Highlights May 26, 2017

Hello families,

Last week when we read Wangari's Trees of Peace the class was really interested in life in Kenya. Mrs. Woodard helped us find some books about Kenya so we've been reading about this country and how life there is the same and different from our lives here in Vermont. We've been reading A New True Book: Kenya by Karen Jacobsen.

Our writers have begun the process of wrapping up their report writing. Many wrote introductions, conclusions, and edited their final piece so it's ready for publication! Next week we'll begin editing and illustrating!!

It is shocking to me how quickly this year is ending. Please remember that we have our field trip to the Montshire this upcoming Tuesday. We are leaving right away to maximize time there so please be on time! Also if your child wants to purchase something from the gift shop while we're there, there is a $5.00 limit for what they can get (since it's a school trip). There is no requirement to send money to buy anything from the gift store but if you choose to please only send $5.00.

Have a great long weekend!

Fox Kits Corner News

• The first graders on Friday made balloon animals in math with Jack's grandparents.
• The first graders got to go to U-32 for book buddies.
• The second graders wrote letters to give to their next teachers at the end of the year.
• The second graders went to Mrs. Fox's Arts and Crafts store to spend $5.00 and make some cool stuff.
• Some people got red clown noses to celebrate red nose day. This was a fundraiser to help families living in poverty.
• We got past 1,110 minutes in Go Noodle. We also have 2 more points until we upgrade our indoor recess champ, Blog Ross.
• We planted carrot seeds or spider plants in our classroom for our experiments in science. Here are the variables we are testing: moss & soil vs. soil, growing in sun vs. growing in shade, a lot of soil vs. a little bit of soil, mud vs. clay.
• We have now earned 350 tallies (each worth 30 seconds) for bonus recess! That's 175 minutes of bonus recess. That's 2 hours and 55 minutes of bonus recess to cash in soon!
• We're experts at our new jobs!
• We had a birthday to celebrate this week!!!!
• We're super excited about a three day weekend and then coming back to school on Tuesday for our trip to the Montshire!!!
• We had a good week this week!
• We're awesome at writing the Fox Kits Corner News! We wrote this because we want you to know what's happening at Rumney Memorial School. 

❤ Mrs. Fox

Dates to Remember
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
Thursday June 15 - 1/2 End of Year Fun Day @ Shady Rill Picnic Area 11:00-3:15 pm (save the date-more info to come!)
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 9:30 a.m. (moving up to meet their new teacher and gather with the new class for next year!)
Tuesday June 20 - Final All School Meeting 10:15 a.m., 6th grade slideshow & t-shirt presentation
Tuesday June 20 - Last Day 1/2 day, 12:30 dismissal

Our Plays!

Thanks again to all who came to our class plays today. It was a magical day! Here are videos taken during our dress rehearsals while we were practicing earlier in the day. I do think our best shows were the ones we did last for all of you. 😊  Enjoy!

"The Three Little Pigs"

"The Bremen Town Musicians"

"The Little Red Hen"

Highlights on the Eve of our Plays!

Hello families,

This week we continued our plant themed read aloud unit. We read about community gardens and how plants help people in City Green by DyAnne DiSalvo-Ryan and Wangari's Trees of Peace: A True Story from Africa by Jeanette Winter. We also read about various ways plants make seeds and how these seeds travel to propagate new life in How a Plant Grows by Bobbie Kalman and The Dandelion Seed by Joseph Anthony.

We finished up our class experiment about what key ingredients a seed really needs to grow into a healthy plant. We had planted 3 seeds, giving one sunlight and water, another only sunlight, and the last only water. Our conclusion is that seeds need both water and sunlight to grow into healthy plants with a solid root system, thick stem and big leaves. The seed with sun but no water didn't grow at all--not even a single root! The seed with water but no light grew roots, seed leaves and a stem but it was yellow and wilted.

Our class experiment seeds on the last day we observed them.

Tomorrow is the day we've been waiting for! Our class has done an amazing job practicing, making scenery, props and costumes, reading and reciting fluently, and bringing our three stories to life. We hope you'll be able to join us for the shows! 

The Stage is Set!

We have our dress rehearsals at 9:30 and 10:15 for some people from our school community and our full showtime for families at 2:15 (2:00 seating begins in our classroom--if you're here before 2 please wait in the lobby!). If the 2:15 showtime doesn't work for your schedule it's fine to come to our dress rehearsals. We hope to see you tomorrow! Also if you plan on picking up your child after our plays (and cast party) please be sure to let Alissa know before the show so she can get the bus notes ready!

❤ Mrs. Fox

Dates to Remember
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
Thursday June 15 - 1/2 End of Year Fun Day @ Shady Rill Picnic Area 11:00-3:15 pm (save the date-more info to come!)
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 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