Highlights from a Great Week!

Hello families,
It's hard to believe we just finished our 4th week of school. The Fox Kits are really remembering our routines and becoming a supportive learning community.

This week we read many books about growth mindset and goals. We read: Happy Dreamer,; Ricky, the Rock Who Couldn't Roll; Drawing Lessons from a Bear; Bunny Cakes; and The Big Orange Splot. This tied into our own writing about our hopes and dreams. We each wrote an academic (learning) goal and a social (friendship) goal. I also sent home a sheet for you to complete for any hopes and dreams you have for your child this year. Thanks to those of you who returned these already. If you haven't yet send it back as soon as you can!

We are building our classroom word wall to help us
spell words we use a lot when we write!

We also sent home invitations to join us next week for a closing circle. This is a daily routine where we reflect on our day and do a game or activity when we have time. If you come for dismissal a few minutes early next Wednesday please join us so you can see what closing circle looks like in first grade. Our closing circle is 2:45-2:55 and then we'll be dismissing as usual at 3:00.

We filled our heart jar again and this time really got to do our slime celebration. Mr. Fox came in as our slime expert to make tons of gooey goodness with the class.

In math we practiced being more accurate and organized in our counting and representations. We noticed how having clear, organized representations helps us know what number is being represented easily. This week we did a lot of work with tens frames to build this organization.

We added onto our reading habits this week. We practiced showing HEART while doing read to myself and read to someone. We learned about picking good fit books that are not too easy and not too hard. Just right books help our brains stretch and grow in their reading skills!

Dates to Remember:

• September 25 - Family Closing Circle 2:45-3:00 pm in room 25
• September 27 - All School Morning Meeting 8:15-8:45
• October 2 - Walk to School Day. Meet at the Rite Aid to participate in this schoolwide event.
• October 8 - No School
• October 24 - Picture Retake Day

Have a great weekend!

❤ Mrs. Fox

Highlights of Our Week

Hello families,

What a great week we had. We filled our heart jar last Friday so on Tuesday we dumped our hearts into the heart monitor and had our first celebration: making paper airplanes.

We explored more areas of our classroom through guided discovery. We uncovered the leveled books bookcase and the 3 big bookcases of books grouped by type (i.e. fiction, nonfiction topics, poetry, chapter book series). This week we practiced how to show HEART by using books responsibly, choosing "I PICK" books (thinking about the purpose of reading, being interested in the book, comprehension, and knowing the words), and reading to ourselves. We started the week being able to read quietly by ourselves for just 2.5 minutes. By the end of the week we were reading for 10 quiet, engaged minutes!

In math we expanded on our ideas of counting by learning and adding to the ways we represent numbers. We are learning about how to show our thinking on paper in organized ways by grouping and labeling our representations.

In social studies we continued to learn about growth mindset. We watched the Class Dojo video series on this topic and talked about ways we have shown determination and learned from mistakes to stretch and grow our brains. We looked at many fun posters to help us think about how having a growth mindset gives us super learning powers and to help us think positively.

In writing we finished publishing our class rules, wrote about our learning super powers, and began to work on writing our Hopes and Dreams for the year! We brainstormed academic or learning goals at school then wrote and illustrated our individual goals.

I was out sick on Wednesday but returned on Thursday to a great report from Ms. Rafeef who spent the day with the Fox Kits. I am so proud of them for showing HEART and working hard when I was out unexpectedly.

Remember, this upcoming Monday is picture day. Even if you don't order photos each child will have their photo taken. If you still want to order pictures please send your order form in by Monday morning!

Dates to Remember:

• September 16 - Picture Day
• September 18 - Half Day for Teacher Inservice - 12:15 dismissal; activities available for sign-up
• September 27 - All School Morning Meeting 8:15-8:45
• October 2 - Walk to School Day. Meet at the Rite Aid to participate in this schoolwide event.

Have a great weekend!

❤ Mrs. Fox

Highlights of the Week

Hello families,

This week we learned more about each other and our individual personalities and attributes that we bring to our classroom learning community. We read a few books on this topic: The Colors of Us; Two Eyes, a Nose and a Mouth; I Like Myself; and One Light, One Sun. We also did a few projects to go along with this theme. We made self portraits and individual suns to display creating one huge sun representing the whole first grade learning community! Take a look in the hallway next week to see it!

Passing the energy ball.

Making our own "Colors of Us" picture like in the end pages of the book!

We used skin color paints and mixed different shades to paint our self portraits.

In math this week we began experimenting with different math manipulatives: unifix cubes, pattern blocks, connecting cubes, counters, counting boxes, tens frames, and hundred charts. We also practiced counting accurately and learning how to prove you know how many items are in your counting box. We continued playing math games: In the Doghouse and +1 Fact Power game.

We started to talk about having a growth mindset. That means believing in yourself and trying your best even when something is hard. We read a great book, Not Yet, and made our own "not yet power bracelets" to remind us that even if we can't do something yet we should keep trying and practicing and we'll get there--you bet!

We learned HEART expectations this week for safety drills: secure the building and fire drill (egress). We also practiced HEART expectations for meeting times, read alouds, and visiting the Food Bank. Coming home today are some fresh veggies from the VeggieVanGo food truck. They visit our school the first and third Friday of each month!

Dates to Remember:

• September 16 - Picture Day
• September 18 - Half Day for Teacher Inservice - 12:15 dismissal; activities available for sign-up
• September 27 - All School Morning Meeting 8:15-8:45
• October 2 - Walk to School Day. Meet at the Rite Aid to participate in this schoolwide event.

Have a great weekend!

❤ Mrs. Fox

Welcome to First Grade!

Hello families,

It's been a whirlwind first week of school. What a fun group of kids we have in our class!

This week we got to know and use some materials and tools in our classroom. In the beginning of the year I use guided discovery as a way to slowly introduce materials and explicitly teach how to use and care for them. Then we practice using them in a meaningful way. To make our hallway decorations we practiced using: pencils, erasers, markers, crayons, scissors, and glue sticks. We also learned how to be responsible with shared materials.

Each morning after greeting the students and getting them setup with breakfast I leave to express milk for my 8 month old baby. Ms. Rafeef is with our class each day during this time to conduct morning meeting and read aloud.

We got to see so many of our Unified Arts teachers already this week! Mr. Gile read us a brand new Pigeon book by Mo Willems in library! We also saw Ms. Holcomb in guidance, Coach B in P.E. and Mrs. Poland in music! Don't forget we have P.E. on Tuesdays and Fridays so make sure your child comes to school with sneakers on those days!

In math we began to learn some routines about playing games, taking turns, having private reasoning time and then using turn and talk to share our ideas. This week we focused on our favorite numbers and counting practice. We learned how to play a fun game called In the Doghouse where we practiced using dice safely and quietly.

We read a few books together this week and did some writing and art projects about them. We read Mouse Paint and Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? It is fun to do projects and see what fine motor and writing skills they learned already in kindergarten!

Please remember that all snacks sent in must be nut-safe. No peanut ingredients or snacks manufactured in a facility that handles peanuts. Please send in the ingredient label so I can double-check when we eat snack. Thanks to those of you who reached out to ask about this or sent in the box or label for me to check already!

For the first couple of weeks I'll be sending home a paper copy of this weekly update as well as emailing out the link to our class blog. If you haven't given me your email address yet please do so you can get our weekly class news electronically!

Dates to Remember:

• September 2 - No School (Labor Day)
• September 16 - Picture Day
• September 18 - Half Day for Teacher Inservice - 12:15 dismissal; activities available for sign-up
• September 27 - All School Morning Meeting 8:15-8:45

Have a great weekend!

❤ Mrs. Fox

Thanks for a Great Year!

Hello families,

It's been a whirlwind of a week! 

On Monday we cleaned out our desks and lockers. We took home some work and our art portfolios. We also organized most of our classroom library. We earned so many hearts we overflowed our heart jar! In the afternoon we watched an episode of Wild Kratts to celebrate. We also read a book "In First Grade..." and then wrote our own to teach next years students all about things we do in first grade!

On Tuesday we had our All School Celebration--field day! We did so many fun things: yard games, freeze tag, paper airplanes, bubbles, KanJam, made banners, played Bingo, played Uno, and had 2 snacks!

On Wednesday we had step up day to second grade! Students went to their second grade classroom to meet their new teachers and see what new friends will be in their class next year. Then we had some time to reflect on our year together. We talked about our hopes and dreams and what we did this year. We looked at lots of pictures we took throughout the year too! 

It has been a really great year. Thanks for sharing it with me! I hope you all have a great summer full of playing outside, enjoying time with your family, and reading of course!

Dates to Remember:

• VT Foodbank will be at the school over the summer distributing produce on the following Fridays: June 21, July 19 and August 16. They will be here from 9-10am on those days.
• Back the School BBQ is Thursday August 22nd  @ 5:30 -- come say hi to me and to your 2nd grade teacher!
• 1st day of 2nd grade is Wed. August 28, 2019!

Have a great summer!

❤ Mrs. Fox

Highlights from Our Penultimate Week!

Hello families,

Well our last full week of school was full of changes to our schedule and lots of special events. On Monday we met with Elizabeth Bleumie, a local author. On Tuesday we learned about water safety with Officer Jason and  Mike Cannon, Team Leader for Colchester Technical Rescue. On Wednesday we had 1st grade fun day where we did a fun activity in rotating stations led by each 1st grade teacher (big playground, chalk & icies, dance party, summer birthday cards). On Thursday we made gifts and cards for Father's Day. On Friday we performed our readers theaters that we've been practicing for the class!

Reading our last free book from the CliF: Year of the Book event!

Here are our Readers Theaters!

Hooray for Spring!

Stone Soup

The Best Pet

We also did a lot of work this week on our geometric memory quilt. Students designed their own representations of favorite first grade memories. They shared their representations with other students and made some changes. Then we made final copies and added color. Next we mounted them to create a "patchwork" design and put our quilt together. On Thursday we shared out with the whole class about our design and memory.

Here's our memory quilt!

Here is a video of most of the first graders presenting their quilt designs!

(Sorry the sound quality is pretty awful--live and learn!)

( https://youtu.be/wyMsHaZTdYg )

We've now had our last Guidance, Library and Music classes for the year. In Library we used Mr. Gile's "Story Selector 3700" to reread a favorite book from the year! If you still have a library book at home please send it in on Monday to avoid late/lost fines!

Here is some information about our last week of school!

On Monday we will be cleaning up around the classroom and sending home a bunch of stuff. Please make sure to have your child bring their backpack (and maybe even an extra reusable or shopping bag)!

Next week we have an all-day all-school celebration on Tuesday. There are indoor and outdoor activities from 8:30-2:30 so make sure your child is ready! Sun screen, hats, water bottles and bug spray are a good idea!

On Wednesday students will learn who their second grade teacher will be and will visit their new class for Step-Up day. Then we'll have a little time together to wrap up our fantastic first grade year before an early dismissal at 11:00. Students will have a bagged lunch to take home next Wednesday.

Dates to Remember:

• Monday 6/17 - Classroom Clean-up Day
• Tuesday 6/18 - All School Celebration (rain or shine)
• Wednesday 6/19 -  Step-Up Day 8:30 am 
• Wednesday 6/19 - Last Day of School - 11:00 dismissal

Looking ahead!

• Back the School BBQ is Thursday August 22nd  @ 5:30 -- come say hi to me and to your 2nd grade teacher!
• 1st day of 2nd grade is Wed. August 28, 2019!

Have a great weekend!

❤ Mrs. Fox

Highlights of the Week

Hello families,

Wow, what a fun week we had! It's hard to believe that we have only one full week and then 3 more days left together. 

This week readers theater groups began rehearsing their plays, working on making their reading smooth and expressive. We wrapped up our narrative writing unit and character focus in our reading. Hopefully your child shared with you the narrative stories they wrote that were sent home late this week!

We began our Geometry math unit and PBL geometric memory quilt project. We read My Two Blankets and began reading Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt. We also watched a video short, based on the book, Oma's Quilt. We began to think about how to design our own representations of our first grade memories. This has been a very engaging activity thus far. It’s also been fun to reminisce about some of our favorite times together this year.

We've also been using shape blocks in math and working on composing bigger shapes and designs with the shape blocks. This is good practice for making our own shape designs for our quilt!

Next week we will have 1st grade fun day. This is a time where each first grade class rotates through a fun activity led by each 1st grade teacher! Some activities are outside and some are inside so sunscreen and bug spray are a good idea for Wednesday (or Friday if it's raining on Wednesday).

This week we filled our heart jar again and celebrated with a painting project on Friday!

Dates to Remember:

• Wednesday 6/12 - 1st Grade Fun Day 9-11 am (rain date 6/14)
• Monday 6/17 - Classroom Clean-up Day
• Tuesday 6/18 - All School Celebration (rain or shine)
• Wednesday 6/19 -  Step-Up Day 8:30 am 
• Wednesday 6/19 - Last Day of School - 11:00 dismissal

Have a great weekend!
❤ Mrs. Fox