Monday 9/30

Can't believe it's the last day of September!

Math- learning the bulldozer game. Ask your child how to play. 

We practiced counting on- putting the larger number in our head and just counting on from there. We are trying not to count all! This is an important strategy as we work with larger numbers.  

During Science, we are delving deeper into the weather unit and now focusing on the water cycle. 

Centers were based on the book by Eric Carle called Very Hungry Caterpillar. The two main themes are colors and days of the week. Thanks to Maf for helping us today!

Scholastic book orders were processed. Thanks so much for your orders.. Our classroom is now getting many new books!

Friday 9/27

  Better late than never!! 

New writing notebooks. Kids write their seeds or ideas into these notebooks.  Their writing will blossom from seed(idea) to sprout (simple) to flower (detailed) stories.  Every kid has many ideas of things to write about during the upcoming writers workshops. 

The kids graphed their eye color.

Friday Fun! 

So many choices!!!

. 

Scholastic Book Orders due by 2pm on Monday!!

Scholastic Reading Club deadline has been extended for one more day.... 

Orders must be made online by Monday, September 30 at 2:00.

You can shop and submit your order online or return the printed order form with payment directly to me. No matter how you order, every purchase you make earns FREE Books and educational supplies for our classroom.

Ordering online is fast and easy:

•  REGISTER at scholastic.com/readingclub
•  ENTER the Class Activation Code at the top of this letter
•  CHOOSE from thousands of print titles, value packs, and Storia eBooks
•  SUBMIT the order to me by the due date at the top of this letter
•  EARN FREE Books for our classroom too!

Shop Online: scholastic.com/readingclub
One-Time Class Activation Code: J73DP

Library Dedication

Bill Shea Memorial Library Dedication

Sunday, September 29

2:00-4:00 p.m. 

Featured speaker- children’s author, Peter Reynolds *The Dot*

Recognition of Donors to Books for Bill

Activities for kids

Refreshments will be served

I'll be in our classroom leading a bookmark craft.. Stop by and say hi! 

Thursday 9/26

In Open Circle, we discussed what you should do to be a good listener.  I read a short story and the kids practiced being a good listener.  What did they do every time I said dog?  At school, the kids will now use their school listening look:

Math stations went really well today!  Guess My Rule, Snap-It, and Look & Remember.  Ask your child to make a guess my rule at home! 

First official day of Writer's Workshop!  Ask your child what they use if they choose to share their writing with the class. 

We created a class goal and the kids are working extra hard to follow our classroom rules. 

Math Video

Check out what we worked on in Math during the first few weeks of school.

Math Video

Wed 9/25

We continue to work on tapping out CVC words.  Here's a picture from a phonics game we played today with Mrs. Cummings, our school speech teacher. 

What was the wind like today? 

The kids worked really hard during math stations today- everyone was focused and busy!  Thanks to our new volunteer, Visa's Mom.  

Tuesday, 9/24

A short but busy day!!
The kids started their morning with a sort on what clothing you wear in certain weather.  The kids worked on another page in both their wind and alliteration books on Book Creator.  Centers was changed to the morning since there was only time for Art after lunch.  I saw a lot of students working on their goal of the week.  Ask your child what they did today to help work towards reaching their goal.
Two new parent volunteers came to help this morning--Thanks to Andrew's Mom and Tamoghna's Mom.  Send me an email if you'd like to join in on the fun!
I had a meeting this morning and I was thrilled to come back to such a great report from the substitute :)

Open Circle Parent Workshop

Please see information below...  I worked with Debby last year and she's fantastic! 

OPEN CIRCLE PARENT WORKSHOPS  2013

For Parents of children Grades K-5

Three week program:  Tuesday October 15, 22, and 29                    Time: 7:00 -8:30 pm

***Meeting Location- Arlington High School Room 302

We invite you to join a Parent Group based on the Open Circle Program developed at the Stone Center, Wellesley College.  In this three week program you will learn how to reinforce the social and problem solving skills learned by your children at school.  Here is an opportunity for a limited number of parents to join an interactive program that focuses on the skills your children are learning in the Open Circle Program.  This program will suggest ways by which parents can successfully reinforce these lessons at home.  The program is advised to teach parents the language and skills their children use in Open Circle in order to develop cooperation, problem solving, self- control and responsibility.  The parent workshop will help you to adapt these same techniques at home and to develop more effective parenting.

PRESENTER: Debby Broadley  Ma LMHC is leading these Parent Workshops. Debby has over 30 years’ experience working with children and families.  She has worked for many years as a mental health clinician for a large Early Intervention Program and she currently consults to the Arlington Public Schools.  Debby leads a variety of parent groups and seminars and has a private psychotherapy practice.

RESERVATIONS:  Since the group will be limited in size to allow for discussion,spaces will be filled on a first come, first serve basis….Please call Carlene Newell at 781-316-3571 or e-mail her @cnewell@arlington.k12.ma.us to reserve  a place or to obtain more information.  Leave or include your phone number and e-mail address when you call.  There will be a $25.00 charge for course materials. Payment must be received by Oct.10^th to save your spot. Checks should be made out to TOWN OF ARLINGTON.  Mail to Carlene Newell AHS 869 Mass. Ave. Collomb House Arlington, Mass.02476

DIRECTIONS TO LOCATION:  Park in front of AHS.  Enter the school committee door (to the left of the main entrance there is a door that says SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETINGS) enter, take a left, go through two red doors and room 302 is on the left after you go through the second door.

Lilly's Big Day

We had some difficulty getting this book to show during Centers today via the QR code. 
I'm going to post it here so the kids can try it tomorrow.  Please don't show your child this until after they have seen it at school.  Thanks!

Monday 9/23

We started our morning with Weekend Writing.  The kids are getting into the routine of using Kidblog, importing a picture from Drawing Pad, and publishing their story.

























 We focused on syllables during work time.  We hopped and clapped out many words.  Groups of 4 practiced this skill.  Ask your child to hop/clap out: wind, weather, temperature.








We went outside to observe how the wind was affecting the tree branches and flag.  The kids used their iPads to record the wind on day 1. 

Each day this week we'll go outside and the kids will record the wind and add another page into their book on Book Creator.  They'll write a few sentences about what they noticed.

Two new math activities were introduced: sorting/graphing color tiles & showing a number in two different ways.

We received a package today from Louise Borden with three signed books!! 

Reminder- 1:00 dismissal on Tuesday.

Friday, 9/20

I introduced alliterations and here's what the kids came up with:

The kids then learned how to use a new app, Book Creator.  Each child is making their own alliteration book!!  They will continue to work on them next week! 

3 new math games were introduced- bingo, staircase, and show me.  Ask your child to show you a number using 2 hands so they can show you all of the combinations to make that number.  For example, show me 5 with 2 hands (1 finger up on one hand, 4 up on the other)

This afternoon we had Friday Fun.  Some students had to finish up Centers from the week though.. We talked about the importance of focusing on your work, keeping quiet, and organizing your work.  Each child will have a weekly goal from this point on. 

Have a wonderful weekend!  Tomorrow I have my first session of a year-long professional development course I'm taking on technology.  I look forward to learning new ways to use our iPads!

Notes for Curriculum Night

Here are answers to some of your questions from last night-

On the right side of the blog under Important Pages, you will find a new page titled Apps.  Please check here to learn of the apps we've used at school so far.  There is a place at the bottom for us to share apps that we think first graders would enjoy to explore.  Please add on to this list :)

At Home Volunteers
Looking for some families to put stickers on the back of our new math cards-possibly this weekend or next week.  It should only take a few minutes of your time.  I often have simple jobs that I'd love help on.  Send me an email if you'd like to be added to this volunteer list.

Classroom Volunteers
Looking for volunteers to come support the students during Centers
1:00-2:00 Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday
12:20-1:20 Thursday
If another time works better for you, let me know!
Homework- I will send home a detailed sheet with all of the information you'll need. 
Each night there will be:
15 minutes of reading- this can be the child reading, an adult reading, or reading on RAZ-Kids.  
5 minutes of spelling practice- each child will have 3 words for the week, a multi-sensory spelling bag will be sent home with ideas on how to practice these non-phonetic words.
Sometimes there will be an optional written page.
For students who really want to be writing, I can send home optional reading responses.

Room Parents
We have 3 wonderful volunteers so far!!  Anyone else interested?

Kidblog

http://kidblog.org/MrsMelnik/ 
Log in
Scroll down to Guest1 or Guest2
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Scroll down to Blog Directory and click on your child's name on the right
Leave comments!!  Please put your first name or write ___'s Mom/Dad so we know who is leaving comments.  Remember that I need to approve a comment before it goes public.  Share with any family members you'd like :)
**Please log out when you are done.** I'm unsure how many people can be logged on at once... If you have difficulties logging on, please let me know so I can look into getting more guest accounts.

Thursday 9/19

We all had a good day.   I have almost finished all of my reading assessments-The kids have been working really hard on "ask three before me" to increase their independence.  Your child will soon know their just-right reading level and I'll begin reading groups.  Most kids finished all of the Centers-They're excited for Friday Fun!  We spent some time talking about why some kids are always ready on the rug by the end of our clean up song.  We decided that if you start to clean up when you're first told, you can make it to the rug on time.  This skill can be practiced at home too.  We met for Open Circle outside! 

What a great turnout at Curriculum Night! If you have any further questions, please let me know.
Further information will be posted tomorrow...Have a good night!

Wednesday 9/18

Everyone worked hard to get 2 more pages of their Marvelous Me books done!

We spent some time thinking of words that rhyme.  What rhymes with pig?

How many days are there in one week?  Day-O Song

Our poem of the week is called Mistakes.
Mistakes are good
They help us grow
They show us what we want to know
So if you make a mistake don't cry
You'll get better if you try.

Today our read-aloud was Beautiful Oops! By: Barney Satlzberg 
See a great quote from the book below.
Ask your child to tell you one way an oops was turned into something beautiful.

I hope to see many of you tomorrow night at Curriculum Night!
5:50 Welcome from Principal Donovan
6:00-6:45 Classroom Presentation

I

Tuesday, Sept. 17th

Today is the 10th day of school.  I used our document camera for the first time and we talked all about ten- once you have ten ones you need to make a bundle of ten.  We also thought about having a ten and some ones.  We looked at all of the ways to make ten.  You have your ten magical fingers to help you :)
We had so much fun during our Math meeting today!  Two dancing songs- check them out here!
Counting by tens

Counting down from 20

Every child came up with a hope for first grade.  They will be on display for you to see on Thursday night.

Happy Birthday, Madison!  Another beautiful compliment book.  What a sweet group of kids :) 

Email Updates from Sheri 9/16

Curriculum Night: Thursday, September 19, 2013

5:50                 Welcome from Principal for K-2 Parents

6:00-6:45         Classroom Presentations Grades K-2

6:50                 Welcome from Principal for 3-5 Parents

7:00-7:45         Classroom Presentations Grades 3-5

7:45                 End of Evening

This is an opportunity for parents to meet their child’s teacher and to hear more about what 

is being taught this year. 

Classroom presentations begin promptly at 6:00 pm and 7:00 pm.

Child Care will be provided. We unfortunately cannot care for infants.

Please fill out and return the form sent home today.

*************************************************************************************************

Dear Parents & Guardians,

I hope this finds you and your Thompson students settling into the routine of school.  The Bill Shea Memorial Library is hopping this week: students are finally able to check out books; they are listening to stories, learning to memorize poems and learning all about shelf markers and book treatment.

I wanted to draw your attention to the library website:

http://billsheamemoriallibrary.wordpress.com

I will be posting blog entries about our library time and news about the library on the website. Eventually we will post student work as well (things like book trailers, reviews, blog posts about genres and movies showing library skills). The website is in process – I am learning as I go – please sign up to receive RSS feeds of the blog posts.

Speaking of “in process” – the library systems and collection are also in process. We are still unpacking and organizing. If any of you have a free moment during school time throughout the week, I would love to involve you as a volunteer in the library. Things I need help with: covering book donations, relabeling books and printing out new labels, weekly dusting and cleaning, reshelving books, checking in books and checking out books and website assistance (with Wordpress). My goal is to have at least one other adult helping every hour of school time. If you feel like you could offer your time, please email me directly atehalley@arlington.k12.ma.us.

I have also created a Twitter account. If you are more likely to follow Twitter than blog posts, please sign up to follow me at @MsLizatheLTA.

Many people have asked if all of the books in the library are new books. They are not. So far we’ve purchased approximately 200 new books for the collection. We will spend the beginning of the year assessing the needs of the students and teachers and look at gaps in our collection and then purchase new books based on our needs.

 Please be in touch if you have any questions, ideas, book suggestions or if you are able to help out.

Have a great day.

Ms. Liza

Bill Shea Memorial Library TA

Thompson School

Monday, Sept. 16th

Happy Dot Day!
Peter Reynold's book, The Dot, taught us to make our mark!  Be brave!  Be creative!  Have fun with art!  Here's an online version of The Dot

Every child made at least one piece of art and signed their name, just like Vashti.  They will be hung up in our classroom gallery, just like Vashti.

The dot scavenger hunt was a big hit!  The kids went all over the first floor taking pictures of all of the dots they could find.

Check out this awesome app. The kids LOVED it!  colAR

We were inspired to use technology just like these kids were. We will try this during Centers this week Technology inspired art

Friday, Sept. 13th

During writing today, the focus was on opinion pieces. The children wrote I love _____ because ______ and they were challenged not to just write because it is fun.  I am yet again impressed with the writing these kids can do- way to go Kindergarten teachers! :) 

Math Stations 

The kids learned a new game- Pop! 

This week the game focused on what number comes next.

Math Stations- Two new matching games

 

Painting self-portraits!  They look great hung up in our classroom!

Building with pattern blocks!

          

Look at Isabelle's symmetry! 

 

Madison's fish

 So many creations!

Friday Fun was SO much fun!!! Everyone was so busy- building, creating, acting, bowling, chatting, and more!  Ask your child to tell you one friend they played with.

Note sent home 9/13

We will celebrate Dot Day on Monday.  If your child would like, they could wear clothes with dots!  Peter H. Reynolds' classic book. THE DOT, challenges us to "Make your mark and see where it takes you." 

Snack- Please remember to send your child with a small healthy snack each morning.  Do not send in any sugar snacks or drinks.  Please help your child know what they should be eating during this time as many children are overwhelmed making a quick choice at snack time.  You might even put this snack in a special spot in their backpack so they don't have to open up their lunch boxes. 

Home/School Folder- Please send this folder to school every day. 

Curriculum Night- Thursday, September 19th, Time TBD- Parents and guardians are invited to our classroom to learn what we will be doing in First Grade. 

Have a nice weekend, 
Nicole

Curriculum Night

Save the date 
School wide curriculm night 
Thursday, September 19th
Time TBD 

Parents/guardians are invited to our classroom to learn about the first grade curriculum.  You'll also get to see some of the work your child has done thus far.  I look forward to gathering together!

Thurs. Sept 12

Another hot day in Room 108!

We had our first birthday- Happy Birthday, Leo!!  Every child made a page for Leo's compliment book.  The kids had such nice things to say about their classmate.

The kids practiced writing CVC (consonant vowel consonant) words on their paddles.  We have some great tappers and spellers in our class!  Ask your child to teach you how to tap a word.  One tap for every sound you can hear.

Math Stations

Matching Ten Frames

I have, who has- Counting by 5s- Ask your child to count by 5s up to 100

Number practice 

6-A line and a loop, 6 rolls a hoop

7-Across the sky and down, here's how we make the number 7

8-Make an S and do not stop, then come back up to the top

9-A loop then a line makes the number 9

0-Round like a Cheerio-That's Mr. Zero(-io)

Following our blog!

If on the family contact information sheet, you checked off that you would like to follow our blog, you should have received an email from myself and a verification message.  You will now receive a daily update message of the blog posts.  If you did not check this off, but would like updates, please look on the right side of the blog and type your email in the box "follow by email" and then type in the verification code.

I just signed you up to follow our classroom blog.  Please follow these steps. Let me know if you have any trouble. 

Have a great day,

Nicole

Please check your inbox for a verification message from “FeedBurner Email Subscriptions”, the service that delivers email subscriptions for Mrs. Melnik's Blog. You will need to click a link listed in this message to activate your subscription. If you don't see a confirmation e-mail in a reasonable amount of time please check your bulk/spam folder.

Wed. Sept 11

We had a Skype call today with author Louise Borden!  We shared our book that we created based on Off to First Grade-I will get that out to everyone soon.  Louise read us Big Brothers Don't Take Naps.  She shared her journal and showed us the stages of making a book.  We even got to see her writing room!  We learned so much about writing and editing.   She saw the beginning of our fire drill and we finished our conversation after!  Louise is going to come visit us in October! It was very exciting for all of us!!!  

Thank you SO much, Louise! :)

http://louiseborden.com/

 

This afternoon I read The Listening Walk.  We then took a listening walk through the building and outside.  We heard footsteps, talking, water rushing, buzzing, toilets flushing, clicking, and even Ms. Liza singing!

We read America Is... another one of Louise's great books.  We had a great discussion about America!

Tuesday, Sept. 10

Everyone is settling into the routines!

Today the kids used four of their senses to write about a sunflower.  What did the sunflower feel like?

Morning yoga break

Sun Dance Clip  Try it at home!

A new math station was added-measuring with your name.  What's longer than your name?  What's shorter than your name?

Handwriting practice during Math.  

Practice writing the numbers 1-5 with these catchy chants.

Straight line fun that's number one. 

Around the track and back, two two! 

Around the tree, around the tree, that's how you make the number three. 

Down, across, and down once more, that's how you make the number four. 

A back, a belly, a hat, number five sits on the mat.

Two students following one of our classroom rules- Play Fair.

Classroom jobs were introduced today. Ask your child their job!

Monday, Sept. 9th

Every Monday morning the kids will begin with Weekend Writing.  They wrote about their weekend on their blog, and added a picture from Drawing Pad.  Sounds like a lot of fun things happened this weekend!

The kids had their first spelling "check-in" on half of the Kindergarten sight words.  Check out these independent focused workers!!

 

Math Stations this morning: Ask your child how to play Counting Boards.  What do the cards mean?

Math Stations: Exploring the color tiles.  

During Science today, we started to use our 5 senses. 

Ask your child about the new checklist for afternoon Centers.  

Would you like to be our room parent?? :)

Please see room parent job description below.. If you are interested in this role, please let me know!

Thompson School

Room Parent Job Description

Becoming a room parent is a great way to be involved with your child’s school year in a meaningful way!  The Room Parent(s) contribute greatly to having a successful and fun year in each classroom. 

What is a Room Parent?

Each classroom at the Thompson School has one or preferably two Room Parents. The Room Parent(s) in each classroom serve as a liaison between the teacher and the other parents in the classroom. This is an important role in the classroom and does involve a time commitment. The role differs slightly depending on the teacher and the needs of each classroom. 

What are the responsibilities/expectations of a Room Parent?

• Communicate regularly with the teacher about classroom supply needs (tissues, disinfecting wipes, etc.).
• Help coordinate special snacks or food needs for events (keeping in mind the school food policy).
• Help recruit parent chaperones for upcoming field trips.
• Help Coordinate volunteers from your classroom for your PTO sponsored grade level event and other PTO initiatives (community card sales, special events, etc.).
• Help the teacher plan special celebrations or parent events throughout the year (these differ for each grade).
• Coordinate classroom-wide gifts throughout the year (holidays, teacher appreciation week, end of year), in keeping with established gift giving guidelines.
• Set up email communication with all classroom parents (with permission) to send out reminders, volunteer requests, etc.
• Attend a twice yearly Thompson-wide Room Parent meeting (fall and spring).
• Communicate with the PTO Room Parent Coordinator.
• Attend monthly PTO meetings when possible.

How do I become a Room Parent?

If you are interested in becoming a room parent, let your child’s teacher or a member of the PTO know. This year the PTO Room Parent Coordinator is Lea Walsh. She can be contacted via email at lea.walsh@gmail.com. Room parents are usually recruited at the first Curriculum Night in the early fall.

Friday, 9/6

We started the morning with using Drawing Pad to draw something they did on the day off.  The kids then learned how to use Kidblog to add their picture and words to their very own blog!!  They will be shared with you soon... 

Based on Louise Borden's book Off to First Grade, the kids drew a picture to share during our Skype with the author next week.  They are so excited!! 

Today was Finish Up Friday during Centers. Some of your child's work was sent home in their folder. Please go through this work together- in particular, have them share their classroom rule following sheet. Also ask them to tell you about Wemberly- what made her worry?

Happy weekend! :)