs. Each pair will share facts at the Mar/April MMA. Working in groups can be quite different from working alone. With a little practice this year, we will add more group project skills each year.

We are wrapping up third quarter work. If you have any homework you’d like to turn in, please do so this week.

I have added a helpful series of sheets to the Class Photos page. It is a visual of all of our sounds and the many ways in which they are spelled. We have it posted near our Word Wall in the classroom.

Build a Bear now has axolotls!

Thank you for all of the donations for our upcoming learning activities and special celebrations.

Clever is likely to remain active until August when new classes are set up. At that point, you will access your second grade teacher’s Clever content.

Special Dates:

4.15 – 4.24.22 April Break

4.28 or 29 MMA

5.5.22 Cinco De Mayo celebration

5.13.22 Book Fair – *Please indicate either specific book titles or free choice when sending money

5.17.22 Strawberry Festival/ Budget Vote at MHHS

5.24, 25, or 26 MMA

5.30.22 No School (may be accompanied by unused snow days)

6.14.22 Field Day – Please wear purple grade level shirts - rain date 6.15.22

6.20.22 No school

6.21.22 Full Day

6.22.22 Full Day

3.20.22 10:45 a.m.

Dear families,

Build a Bear now has axolotls!

Thank you for all of the donations for our upcoming learning activities and special celebrations.

Clever is likely to remain active until August when new classes are et up. At that point, you will access your second grade teacher’s Clever content.

We had a great time visiting with Ruth Beher, the author of Tia Fortuna. She explained her heritage of Jewish Cuban and coming to the Unites States when she was young. There are beautiful illustrations in this book as well.

We had a little fun celebrating Mario Day on Thursday March 10. Get it, Mar 10 – Mar10 – Mario? Check out the Clever content to play.

We continue to learn about opinions. This will extend to writing reviews of some of our books. We have also extended our use of compound words. We each have a compound word activity that we use as an arrival activity on certain days.

Bloopers remain our focus. The English language has many tricky words, many of which are our Snap Words.

I have added a helpful series of sheets below the update this week. It is a visual of all of our sounds and the many ways in which they are spelled. We have it posted near our Word Wall in the classroom.

Our animal research baskets are due this week. We will likely begin our public speaking sharing later in March. Please watch for a special paper with your date. Did you know that public speaking is among the top adult fears? We’ll take this opportunity to build a reference point for future projects. It will be a wonderful opportunity for building growth mindset.

We are also gearing up for a special Math project with the second graders. We will take time to use our “ I notice, I wonder” statements to share our observations about the 2 Peeps while filling in a Venn diagram.

Moving along in Math, we continue place value work in Module 4 at this link. We have also begun a look at symmetry. We have a series of rotational symmetry posters in the hallway that we are working on as small groups.

The first floor hallway is a vision of spring as each k-2 classroom made sunflowers.

In Social Studies, we continue our work on the continents and mapping as well as the history of The United States.

Our featured reading this week features famous women and spring.

You will find the site tab ‘class photos’ updated with some recent work. You may also find some tweets at @Aristotle_CES. We have added many items to our Seesaw folder. Please use the Seesaw QR code sent home. You will receive a notification once you connect to Seesaw.

Special Dates:

3.17.22 Wear Green

3.17.22 Research Baskets due – indiv. sharing dates to follow

3.18.22 No School for students

3.29 or 30 Our class presentation at MMA – please wear purple grade level shirts – link from Main Office to follow

4.15 – 4.24.22 April Break

4.28 or 29 MMA

5.5.22 Cinco De Mayo celebration

5.13.22 Book Fair – *Please indicate either specific book titles or free choice when sending money

5.17.22 Strawberry Festival/ Budget Vote at MHHS

5.24, 25, or 26 MMA

5.30.22 No School (may be accompanied by unused snow days)

6.14.22 Field Day – Please wear purple grade level shirts - rain date 6.15.22

6.20.22 No school

6.21.22 Full Day

6.22.22 Full Day

6.23 Half day for students

6.24 Half Day for students - Last Day of School

6.24.33 Graduation Day for the Class of 2033!

3.13.22 10:00 a.m.

A wonderful resource for referencing all of the ways to spell sounds:

allsounds.individualcodechart.pdf

Dear families,

We have started learning how to write opinions. We are sure to state our reason using the word because. Luckily, ‘because’ is one of our snap words.

In Reading and Phonics, we continue to focus on the adventures of characters and how stories may be grouped by lessons they teach as well as spelling exceptions. We are discussing how everyone one makes bloopers and that we can, in fact, learn from these bloopers. We also used 'Bossy r' to make some new words. check out the pictures to see why we all giggled at one particular word.

We will have a virtual author visit on Th 3.10 with Ruth Berer. Ms. Rattner usually sends the books home by the following day, if you purchased one.

Please check below for some special dates, including a wear green request for Th 3.17. I do not yet have a firm date for the March MMA from the Main Office. As soon as I have it, I will send a special e-mail with the date, time and link for you to join us. We look forward to the day when we can have guests at MMA once again. On that note, I am hopeful that we may be granted permission to have in-person family guest Readers. Stay tuned!

We will celebrate our research and have a chance to practice our public speaking skills later in March. We will celebrate with a visit from the Research Fairy. Please consider a donation for our animal research celebration or a special Venn Diagram Math activity featuring comparing and contrasting using peeps at https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0E4DA4A723ABF85-research. We hope to pair up with second grade partners!

Thank you in advance!

As we completed Vowel Team study, Rasheed brought the students a special gift and sent a Rasheed necklace for Mrs. K. and Mrs. W. You can find it here for $5.00 if your first grader might like the same necklace.

We have begun Module 4 and our focus on Place Value. If you’d like to take a look, you can find Module 4 at this link. We will take a short break from Place Value to talk about time to the hour and half hour as Daylight Saving Time begins and we notice it staying light longer after school.

Thank you for all of your support of our learning and special projects. It is greatly appreciated.

Special Dates:

3.9.22 Spring Pictures

3.10.22 Virtual Author visit - Ruth Beher

3.17.22 Wear Green

3.17.22 Research Baskets due – indiv. sharing dates to follow

3.18.22 No School for students

3.29 or 30 Our

class presentation at MMA – please wear purple grade level shirts – link from

Main Office to follow

4.15 – 4.24.22 April Break

4.28 or 29 MMA

5.5.22 Cinco De Mayo celebration

5.13.22 Book Fair – *Please indicate either specific book titles

or free choice when sending money

5.17.22 Strawberry Festival/ Budget Vote at MHHS

5.24, 25, or 26 MMA

5.30.22 No School (may be accompanied by unused snow days)

6.14.22 Field Day – Please wear purple grade level shirts

6.20.22 No school

6.21.22 Full Day

6.22.22 Full Day

6.23 Half day for students

6.24 Half Day for students - Last Day of School

6.24.33 Graduation Day for the Class of 2033!

3.6.22 9:45 a.m.

Dear families,

I hope you enjoyed the time off. We return on Monday to some new topics and strategies. We will continue working on our animal research. We will celebrate our research and have a chance to practice our public speaking skills in March. We will celebrate with a visit from the Research Fairy. Please consider a donation for our animal research celebration or a special Math activity featuring comparing and contrasting using peeps at https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0E4DA4A723ABF85-research. Thank you in advance!

Feb Break 2.19.22 – 2.27.22

See you all on Monday, 2.28.22!

Special Dates:

3.10.22 Virtual Author visit - Ruth Beher

3.17.22 Wear Green

3.17.22 Research Baskets due – indiv. sharing dates to follow

3.18.22 No School for students

3.29 or 30 Our class presentation at MMA – please wear purple grade level shirts – link from Main Office to follow

4.15 – 4.24.22 April Break

4.28 or 29 MMA

5.5.22 Cinco De Mayo celebration

5.13.22 Book Fair – *Please indicate either specific book titles or free choice when sending money

5.17.22 Strawberry Festival/ Budget Vote at MHHS

5.24, 25, or 26 MMA

5.30.22 No School (may be accompanied by unused snow days)

6.14.22 Field Day – Please wear purple grade level shirts

6.20.22 No school

6.21.22 Full Day

6.22.22 Full Day

6.23 Half day for students

6.24 Half Day for students - Last Day of School

6.24.33 Graduation Day for the Class of 2033!

2.26.22 9:30 a.m.

Dear families,

It was another eventful week! We celebrated friendship on Valentine’s Day. We also celebrated the 100th day of school! We made the number 100 with graham crackers, circle cookies, and frosting. Our capes were AMAZING! We each shared what our topic was. I went for Snap Words! Pictures of the weeks’ events are on the Class Photos tab. Thank you to everyone who sent in donations!

We wrapped up our study of vowel teams by starting our Vowel Town. We will continue after break and then display it in the hallway. We continue our study of characters and how we can change our voice to show how the characters are feeling. We are also taking a closer look at some books to see if they teach the reader a lesson about life. Rasheed returned from his trip to bring us our own personal construction workers. He also got the meet with the S.S.D.A The Super-Secret Detective Agency. They followed up by sending us our Word Builders medallion celebrating our new knowledge.

Rasheed also brought Mrs. W and Mrs. K a special gift. He brought each of us a lovely Rasheed necklace. If your first grader would like one, you can find them here for $5.00.

We finished up the Math Module on measurement and data. When we return, we will begin a Module focused on place value to 120. This module features the use of a tape diagram rather than a number bond for the first time. If you’d like to take a look, you can find Module 4 at this link.

We went to Monthly Assembly. C.E.S. has decided to separate the days for MMA. Previously, all of the grades presented in one day. Now, we attend on 2 separate days. More information on our presentation scheduled for March will be in future updates.

We are writing a non-fiction book in Writer’s Workshop and Science. We have used PebbleGo for information.

Looking for a virtual learning experience over break? Try Outschool. Here is a link to an axolotl class taking place on a variety of days. You may also wish to submit a picture or story to Skribblers. The address can be found on the homework page.

Best wishes for a peaceful break!

Special Dates:

2.19 – 27. 22 Break

3.10.22 Virtual Author visit - Ruth Beher

3.17.22 Wear Green

3.18.22 No School for students

4.15 – 4.24 April Break

5.5 Cinco De Mayo celebration

5.30 No School (may be accompanied by unused snow days)

6.20.22 No school

6.21 Full Day

6.22 Full Day

6.23 Half day for students

6.24 Half Day for students - Last Day of School

6.24.33 Graduation Day for the Class of 2033!

2.20.22 7:30 a.m.

Dear families,

The 100th day of school is here! Can you believe that we are 100 days of learning completed this year? Time flies! With only 1 snow day so far, the 100th day falls on Valentine’s Day. We have a special Math page to complete as well. We will use a 120 chart to add and subtract by tens and ones. This is related to the first grade strategy of knowing 10 more than, 10 less than, 1 more than and 1 less than any given number. We have our special hats to wear with our capes. We will pass by the main office, move through the ILL and up to the library to show off our capes. Thank you to all who donated! We will return to the room to build a special snack with frosting, graham crackers and round cookies. It will be a great way to start the week.

We will take time to celebrate friendship with the many treats families generously donated.

We are in search of family members who are willing to be virtual Guest Readers. Please email with a Friday date that will work for you.

In Math, we are starting the collecting data and graphing unit. Module 3 is short. We will soon move on to Module 4 which features more in-depth work with place value.

In Phonics, we have concluded our study of vowel teams and will begin work on building our Vowel Town featuring all that we know of our phonics knowledge including the rules as well as the exceptions. In Reading, we have been learning about how to bring the adventures of the characters in our stories to life by using expression in our voice. We are also practicing how to bring the characters to life using our whole body. We have also been talking about not only the main characters, but also the supporting characters and how they are related to the main character and the events in the story. As you read to and with your first graders, please consider pointing these topics out. You can comment on how we gave each character their own voice, ask us about the supporting characters, help us make predictions, ask us comprehension questions, and discuss how pages go together to help us understand more details about the characters and events.

In Social Studies, we continue our work on the continents and mapping. These topics connect well to our Science study of the Solar System and Geology of the Earth as we learn about our place in the universe.

Our Featured Reading center now highlights presidents, geology, Valentine’s Day as well as the 100th Day! You will find Clever content related to these topics as well.

This week, I will send a packet to be used for our regular weekly homework as well as a bit of review if you’d like to keep the routine going over Spring Break week. The entire packet will be optional and not be recorded for homework grading purposes.

Looking for a virtual learning experience over break. Try Outschool. Here is a link to an axolotl class taking place on a variety of days. You may also wish to submit a picture or story to Skribblers. The address can be found on the homework page.

Best wishes for a peaceful February Break. We’ll see you on M, 2.28.22!

Special Dates:

2.19 – 27. 22 Break

3.10.22 Virtual Author visit - Ruth Beher

3.17.22 Wear Green

3.18.22 No School for students

4.15 – 4.24 April Break

5.5 Cinco De Mayo celebration

5.30 No School (may be accompanied by unused snow days)

6.20.22 No school

6.22 Half day for students

6.23 Half Day for students

6.24.22 Last Day of School

6.24.33 Graduation Day for the Class of 2033!

2.13.22 9:00 a.m.

Dear Families,

The Friday 2.4.22 snow day was a surprise! I hope you all enjoyed the unexpected three-day weekend. Please note that the 100th Day of School is now on 2.14.22.

The CES K-Kids are hosting spirit week February 7-14. The themes for each day are below. In addition, they will be collecting canned soup for the Anchor food pantry. Students can "vote" for the team they believe will win the Super Bowl. Each can= one vote.

Monday, February 7–Color Wars Show your grade level pride!

6th Black and/or white

5th Blue

4th Red

3rd Green

2nd Orange

1st Purple

K Yellow

Tuesday, February 8–Career Day (Nurse? Athletes? Doctor? Construction worker? Firefighter? Scientist? You choose!)

Wednesday, February 9--Wacky Wednesday– Mismatch Crazy Hair/Hat Day

Thursday, February 10, Throwback Thursday– choose your own decade!

Friday, February 11–Jersey Day–wear your favorite sports shirt, club shirt, or jersey!

Monday, February 14–Wear Pink, Red, and White for Valentine’s Day

If you have a Valentine mailbox, feel free to send it to school. However, we will be making Valentine bags at school. The 100th day and Valentine's Day came very close this year. For that reason and the fact that there is an at-home component to our animal study, I elected not to assign the making of a box so close to the cape project.

We are in search of family members who are willing to be virtual Guest Readers on Fridays at 8:15.

We celebrated 2.2.22 with a few activities celebrating doubles. We also had fun with thinking about what we might be doing in 22 years. The majority of us were quite certain that we can't imagine living anywhere but with Mom and Dad!! We had many interesting career choices. We even had a few students promise to come back and talk to my first graders about their career in 2044!!

We had a great time during the virtual author visit with Robbi Behr and Matthew Swanson. they shared how they become inspired for their new books and illustrations. They even showed us how to draw Dumbels, a dog from one of their books.

We have many 100th Day capes waiting in the classroom for the special day. Please note that the 100th Day of School is now on 2.14.22. Feel free to use any material you wish. We will each have a chance to practice our public speaking skills as we share the topic of our cape and how we made it. You may wish to practice what we will say or send notes to use as we address the class.

We continue to use our Word Builder skills as we make words with various vowel teams. We have begun a Vowel Team Poster that tracks all vowel teams and their sounds. We even checked out a recent morning Message to find a s many vowel teams as we could. We found 13 of them! These vowel teams come in handy as we read, write and spell. We have noticed that some vowel teams make 2 sounds as in /oo/ (book, spoon). We also found that we can have 2 different spellings that make the same sound /oy/ boy, /oi/ foil. The English language is strange, indeed.

There is more clever content related to President’s Day. If you see a message of “requires permission” it’s most likely a quick fix of a setting on my end of you let me know. There are a few pictures of learning activities this week as well.

Please remember that a variety of apps are helpful for extra practice for meeting benchmarks throughout the year. Xtra Math is great for Math fact fluency. The algorithm will advance as the students show proficiency. Seesaw is great for activities related to our new Reading program. Lalilo is ELA specific – skills related to reading and comprehension. ESpark has both a reading and Math portion. EPIC is wonderful for reading and comprehension as it has quizzes at the end of each assigned book. Simply click the bell in the top right to view books I have added. Free choice reading is also available on EPIC. EPIC is only available on school days from 7:00 – 3:00. However, it will remain available on weeks we are on break. The Unite for Literacy site is a great option if Clever has closed for the day. Zearn is now available to all students in the class. You will be taken directly there by using your Clever badge. This seems to be a favorite of many students. They tell me it is the activities that make it so appealing. It correlates directly to our EngageNY/Eureka Math program. So, the phrasing we hear at school is what is heard in Zearn. The strategies that we are working on in the classroom as we move through the Math series is exactly what is on Zearn.

We are about to use what we learned in reading non-fiction as we each research an animal in Science. We will each select an animal that we do not know much about. For that reason, animals such as cats, dogs, bears will not be among the list that each student selects from. Writing non-fiction will be our next writing unit.

In Math, we are talking about measurement and data collection. We will measure in standard (inches, centimeters) as well as non-standard (paperclips, pencils, etc). Our study of data will include tally marks to record data. Skip counting by fives becomes an important skill.

i-Ready results will be tucked in the report card envelopes. Report cards will now come home on M 2.7.22 due to the snow day on 2.4.22. Please sign and return the envelope.

Best wishes for a warmer week!

Special Dates:

2.14.22 100th Day of School Celebration w/ 100th Day capes (tentative date – snow days may affect the actual date) Feel free to return capes when they are complete.

2.14.22 Celebrate Friendship. Please see the class list to address your cards. Signup Genius: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0E4DA4A723ABF85-valentines Thank you in advance.

2.19 – 27. 22 Break

3.10.22 Virtual Author visit - Ruth Beher

3.17.22 Wear Green

3.18.22 No School for students

4.15 – 4.24 April Break

5.30 No School (may be accompanied by unused snow days)

6.20.22 No school

6.24.33 Graduation Day for the Class of 2033!

2.6.22 10:45 a.m.

Dear families,

Thank you to everyone who has signed up for supplies for upcoming celebrations. You can still donate supplies at: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0E4DA4A723ABF85-valentines Thank you in advance.

You will find i-Ready results tucked in with your students’ report card. While there are no conferences related to report card #2, please feel free to email to request and include which time is best for you: T-F 7:30 a.m. , M-Th 1:45 p.m. or T-Th 2:35.

Spirit Week!

The CES K-Kids are hosting spirit week February 7-14. The themes for each day are below. In addition, we will be collecting canned soup for the Anchor food pantry. Students can "vote" for the team they believe will win the Super Bowl. Each can= one vote.

Monday, February 7–Color Wars Show your grade level pride!

6th Black and/or white

5th Blue

4th Red

3rd Green

2nd Orange

1st Purple

K Yellow

Tuesday, February 8–Career Day (Nurse? Athlete? Doctor? Construction worker? Firefighter? Scientist? You choose!)

Wednesday, February 9--Wacky Wednesday– Mismatch Crazy Hair/Hat Day

Thursday, February 10, Throwback Thursday– choose your own decade!

Friday, February 11–Jersey Day–wear your favorite sports shirt, club shirt, or jersey!

Monday, February 14–Wear Pink, Red, and White for Valentine’s Day

2.2.22 Since we will be on break on the once in a lifetime Tuesday 2.22.22, we will celebrate all things in pairs and doubles on 2.2.22. Should we plan now for Senior Day on Th 3.3.33?

2.2.22 Author visit Robbi Behr and Matthew Swanson

2.11.22 100th Day of School Celebration w/ 100th Day capes (tentative date – snow days may affect the actual date) Feel free to return capes when they are complete.

2.14.22 Celebrate Friendship. Please see the class list to address your cards. Signup Genius: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0E4DA4A723ABF85-valentines Thank you in advance.

2.19 – 27. 22 Break

3.10.22 Virtual Author visit - Ruth Beher

3.17.22 Wear Green

3.18.22 No School for students

4.15 – 4.24 April Break

5.30 No School (may be accompanied by unused snow days)

6.20.22 No school

6.24.33 Graduation Day for the Class of 2033!

1.30.22 8:45 a.m.

Dear families,

Thank you to everyone who has signed up for supplies for upcoming celebrations. You can still donate supplies at: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0E4DA4A723ABF85-valentines Thank you in advance.

In Math, we continue to work on pace value and the RDW strategy. When working on word problems, we Read the problem together, we Draw a representation of the problem to show our work, we Write the number sentences as well as a statement answer. Please take time to add Math Fact fluency to your at-home practice. The series progresses to other topics using basic facts to 20. Fact families can be a fun way to practice Math Facts. For example, if we know that 2 + 3 = 5 we know so many other facts. We would also know that 3 +2 = 5, 5 – 2 = 3, and 5 -3 = 2. Then, as we begin place value, we would also know 20 + 30 = 50, 30 + 20 = 50, 5 -20 = 30 and 50 – 30 = 20. You can see how this can also take us into the 100!

In Science, we are taking our knowledge of the Solar System and applying it to further study The Earth and geology.

Please feel free to send in your 100 Day Cape as it is completed. We will store them away until the big day, on or around 2.11.22.

In Social Studies, we will be taking time to discuss mapping. This connects well to The Solar System and The Earth/geology as we will discuss the seven continents and the oceans and our place in the world. A great book is Me on the Map. This catchy song can be helpful also: Continent Song. We also continue to receive postcards from around the United States with interesting facts from each. We mailed ours in the fall. We hope the other schools are having as much fun as we are!

In Reading/Phonics we continue to use our knowledge of various letters, blend and digraphs to build words. As word builders, we will continue to use our knowledge of base words and endings such as; er, ed, and ing. For example, if we know our snap word go then we know going when we see it in a book and can use it in our writing when we spell it. If we know our Snap Word and then we know sand and can add a blend to make stand which will lead to knowing standing. We will be working with vowel teams /ea/, /ee/, /ai/, /ou/, /oo/, and /oa/ more in coming weeks.

Please remember to place a note in your folder if you will be picking up early. This way, we can have all of the supplies ready to go when they buzz us.

Please remember that you can find tweets @AristotleAxolotl_CES. There are also some new photos posted to the Class Photos tab. Please take some time to copy the pictures that you like or any you wish to save for gr. 8 or gr. 12 graduation. The site will be reset in July.

We have almost completed #2 i-Ready. Watch for printouts in the coming weeks. It will have a comparison to #1 to show progress.

Thank you for your continued support of our learning.

2.2.22 Since we will be on break on the once in a lifetime Tuesday 2.22.22, we will celebrate all things in pairs and doubles on 2.2.22. Should we plan now for Senior Day on Th 3.3.33?

2.11.22 100th Day of School Celebration w/ 100th Day capes (tentative date – snow days may affect the actual date) Feel free to return capes when they are complete.

2.14.22 Celebrate Friendship. Please see the class list to address your cards. Signup Genius: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0E4DA4A723ABF85-valentines Thank you in advance.

2.19 – 27. 22 Break

3.10.22 Virtual Author visit - Ruth Beher

3.17.22 Wear Green

3.18.22 No School for students

4.15 – 4.24 April Break

5.30 No School (may be accompanied by unused snow days)

6.20.22 No school

6.24.33 Graduation Day for the Class of 2033!

1.23.22 8:00 am

We had been very lucky to this point. Thank you for familiarizing yourself with Clever before it was needed. We will be sure to send home anything you missed while in quarantine. Please reach out if you need any materials. Please be sure to tell the caller that you will need a device and she will relay that request to the C.E.S. Main Office.

Rubber Ducky Day was great fun! We started a story based on a ducky picture that we will use our proofreading and editing skills on. Then, we will share with everyone in the hallway just outside of the classroom.

We are planning some celebrations in the coming weeks. First, we will celebrate friendship by addressing a Valentine for each of our classmates. The up-to-date list is found on the General Info tab. You will find the sheet for Card boxes/bags in our folder this week. Please consider participating as it is an excellent opportunity for us to practice our public speaking skills. It’s also wonderful for using order words as we discuss the process for making our card holder. We will also be celebrating the 100th Day of School! The baggie with a sample cape and directions came home on F 1.14.22. Please let us know if you are in need of any specific supplies to complete your cape. Lastly, the date of 2.2.22 is right around the corner. Unfortunately, we are on break when 2.22.22 rolls around, so we will celebrate a bit early. Please consider a donation to any of our celebrations at: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0E4DA4A723ABF85-valentines

There is some new Clever Content. You will see that each evening, students are asked to work on a specific Clever app related to our recent topics. There are also some new class photos posted to the picture tab.

We have started our work on place value. This will include representing a given number with tens and ones tiles. You can find a new Clever activity featuring this topic. We each have a baggie of tiles at our seats. We use them in a variety of ways. Students will represent a given number as stated out loud or students will lay down the given number of tiles stated and share the value of those given tiles. We will also work on skip counting by tens from any number. Most of us are pros at skip counting by ten from 10; 10, 20, 30, 40…. We can bump up the challenge level by starting at other numbers: 37, 47, 57, 67… . This fluency will come in handy as we begin to add 2 two digit numbers. Please continue to work toward total fluency in facts to 20. The Math series states the goal for our Sprints as completion in 90 seconds. The only way to reach that goal is to continue to use flashcards and apps to reduce reliance on fingers. As odd as it sounds, you can use adding to solve a subtraction problem. For example: 8 - 4= ? can be solved by adding 4 + ? = 8. Both counting on and counting back are great strategies.

We will finish up i-Ready Reading and Math #2 this week. It will remain open for several weeks, so please do not worry about being absent. We will have plenty of time to complete both assessments.

Thank you to all who signed up for the Parent Seesaw app as we have several work samples added to our individual folders. We will continue to add throughout the year. The QR codes remain active for those wishing to sign up this week.

Thank you for your support of our learning.

1.17.22 No School

1.21.22 Virtual Author visit

2.2.22 Since we will be on break on the once in a lifetime Tuesday 2.22.22, we will celebrate all things in pairs and doubles on 2.2.22. Should we plan now for Senior Day on Th 3.3.33?

2.11.22 100th Day of School Celebration w/ 100th Day capes (tentative date – snow days may affect the actual date)

2.14.22 Celebrate Friendship. Please see class the list to address your cards. Signup Genuis : https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0E4DA4A723ABF85-valentines Thank you in advance.

2.19 – 27. 22 Break

3.10.22 Virtual Author visit

3.17.22 Wear Green

3.18.22 No School for students

4.15 – 4.24 April Break

5.30 No School (may be accompanied by unused snow days)

6.24.33 Graduation Day for the Class of 2033!

1.17.22 10:15 a.m.

Dear families,

What a tremendous first week back after break! After taking a break to travel around the world, we got back to The Solar System and talking about the unique features of each planet. We got back to Math strategies with the RDW strategy. This can help us with any word problem. It will be used in second grade also. We even cleaned out our desks a bit after the various December activities.

Our presentation at MMA was a hit! Thank you to all of you who were able to join us via the Google Meet link! We will most likely be presenting again in March.

We welcomed Connor to the class. He was the line leader as we introduced him to the various Special Area teachers.

Oh, and we can’t forget that we started our l earning in the ILL with Ms. Lant. The topic over the next few visits is the Ozobot. Ozobots are small robots about the size of a marshmallow. Students learn to code the robot to follow a path. Four different marker colors in a pattern, tell the robot to move forward, backward, turn around, and even do a little dance. I promised the class that I would post it to the class site as many indicated they would make saving up for their own Ozobot a goal. You can find Ozobots at this link: Walmart. It appears that many of the usual sites are out of stock at this time. However, a usual price is approx. $119.00 for the individual starter pack. You will not require special markers; regular markers will work just fine so long as you remain between the lines. I’ll post more links as I find they became available.

Thank you for continuing the practice on Math facts to 20. You will begin to see us adding to the 100’s place as we begin to talk about Place Value. In fact, we just received our baggies of Place Value Tile to help us represent numbers into the 100’s! Watch for a paper copy for use at home in a future homework packet.

With our Word Detective skills in place, we are reading to move on to the Word Builder unit in Reading/Phonics. We will also be talking about types of poetry as well as writing our own poems. We will try our hand at creating a poem using a song that we already know as a guide.

Please consider signing up for the Parent Seesaw app as we have several work samples added to our individual folders. I will send another batch this week.

We will be starting i-Ready Reading and Math #2 this week. It will remain open for several weeks, so please do not worry about being absent. We will have plenty of time to complete both assessments.

Please note the change in district protocol for Covid exposure as explained in a District blast to families last week. In the case of quarantining, you will first receive notification from the Main Office. After I am notified, I will reach out via email. Hard copies will be available in the vestibule after Special Class the following day. The vestibule is open between 7:30 - 3:30 daily. When receiving notification from the Main Office, please let them know if you will require a device in order to check in each day and complete work so that I can place it in the vestibule. Please know, per admin, I can only mark your student "working from home" if you check in by 8:15 each morning when I submit attendance. Please be sure to check your Clever access before it is needed.

Thank you for your support of our learning.

1.14.22 Rubber Ducky Day - per slip on T 1.4.22

1.17.22 No School

2.11.22 100th Day of School Celebration (tentative date – snow days may affect the actual date)

2.14.22 Celebrate Friendship. Please see class list to address your cards. Signup Genuis coming soon. Thank you in advance.

2.19 – 27. 22 Break

2.2.22 Since we will be on break on the once in a lifetime Tuesday 2.22.22, we will celebrate all things in pairs and doubles on 2.2.22. Should we plan now for Senior Day on Th 3.3.33?

3.10.22 Virtual Author visit

3.17.22 Wear Green

3.18.22 No School for students

4.15 – 4.24 April Break

5.30 No School (may be accompanied by unused snow days)

6.24.33 Graduation Day for the Class of 2033!

1.9.22 12:15 p.m.

Happy 2022!

1.14.22 Rubber Ducky Day - More info to follow1.17.22 No School2.11.22 100th Day of School Celebration (tentative date – snow days may affect the actual date) 2.19 – 27. 22 Break 3.10.22 Virtual Author visit3.17.22 Wear Green3.18.22 No School for students 4.15 – 4.24 April Break5.30 No School (may be accompanied by unused snow days)6.24.33 Graduation Day for the Class of 2033!
1.1.22 6:45 p.m.

12.19.21

Please watch for a District push notification with the MMA link to join us on Th 12.23 at 1:30p.m.. We have been practicing and are ready to go! Your choice of purple grade level shirt/holiday clothes/dress-up clothes for MMA.

Best wishes for a peaceful holiday!

Special Dates:

Winter Class Celebration 12.22 We will select our Grab Bag gifts, have some (Covid protocol approved) pre-packaged treats, and play some games with wrapped candy treats. Please wear festive clothes on 12.22!

MMA 12.23 This is our class presentation. Please set a reminder to join us at the virtual assembly at 1:00. Please wear either our grade level shirt or festive clothes!

Break 12.24.21 - 1.2.22

Rubber Ducky Day 1.14.22 More info to follow

No School 1.17.22

100th Day of School Celebration (tentative date – snow days may affect the actual date) 2.11.22

Break 2.19 – 27. 22

Virtual Author visit 3.10.22

Wear Green 3.17.22

No School for students 3.18.22

April Break 4.15 – 4.24

No School 5.30 (may be accompanied by unused snow days)

12.18.21 6:45 p.m.

The snowy weather has arrived. Please begin to send snow gear as the weather indicates. Especially important is a second pair of shoes to wear in the classroom so that the floor does not get slippery and result in falls causing injury. If you wish your first grader to leave their snow gear at school, please discuss this with them. Often parents will leave the old pair of snow pants and boots at school. All gear will be taken home for December break as the custodians will be deep cleaning the hallway floors. Please also know that the District asks students without boots remain in the blacktop area for recess. Boots gain us access to the playground and their snowy areas. Initials on all coats and boots help a great deal as well. Thank you for your cooperation.

This is also a good time to mention shoe tying. Please review the process at home to ensure independence in this area.

It seems many of Rasheed’ s and Aristotle’s will be arriving for the holidays. If you will be sending your Rasheed or Aristotle to school, please be sure to write initials in the tag to avoid confusion and help us get the current friend home to you. Thank you in advance!

If you are a 12.24 - 4th Friday Show and Tell, we will try to get to Show and Tell on Th 12.23.

Please see the note below that our class will be presenting at MMA on Th 12.23.21. Feel free to wear either your purple grade level T-shirt or something festive. The link will be sent via District push. I will also send it to your email on file the day prior.

Mr. Derby was our Guest Reader for the week! We are still in search of some parent Guest Readers. Please e-mail if you are interested in the new year.

We are having a good time sewing our pillow trees! We have had a variety of district adults come and help us. Please check out the Class Photo tab as well as Aristotle Axolotl’s Twitter feed.

In Math you will notice that the strategy this week focuses on labeling the number bond from the subtraction word problem. You will also notice that the word problem has much more information which will require us to look more carefully at the numbers we need for the problem. It is crucial that we now know basic addition and subtraction facts to 15. You may have an app that you find helpful. Some apps that we use in the classroom are i-reading Math, eSpark Math and Xtra Math. The Sprints that you see come home are designed by the Engage NY curriculum developers. They state the goal as completion in 90 seconds.

We will be taking our Winter Traditions Around the World folder home the week of 12.20. Please watch for it in our red folder.

Please be sure you have tested out your Clever connections for a smooth transition in case of quarantining. If you experience difficulties, the Main Office can pit you in touch with the IT Department for assistance.

We are participating in a Postcards from Around the U.S project with other classes around the United States. We have received 17 post cards so far. Our batch of 50 is ready to be mailed this week. We had fun with the postcard from Hawaii that mentioned the state fish: Humuhumunukunukuapua. What a wonderful opportunity to show that sometimes even adults have to use those Word Detective skills!

Thank you for all of your donations to class projects and support of our learning this year!

Best wishes for a peaceful holiday and healthy new year!

Special Dates:

Winter Class Celebration 12.22 We will select our Grab Bag gifts, have some (Covid protocol approved) pre-packaged treats, and play some games with wrapped candy treats. Please wear festive clothes!

MMA 12.23 This is our class presentation. Please set a reminder to join us at the virtual assembly at 1:00. Please wear either our grade level shirt or festive clothes!

Break 12.24.21 - 1.2.22

Rubber Ducky Day 1.14.22 More info to follow

No School 1.17.22

100th Day of School Celebration (tentative date – snow days may affect the actual date) 2.11.22

Break 2.19 – 27. 22

Virtual Author visit 3.10.22

Wear Green 3.17.22

No School for students 3.18.22

April Break 4.15 – 4.24

No School 5.30 (may be accompanied by unused snow days)

12.21.21 1:00 p.m.

Dear families,

In the case of quarantining, you will first receive notification from the Main Office. After I am notified, I will reach out via email. Hard copies will be available in the vestibule after Special Class the following day. The vestibule is open between 7:30 - 3:30 daily. When receiving notification from the Main Office, please let them know if you will require a device in order to check in each day so that I can place it in the vestibule. Please know, per admin, I can only mark your student "working from home" if you check in by 8:15 each morning when I submit attendance. Please be sure to check your Clever access before it is needed. At this time, you have received: 2 identical Clever badges, Xtra Math login, Seesaw login and Family App connection info, eSpark login, Lalilo login, and iReady login.

Please remember, class information can be found on our website and on our Twitter feed.

If you are a 12.24 4th Friday Show and Tell, we will try to get to Show and Tell on Th 12.23.

The gr. 1 MMA that was postponed due to the water main break is rescheduled for M 12.6.21 at 1:00. Please see the note below that our class will be presenting at MMA on Th 12.23.21. Feel free to wear either your purple grade level T-shirt or something festive. You may wish to have your first grader give you a preview of our song: The ABC's Of You - YouTube

Sewing is off to a great start. We each selected our fabric. Then, we got started on our small stitches! After all, we don’t want our stuffing to fall out! We have several District adults signed up to come and sew with us in the coming weeks.

Feel free to send your Holiday Bazaar shopping envelope to school on M-W and we’ll set it aside for shopping on Th 12.9. Please be sure to label the envelope and include a list of those for whom we will purchase gifts. A (name-labeled) bag will also be helpful to get all of our treats home to you.

Last Call. You are invited to participate in the class grab-bag. Please consider purchasing a gift, suitable for both boys and girls, with an approximate value of $5.00. Please wrap it and send it to school by December 3. Please include your first grader’s name in the “from” section of the tag. We will use our Math skills to find the gift meant for us! This is always a fun time. You may send it to school between now and Dec. 1 at your convenience. Thank you.

If gift-giving at holiday time is your family tradition, you may wish to consider asking your service providers if they have a wish list related to their area of service. You may have specific service providers such as AIS Math, Title 1 Reading, Speech, PT, Counseling Corner, and OT. The office staff, in addition to Principal Derby and Assistant Principal Martin, include Mrs. Maier and Ms. Ferracane. Of course, we know we can count on Nurse Brewer to be there for us as well. Our TA. Mrs. Wildermuth is with us each day 8:00- 11:25 and is a valuable support in the classroom! I have a Teachers Pay Teachers account. TPT is a resource of activities, both pencil and paper as well as virtual, which correlate to specific grade level standards. It has been particularly helpful as we transitioned to a new reading series and for intervention /enrichment activities. If interested in donating to the class this year, you can find my account at: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/ClassFund/Jennifer-Kosinski-90230?ownCampaign=&utm_campaign=ClassFundShare

In Math, we continue working on adding sets looking for a quick ten. The brain finds it easier and more efficient to work with sets of tens. We find these quick tens in a variety of ways. It may be right in the sets in the original problem as in 7 + 3 + 2 = 10 +2 = 12. We might even find the quick ten in the original problem, but at the end as in 2 + 7 + 3 or separated as in 7 + 2 + 3. The last example is where we would use what we call the “Rainbow strategy” as we would circle the 7 and 3 bumping over the 2. If there is no quick ten in the original problem, we must “decompose” a given set. For example, in 9 + 5, we have no quick ten in the original problem. We must decompose the 5 into 4 + 1 because 9 is one away from ten. We then take the 1 we pulled from the 5 and put it with the 9 to make a group of 10. We can then quickly use mental math to add 10 + 4 = 14. It is crucial that we have mastered math facts through 15 using mental math at this point. Please consider additional use of Xtra Math, i-ready or eSpark Math found on Clever for additional practice at home. Let’s not forget about the good old flash cards. You may wish to consider graphing practice times or number correct so that we can reflect on our improvement and give ourselves a pat on the back for a job well done.

In Phonics, we have 'magic e' under our belts, but we won’t forget it as it will turn up in Writing samples. We will begin looking at contractions and their use in sentences. We continue to work on all snap words.

In Reading, we are moving on to non-fiction. This will include self-selecting nonfiction books as part of our stamina reading and discussions about nonfiction features such as glossaries and tables of content.

Special Dates:

MMA 12.6 (November’s Assembly was rescheduled due to water main break).

Holiday Bazaar 12.9 (Please send all money in an envelope with your first grader’s name as well as a list of people for whom they will be buying gifts) More info via the PTO.

MMA 12.23 This is our class presentation. Please set a reminder to join us at the virtual assembly at 1:00.

Break 12.24.21 - 1.2.22

Rubber Duck Day 1.14.22 More info to follow

No School 1.17.22

100th Day of School Celebration (tentative date – snow days may affect the actual date) 2.11.22

Break 2.19 – 27. 22

Virtual Author visit 3.10.22

Wear Green 3.17.22

No School for students 3.18.22

April Break 4.15 – 24.22

School Budget Vote 5.17.21

12.5.21 10:15 a.m.

Some Dec. 11 fun from Ms. Rattner:

Registration link: Brightly Storytime LIVE: Season's Readings! Tickets, Sat, Dec 11, 2021 at 1:00 PM | Eventbrite

Happy Thanksgiving to all! Thank you for coming to the parade on Tuesday, 11.23.21!! Check out the Twitter page for pictures of the Balloons Over Broadway Parade!

You are invited to participate in the class grab-bag. Please consider purchasing a gift, suitable for both boys and girls, with an approximate value of $5.00. Please wrap it and send it to school by December 3. Please include your first grader’s name in the “from” section of the tag. We will use our Math skills to find the gift meant for us! This is always a fun time. You may send it to school between now and Dec. 1 at your convenience. Thank you.

Special Dates:

MMA 11.30 Please wear grade level shirts. Thank you.

Holiday Bazaar 12.9, 10 (Please send all money in an envelope with your first grader’s name as well as a list of people for whom they will be buying gifts) More info via the PTO.

MMA 12.23 Please wear grade level shirts. Thank you.

Break 12.24.21 - 1.2.22

No School 1.17.22

100th Day of School Celebration (tentative date – snow days may affect the actual date) 2.11.22

Break 2.19 – 27

No School for students 3.18

11.28.21

Dear families,

There will be no homework packet for this week due to the short week.

Please check your schedule to see if you are able to attend the First Grade Balloons Over Broadway Parade on T 11.23.21 at 12:30. We hope to see you outside!

We visited the ILL this week to build boats. Check out the Class Photos tab and Twitter for class activity updates.

If gift-giving at holiday time is your family tradition, you may wish to consider asking your service providers if they have a wish list related to their area of service. You may have specific service providers such as AIS Math, Title 1 Reading, Speech, PT, Counseling Corner, and OT. The office staff, in addition to Principal Derby and Assistant Principal Martin, include Mrs. Maier and Ms. Ferracane. Of course, we know we can count on Nurse Brewer to be there for us as well. Our TA. Mrs. Wildermuth is with us each day 8:00- 11:25 and is a valuable support in the classroom! Some teachers have an Amazon wish list. I have a Teachers Pay Teachers account. TPT is a resource of activities, both pencil and paper as well as virtual, which correlate to specific grade level standards. It has been particularly helpful as we transitioned to a new reading series and for intervention /enrichment activities. If interested in donating to the class this year, you can find my account at: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/ClassFund/Jennifer-Kosinski-90230?ownCampaign=&utm_campaign=ClassFundShare Thank you in advance.

Best wishes for a peaceful Thanksgiving. Stay well.

Special Dates:

First Grade Balloons Over Broadway Parade 11.23 12:30

MMA 11.30 (more info. via the Main Office)

Make-up Picture Day 11.23

Thanksgiving weekend 11.24 – 28

Holiday Bazaar 12.9, 10 (Please send all money in an envelope with your first grader’s name as well as a list of people for whom they will be buying gifts) More info via the PTO.

MMA 12.23

Break 12.24.21 - 1.2.22

No School 1.17.22

100th Day of School Celebration (tentative date – snow days may affect the actual date) 2.11.22

Break 2.19 – 27

No School for students 3.18

11.21.21 12:45 p.m.

Report cards are in full swing. If you have any previous weekly homework to hand in, please do so by Monday 11.15.21. Report Card entry locks Monday afternoon.

We will be having a Winter Celebration in December. Please consider a donation at the sign-up link https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0E4DA4A723ABF85-december . I’ve listed the due date for supplies as 12.10. This will allow me time to see what came in and what I may need to still gather. The party is tentatively scheduled for 12.22. We will have some holiday-themed centers including Drop the Clothespin and Spin the Dreidel. In pre-Covid years we also played Pin the Nose on the Reindeer. The sharing of the blindfold prevents that this year. We will use the indiv. wrapped candies for these centers. Thank you in advance for your donations.

You are also invited to participate in the class grab-bag. Please consider purchasing a gift, suitable for both boys and girls, with an approximate value of $5.00. Please wrap it and send it to school by December 3. Please include your first grader’s name in the “from” section of the tag. We will use our Math skills to find the gift meant for us! This is always a fun time. You may send it to school between now and Dec. 1 at your convenience. Thank you.

Parent Conferences are scheduled for Th 11.18 and F 11.19. If you have not yet signed up, please know that we now have the option to meet in person. If you have already signed up and would like to come in person, please edit your sign up with that notation. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0E4DA4A723ABF85-parentteacher If you click into the meet and the previous meet has not yet concluded, please click out and try again in 3 minutes. Thank you for your understanding.

We are off to the ILL this week for some work with Ms. Lant. We will build Mayflowers and test how many Pilgrims it can hold. You can find some Thanksgiving reading on Clever.

We welcomed Mrs. Hirschoff to the room as our Guest Reader on Friday. She read Pig Sty. This was a funny story about keeping rooms clean. If you would like to become a virtual Guest Reader, please send convenient dates via email. We host Guest Readers each Friday at 8:15. Many C.E.S. adults have signed up and we have openings between 12.3 – 6.3. We look forward to experiencing your favorite book with you.

We will celebrate the 50th Day of School this week with some fun activities. Can you believe it? 50 days of learning!

We will have our class Thanksgiving celebration on T. 11.23.21. Thank you to all who donated supplies.

We will be kicking off the winter sewing project. Thank you to all who donated supplies.

Report Cards will be coming home this week. Please know that I will try to include as much information in the comment section as possible. However, we are limited to 500 characters including spaces and punctuation. Please have the report card nearby for conferences if you have any questions. If you are looking for some review or enrichment activities beyond 1:1 with an adult, eSpark, Lalilo and i-ready all progress at an individual pace based on need.

Thank you for your support.

Special Dates:

50th Day of School celebration 11.18 (snow days may affect the actual date)

Parent Conferences 11.18, 19 Please check the link above and in the Weekly update of 9.19. I have also sent it to your email on file. Looking forward to seeing everyone either in person or virtually.

MMA 11.23 (more info. via the Main Office)

Make-up Picture Day 11.23

Thanksgiving weekend 11.24 – 28

Holiday Bazaar 12.9, 10 (Please send all money in an envelope with your first grader’s name as well as a list of people for whom they will be buying gifts) More info via the PTO.

MMA 12.23

Break 12.24.21 - 1.2.22

No School 1.17.22

100th Day of School Celebration (tentative date – snow days may affect the actual date) 2.11.22

Break 2.19 - 27

11.14.21 1:30 p.m.

Dear families,

We participated in a virtual Author visit with Mark Teague and some other schools last week. He talked about his process of illustrating. He even answered one of our questions about his favorite genre of books when he was a child and now as an adult! Many thanks to Ms. Rattner for scheduling this.

Pictures were sent home last week. If you will be purchasing them, please make payment online to Lifetouch. If you are not pleased with the picture, please send them back to school for re-take day on 11.23. If you do not want them and do not wish a re-take, please return them to school and we will send them to the office. Thank you.

We welcomed Mrs. Maier to the room as our Guest Reader on Friday. She read Stick and Stone. If you would like to become a virtual Guest Reader, please send convenient dates via email. We host Guest Readers each Friday at 8:15. Many C.E.S. adults have signed up and we have openings between 12.3 – 6.3. We look forward to experiencing your favorite book with you.

The District has fixed the synching issue for Seesaw. Your family QR code was sent on Th 11.4.21. This will give you access to your first grader’s work on Seesaw. You should receive a notification each time your student completes an activity. Tip: when completing activities at home: click the green checkmark to submit work so that I receive the notification. Thank you in advance.

In Math, we are approaching the end of Module 1. Please take some time to check out the Parent Resources on the General Info tab on the class website. The District just set up a trial link for Rocket Math. This helps develop Math Fact fluency. I will add a link on Clever for easy access. Please let me know what you think and I’ll pass the feedback on to the ITDEPT and admin. It is important that we are moving away from chips and fingers to add and subtract to 10.

In Reading and Phonics Workshop we are being the best possible Word Detectives around! We are eagerly awaiting a package from the S.S.D.A – The Super-Secret Detective Agency. They send us on missions using our skills each day.

In Writing workshop, we are deep into our How To books. We have each selected something that we know how to do and are thinking about all of the steps. We each wrote our beginning sentence that we hope will “grab the reader’s attention”. Edits are okay – they make our writing stronger. We work each day to locate and fix errors in our Morning Message.

In Science we continue to talk about the solar system and various plants. We have also heard about Copernicus and Galileo as well as some constellations.

In Social Studies, we will discuss Veterans Day and begin a lap book to hold all of our information about winter holidays around the world.

Parent Conferences are scheduled for Th 11.18 and F 11.19. If you have not yet signed up, please know that we now have the option to meet in person. If you have already signed up after the 9.19 post and would like to come in person, please edit your sign up with that notation. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0E4DA4A723ABF85-parentteacher

Special Dates:

No School 11.11

50th Day of School celebration 11.18 (snow days may affect the actual date)

Parent Conferences 11.18, 19 Please check the link above and in the Weekly update of 9.19. I have also sent it to your email on file. Looking forward to seeing everyone either in person or virtually.

MMA 11.23 (more info. via the Main Office)

Make-up Picture Day 11.23

Thanksgiving weekend 11.25 – 28

Holiday Bazaar 12.9, 10 (Please send all money in an envelope with your first grader’s name as well as a list of people for whom they will be buying gifts) More info via the PTO.

MMA 12.23

Break 12.24.21 - 1.2.22

No School 1.17.22

100th Day of School Celebration (tentative date – snow days may affect the actual date) 2.11.22

Break 2.19 - 27

Thank you for all of your support.

11.7.21 11:05 a.m.

Dear families,

Thank you for the many donations to our Halloween Party. I have posted pictures to the Class Photos tab. Apologies to those whose pictures came out blurry. It seems I moved the camera too quickly. The parade was a lot of fun. It was a treat to see so many family members out lining the route!

We will be having a Winter Celebration in December. It will feature some fun centers. Please watch for a sign-up link in the coming weeks. You are invited to participate in the class grab-bag. Please consider purchasing a gift, suitable for both boys and girls, with an approximate value of $5.00. Please wrap it and send it to school by December 3. Please include your first grader’s name in the “from” section of the tag. We will use our Math skills to find the gift meant for us! This is always a fun time. You may send it to school between now and Dec. 1, at your convenience. Thank you.

In Science we completed our pumpkin activities by estimating and counting the total number of seeds. Can you believe there were 560 seeds in that pumpkin? We were shocked! The class was split on predictions about pumpkins sinking or floating. Check out our data sheet that came home on Friday for results. We also continued our study of the solar system and began taking notes in our personal books based on the Solar System Song shared a few weeks ago.

In Math, we continue to work with increasingly larger sets to find all fact families. Each number bond can give us 4 number sentences; 2 addition and 2 subtraction. We recently began to realize that there are many ways to represent work in Math. One person may draw chips. while another will use a ten frame. Someone may use a number path to count on while another may use a number bond.

Mrs. Colloton popped in for her first visit of the year. She was impressed at what the students recalled from Mindfulness sessions last year.

We welcomed Mr. Bennett to the room as our Guest Reader on Friday. He read Too Many Pumpkins. The students were quick to point out that the book was a selection in our featured reading this month. If you would like to become a virtual Guest Reader, please send convenient dates via email. We host Guest Readers each Friday at 8:15. Many C.E.S. adults have signed up and we have openings between 12.3 – 6.3. We look forward to experiencing your favorite book with you.

The featured reading center now has a selection of Thanksgiving books. You can also find a virtual Thanksgiving library posted to Clever content.

Our first grade Word Detectives are hard at work in Reading and Phonics. Every few days The Super Secret Detective Agency sends us a new mission! Rasheed is impressed with all of our skills. In Writing, we have begun to plan for a How To book. We will focus on giving steps using order words such as first, after that, next, finally as well as others.

You may find it helpful to create a folder at home that can hold your various QR codes, passwords and other resources. This will make resources for remote sessions easily accessible. You received some new login information for eSpark, Xtra Math and Lalilo in folders. Please take a moment to test your access at home. These are perfect for your personal homework time as they target each student’s skills individually. You can also find a variety of virtual libraries by topic and author at our Clever link. Some families found it easier to log in with the app-specific QR codes rather than the Clever badge. If you are experiencing difficulty logging in, please let me know.

The District is working on the issue preventing the syncing of data with Seesaw. Please watch for your family QR code in the coming weeks. This will give you access to your first grader’s work on Seesaw. Tip: click the green checkmark to submit work so that I receive the notification. Thank you in advance.

Special Dates:

No School 11.11

50th Day of School celebration 11.18 (snow days may affect the actual date)

MMA 11.23 (more info. via the Main Office)

Make-up Picture Day 11.23

Thanksgiving weekend 11.25 – 28

Holiday Bazaar 12.9, 10 (Please send all money in an envelope with your first grader’s name as well as a list of people for whom they will be buying gifts) More info via the PTO.

MMA 12.23

Break 12.24.21 - 1.2.22

No School 1.17.22

Break 2.19 - 27

10.31.21 2:10 p.m.

Dear families,

Thank you for the many donations to our Halloween Party. We will be sure to take many pictures to share with you on the class website. We hop you can join us outside to view the parade on Friday, 10.21.21.

Our featured reading center is winding down the topic of pumpkins. We had a variety of fiction and nonfiction selections to choose from. Next week, we move on to Thanksgiving.

In Science, we continue to discuss the planets. We will use the song shared last week to learn about each planet and about how to take notes.

We welcomed Mrs. Heritage to the room as our Guest Reader this week. She read Pigggie Pie.

We will be staring regular Mindfulness visits from Mrs. Colloton in the coming days. She will show us various movement activities as well as relaxation techniques.

In Phonics, we continue to work with our snap words. We use the snap words to help us decode unknown words in our independent reading. They also assist us when we are writing. We keep our Snap Word dictionary near us and refer to it often. We are about to begin our Word Detective unit.

In Math, you will notice how the skill has moved to both addition and subtraction within 20. We will use number bonds to find all 4 number sentences. You will also see that we are now asked to label the number bon with the category name. We also continue to practice Math Fact Fluency in a variety of ways including our Sprints and daily Math warm-up before our lesson.

You can find Clever content to support our many topics and strategies. Please consider trying EPIC for a large selection of leveled books. You can also find a variety of author and character books in the Library section of Clever. This link is a particularly useful slide deck with many of our words that feature blends, digraphs, vowel teams and snap words. I have also added it to our Clever content.

If you would like to become a virtual Guest Reader, please send convenient dates via email. We host Guest Readers each Friday at 8:15. Many C.E.S. adults have signed up and we have openings between 12.3 – 6.3. We look forward to experiencing your favorite book with you.

Are special people in your family looking for that perfect gift for your first grader? The site Budsies.com offers families the opportunity to take original child drawing and turn them into stuffed animals. They offer many more option than when I first found the site several years ago. I also noticed the price has also gone up since my first experience with the site. However, I found the product to be a quality keepsake.

Special Dates:

Halloween Parade 10.29 – outside in the drop-off loop.

No School 11.11

50th Day of School celebration 11.18 (snow days may affect the actual date)

MMA 11.23 (more info. via the Main Office)

Make-up Picture Day 11.23

Thanksgiving weekend 11.25 – 28

Holiday Bazaar 12.9, 10 (Please send all money in an envelope with your first grader’s name as well as a list of people for whom they will be buying gifts) More info via the PTO.

MMA 12.23

Break 12.24.21 – 1.2.22

No School 1.17.22

10.24.21 1:00 p.m.

Dear families,

You may find it helpful to create a folder at home that can hold your various QR codes, passwords and other resources. This will make resources for remote sessions easily accessible. You received some new login information for Xtra Math and Lalilo this week. We received login information for eSpark the week prior. Please take a moment to test your access at home. These are perfect for your personal homework time as they target each student’s skills individually. You can also find a variety of virtual libraries by topic and author at our Clever link. Some families found it easier to log in with the app-specific QR codes rather than the Clever badge. If you are experiencing difficulty logging in, please let me know.

We continue to work with Ms. Rattner on one of our favorite collaborations- circular stories. We read a circular story and each illustrated the beginning, middle and end of the story.

We will begin a study of holidays around the world in the next few weeks. It may sound early, but we want to be sure to have enough time to compare and contrast a variety of countries with the United States as well as our own personal holiday traditions. If any family members would like to share their holiday traditions, please let me know and we’ll set up a Google Meet for them to talk to the class.

We had some fun with our Reading topics and Halloween by creating our own pumpkins and giving each a speech bubble. They are on display in the hall. We have also begun to make some predictions about our class pumpkin in Science.

We will begin to assemble our Solar System book this week. As we hear about the various planets, we will take notes in our personal solar System book. A great song can be found at : The Solar System Song (with lyrics) - YouTube

Picture Day went well. No worries if you were absent, makeup day is Tuesday, 11.23.21. We even had Aristotle have his picture taken so he can join us in the class photo. In the past, pictures generally arrive in late Nov. or early Dec.

You received an orange paper from the Main Office regarding Halloween Parade. It is always fun to see parents and other family members lining the parade route. Unfortunately, we can not have you back to the room as in pre-Covid years, but you can check out some class photos on the class website.

You can find our winter project donation signup at https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0E4DA4A723ABF85-winter Thank you in advance.

In Math, we continue to talk about number bonds, fact families and related facts. We had some fun playing Shake Those Disks the other day. We took 6 chips in our hands and released them onto our desks and graphed our outcomes.

Please watch for your i-Ready results in both Reading and Math. As we take the Winter and spring sessions, I will send those along as well. The printouts for future sessions will also show previous results.

Thank you for your donations to class projects and celebrations.

Special Dates:

MMA 10.21 more info. from Main Office

Book Fair 10.21,22 (Please send all bookfair-related payments in an envelope with your first grader’s name) More info at a later date via the Main Office.

No School 11.11

MMA 11.23

Make-up Picture Day 11.23

Thanksgiving weekend 11.25 – 28

Holiday Bazaar 12.9, 10 (Please send all money in an envelope with your first grader’s name as well as a list of people for whom they will be buying gifts) More info via the PTO.

MMA 12.23

Break 12.24.21 – 1.2.22

No School 1.17.22

10.17.21 11:00 a.m.

We continued to bump up that challenge level with success. Students are applying their strategies and skills in all areas.

Check out this link for some passwords to a variety of educational content from the C.E.S. Library. Many of these are perfect for supplementing at-home work. CES Database Login Info 20/21 - Google Docs

Please remember that picture day is this Wednesday 10.13.21. Please feel free to send regular clothes if you will be dressing up for picture day. We will change after pictures.

Our Guest Reader this week was Mrs. Martin. She read a Halloween book about friendship. Thank you to those who have signed up to be a Guest Reader. If you would like to become a virtual Guest Reader, please send convenient dates via email. We host Guest Readers each Friday at 8:15. Many C.E.S. adults have signed up and we have openings between 12.3 – 6.3. We look forward to experiencing your favorite book with you.

Last week, we took our reading and writing skills up to the library to work with Ms. Rattner on one of our favorite collaborations- circular stories. We read a circular story and went to centers featuring matching characters, writing a story starter, and making a donut we would feature in our own story.

The students will often ask where I purchased some of the items used in the classroom. Please see last weeks’ update for some links.

We continue to practice building fire drills. There are also a variety of other building drills that we practice throughout the year.

There is new content added to Clever. From time to time you may find that a link does not work. Please feel free to let me know and I will do my best to fix it. You will also find some new pictures posted to the class photo tab.

You may find it helpful to create a folder at home that can hold your various QR codes, passwords and other resources. I’ll be sending home some access information to some new sites. We will be using these sites at school. However, you will also have access at home. These sites are a wonderful resource for targeting student-specific skills. Whether you are looking for review or enrichment, these are among the best, in my opinion. I’ll also be sending a 120 chart that can assist us with Math homework. This folder will be a valuable resource if we have a whole-class quarantine and need to use remote learning. It will also be helpful if you experience an individual quarantine.

In Reading we work in Reading Workshop, Phonics Workshop and Writing Workshop. We will be starting a new Unit this month. The Word Detective unit features exciting work in letter partners and using them as we read and re-read. This work will assist us as we work on reading longer books and use decoding skills. We will continue to work on self correction as we monitor for understanding. We will continue to work as a class and in small groups to increase stamina and fluency. Working with class partners and offering feedback will remain a key part of Workshop.

In Math we have begun mid-module assessment for Module 1. As we work into the second part of Module 1, you will begin to see that we will now be labeling our number bonds and talking about unknowns. Sometimes, the unknown will be the total. Other times the unknown will be a missing part. We continue to develop the sense that a given fact family can give us 4 problems, 2 addition and 2 subtraction problems. For example, the fact family 6,3,9 can give us 6 + 3 = 9, 3 + 6 = 9, 9 – 3 = 6, and 9 – 6 =3. I have added additional parent resources to the class site for your reference as we progress through the six Math Modules this year. They give families some examples of our strategies at work. The first set added earlier this year is a tip sheet for each module. This week, we will discuss related facts. 2 + 5 = 7 and 6 + 1 =7 are related facts because they both have a sum of 7. 3 + 1 = 4 and 5 +1 =6 would also be considered related facts as they are both “+1” problems. 4 + 8 = 12 and 4 + 6= 10 would also be considered related facts as they both are “4 +” problems.

In Science we have had a preview into our next topic: The Solar System. What happened to poor Pluto? What types of planets exist? Are there more planets out there? This is a great song to review various facts related to each planet. The Solar System Song (with lyrics) - YouTube

In Social Studies we discussed why we have Monday off. You may find this song an excellent springboard into your discussions about Columbus: Columbus Song - 1492 - YouTube . We will also be exploring communities, mapping and goods and services as well as other holidays and traditions. If you would like to be a guest speaker on one of your holiday traditions, please let me know and we’ll set up a Google Meet time with the class.

One of my favorite traditions to share with the class is a sewing project where we make our own pillows. It is a lot of fun and a wonderful connection to growth mindset. Normally, we have family members come into the room and sew and stuff with us. We will invite various District adults to assist us this year. It is always a treat to see the look of pride on the students' faces when the pillow is complete and they realize they just completed a task they didn’t even know they could. It’s also a lot of fun when the stuffing is passed out and the room looks like a winter wonderland! Speaking of pillows and stuffing, if you are interested in donating some supplies, please visit https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0E4DA4A723ABF85-winter

to sign up. Thank you in advance.

Special Dates:

School Pictures 10.13 (Makeup Day 11.23)

MMA 10.21

Book Fair 10.21,22 (Please send all bookfair-related payments in an envelope with your first grader’s name) More info at a later date via the Main Office.

No School 11.11

MMA 11.23

Thanksgiving weekend 11.25 – 28

Holiday Bazaar 12.9, 10

MMA 12.23

Break 12.24.21 – 1.2.22

No School 1.17.22

10.10.21 9:10 a.m.

Dear families,

Happy October!

Amazing work was taking place this week! You may have noticed that we bumped up the challenge level on our Choice Boards and were using our Growth Mindset to complete a variety of projects as a class and independently.

We are happy to announce that Rasheed Lion has arrived! Rasheed is the mascot that is connected to our Reading Series. He is friends with Mabel the Elephant from Kindergarten. He helps point out strategies. We can apply our strategies to help him learn as well. See below for how to order your own Rasheed as a special gift.

This week, we will take our reading and writing skills up to the Library to work with Ms. Rattner on our of our favorite collaborations- circular stories. We will read a variety of circular stories and then create an October-themed book and write our own circular stories.

Picture Day is scheduled for W 10.13.21. Please feel free to send regular clothes if you will be dressing up for picture day. We can change after pictures.

Please return your T-shirt order to the PTO. Your first grader may enter the design contest by sending a pencil or black crayon drawn picture connected to the theme "Change Sings" to Mrs. Gregoire.

We were happy to have Mrs. Wildermuth as our Guest Reader this week! A variety of punctuation and speech bubbles were found in The Pigeon Has to Go to School. The pigeon books are a favorite of many students and would make a great gift for any first grader. Other favorite book series include Elephant and Piggy and the “If you give a . . . ” (pig a pancake, moose a muffin, etc) series.

The students will often ask where I purchased some of the items used in the classroom. Recently, the class was curious about the Human Body Apron I wear during Science. It has pillow-like Velcro organs that we use when we are in Science class. If grandma and grandpa are looking for the perfect gift, they might wish to consider : What’s Inside Me Apron . If your first grader is excited to be teaching Rasheed Lion, you can find Rasheed’s family members at : Rasheed Lion’s Family . He goes in and out of stock, so be sure to check back frequently.

Thank you to those who have signed up to be a Guest Reader. If you would like to become a virtual Guest Reader, please send convenient dates via email. We host Guest Readers each Friday at 8:15. Many C.E.S. adults have signed up and we have openings between 12.3 – 6.3. We look forward to experiencing your favorite book with you.

In Math we will continue to work with number bonds to 20 and the use of ten frames to represent sets. Ten frame tip: We always begin in the top left corner and then fill from the bottom left if the set is higher than 5. We also use two sided chips to represent sets and help us count on. When adding two sets, put the larger number “in your head” and “count on” from there to find the missing set. You will begin to see that the Math book not only asks us to find the totals- or sums, it also begins to ask us to find the “missing set”.

In Science, we will be having some fun with our class pumpkin. There are so many learning opportunities connected to pumpkins. We can use our senses, develop our estimation skills, brainstorm with partners, and even experience the feel of the inside by helping the class to scoop the seeds and use ten frames to find out how many seeds were actually inside of our pumpkin. I will be scooping the insides out and giving each student their individual pile of pumpkin flesh.

In Social Studies, we will take time to discuss various fall holidays, traditions and celebrations.

In ELA we continue to read independently and increase our reading stamina. We are discussing how to replace vowels in words to make other words. We use our class word wall frequently as we write independently and conference with the adults.

There is new content added to Clever. From time to time you may find that a link does not work. Please feel free to let me know and I will do my best to fix it.

We have completed i-Ready in both Reading and Math. We all now have learning modules that will differentiate both intervention and enrichment topics for us.

Current Snap Words:

an, and at, by, can, fun, in, here, got, is, it, like, look, my, on, see, this, went, will, all, ball, as, come, did, do, for, get, go, had, has, no, play, she, so to, she, he, we up, to, his, said, saw, say, but, let, then, run, us, yes, they.

Thank you for your support of our projects!

Special Dates:

No School 10.11

School Pictures 10.13 (Makeup Day 11.23)

MMA 10.21

Book Fair 10.21,22

No School 11.11

MMA 11.23

Thanksgiving weekend 11.25 – 28

Holiday Bazaar 12.9, 10

MMA 12.23

Break 12.24.21 – 1.2.22

10.3.21 11:45 a.m.

Dear families,

It was another great week of firsts and expanding on knowledge in a variety of topics!

We visited the ILL for some apple projects. We tested out the floating abilities of whole apples, apple slices as well as the stems and seeds. Results were surprising to some. We had an apple craft, tasted apples sauce and created bridges to support the weight of our apple.

Please see our Class Photos tab for some new pictures of us working on our projects this week.

In Math we continue to do a brain warm-up before Math. These may include counting by ones from a given number to a given number and then counting back, our new skill of counting the “say ten way”, as well as subitizing which involves the recognition of sets without counting. As you have seen the book takes us through the steps of “counting on” after finding a given set. We even had a chance to work on the first entry in our Math Journal. Fun tip: Did you know that there is always one more way to make the set than the sum indicates? For example, if you are looking for all of the ways to make 6 – there will be seven. 0 + 6, 1 + 5, 2 + 4, 3 + 3, 4 + 2, 5 + 1, and 6 + 0. We have discussed the fact that the order of the addends will not change the sum.

We continue to talk about The Power of Yet and Growth Mindset. Mrs. Freidfel, our Guest Reader this week, had a great example in her Jory John book.

New content has been added to Clever for use at home. While Clever will be used the event of a class quarantine, you may also use it for homework and other topic review and enrichment. In the event of a class quarantine, you will find a category that says Quarantine Links. In the event of an individual quarantine, information will be sent via email. You will find that some content is set to “present” but all links will remain clickable. Other times, it may require a “copy” to your student’s Google Drive. As the year progresses, we will even learn how to “share back” after completing an assignment on Clever. Please take some time to explore the class Clever page which is only accessible via your child’s District Google account. The format for students’ personal accounts is usually firstnamelastname@schodack.k12.ny.us Please take some time to log in and become familiar with our accounts.

In Reading and Phonics we continue to be avid readers, writers, and spellers. We are using our Phonics Professor skills to decode and read words. We have taken some time to explore class names. We have searched for blends, digraphs, vowels and consonants. We will be meeting Rasheed this week. Rasheed is the first grade TCRWP mascot who accompanies us on our learning journey this year.

In Science we continued our study of the human body and continued work on our Human Body Book.

We continue the fall i-Ready assessment. When all students have completed both Reading and Math I will send the printout for you to review at home. We will also begin the fall running records in the coming weeks. This information guides the self-selection of independent reading/stamina reading time books during Reading Workshop.

Thank you for your kind words and support of our projects.

Special Dates:

No School 10.11

School Pictures 10.13 (Makeup Day 11.23)

MMA 10.21

Book Fair 10.21,22

No School 11.11

MMA 11.23

Thanksgiving weekend 11.25 – 28

Holiday Bazaar 12.9, 10

MMA 12.23

Break 12.24.21 – 1.2.22

9.26.21 12:05 p.m.

Dear families,

Thank you to all who donated to the apple STEM project with Ms. Lant this week. We will be visiting the ILL, Innovation Learning Lab, to work on a variety of projects each afternoon. We are still in need of 10 apples with both red and green markings on them. Please sign up or email me and I’ll add you to the list. I usually use Sign-up genius but thought a shared Google Doc might be easier. Lesson learned, sharing outside of the District is tricky. Some people could access while others could not. I’ll go back to sign-up Genius in the future.

Thank you to all who donated time or attended the C.E.S. P.T.O Community Fair. We appreciate your support. The P.T.O is very generous and works to support both school-wide and classroom activities.

The great work continued this week with a start of our Reading Workshop, Phonics Workshop and Writing Workshops. You will note the progression of skills building on skills from last year. We celebrated Dot Day by reading the book The Dot and working on some special activities. You will see our Choice Board come home each Friday, barring any unforeseen circumstances. In Math, we are taking time to review number bonds, fact families and the use of a ten frame. In Reading/Phonics we are learning about what readers do when they read. Readers always take a sneak peek. Readers always do something at the end of a book. And, good readers re-read for a variety of purposes.

We have begun the fall i-Ready assessment. When all students have completed both Reading and Math I will send the printout for you to review at home. These scores may be used to add students to support services such as AIS Math and AIS Reading with the C.E.S. interventionists. If you are interested in a screening of any sort, please contact the C.E.S. department that best meets your request. If you are unsure whom to contact, please send me an email and I will get you in touch with the correct service provider.

You are invited to virtual Back to School Night on T 9.21 at 6:30. The link will be sent to your email as soon as the video links for specials are shared with teachers.

We sent home some bins that were a bit too small or tall for our purposes. We each have a bin that serves as a drawer to keep all of our supplies from rolling around in the desk and getting lost in that far back. We always have (or can find) extras.

We have noticed that some students are eating what seems to be their lunch item (sandwich, lunchable) at snack time. Please take a moment to review what is to be eaten for snack and what is to be saved for lunch.

Please know that C.E.S. Assembly was rescheduled to the afternoon of M 9.20 due to weather concerns. If you still have a bit of red or blue, please consider wearing them again on Monday.

Keeping the sign-up process in mind, please check your personal calendar and sign up for a virtual November conference at: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0E4DA4A723ABF85-parentteacher

The room can be cooler than the outside temperature. If you’d like to send a light sweater, please feel free.

Some pictures of our week have been posted to the Class Photos tab. You can also find photos @Aristotle_CES. We are happy to see so many new followers for the year.

Clever badges came home last week. Please take a moment to check that they work from home. They all work while on the District server.

We will be celebrating Wear Your Slippers at School Day on F 9.24. Please feel free to send your slippers and a stuffed animal. We will change back to our shoes for lunch/recess and music class. We will be reading a book and them writing our own class book.

You will see weekly updates posted on our class website. This will update you on the previous weeks’ work and preview some activities that may be coming up. Homework will also be posted by clicking the category on the top of the page. Depending on the device being used, they may be very light in color. On the class site you will also find other information such as the Special Class schedule and the class list. The Special Class schedule has bee updated to show our Library day. Please place your book in Ms. Rattner’s special bag and place it in our backpack. We will take them out and place them in the book return bin in the classroom. A reminder will be given each Friday as we arrive. This allows the Dewy Duty older students to collect the books and check them back in before we head up.

Homework: Homework will be posted each Monday so that you may complete it at your convenience. You may return it to school at your convenience on the “Return to School side”. Please know that it will be taken out each Friday. You may see it remain in the pocket until each Friday.

Thank you for checking in to the site each week for updates. If there is anything you’d like to see added to next weeks’ update, please feel free to email me.

Special Dates:

Virtual Back to School Night 9.21 - link will be sent to your email.

Wear Your Slippers at School Day 9.24

No School 10.11

MMA 10.21

No School 11.11

School Pictures 10.13 (Makeup Day 11.23)

Thanksgiving weekend 11.25 – 28

Break 12.24.21 – 1.2.22

9.19.21 12:05 p.m.

Dear families,

We are off to a tremendous start! Thank you for sending in supplies as backpack space allowed. We’ve organized our desks and had fun getting to know each other a bit.

We read the Story You’re Finally Here! Then we each drew the bunny from the book and wrote something we did over the summer on a sticky note. We have shared the project in the hallway. Watch the site for pictures.

If you would like to sign up as a virtual Guest Reader, please consider your availability on Fridays. Guest Readers will be each Friday starting at 8:15. I will send you the Google Meet code the day prior. If you would like to send a special treat (food, small toy, etc) that connects to your book, please feel free. However, it is not necessary. Many District adults have already signed up and we currently have openings 12.3 – 6.17. Please send an e-mail with your top 2 choices. Once the slots are filled, I’ll post the schedule in PDF form on the site. Thank you in advance.

We will be working on some Special apple-related STEM activities with Ms. Lant in the ILL - Innovation Learning Lab - during the week of 9.20 – 24. We will be making apple prints, comparing features using a Venn diagram, building a bridge to support our apple as well as other apple activities. For this activity we are asking for donations of apples of several colors and types and other individually pre-packaged apple-related items sent to school by Friday 9.17. You can find a sign up list: here . Thank you in advance.

Thank you for the extra masks. Please continue to send these extra masks. We have extra child-sized masks in the room as well. We may change our masks as needed. Occasionally masks can be soggy when we return from recess. We take a mask break each hour.

We met Aristotle Axolotl last week! He will be our class mascot who joins us on adventures and projects. In non-covid years, he would have visited each student at home. However, we will have fun helping him learn first grade topics at school.

Bathroom routines: We try to use the bathroom before each special class and lunch. Students may use the classroom bathroom as needed without raising a hand during the day. There are also bathrooms in the cafeteria and the gym as well as near the Art and Music rooms. Other bathrooms are available in the hallways of the first and second floors. We also wash and sanitize frequently.

The room can be cooler than the outside temperature. If you’d like to send a light sweater to leave at school, please feel free.

Show and Tell will take place each Friday. Please refer to the list on the site.

We will be celebrating Dot Day on W 9.15. If you have any dot-related clothes, feel free to wear them on Dot Day. We will be celebrating Wear Your Slippers at School Day on F 9.24. Please bring your slippers and a favorite stuffed animal as your comfort level allows. We will be reading a slipper story and writing our own slipper book.

While food items were not allowed last year, we may begin to share individually wrapped, pre-packaged items for special occasions. If you will be celebrating a birthday, please feel free to send a special snack that is store bought and individually wrapped. If you had a summer or an early September birthday, please feel free to send your special treat on a day most convenient for you. The District has not yet cleared home-baked items. Thank you for your understanding. If you will be having a party at your home, please refer to the PTO Family Address Book to mail invitations. Individual invitations will not be handed out at school to avoid hurt feelings. Thank you for your understanding.

You will see a weekly updates posted on our class website. This will update you on the previous weeks’ work and preview some activities that may be coming up. Homework will also be posted by clicking the category on the top pf the page. Depending on the device being used, they may be very light in color. On the class site you will also find other information such as the Special Class schedule and the class list.

Homework will be posted each week so that you may complete it at your convenience. You may return it to school at your convenience on the “Return to School side”. Please know that it will be taken out each Friday. You may see it remain in the pocket until Friday.

Special Dates:

Community Fair 9.18

STEM Apple week 9.20-24

Wear Your Slippers at School Day 9.24

No School 10.11

No School 11.11

Thanksgiving weekend 11.25 – 28

9.12.21 12:05 p.m.

Welcome Back to School!

Please check here weekly for class updates. I usually post Sunday afternoons.