Highlights 5-12-17

Hello families,

This week we switched our theme for read aloud books to do some research and learning on our new science topic: plants! This week we read many science related pictures books about the plant life cycle and photosynthesis. The books we read are: Plant Secrets by Emily Goodman, Watch it Grow: Bean by Barrie Watts, Living Sunlight: How Plants Bring the Earth to Life by Molly Bang and Penny Chrisholm, and What Do Roots Do? by Kathleen V. Kudlinski.

We made many props and pieces of our costumes here at school. This upcoming Monday we'll begin painting our scenery with help from Ms. Campbell! Next week please send in any costume parts from home in a bag labeled with your child's name! These will be staying in their cubbies but sometimes things get loose and many gray or brown pants look alike! Please send in all costumes by Wednesday so we can do our dress rehearsal during class times!

Writers continued organizing their facts into topic paragraphs. They also searched for juicy words to define in their glossaries. Then they read their drafts to a friend to get friendly feedback on if it sounded smooth or choppy.

Scientists learned more about plant parts and how they are important in the plant life cycle. We noticed the difference between living and non-living things. We figured out that living things all have a life cycle! We learned about how animals and plants help each other and really couldn't survive without each other! On Friday we repotted the classroom plants (spider plants and jade plants) and identified all the parts of these plants. We made diagrams to show what we saw. It was amazing to see how different roots can look!

We also had a special science presentation with Karen. She taught us about 4 kinds of fossils. We got to sort real fossils and make some trace and mold fossils of our own! Here's some information she shared with us!

Comparing cast and mold fossils.

Making our own trace fossils leaving behind prints from dinosaurs or mold fossils with imprints from shells.

Have a wonderful weekend!
❤ Mrs. Fox

Dates to Remember
Friday May 19 - Our Class Plays, 2:00 seating, 2:15 showtime!! (10:15 dress rehearsal)
Wednesday May 24 - Spring Concert 6:30 pm
Friday May 26 - 1st Grade only - Book Buddies @ U-32 9:15-11:15
Monday May 29 - Memorial Day - NO SCHOOL
Tuesday May 30 - All First/Second Graders Field Trip to the Montshire Museum of Science 9 am-3:30 pm
Thursday June 1 - Fine Arts Night 6:00 pm
Friday June 16 - Field Day @ Wrightsville Reservoir (rain date Mon.6/19) - Save the date! (More details to come.)
Tuesday June 20 - Step Up Day (moving up to meet their new teacher and gather with the new class for next year!)
Tuesday June 20 - Final All School Meeting, 6th grade slideshow & t-shirt presentation
Tuesday June 20 - Last Day 1/2 day, 12:30 dismissal

Highlights from Our First Week in May

Greetings everyone!

This week we finished up our folk & fairy tale comparison unit (comparing and contrasting multiple versions of the same classic stories) by reading The Three Little Tamales by Eric A. Kimmel, Little Red Henry by Linda Urban, The Three Samurai Cats: A Story from Japan by Eric A. Kimmel and The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig by Eugene Trivizas.

On Tuesday we wrapped up our year-long study about daylight and sun location patterns throughout the seasons. We compared the pages we used to track the location of the sun in our sky, what the sky looked like, and the graph of daylight hours to notice any trends and or patterns that happen over time. 

We finally got to bring home our daylight journals too! Check out our hard work that we did on this science investigation this year!

On Friday we began our final science unit--learning about plants. While learning about plants, what they need, and how they help people we will also be doing experiments to test out different theories. We watched a "Scientific Method Rap" to learn about the different steps in doing an experiment. Then we setup our own class experiment with a control and two variables -- comparing the growth of a seed given light and water to a seed given no light and a seed given no water. Over the next weeks we'll watch and observe what happens to these three plants as they grow (or don't grow).

During Writer's Workshop we looked at past reports written by first and second graders to give us a sense of what we are working towards as a finished product. We began to organize our notefacts into topic groups and put them in an order that makes sense. We added transitional words between sentences to make our writing sound smooth like the water when sailing on a sunny day, not choppy like the water when sailing on a stormy day. We glued our sentences in order or rewrote them into our packets.

Second grade mathematicians wrapped up their time unit working on telling time to 5 minute (and even 1 minute!) increments and comparing clocks and times to learn about elapsed time. They were flexible with money finding 20+ ways to use coins and bills to make exactly $1.48. They also thought carefully as story problem detectives to determine whether the missing information was the start, the change, or the result. Together we began using an online story/word problem modeling tool to practice solving and picturing what the word problems are asking. It's called Thinking Blocks. So far we've done just the part whole model - 2 parts but there are more intricate story problems that we'll do too!

Our play practices have been going beautifully. This week we worked on blocking and getting closer to having lines memorized! Next week we'll be making props for the play in class. We also brainstormed what clothes we might need for a costume to dress up as our play characters. For example, if your character is a cow, black or white pants and shirt are great and we can pin paper splotches on to make it more cow like. Your child is bringing home a list of the clothes they need. Usually solid color tops and bottoms (or inside-out shirts if there is a pattern/graphic) work best. If you don't have clothes for your child in the color they need for their character it is ok--let me know because I have a bunch of dress-up clothes here we can look through. You do not have to go out and purchase any new clothes--we can always make something work! If your child wanted to make any other part of their costume (i.e. headband with ears) they can work on that at home with your support if that works for your family or we can spend time here at school to do it if that works better for your family. We'll be making our extra props on Monday and Tuesday next week! Please let me know if there is any way I can support your family in getting ready for this special event! 

Friday was Cinco de Mayo. We did some coloring sheets on this topic with our buddies and watched a video of this fun read aloud to learn more about how this holiday is celebrated in Mexican-American culture. If you're interested in more information check out this short video to learn some fun facts about Cinco de Mayo.

❤ Mrs. Fox

Dates to Remember
Thursday May 11 - 4 Winds/Special Science with Karen 1:30-2:30
Friday May 19 - Our Class Plays, 2:00 seating, 2:15 showtime!! 
Wednesday May 24 - Spring Concert 6:30 pm
Friday May 26 - 1st Grade only - Book Buddies @ U-32 9:15-11:15
Monday May 29 - Memorial Day - NO SCHOOL
Tuesday May 30 - All First/Second Graders Field Trip to the Montshire Museum of Science 9 am-3:30 pm
Thursday June 1 - Fine Arts Night 6:00 pm
Friday June 16 - Field Day @ Wrightsville Reservoir (rain date Mon.6/19) - Save the date! (More details to come.)
Tuesday June 20 - Step Up Day (moving up to meet their new teacher and gather with the new class for next year!)
Tuesday June 20 - Final All School Meeting, 6th grade slideshow & t-shirt presentation
Tuesday June 20 - Last Day 1/2 day, 12:30 dismissal

Highlights 4-28-17

Hello families!

We've had a wonderful week together. The warm weather, new projects and work at school, and various special events this week have been invigorating!

On Monday we learned about the 4 families of instruments (percussion, string, woodwind, brass) and got to try out a bunch of them at the Vermont Symphony Orchestra musical petting zoo. It was an incredible experience! On Tuesday we did a surprise project with Hannah from the PTO. On Friday Barb and Dan from No Stings Marionettes came back to put on a puppet show for us--"Wasabi, a Dragon's Tale."

This week our writers color coded their notefacts into topic groups then cut them out to begin organizing what they learned (and what they want to teach others) about their topics into topic paragraphs.

During Literacy blocks play groups began to practice reading fluently, leaving pauses for actions in our acting, and noticing what the group is doing well individually and together. Each group is working on collaborating and making artisitc decisions together to create a play that you will enjoy!

To coincide with our plays we read different versions of the 3 folk tales that we'll be performing. This week we read The Bourbon Street Musicians by Kathy Price, The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka, and Burro's Tortillas by Terri Fields.

In second grade math we began a new unit on story problems (word problems) using all they've learned about place value, adding and subtracting strategies, and deciphering math language. This week we were detectives looking for the clues in the stories to help us know when to add or subtract to find the answer to the story. We also thought carefully about what was the missing information--a part or the whole? In first grade math they are continuing their work with measuring and fractions. On Wednesday first graders were very brave as many visiting teachers (myself included) observed the lesson that day during a "Lesson Study." Kindergarten, first and second grade teachers from Doty, Berlin and Rumney worked with the WCSU Math Coach to design a lesson together and observe many aspects of the learning. It was an amazing experience.

With the warmer weather we're finally having it's time to talk about spring footwear. It is Rumney policy that students have sneakers or sandals that stay on their feet for P.E. and recess (i.e. not flip flops). Flip flops are okay for indoor shoes as long as they have secure footwear for recess and P.E. Thanks for your help in making sure your child is ready for each day's activities!

Earlier this week I sent home permission slips for upcoming field trips. All the 1/2 classes will be going to the Montshire Museum of Science on Tuesday May 30th. Thanks to many of you who already returned those slips. There's still plenty of time to get them in but we do have 3 chaperones who have already volunteered to go with our class--Carrie Tatro, Ray Mikus, and Shelley Pembroke. First grade families also got another field trip slip for the U-32 Book Buddies event. Each year the 7th graders have a writing project where they create a children's book to give to children at the elementary school. This year since the 7th grade class is so small only our 1st graders will go to this event (the second graders went last year when they were 1st graders). While the 1st graders are away the 2nd graders will stay at Rumney to do a fun activity together.

Finally I've updated the "Dates to Remember" list below to reflect all the dates that I know of for things to come for the remainder of our year. I know the end of the year gets busy so I wanted to give you as much warning as possible! As always let me know if you have any questions or concerns. 

Have a wonderful, warm weekend!

❤ Mrs. Fox

Dates to Remember
Thursday May 11 - 4 Winds/Special Science with Karen 1:30-2:30
Friday May 19 - Our Class Plays, 2:00 seating, 2:15 showtime!! 
Wednesday May 24 - Spring Concert 6:30 pm
Friday May 26 - 1st Grade only - Book Buddies @ U-32 9:15-11:15
Monday May 29 - Memorial Day - NO SCHOOL
Tuesday May 30 - All First/Second Graders Field Trip to the Montshire Museum of Science 9 am-3:30 pm
Thursday June 1 - Fine Arts Night 6:00 pm
Friday June 16 - Field Day @ Wrightsville Reservoir (rain date Mon.6/19) - Save the date! (More details to come.)
Tuesday June 20 - Step Up Day (moving up to meet their new teacher and gather with the new class for next year!)
Tuesday June 20 -- Final All School Meeting, 6th grade slideshow & t-shirt presentation
Tuesday June 20 - Last Day 1/2 day, 12:30 dismissal

Highlights before Spring Break

Hello families,

The warmth and sun this week was literally a breath of fresh air! 

This week we read 3 play scripts, and coordinating picture books of these fairy or folk tales, so children could choose which play or which character they'd most like to be this year. We also got to compare and contrast the picture books and scripts to notice what is the same and what is different. Our three plays will be: The Bremen Town Musicians, The Three Little Pigs, and The Little Red Hen. Ask your child which play he/she will be in! After vacation scripts will be sent home for reading fluency practice to do as homework within the 20 minutes of daily reading at home.  We'll also be practicing in our play casts here at school for the month leading up to our plays on May 19th.

Students finished reading non-fiction books on their PLP topics, writing notefacts, and editing their work (checking for punctuation, capital letters where they belong, correctly spelled word wall words, and rereading to check syntax). There were some intricate questions students had about their topics that we could not find in our books. We used kiddle to help us answer the remaining queries. After vacation we'll begin to organize all we've learned into topic groups!

On Friday we had an All School Meeting where the Primary Singers performed "The Maple Tree Round" for the school. We also made fun pattern block designs and towers with our 3/4 buddies!

Fox Kits Corner News

• We're done with our PLP research!
• Willoughby, Chloe and Lilly shared their story, Koala Times, with us. We all got a copy to take home if we wanted one.
• We had an All School Meeting today (Friday). We sang "The Maple Tree Round" because it's the end of sugaring season.
• We saw who won the Red Clover picture book contest at our school. The top winner was Glamourpuss!
• In GoNoodle we have done over 1,000 minutes!
• We started our spring daylight journal in science.
• We changed jobs in our room--we do this every week.
• We had an awesome week!!

Today kids are bringing home all shoes/boots/outdoor gear that are in our classroom. Hopefully we'll have a warm week ahead that will melt the remaining snow and dry the ground a bit! It'll be nice to not have to wear boots and lug all of our wet weather gear back and forth for a while!  Enjoy your time together, rest, relax, be healthy and have fun! I hope you all have a fantastic spring break!

❤ Mrs. Fox

Dates to Remember
Whole week April 17 - 21 - Spring Break
Monday April 24 - School resumes
Monday April 24 - VSO Musical Petting Zoo (for K-4 classes) 12:40-1:30
Friday April 28 - No Strings Marionette Puppet Show
Thursday May 11 - 4 Winds/Special Science with Karen 1:30-2:30
Friday May 19 - Our Class Plays, 2:00 seating, 2:15 showtime!! 
Monday May 29 - Memorial Day - NO SCHOOL

HOW 4-7-17

Hello families,

This week we revisited some past, and important, themes in our read aloud books. On Monday we read The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes and talked about how mistakes help us grow and learn. We began to hang up new posters around our room to help remind us that we are learners. Part of learning is not knowing everything. Another part of learning is making mistakes and using those mistakes to help us learn and grow (academically, socially, and personally). On Tuesday we read The Skin You Live In and discussed all the differences that we can see about people on the outside. We asked ourselves do these outward differences mean that we're different on the inside? Why are people different? We had a great discussion about the importance of diversity and acceptance. On Wednesday we read another book with an empathetic message, Those Shoes by Maribeth Boelts. We saw how thinking of others and how they are feeling can make everyone feel good. We also talked about the difference between wants and needs. On Thursday we read a new twist on the Cinderella story, Interstellar Cinderella, about a girl who dreams of fixing fancy rockets and decides to become the chief rocket mechanic for the prince instead of marrying him! On Friday we read Little Red Writing another fun version of a fairy tale. This time our hero was a littel red writing pencil who learned all about telling a story, editing and revising her work.

During writer's workshop we looked at the many notefacts we have collected so far. We reread them to check for punctuation. We also tried to add juicy or interesting words or phrases to make them more exciting to read or more descriptive to teach the reader more about that idea or fact. Next week will be our last week researching the final guiding questions we have but haven't answered yet. It's pretty exciting!

Second grade mathematicians have been becoming more fluent with their number line subtraction strategies. They are working on telling time to 5 minute increments and beginning to learn the diverse language that we use to talk about what time it is. We also played a few more money games this week. First grade mathematicians continued their work on various adding strategies and using the number line. They are also learning about fractions.

On Thursday we got to see the dress rehearsal of the school play, The Wizard of Oz! It was amazing. It got us ready to start thinking about our own plays. Next week our class will check out the scripts and choose which play they most want to be in.


**Next week we are forecasted to have a few amazingly warm days! However we still have snow, ice and LOTS of puddles on the playground. Students will still need to wear boots and snow or rain pants until the ground is dry. Please send your child in with appropriate outdoor gear!
Fox Kits Corner News

• We got a new champ for indoor recess, Blob Ross. We finished Just Gary.
• Some of us started to edit. We checked our words, looked for word wall words, and checked for punctuation in our PLPs.
• We did some fun stuff at indoor recess like block creations, gonoodle, played with the stretchy ball, and the fun game mancala.
• On Thursday we saw the practice play of the Wizard of Oz.
• We are making placemats in Spanish and next week Sra. Donovan is going to laminate them and we'll have a snack next week using them!!
• We celebrated a birthday this week! (It was Chase's but it was actually on the weekend.)
• This was a really fun week!

❤ Mrs. Fox

Dates to Remember
Wednesday April 12 - All School Meeting 9:45-10:30
Friday April 14 - Scholastic Book Orders due
Friday April 14 - Parent Input forms for Class Placement due
Whole week April 17 - 21 - Spring Break
Monday April 24 - School resumes
Monday April 24 - VSO Musical Petting Zoo (for K-4 classes)
Friday May 19 - Our Class Plays, 2:00 seating, 2:15 showtime!! (I know this is a ways out but mark your calendars to attend our shows that afternoon!)
Monday May 29 - Memorial Day - NO SCHOOL

Highlights of Our Week 3-30-17

Hello families,

I've gotten to meet with some of you so far in parent/teacher conferences and I look forward to seeing the rest of you tomorrow. Our class is just amazing and I'm thrilled to share your child's hard work and accomplishments with you.

This week we sadly said goodbye to our friends in Charlotte's Web by E.B. White. The characters in this book taught us a lot about friendship, empathy, and the joy you can find in helping others. 

Our research into PLP topics has been going smoothly. Students are becoming more adept at summarizing information or rephrasing facts in their own words. We are always so excited to share the cool things we are reading so we make sure to take time at the end of each writer's workshop to share cool things we learned with our friends. Here are a few pictures of students working and sharing information this week.

Light and Shadow Exploration Stations

For a few weeks student groups will rotate through these four stations to explore different properties of light and matter. They will discover how light affects different materials, how light travels, and about the availability of light and how that affects sight. Here's a look at what this work looks like at our hands-on exploration stations!

At this station students explore the properties of shadows using cube creations they made.
They make and measure the longest and shortest shadows they can.
Students are prompted to think about how does how you use the flashlight change what happens?

In this exploration students use mirrors to reflect light. They observe what happens when the angle
of the light or mirror changes. Together they might try to find ways to make the path
of the light change directions or even turn a corner!

At this station students test different materials for reflective properties.

Students try to have "X-Ray Vision" and figure out what traits of materials make it so that
some or all light can pass through them while other materials let no light pass through them.

This week we had a ton of fun on the soggy, snowy playground. Many kids came in with soaking wet snowpants, mittens and coats. Until it dries out sending in an extra plastic bag for soggy gear and/or a spare set of clothes is a good idea! We also keep a stash of extra plastic shopping bags here in the room for anyone who needs them. If you have some at home you'd like to donate to the cause please send them in!

On Thursday we had a visit from a sixth grade frog expert. He shared with us all about how he learned about Australian tree frogs, what he does to take care of these frogs that live here at Rumney with Ms. Gretchen, and he showed us the actual frogs too! This is a great connection to our informative writing unit because we ourselves are becoming experts on topics so we can then teach others.

We also made time to visit the Rumney sugarbush and sugarhouse this afternoon. We collected some sap and visited Brian Prendergast in the sugarhouse who was setting up for the first boil of our sugaring season. Our school collected about 40 gallons of sap just this week! Here are a few more pictures from this adventure.

Wow. It's been a busy week! 

❤ Mrs. Fox

Dates to Remember
Friday March 31 - Parent/Teacher Conferences - No School for Kids
Thursday April 6 - Wizard of Oz dress rehearsal/in-school performance 1:30-3:15 pm
Whole week April 17 - 21 - Spring Break
Monday April 24 - School resumes
Friday May 19 - Our Class Plays, 2:00 seating, 2:15 showtime!! (I know this is a ways out but mark your calendars to attend our shows that afternoon!)

HOW 3-24-17

Hello everyone,

Our week together zoomed by. We've been busily reading about our PLP (personal learning project) topics and writing down new facts about them. We also brainstormed questions to help us think about what kind of information we wanted to learn on our topics. On Thursday we took a closer look at some nonfiction text features in a Scholastic News article. We've been talking a lot about how these special features help us as learners as we read nonfiction texts and organize the information we are reading in our brains.

We are nearly at the end of Charlotte's Web. It will be hard to say goodbye to these friendly, brilliant, sly, courageous characters. Charlotte just had her "hour of triumph" at the fair during our read aloud time on Friday. Ask your child what her triumph was--what had she accomplished?

The weather this week has been nuts. Thanks for continuing to send your kids in with all their winter gear. I had thought mud season was starting and then it turned to winter again! Eventually the mud will return and we will still need to wear our boots and snow pants to keep our clothes and school clean and dry. Please remember to keep sending this important outdoor gear in until the ground is dry!

I look forward to meeting with all of you next week to check in on your child's progress!

Fox Kits Corner News

• We started writing facts on our PLPs (Personal Learning Projects). We learned the facts by reading in nonfiction books.
• Upgraded our GoNoodle champ, Rad Chad, again!
• We are going to learn about light. Next week we’re going to use flashlights to learn about light, energy and shadows.
• We learned new and different things.
• We celebrated one birthday this week!
• We did our new jobs this week. We switch jobs every week in our classroom.
• Our principal, Mr. Schneider, is doing a good job!
• We had the BEST week ever!

Have a great weekend!

❤ Mrs. Fox

Dates to Remember
Wednesday March 29 - Parent/Teacher Conferences after school
Thursday March 30 - 4 Winds 1:35-2:35
Friday March 31 - Parent/Teacher Conferences - No School for Kids
Thursday April 6 - Wizard of Oz dress rehearsal/in-school performance 1:30-3:15 pm
Whole week April 17 - 21 - Spring Break
Monday April 24 - School resumes