Happy Holidays!

Greetings families!

This week we read many holiday books during read aloud. We read: So Many Gifts by Anne Marie Pierce, The Winter Solstice by Ellen Jackson, Hershel and the Hannukah Goblins by Eric A. Kimmel, and Jingle Bells as told by Iza Trapani (looking at Christmas celebrations around the world).

We finished writing and editing our star myths. We also looked at samples of star myths written by former first and second graders. Students worked together to read these samples to see if they had all the right parts to a narrative and then to give advice for what the author could do to make his/her writing even better. This will help us to give writing advice to each other when we do our peer conferencing during each editing process.

It was a week of special events! We had an All School Meeting on Wednesday where we sang "Zum Gali Gali" to celebrate the Winter Solstice. On Thursday we visited the fifth/sixth grade classrooms to check out their science projects--they were awesome! Friday afternoon was our Winter Solstice celebration. We included many of the same aspects to our celebration as many cultures around the world have in the past: gathering together for joyful feasting, celebrating the return of the sun with candlelight, decorating with evergreens, and giving gifts to one another (Secret Snowflake). Thanks to all of you for helping to make this celebration possible!

I hope you all have a happy and healthy holiday break. See you back in the new year!

💗 Mrs. Fox

Dates to Remember
Mon.- Fri. December 26-30 - Holiday Break --No School
Mon. January 2 - 1st day back in the new year
Fitness Fridays - 12:30-3:30 on Jan. 13, 20, 27; Feb. 10, 17

Highlights 12-16-16

Hello families!

This week we wrapped up our sound unit with a fun engineering project: making cup telephones. Students worked with a partner to made different models, testing different types of strings and sizes of cups. They had a great time!

We continued reading star myths as well as informational books about stars and constellations. We read a few star myths that my past classes have written as well as a few student examples. A few of the read aloud books this week were: Rainbow: A Sioux Myth, When the Sun Fell from the Sky: A Yurok Story retold by D.L. Birchfield, What Are Stars? by Carmen Bredeson, and The Big Dipper by Franklyn M. Branley.

As a class we wrote our own star myth story about how the unicorn constellation came to be. Here it is!

How Unicorn Became a Constellation

By The First & Second Grade Fox Kits 2016-2017

                A long, long time ago, a unicorn, a giraffe, a flying squirrel, a crab, a bunny, a monkey, and a great dog were flying friends. They lived in a land called Jungle Land. Jungle Land was a huge, fun animal village. They all knew each other and protected each other. It had a beach near the cave so Crab could have its own happy place. In the jungle there were lots of trees so Monkey could swing from vine to vine.

The flying friends wanted to have a party in a cave. They wanted to decorate the cave with vines and flowers from the jungle for the party! So Monkey went to find vines, Unicorn went to find flowers, and the rest of the animals went to find leaves. When they all got back to the cave they found out that Unicorn’s hoof had gotten stuck between some rocks in the cave. The cave was dark and rocky. It was hard to see and walk in there! The animals tried to help Unicorn get out. They tried and tried but they couldn’t do it. So Unicorn tried again. She tugged again so hard that when her hoof got free she fell and bumped her magic horn and dented it. She tried to light it up but she couldn’t.

Unicorn didn’t know what to do. Suddenly she had an idea! She flew up into the sky and became a constellation. It lit up the whole cave and the night sky. The friends rejoiced for the unicorn and all the light and happiness she gave them. Finally the flying friends decorated the cave and had the party. Now it was a goodbye party for Unicorn! They could still see and talk to her in the night sky. Take a look at the night sky—you might find her there!

At the end of this week students chose a constellation of their own and began to plan their own star myth narratives!

We also worked on some fun holiday crafts this week. On Friday children took home snowpeople and snowcreatures they made. Here are pictures of a few of our creative kids and their handiwork!

This week our school had quite a few children and adults sick with a stomach bug. Be sure to drink plenty of water, wash hands, and rest up! Please remember to keep sick kids at home. Students must be fever free without medication for 24 hours before returning to school. If your child has vomited, please wait a full 24 hours after the last incident before allowing your child to return to school. Please contact the health office if you have any questions or concerns at 223-5429 x 2114. Thank you!


Dates to Remember
**Wed. December 21 - All School Meeting 9:15-10:00 **date change!
Fri. December 23 - Winter Solstice Celebration (a couple of days after the real Winter Solstice) & Gift Exchange 1:45-3:15
Mon.- Fri. December 26-30 - Holiday Break --No School
Mon. January 2 - 1st day back in the new year

Highlights 12-9-16

Hello families!

What a wonderful, snowy week!

This week we finished reading our Magic School Bus chapter book, Space Explorers. We learned a lot about the planets and other things in our solar system. We read a related (but very fictional) story, Skippyjon Jones: Lost in Spice by Judy Schachner. We also began to learn about stars and constellations. If you're out with your kids at night see if you can spot any constellations! We read Zoo in the Sky: A Book of Animal Constellations by Jacqueline Mitton. This is a beautifully illustrated National Geographic book! We also have begun reading a few Native American star myths about how some constellations ended up in the sky in the collection of stories entitled Keepers of the Earth: Native American Stories and Environmental Activities for Children collected by Michael J. Caduto and Joseph Bruchac. We'll continue reading stories in this theme next week.

Second grade mathematicians have been working on: even/odd number patterns; doubles, near doubles, 2 apart numbers; place value review work; subtraction strategies; and relating missing addends to subtraction.

We did a few more sound experiments this week--noticing how sound travels, where sound travels, and how sound affects other things. We also learned about bird migration during 4 Winds with Karen and Abby!

We have finished illustrating our next small moment story. We learned that small moment stories are just one kind of narrative. Narratives can be real or made-up. All narratives have a beginning, middle, and end. They all have characters and a setting. Sometimes they have a problem and a solution. We're looking closely at what makes a story a narrative as we get ready to write our own fictional narratives!

On Thursday many kids in our class were having a very interesting conversation about where words come from and how people understood each other before there were words. Since so many were interested in the topic we made some time on Friday to listen to an episode of the VPR podcast "But Why?: A Podcast For Curious Kids." In case you're also interested, here's a link to the episode and accompanying article: Who Invented Words?


Fox Kits Corner
Here's what's important to us this week:

• We had a good week.
• On Friday, today, we upgraded Om Petalhead. She's our champ in GoNoodle. (We don't really know if it's a girl or a boy champ.)
• We made cards for Veda this week because she's moving to Virginia.
• We had all of our regular specials this week.
• Some people finished writing and/or illustrating small moment books this week. It was great to learn people's stories.
• We watched videos about vibration. We learned that if you make a sound things can move because of the sound.
• We learned that there should be a lot of people a long time ago who invented words. These words have changed over time.
• We got new classroom jobs.
• We rolled a big, giant snowball out at recess.
• In Spanish we highlighted fruit words.
• We had 4 Winds and we studied birds. We played a game about bird migration and how birds might crash into things if there are distracting lights while they migrating.

Dates to Remember
**Wed. December 21 - All School Meeting 9:15-10:00 **date change!
Fri. December 23 - Winter Solstice Celebration (a couple of days after the real Winter Solstice) & Gift Exchange 1:45-3:15
Mon.- Fri. December 26-30 - Holiday Break --No School
Mon. January 2 - 1st day back in the new year

Our Puppeteers!

Thanks to all who came to support our puppeteers today. Here are pictures we took this morning!

"cat in a hat"

"squirrel in a curl"

"poodle in a noodle"

"bear in hair"

"hen in a den"

"fox in socks"

"squirrel in a curl"

"shark in a park"

"bunny in honey"

"monkey in something funky"

"cat in a hat"

"squirrel in a pearl"

"cat in a hat"

"fox in socks"

"snake in a cake"

"bear in a snare"

HOW 12-1-16

Hello again!

We've had a wonderful week together despite the many changes to our schedule throughout the week to accommodate our puppet practices and performance. I'm not at school tomorrow (Friday) so I'm posting this a day early for you. This afternoon was our puppet show. I hoped you like our creative rhymes and puppets in our song, "Oh-A Hunting We Will Go!"

This week I read individually with many students--checking on reading comprehension as well as new sight word acquisition. Next week we'll mix up our reading groups a little bit. These new reading groups may not have children all reading at the same level but they are working on the same set of skills (i.e. vowel teams, decoding strategies, sight words, comprehension strategies, response to literature).

In second grade math we've begun studying a new set of fact families: Doubles (5+5, 6+6), Near Doubles (5+6, 6+7), and "2 Apart, Double the Middle" (6+8, 5+7) facts. We continue noticing patterns of odd and even numbers. 

We did 2 new science experiments this week related to sound. We made our own stringed instruments. We discovered many ways to produce sound and change the sounds we made. Then on another day students watched a video of "Kitchen Drawer Drums." Then they experimented with making varied beats and rhythms using pencils and classroom items. We also had an extra science time this week to look at daylight patterns during the last weeks of the fall season.

On Wednesday I sent home some information about our Winter Solstice celebration and Secret Snowflake gift exchange which will take place on our last school day before the holiday break. Thanks to many of you who already sent back confirmation about the gift exchange. Please let me know if you will be able to supply a $5 gift or if you need help in getting a gift so your child can participate.

Lastly, we are in need of some 5x7 envelopes for an upcoming project. We'll need about 40 of them. If you have any extras at your house you could donate please let me know!

Have a wonderful Friday and weekend!

Dates to Remember
Thurs. December 8 - 4 Winds 1:30-2:30 
Wed. December 14 - All School Meeting 9:15-10:00
Fri. December 23 - Winter Solstice Celebration (a couple of days after the real Winter Solstice) & Gift Exchange 1:45-3:15
Mon.-Fri. December 26-30 - Holiday Break --No School
Mon. January 2 - 1st day back in the new year

Mid-November Highlights

Hello parents!

It was great to meet with all of you for conferences in the past two weeks or so. Your children have been busy learning and growing this year! I'm thrilled to experience this with all of them! Here's our news from the past two weeks. Also please note there will be no blog post next week since it's such a short week!

This past Monday I sent home new Scholastic Book Order flyers. Please submit orders online or send in your order with a check by this upcoming Monday 11/21. If you order anything that you'd like to stay secret for a gift please let me know! Books make great holiday gifts and there is also a big selection of various holiday themed books that could be fun to read together as a family. Check them out!

We've done more science explorations about sound. We've been noticing and describing sounds, guessing about what is making the sounds, and experimenting with how sound is produced. On Friday we made kazoos with 3 different covering materials (tin foil, waxed paper, saran wrap). We compared how the sounds were the same and different and which material produced the best sound. Thanks for sending in all those cardboard tubes over the past few weeks--we couldn't have done this activity without them!

We shared our first small moment stories with one another and also read them to our 3/4 buddies on Friday. We began writing our next small moment stories during Writer's Workshop. First graders are focusing on adding more details and juicy words to describe what is happening. Second graders are encouraged to add many descriptive details about what people of feeling and thinking as well as dialogue to make their writing come to life.

This week we finished reading the compilation of short stories entitled, Rhinos and Raspberries: Tolerance Tales for the Early Grades. I read the class 3 versions of the same small moment story I wrote entitled, "Logan's Loose Tooth." We also read Scholastic News articles about Thanksgiving both from the perspective of the Native Americans as well as from the Pilgrims. Before Thanksgiving break we will also have read Oh, What a Thanksgiving! by Steven Kroll, Thanksgiving Is... by Gail Gibbons, and 'Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving by Dav Pilkey.

We finished creating our puppets this week, with our artist in residence Barbara Paulson and also in our classroom on our own. We practiced singing our song with Dan Paulson. We had an All School Meeting on Friday.

Here's a link to an interesting article I came across this week about engaging your child in meaningful conversation about school. Check it out if you want to!

After Thanksgiving Break our "Lunch Bunch" will be changing. This new group will meet in a quiet space outside of the lunchroom to eat while practicing social skills. Your child may or may not be involved in this.

Fox Kits Corner
Here's what's important to us this week:

• It was Myles' and Adam's birthdays.
• We got a new champ named Om Petalhead in GoNoodle.
• We didn't have buddies but had an All School Meeting instead.
• We made kazoos because in science we were studying the vibrations.
• We made puppets with Mimi and Barb and sometimes Dan and also Ms. Campbell. We had 3 sessions to start and finish making our puppets! We were very, very excited.
• In Spanish we played a game like London Bridge is falling down, but in Spanish.
• We liked our new jobs this week.
• In first grade math we played a new game called Shut the Box--we can teach you at home!
• Some of us got Rumney CARES awards.
• We got a lot of sight words done. Next week we'll look at our tallies and think of how much bonus recess time we've earned so far!
• Lots of us got new sight word books to practice at home and at school!
• We used great cooperation in our class!
• Some of us finished writing our thankful hearts for Thanksgiving. We wrote in the hearts what we're thankful for. Look in the hallway by the classroom!
• A lot of us finished or got close to finishing our next small moment stories.
• Writing the Fox Kits Corner News today together was fun.

Dates to Remember
Wed-Fri Nov. 23-25 - Thanksgiving Break - No School
Thursday December 1 - Puppet Show 1:45 p.m.

Highlights from November 4th, 2016

Hello friends and families,

We've had another busy and fun-filled week. It started off with a fantastic Halloween party. Thanks to Michelle Alberghini and Laura Lafaille for organizing this for us! We also got to celebrate El Día de los Muertos with Sra. Donovan!

We read a couple more amazing small moment stories, Brave Irene by William Steig and Thundercake by Patricia Polacco. We noticed how adding many details and juicy words helps elaborate small moments in time. These details help us make a movie in our brains about what is happening in the story. Many students finishing writing, editing, and conferencing their first small moment stories. They are ready to be typed for publication!

We also did some fun rhyming together to get ready to make puppets to go along with the song "A-Hunting We Will Go." We brainstormed many animal rhymes and each child chose what rhyme they want to use for their puppets. We made sketches of our ideas and wrote out our song verses. We'll use these as we begin making our puppets next Monday (we're having our puppet workshops during our normal Art time).

We were also excited to begin our science unit on sound. We kicked off our unit by watching this video of a bee pollinating a poppy flower. We made our initial observations, drew diagrams of what we saw and noticed, and wrote our ideas about what the sound was and what we noticed about it, and what might be causing the sound.

This week in second grade math our amazing mathematicians worked independently or in small groups while I was doing in-class assessments with kids one-on-one or in small groups. Students worked on their "1,000  books" -- writing all the numbers to 1,000 (or at least up to 500 so far). They also practiced skip counting forwards by 10s and backwards by 100s within 1,000. We continue to work on number line strategies and think about numbers in terms of place value, quantity, and length. On Friday we had math game stations: trash can place value, compare place value (3 digit or 4 digit numbers), math man place value, and fruit splat addition (you choose the level!).

Fox Kits Corner
Here's what's important to us this week:

• Erin and Franki lost teeth this week!
• We LOVED our jobs.
• We got to upgrade Flo Yo yesterday (Thursday).
• We had fun writing our small moment stories. We were vigorously writing!
• We had buddies today (on Friday). It was fun and hard doing the hidden pictures and working together. Some of us finished one picture and went to another one.
• We got to sketch what our puppets will look like! We will do animal puppets in art to go with rhymes we made up for the song "A-Hunting We Will Go."
• In Guidance we talked about Kelso's Choices and BIG and small problems.
• We had a school garden snack today. It was butternut squash. We all had different opinions about if we liked it.
• We liked doing Fox Kits Corner.
• We loved the activities in music: fast and slow land, arioso land, string singing, and singing "There Was an Old Lady All Skin and Bones.
• We loved this week. This week will not be like any other week!

Dates to Remember
Monday November 7 - Puppet Show for No Strings Marionette Residency 9:30-10:10
Wednesday November 9 - Parent/Teacher Conferences (After School)
Thursday November 10 - 4 Winds 1:30-2:40
Friday November 11 - Parent/Teacher Conferences (No School for Kids)
Wed-Fri Nov. 23-25 - Thanksgiving Break - No School
Thursday December 1 - Puppet Show (near the end of the day, time not yet decided)