Summer Practice

Here are some ways to avoid the summer slide!!   All of these were in your child's folder sent home on the last day of school. 

Keep practicing all of the first grade skills so you're ready for second grade in the fall! 



Or open a PDF here if you need another copy! 

Reading fluently (practice reading smoothly! re-read books) here

Reading strategies (what you can do when you come to an unknown word) here

Reflection questions (things to talk about after a chapter/book) here

First Grade sight word chart (Kids are expected to read and write all of these words!) here

TenMarks (practice math skills) flyer

Special share!

Gigi and Mamacita came to school for morning share!

Field Day volunteers needed!

Hi folks:

Since Field Day has been rescheduled for next Monday, June 22, we’ve created a brand new sign up form. Please put your name down if you can help, even if you signed up for the original date and can still volunteer.

K-2 kids will participate in the morning from 8:45-11:00 and grades 3 & 4 will be11:45-2:00. All kids will have a picnic lunch from 11-11:45. We need parents to cover the lunch hour so we’ve adjusted shifts slightly. All shifts are 1.5 hours but come for longer if you can!

Please sign up here.

Thank you!

—Thompson PTO

2 upcoming events!

The Thompson Picnic in the Park is on Thursday, June 11th.  This is a fun event for all family members!   sign up to volunteer here!

We are looking for a few more volunteers for our class during field day.  If you would like to join us on Monday, June 15th sign up here!

Week of 6-1

Daily 5 this week: @MrsMelnik1: Daily 5! Sticker stories, animal research, reading, @Wonderopolis research, mad libs & QR self checks! http://t.co/5e1BaIP36C

Charlottes Web journal and sketchbook 

5 points in one day calls for extra recess.. And a visit to the field and hill for extra fun! 

We love morning share!

Tuesday 6/2

Today we had an All School Meeting!  You can see 2 pictures on Twitter.

We focused on our school motto... Thompson CARES!

Cooperative Community

Adventurous Community

Responsible & Respectful

Encouraging Everyone

Spectacular Students & Staff

Loving outside recess!

Thursday 5/21

Morning share! 

Soccer is a big hit during morning recess!

Math stations today- review of place value, addition and subtraction 

A post finally! 5/20

Wow.. It's been WAY too long since I've blogged!  I've been tweeting though! You can view my tweets and pictures here: https://twitter.com/MrsMelnik1

Here are some of the fun things we've been up to:

Morning Greeting- Hola!

 

Review Writing: Creating an iMovie trailer about a place they love to go!  We would love to share them with you soon! 

 

Remember to convince your reader!

 Art. Food. Community! Wow!  What an amazing experience... Thank you Melody & Eileen!!! https://artfoodcommunity.wordpress.com

Enjoying the sunshine together!

Thanks to the PTO for sponsoring our field trip to the zoo! Thanks to the many chaperones that joined us :-)

 Writing: Book Reviews

 

Check out our new book reviews hanging by our main classroom door.

Math: TenMarks

 

Math: Combinations to 10

Week of 4/13

The kids had so much fun building their marshmallow towers!  They used the engineering design process to improve their towers!

Visit our Vine here: https://vine.co/v/ezrdmB6PB5A

 Calming Time outside!  We are LOVING the nice weather! :-) 

The kids have been trying very hard to publish their collection books.

Wow!  What fun seeing the Thompson School plays!

A big thank you to the many first graders and their families that came to the Technology Showcase! 

Monday 4/13

I hope everyone enjoyed this weekend!  What beautiful weather we had!

Check out this Vine about our math stations for the week:
Partner Math- focus on subtraction (bump & connect 4)
Math Work- practicing their working number & combos to 10
Math Writing- 2 subtraction story problems
Math Technology- Ten Marks (subtraction & greater than/less than)


Word Time: focus on long vowels
Here some kids are working on a self-checking game!

I look forward to seeing many of you tonight at the Technology Showcase! :-)  

Reminder- 1:00 dismissal on Tuesday

Parent Input Form for Placement 2015-2016

Dear Parents, This form is intended for you to provide us with information that we do not already know that would assist us with class placement. Please complete the form by Friday, May 8, 2015. If you have more than one child, please submit a form for each child. Please note that parents MAY NOT request a specific teacher by name. Any forms submitted with a specific teacher request will not be considered. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Thank you, Karen Donato

Parent Input Form for Placement

Upcoming events

Thompson Elementary School Presents

The Thompson School Concert

This Land Was Made for You and Me: Songs of Unity

Friday, April 10th

9:00-10:00 AM

Thompson School Gymatorium

Please plan to remain for the entire concert so all of the students may be showcased.

Doors are open at 8:45 AM.

Suggested Dress Code for K-5

• Dress clothes: collared shirt/blouse, skirt, slacks, dress

• Preferably no jeans, casual t-shirts/tank tops or sneakers

 Please contact Ms. Havelin jhavelin@arlington.k12.ma.us  with any questions

------------------------------------------

PARENT INFORMATIONAL NIGHT

NEW APS SAFETY PROTOCOLS 

MONDAY APRIL 6, 7pm

Lowe Auditorium, AHS

GUEST SPEAKERS:

Michele Gay is a mother, former teacher, and now one of the founders of Safe and Sound: A Sandy Hook Initiative.  After losing her daughter, Josephine Grace on December 14, 2012, she chose to take action as an advocate for improved school security and safety in our nation’s schools. Michele’s background as a teacher and involved parent, along with her personal loss and post tragedy perspective, have left her uniquely positioned to help school communities prevent tragedy, and better prepare and respond in the event of an emergency in their own schools.

Lieutenant Scott Sencabaugh, of the Wilmington Police Department, supervises the Wilmington School Resource Officers and is the Commander of the North Eastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Agency Council officers.  Lt. Sencabaugh implemented the ALICE protocol for Wilmington Public Schools.

-----------------------------------------

The Arlington High School Art Department invites you to attend the Annual Spring Art Exhibit

from April 1 through April 15, 2015 in the Teachers’ Café Gallery at Arlington High School.  

The exhibit contains hundreds of works created by all students currently enrolled in Visual Art courses

at Arlington High School. Every art course at the high school is represented and the media includes digital photography, 

sculpture, painting, drawing, printmaking, ceramics, graphic design, collage and mixed media and much more.

Please join us to celebrate the wonderfully creative efforts of our students and art teachers during the public reception on April 8, 2015 from 6-8 pm in the gallery.

There will be live music by HS students and refreshments will be served.  You can visit the gallery anytime during school hours during the dates of the exhibit. 

Week of 3/16

We were busy last week!  I posted during the week on Twitter.. Here are the tweets, in case you aren't on Twitter.  If you are, please follow me @MrsMelnik1

Daily 5 centers focused on St. Patrick's Day.

We started a new writing unit on opinions.  The kids shared their collections.  They learned how to judge fairly, just like at a dog show.  (Put everything in a line.  Compare the same characteristic on each of your items.  Choose which gets first place.  Give reasons.. Say because!)  Then they complete a planner where they are writing an opening sentence, 4 reasons, and a conclusion sentence.  Finally, they are creating their finished products in Book Creator.. They are coming out great!

In Science, we are continuing to learn about penguins and the many adaptations penguins have developed because they live in very, very cold places.  We learned why penguins have blubber during this experiment.

During Math, we are focusing on combinations to 10 and fractions.  We are testing out a new website: TenMarks.  I love that it connects so perfectly to Common Core.  I can send assignments that focus on skills we've practiced so far in First Grade.  It really, really makes the kids think too!

We've been having some fun too!  Practicing to tie shoes (Keep up the practice at home!) and GoNoodle movement breaks!

Snack at Thompson

Dear fellow Thompson parents,

One of the things that I've been most excited to help implement at Thompson is having snacks available for any kid who is hungry during the day.  I hear from many teachers and administrators that behavior problems have decreased this year and that kids are able to better concentrate in class.

For any family who is relieved at not having to worry about this expense, we are so thrilled to be helping.   We are also happy that there is an extra supply of snacks for kids who usually bring one from home but may forget sometimes.  We all do that!

But maybe your kid is like my second grader who I recently learned has been ignoring the snack in his backpack so he can go get a snack at the front desk.  As he says, "they just taste better when Ms. Vicki gives them to me".  I can't blame him, I'm pretty crazy about Ms. Vicki myself.  

At the moment we are giving out over 400 snacks per week just at Thompson which has quickly become the most expensive part of our program*.  We do not want to question kids who say they are hungry and need a snack, so we are inviting parents to talk to their kids about the program and why EATS is working so hard to be sure there is food in school.  I sat down with my second grader this weekend and had a great talk about EATS, the snack program and hunger in our community.  He promises me he won't ignore his backpack snack anymore.  :-)

Would you like to help further?  Here are some ways you can get involved!

• Next time you are at the grocery store, grab a snack from our approved list and give it to Ms. Vicki (Fruit, Wheat Thins, Gogurts, Cheese sticks, Nutrigrain bars and Roasted Seaweed--the surprising item that we can't keep in stock!)
• Sign up to help with a snack-prep shift with Lisa Blankespoor or help with the Weekend bags sometime between 1:30 - 4:00 on Fridays.  
• Join our shopping team.  We will email the group and ask if anyone is going to Costco/Market Basket,etc in the next few days and then we send a list of items we need.  You buy the items, deliver to Thompson and we reimburse your costs.  Email me if interested.
• Would you like to get involved but don't know how?  Join us for a brainstorming session this Saturday or sometime in April.  Email me for more information.  

Thank you all for making the Thompson community such an amazing place!

Lauren Ledger and the EATS Steering Committee

info@arlington-eats.org

www.arlington-eats.org

follow us on Facebook!

*Much of the food we distribute on weekends is sourced by the incredible Nicole Melnik and Dana DeVeau for free through our amazing community partners (Food Link, Food for Free, the Arlington Food Pantry/Boston Food Bank).  Snacks are something that are hard to find in those channels and thus we do a lot of shopping at Costco!

Thompson Website

Please be sure to check out the beautiful new Thompson website!
www.thompsonschool.net

Friday, 3/15

Whisper Count:  A favorite math activity! Ask your child to demonstrate this for you.

Here we are working on halves and quarters:

 

Fraction Song

I hope many of you were able to make it to the International Festival!  I heard it was a great success!  I spent my Saturday in Rhode Island with some other Thompson teachers at a workshop which focused on reading and writing.  I have some new strategies to try out!  Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Rescheduled Parent Forum

 PARENT FORUM    2015

          Presenter: Michael  Thompson

                   Rescheduled   Date

                        “It’s A Boy”

          Understanding Male Development from

               Kindergarten through High School

                          Monday,  March 23    

       Ottoson Middle School    7-8:30 p.m

Parents of boys often find themselves bewildered or frustrated by certain aspects of boy development: their little boy anger, their inattentiveness in elementary school, their lack of motivation in middle school or their reluctance to talk to their parents during the high school years.  In this funny and reassuring talk, Dr. Thompson addresses the greatest worries that parents of boys have from infancy through high school, distinguishing between what is normal boy development and those behaviors that are worrisome.

PRESENTER: The heart of Dr. Thompson’s work is lecturing to parents, teachers and students about the development of boys, the social lives of both boys and girls, the parent-teacher dynamic, school culture, how to raise responsible children, and the psychological journey of children through school. He and his co-author, Dan Kindlon, wrote the New York Times best-selling book, “Raising Cain: protecting the Emotional Life of Boys”. He is the author of “Speaking of Boys”, Answers to the Most- Asked Questions About Raising Sons and co-author of “Best Friends/Worst Enemies”: Understanding the Social worlds of children, “Mom, They’re Teasing Me:” Helping your child solve Social Problems, “The Pressured Child”: Helping your Child Achieve Success in School and in Life and “It’s A Boy”!  a comprehensive guide for the parents of boys. Dr. Thompson’s new book “Homesick and Happy,” is about children’s experiences away from their parents. Michael lives in Arlington.

Tuesday-Thursday

We like to move it, move it during indoor recess!! 

Math: Make Tens with a partner https://twitter.com/MrsMelnik1/status/575467477418688512

Using our 10 facts to add 2 numbers:

 

We are starting to learn about fractions- equal parts, half and fourth.

The kids are loving our study of penguins!

Writing- Editing teaching books!
https://twitter.com/MrsMelnik1/status/575468665312706560

We read an awesome book today!  Ask your child what they can do to help grow their gardens!