Wednesday 11/27

Short but fun reward day! 

Movie with stuffed animals and choice with toys and games from home! 

The kids also worked on a counting by 2s turkey project! 

I'm grateful to be able to say I love my job. I look forward to spending each day with your children- I'm amazed at their love of learning and care for others.  Thank you for all of your support at home.  I'm one lucky teacher! 

I hope you all get to spend time with family and friends.  I'm on my way to NJ and then CT.  Enjoy the long weekend. Happy Thanksgiving! 

Tuesday 11/26

*Permission slips for our first field trip went home today... We're going to the Discovery Museum on Wed. Dec 4th.  Please send back the slip ASAP. Thanks!

The kids worked really hard today (multiple times!!) to try to finish their thankful books.  Be on the lookout for a printed copy in your child's folder tomorrow.

Fundations- practiced words with the glued sounds all, practiced writing some sentences with question marks and exclamation marks.  When should you use a question mark? An exclamation mark?

During Reader's Workshop, the kids read a new book with a buddy or small group.

Africa- Retold Anansi and the Tug o' War and added a page into their Africa book explaining the lesson.

Scratch Jr.-  Ask about the speech button.

Tomorrow will be a fun day!

Reward Day on Wednesday!

Tomorrow is our reward day!

You may wear…..

1.                 wear comfy clothes or pajamas.

2.                 bring a stuffed animal to hold during our movie.

3.                 bring a toy or game or book to use during choice.

12:00 Dismissal- No lunch at school.

Monday 11/25

Brr!! What a cold day!  The kids wanted to stay in for morning recess-I don't blame them!  Remember to make sure your child comes in appropriate outside gear as they will go outside for lunch/recess and often morning recess.

Started our morning with Weekend Writing.

For Reader's Workshop, the children worked with one or two other buddies to read a book and stop during it to ask questions/notice things about the pictures.  Last week we worked on using our "Eagle Eyes"- Ask your child to show this to you during their reading at home.

Math- The kids danced to some math songs about counting by 2s, 5s, and 10s.  I'm putting together a playlist and I'll get that out to you soon... Mostly focused on the 100s chart: 100 chart puzzles and 100 chart tile fill-ins.

Social Studies-Anansi and the Sky Kingdom: Ask your child about the lesson they learned.  Added a page into their Africa book on Book Creator.
Centers: finish-up and a few centers about Thanksgiving.
Read-Aloud: What did the turkey eat for Thanksgiving?  Luckily not a human like many of the kids predicted!!

Reminder- 12:00 dismissal on Wednesday.  No lunch at school.  Please send in a bigger snack!

Wed. 11/20

Our morning started by thinking about what we are thankful for.   The kids created a thankful book on Book Creator. 

We attended a powerful assembly today!!  Ask your child to tell you about the masks... 

Website for more information 

The kids assembled the covers of their published books.

The kids voted on watching this Anansi story today: Anansi and the Tug O' War

Our day ended with Reader's Workshop & Centers.  Many kids choose to scan the new QR Code to watch A Story, A Story again. 

Thanksgiving food donation!

I'm here at the PTO meeting.. Just a reminder: Please send in canned goods or produce for the Thanksgiving drive both Wed. and Thurs of this week!! Thanks for your donation :) 

Tuesday 11/19

**Please send in empty toilet paper rolls for a project!**
Kidblog posts are now up from this week.

The kids were so busy this morning organizing and putting finishing touches on their books.  They can't wait to share them with you on Friday :)

The children watched: 

http://youtu.be/3a7U08B7TY8
Ask your child where stories used to be kept.. What did Anansi do to get the stories?  Where are the stories now?

Monday 11/18

Started our morning with Weekend Writing on Kidblog. The kids were encouraged to write about one small moment from the weekend. Be on the lookout for them to be published hopefully tomorrow... 

Fundations check-in.  Check your child's folder for a corrected copy in the next few days.. 

Math- focus on the 100s chart.  Started by watched part of a Brain Pop and turned and talked about what we noticed.  Ask your child to count by 5s and to tell you about the patterns they see. 

Centers will now focus mostly on reading, responding to reading, and spelling practice. Ask your child to tell you about their new spelling ring. 

We made a list of all of the question words we could think of. The kids then got to pick their own spelling words for this week.  They were really excited for this responsibility!

Early release tomorrow!! 

Thursday/Friday

I'm thrilled at the reports I heard from both Ms. DeMarco and Ms. Donovan!  What a lucky teacher I am to have such a wonderful group of kids :)  Can't wait to see them all on Monday!

My experience at the iPad Summit was amazing... I am so inspired to enhance my teaching.  I look forward to trying many new things out in the classroom. As always, I appreciate any feedback you have. 

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!



Scholastic Book Orders Due: Friday, December 6th 
If you'd like to order anything for the holidays and have it be a surprise, let me know... I won't send them home in your child's backpack :) 

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

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!

Wednesday, 11/13

Brr!! It was cold out at morning recess today.  Please help your child remember to bring hats and gloves to school everyday.  If you have an extra set, you could send them in a labelled baggie and your child can keep them in their cubby.  I have a bin of extra gloves that children can always borrow as well.
Please have your child practice putting on this winter gear at home... Maybe with a timer!? :)

If you have anything at home from Africa to share, please send it in next week.

Thanks to Oscar (Anacamila's Dad) for sharing a picture slideshow today from when their family lived in Africa... More next week!

Check out this great share:

Math Stations: New game- Bump!  Ask your child how you bump and freeze a number.

Working hard to finish our small moments.. We can't wait to share them with you at our first Author Celebration next Friday!!

I'll be spending the next two days at the iPad Summit.. I'm really excited for this opportunity! Ms. DeMarco will be the sub for both Thursday and Friday.

Tuesday, 11/12

I hope everyone had a nice weekend!

We started our morning with word games.  A favorite was create your own game.  What are the 3 bonus letters? 

During weekend writing on Kidblog, we had some visitors from Hawaii.  They were visiting many classrooms at Thompson to see how the iPad is integrated into our day.

Math- Snap it!  Ask your child how to play. 

Ended the day with cooperative games... Check out our new tricky puzzle!  What compliment did your child give to a classmate at the end of the day? 

Folders were filled with completed work. Please take some time to look through your child's work with your child.. Have them show you what they did and why! 

Class pictures and individual pictures were sent home today as well.. 

Conferences Sign up for Parent Conferences here

Registration will open at 10:00am, Wednesday, November 13th.
• Evenings: December 4th and 12th
• Afternoons: December 6th and 10th
Look forward to meeting with you :)

Food Drive

Thompson School students  and families will be joining the Board of Youth Services in our annual campaign to provide Thanksgiving dinner to Arlington families.  

Please send in canned food or grocery store gift cards by November 21st. 

Fresh food donations will be accepted on November 20th and 21st.   

Thank your for your donations :) 

Parent Conference Info

Hello all, 

Here are some links for parent conference. 

Sign up for Parent Conferences here

Conference Information

Let me know if you have any questions or need any help.
I'm flexible with days/times to meet... Just send me an email. 

Thanks,

Nicole 

Memo To: Parents of Elementary School Students

From: Kathleen Bodie, Ed.D.

Superintendent of Schools

Re: Parent-Teacher Conferences

In order to streamline the process of scheduling elementary parent-teacher conferences (conference dates are evenings: December 4^th and 12^th afternoons are December 6^th and 10^th), the Arlington Public Schools will utilize our online registration system.    

This process allows parents to register for conferences with their child’s teacher.  Once registered, parents may view, print, or email the conference schedule.  In addition, this process will provide teachers with listings of all parents who have requested a conference.

Registration for all elementary school conferences will open on Wednesday November 13^th, at 10:00 a.m.  To access the registration system, parents may visit www.arlington.k12.ma.us and click on Parent-Teacher Conference Online Registration located under News.  Parents may visit this link at any time to view registration instructions.  

If assistance is needed, please contact your child’s elementary school secretary.  Thank you.

Video: Weeks of 10/28 & 11/4

Enjoy our video of the last two weeks...We've been busy!

Or click here

Friday 11/8

The kids can't get enough reading!!! Buddy reading, RAZ-Kids, independent reading, and Read-Alouds.... All they want to do is read and listen to stories :)
I'm so thrilled at the reading assessments that so far have been done.. SO many kids are soaring through the reading levels!  Keep up the great reading at home too!
Please remember to send back the lending library bag to switch for a new just-right reading book.

The children listened to 2 Anansi stories today.
What was the trick in each story?
Was there a lesson?  Did something come to be?

Thanks for sharing this book, Aki!









Day 2 of Scratch Jr.: Program the teacher-testing out a few instructions at once and then making changes & working together to make a program of 8 instructions.  The kids are exploring the program and wowing me!!

The kids worked on their Small Moments.  We can't wait to finish them up next week and share them with you on the 22nd.

Of course we had Friday Fun time!  Ask your child who they played with.  Continue to send in recyclables for Creation Station.

We also had a very successful lockdown practice.  The kids were so patient and quiet in a very tight space.

Wednesday 11/6

I read our first Anansi story today. The kids are hooked already!

I even read a second one- Anansi and the moss covered .... Ask your child to say the magical words!!!

The kids continued to write wondering questions about Africa.  They are moving everything over to Book Creator- learning to crop pictures. 

We spent some time looking at the world map and noticing things about the 7 continents. 

Tuesday 11/5

Our Read-Aloud today was Zoom!  It's a small moment based on a roller coaster ride.  The students then started writing their own small moment- everyone has a great start!

Check out our online bookshelf to see some other small moments books I've read. 

Online Bookshelf or go to the top of our classroom blog.

Our first day of Scratch Jr!  Working together to see what all of the buttons do!

We ended our day with cooperative games.

I will be out on Thursday at a reading conference.

Scratch Jr. Pilot

***Please send back the permission slips ASAP!***

I had a meeting with some of the researchers and students from Tufts this afternoon.  Here's some information that might be helpful to you:

All kids get to participate by using the app.  The researchers would of course love to get to interview the students and record their work as that is why they are piloting the app in our classroom.  I understand that some families would prefer for their children just to use the app.  Please decide what you feel comfortable allowing and send the permission slips back ASAP.  If your child is at least 7 years old, they should be filling out the last page. 

Our first session is tomorrow but there will be no recording.

If you need another copy of the permission slip, send me an email.   

Monday 11/4

Just realized I put the wrong date on homework.. Oops! Guess that extra hour of sleep wasn't enough :)

Our morning started at an assembly put on by the fifth graders. We learned what it's like at science camp! 

I read The Snowy Day and we thought about how this story was a 'bed to bed' story. Most students so far have written stories about a whole day.. Our new focus is on small moments. I picked one small moment from the story and we noticed how Ezra Jack Keats stretched it out- a small moment. Each child picked one small moment that happened to them and planned out the beginning, middle, and end. Tomorrow they will start to write and illustrate this small moment. 

Please join us on Friday, November 22nd from 8:10-8:45 for our first Author Celebration!  Be on the look out for an invitation in your child's folder this week.  

First day of our Social Studies unit on Africa. While looking through books about Africa, the children wrote I wonder statements and questions. 

The children got a laugh out of this video clip... What should they do to be proactive? 

Thursday 10/31

Sorry for the delay in posting... For some reason there was an error in publishing! 

We had fun doing many Halloween stations today. 

Creepy combinations, spooky poem, monster math, ghost patterns, monster I have who has, pumpkin math and more!! 

Wednesday 10/30

The kids are so happy that the RAZ-Kids apps are up and running!

Math- months, birthdays, and comparing 

Mrs. Cummings worked on complete sentences and the big idea. 

Dr. Michael Thompson- Parent Workshop on Wednesday!

Dr. Michael Thompson, renowned speaker and bestselling author of nine books on child development is coming to Thompson! On Wednesday, November 6 from 8:30-10:00AM, he will present his workshop to Thompson parents, "How To Raise Responsible Children." In this talk Dr. Thompson analyzes different parenting styles and comes up with a warm-hearted recipe for providing children with an internal foundation for moral behavior. You can read full details at: http://www.michaelthompson-phd.com/workshops/how-to-raise-responsible-children/