Monday 10/27

Math stations: 

Twitter

Mrs. Donato noticed lots of hard work going on in our classroom today! Here's her tweet from Twitter!  Follow Mrs. Donato @ThompsnSchool1, follow me @MrsMelnik1 and our class Twitter (which we will be using soon) @MrsMelniksClass

Monday 10/20

Thanks for a great first Math-In! 

For Science today, we went outside and observed the wind. The kids captured videos of the wind in action. They then added their videos into Book Creator and wrote about what they noticed. 

Reminder: early release on Tuesday. 

Friday 10/17

Check out these hard workers during their spelling check-in this week!

Thanks to our mystery reader, Daniel!   The kids loved listening to The Music In Me! 

 

 We are in need of a Mystery Reader next week!

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday

Math- practicing our working number, asking each other survey questions, playing games to practice our math facts, and strengthening our fine motor skills. 

Phonics- focus is on digraphs- two letters that make one sound 

Sh like ship 

Ch like chip 

Wh like whistle 

Th like thumb 

Ck like sock 

  The cubby fairy made a visit!! 

Using book creator to add pages to our spelling word book. 

Using Farmyard to show our working number then adding the picture to Explain Everything to screencast and show our thinking. 

Practicing odd and even in math! 

Wheelock Family Theater Tickets

Please see the note below from Karen:

Good Afternoon Thompson Families,

We are fortunate enough to have a Kindergarten parent who works with Wheelock Family Theatre off our school community a discount on tickets for an upcoming performance.

This weekend is the opening weekend of a musical adaptation of "Alice in Wonderland."  Using the code Thompson families can get tickets for $15 for performances this weekend 10/17-10/19.

You may do so by either going to the website or calling the Box Office.

http://www.wheelockfamilytheatre.org/current-season.aspx

Box Office - 617-879-2300

Enjoy!

School Council

Please see the email below from Karen.  We'd love to have you join us on School Council. We meet one Wednesday a month at 7am.  It's a great way to be involved.

If you are interested in officially joining school council, please tell Kerry by this Friday (10/17).  We have more than 2 interested parents, so we will need those interested to submit a brief summary introducing yourself to the community (email Kerry  austin-smith9@rcn  and she will send you a sample format).  All parents/guardians are welcome.

Have a great evening!

Thursday & Friday

Fundations: We are continuing to practice tapping out words and adding all of the sounds that we can hear. 

Writing: We've been focusing in on small moments, just like George McClements in the Night of the Veggie Monster, a mentor text we are using to become better authors.

We finished our first chapter book read aloud, My Father's Dragon.   Next we will listen to Elmer and the Dragon.

The kids now have more choice during Math... They have 5 areas they can choose from... Math Writing, Math Work, Partner Math, Math Technology & Math with a teacher.  It works very much like Daily 5 in the morning. The kids LOVE having the same routine.  Mini-lesson, pick your own station, mini-lesson then pick your next 2 stations.

Each child has a checklist to keep track of their learning.

A new math app: Number Flash










Daily 5: A favorite place to use iPads is in the hallway.  Kids are using the iPads for Listen to Reading (RAZ-Kids &  scanning QR codes) and Work on Words (Spelling City & word songs).

Thanks to our first Mystery Reader, Courtney!  Please sign up here if you'd like to come read to our first graders! 

I look forward to meeting with volunteers next week.

Have a nice long weekend!

Upcoming dates: 

Monday, October 20 at 8:15 am, Math In. Come learn and play some favorite first grade math games! 

Early Release Tuesday, October 21st

Notice from room parents

Thank you to Laura and Jessica for being our room parents!

Dear Parents,

Jessica (Isabel's mom) and I (Grace's mom) have signed up as the room parents for Mrs. Melnik's class this year. We will periodically be sending out email notices regarding upcoming events, etc. throughout the school year. Please let us know the best way to provide you with event information if this email address is not preferred. Okay, on to the upcoming events.

1. Monday, October 20 at 8:15 am, Math In. Come learn and play some favorite first grade math games!

2. Monday, November 10 at 8:15 am, Author Celebration. The first grade authors have been working very hard writing stories that focus on a small moment. Come read their stories as they wrap up this unit of writing. We would like to also include a light breakfast as part of this event. As we get closer to this event, we will be looking for volunteers to help with the breakfast.

If you have any questions, please let us know. I'm at drop off most mornings.

Looking forward to a great year!

Laura (meifamily@3b9.com; 860-304-3856)

and 

Jessica (jakuznick@gmail.com; 781-777-1351, 781-962-0810)

Wednesday, October 8th

Morning Meeting: The kids love to share something special from home, especially when using the microphone! 

Math- Focus on counting on (put the big number in your head and count on... try not to count all!) 

One station: figuring out the sum to addition facts and then sorting- equal to 10, more than 10, or less than 10

Daily 5: Listen to Reading, Read to Self and Work on Writing

 Daily 5: Work on Writing: working together to complete lists. 

Daily 5: Read to Self- Each day kids are expected to read to self for 20 minutes.

Wednesday, October 8th- Emails home

If you didn't receive two emails from me today, let me know!! 

Dear First Grade families, 

It's been a great month getting to know your children.  We now welcome volunteers to come help out in Room 108.  We prefer weekly volunteers to keep consistency, but we welcome monthly or bi-monthly volunteers (It would be great to coordinate and find someone for the alternative weeks.)  Please email us the best time that works for you.

We would like to offer mini-training sessions for volunteers.  Please plan on coming for 15 minutes to learn the routine and what your role will look like. Children are welcome to join, they can play some games together.  

Daily 5 Training Session: Tuesday 10/14 at 7:45am

Math Training Session: Thursday 10/16 at 7:45am

If these times do not work, just let us know.

Volunteering Opportunities 

Daily 5 8:45-10:10  (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) 

Daily 5 9:20-10:10 (Friday)

Math 1:00-2:00  (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) 

Mystery Reader  

We also are welcoming family members to come in and read to our first graders. Please sign up here.  

Be on the lookout for an email from our room parents, Grace & Jessica, sharing about our first two upcoming events! 

As always, let us know if you have any questions.  

Thanks so much! 

Nicole & Emily 

Hello again- 

Thanks to your great generosity we are currently in the lead for the Arlington EATS food drive!  Yay!  Ms. Jette's class is sneaking up on us... so please check your cupboards for any donations you might have.  The competition ends on Friday, but donations will accepted all year! 

We actually have an over abundance of rice and beans thanks to you all.  We will gladly accept any nonperishable items you might have, but in particular we need tuna, soup or jelly!  But any donations will be send home to a thankful family!

Thanks!    

Monday and Tuesday

Writers Workshop: The first grade authors worked with their writing buddy to add more details into their small moments.  They touch and tell their story across three pages. 

Read Aloud: We finished My Fathers Dragon!  Ask your child to tell you about how the dragon was saved! 

Homework: Home practice bags went home!  Let me know if you have any questions regarding the reading bingo or spelling fill all.  Lending library bags will go home tomorrow. 

Please have your child cut out their number cards soon. 

Note from the library!

Dear First Grade Parents,

Hello from the Bill Shea Memorial Library at the Thompson School. I am having such a blast getting to know your child(ren). I wanted to reach out to let you know a few things about library time and to ask you all for help. 

A bit about library: During library time, students come in and do their library cheer/movement (ask them to show you), do a library lesson with me and then check out books. Each first grade student checks out three books. Thank you so much for helping your child to remember library day and for getting their books back each week. I know Mondays are tricky!  If a child consistently is having a hard time with returning books, we usually make a plan for them to keep their books in their classrooms.  This year I will be teaching the students all about navigating the library as well as using read aloud times to reinforce the ideas/concepts they are learning in their classrooms. Students will meet new authors (in person and through my read-alouds) and fall in love with new characters from books. They will also continue to learn about genres and finding books on the shelves. 

The library has a website on which I blog as often as I can (not enough :() and also from which you can view our library collection as well as connect to the town library system. Please check it out by clicking here.

Now the ask: Your child’s library day is Monday. The students in Mrs. Melnik’s class come to library from 12:15pm to 12:55pm. If you have any free time, even once a month or once in awhile, it would be very helpful to have more hands on deck during library time. Volunteers help students find books, read to the children, draw or do puzzles with them during check out time or help me to check out books for students. Volunteers also help me keep the library looking warm and inviting for all by shelving books and cleaning up after and during classes. All you need to do to volunteer is to fill out a CORI form with Ms.Vicki and come speak to me or email me. 

If you are unable to help during your child’s class, but you would like to be involved, definitely let me know. I can always use an extra set of hands.

Thanks so much.

Ms. Liza

Welcome blogging friends!

Welcome to our class blog!  We are first graders in Arlington, MA.  Each kid in our new colorful school has an iPad!  
We have really fun teachers.  Their names are Mrs. Melnik and Ms. Magni.  We have a funny principal.  We have class pets- A leopard gecko named LG and 6 fish.  LG sleeps in really funny positions.  He eats worms and crickets.

We have flowers and pumpkins and plants in our classroom.  We have choice time on Friday. We had a pajama party because we read to self for 20 minutes.  We will go to the zoo at the end of the year.

We can't wait to learn all about you and your schools! 

Wed-Fri

What a fun greeting! Here's to ___... Tada! 

https://vine.co/v/OmVlOLVx5ha

Work on writing was a popular choice this week during Daily 5. Letter writing was a favorite!  Some kids are beginning to try to write lists. 

Morning word games: syllable sort 

A new very popular station- word songs: http://www.symbaloo.com/mix/sightwordsongs3 You should hear the kids singing along! 

We received a note from Ms. Jette's class (they were right behind us in the food drive) letting us know they had 2 full boxes of donations today!  Oh no! Keep sending in rice and beans!  

Welcome to Kyle Cohan, a sophomore from Lesley, who will be working in our classroom on Fridays this semester. 

Happy weekend!