Our Second Week

We had a wonderful and very full week together! 

This week we continued our discussion about math tools. We used an organizational tool called a "Brain Frame" to create a joint "Relationship Brain Frame" showing what each tool is used for. Our brain frame became quite complex and the students began realizing that "all of the tools are connected!" and "we can use one tool for more than one purpose."  We will use brain frames this year to help organize our thinking in preparation for writing, as well as in Social Studies (see below!) and Science.  All of the children who attended first grade at Angell had exposure in Brain Frames last year and are eager to continue using them to explore new topics.

Every morning the students find a morning message from me on the board. Sometimes it highlights special events on our schedule, sometimes it reminds them about routines (especially early in the year), and sometimes it involves surveys.  The survey below was a simple exercise in reviewing tally marks, and at our morning meeting led to some nice discussion about pro's and con's of each season, and also served as a tool for us to get to know one another better.

In Social Studies this week we began our year long study of "My Community" by creating a "Telling Brain Frame" together.  The question I posed was "What comes to mind when you hear the word 'Community' ?"  Later in the week we learned a working definition for community, which is: a place where people live, work, learn, play, and solve problems together.  The students also learned a community song that you may have heard them singing this weekend!

On Wednesday Mr. Court came by to talk to our class about Angell school 

behaviors and expectations. 

Writer's Workshop in action!

This week in Math we played a game called "Pin the Number on the Number Grid" (variation on Pin the Tail on the Donkey) - which is always an instant favorite among second graders.

To continue reviewing our number grid skills, the children worked in partnerships to create number grids all the way from 0 to 1,200, which will be put together next week to form a gigantic class number scroll. It was wonderful seeing the students challenge themselves and ask for more and more sheets so that they could make the scroll reach an even higher number.

This week we also began our Life Cycles unit in Science! The students will have science with Mrs. Brennan two times each week, while her students come to my class for Social Studies.  This week Mrs. Brennan took the students outside to find leaves, which they then used to create leaf rubbings.

Our First Week

We had a fantastic first week here at Angell School!  We spent much of the week learning routines, getting to know one another through whole group "Find a Friend Bingo" as well as partner interviews.  Students shared what they discovered about their partner with the whole group.

We also explored many of the math tools we will be using this year, and described what we think each tool is used for.  We read a great book called "Ralph Tells a Story", about a boy who just has "nothing to write about!!".  Afterwards, each student created his/her own list of personal writing topics that to refer to when writing personal narratives.

Creating a positive classroom community is an essential piece of having a successful school year, and this group of children did some great work in building that foundation this week.  I am truly looking forward to our year together.

Welcome!

Dear Families,

Welcome to the new school year!  I am thrilled to be your child's teacher and looking forward to our learning journey.  

This blog is where you can find weekly updates on what is happening in the classroom.  Please enter your email address in the "Follow By Email" box in the right margin, so that you will receive notifications of new blog posts by e-mail.  Grandparents or other special family members are welcome to sign up as well.  I will e-mail you directly about field trips, requests and time-sensitive issues but the blog will be the place to get a snapshot of what we're currently up to in Room 123. Aside from this first post, I will intentionally try to keep the blog posts on the short side.  The goal is to give snippets about the week and allow your child to tell you more details about their personal experiences and perspectives on what we've learned.  Most posts will be more photos than text as we all know a picture says a thousand words. I  also encourage you to look at the photos with your child if possible so that he/she can tell you about the learning experiences behind the photos. Ideally, your child should be the one telling you about what is happening at school. This gives them ownership in the learning process. I hope the blogs will be a good conversation starter about your child's days at Angell.  Any feedback is more than welcome. 

I look forward to seeing you all on Curriculum Night,  Tuesday, September 19th, to talk about our school day and curriculum.   Sign-up sheets for fall parent-teacher conferences will be available on Curriculum Night, so if you are unable to attend please email me after to set up a date and time.  In the meantime, I would like to outline a few procedures/routines/etc that may be helpful as we start the new year.

SCHOOL SCHEDULE: Our school start and dismissal times have changed slightly this year. The school day begins at 8:56 and dismissal will be at 3:59.  

SNACK-  Each child will need to bring his/her own snack each day.  We will have two snack breaks each day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon.  In the afternoon, the students can have a second snack if they so choose, or any unfinished part of his/her lunch.

I have one request for snacks: I ask that you send in ONLY fruits and vegetables.  We have done this the past several years and had a very positive response from both the parents and students.  It is so exciting to hear the students say "Look what I brought!" each day, and show each other different fruits and vegetables, some of which they were trying for the first time.   Because we have snack daily at school, this is a great opportunity to get your child's daily fruits & veggies in.  I would also like the children to be aware of "brain foods" that are nutrient dense and will help keep them focused and energized throughout the day. Once I have confirmed the allergies in our class, I will let you know if we can expand our snack list to include dairy such as cheese sticks and yogurt.  **Please see the "Snack" tab on the right margin for snack guidelines and suggestions.  If you have questions or concerns, please let me know.  I appreciate your willingness to follow this approach with me.  I believe it's the best for these young children and their growing bodies and minds.

BIRTHDAYS- While we are talking snacks,  I'd like to request that we do not have treats sent in for birthdays. I apologize in advance if this disappoints anyone.  Instead, I invite each child to share a special book, family photos, tradition, game, lesson, etc that they would like share with the class as a birthday celebration.  I love food and cooking, and I love the sense of community and the way it brings people together, but I also think that we can create our own tradition with a shared hobby/interest/talent/etc.  This can be something that is special to your child- whether it be playing their violin, sharing a favorite book, photos from a family trip, teaching origami- there are several possibilities. This will be a shared learning experience that will allow the class to get to know each other even better.    Parents are of course welcome to come in to help/participate/ watch and yes, we will still sing Happy Birthday!  If your child really wants to pass out something special, in the past some students have brought in pencils, stickers or erasers for the class.

PICK-UP- If your child's end of school routine is going to be different than usual, please send a note or email to notify us.  If they are riding the bus with another student on a bus they typically don't ride, they need a hand-written note which will be signed by our secretary, Mrs. Durham.  If you need to make last minute changes to your child's pick-up routine, please call the main office and Mrs. Durham will relay the message to me.  **Last minute emails may not be seen in time to tell your child about the change.**

HOMEWORK- There will be no homework for the first two weeks of school.  I will explain our homework routine in a later email or blog post when the time comes.  The first two weeks are quite an adjustment for students, the weather is often still very warm, and your children will likely come home fairly exhausted!  We will ease our way into the homework routine soon.

BACKPACKS:  Your child should have a backpack large enough to transport library books, artwork, homework folders, etc.  Please help your child get into the habit of bringing it every day and remembering to look inside when they get home in case anything needs to be given to you! I will send an email out about our regular homework routine when the time comes. 

CLOTHING:  It is very helpful if you label your child’s clothing, jacket, lunchbox, and backpack.  The school lost and found grows quite quickly!  Please consider sending an extra pair of clothes for your child to keep in his/her locker in case of any emergencies. 

We will go over more details and info on Curriculum Night.  However, if there are any pressing issues or concerns that you want to have addressed before the first day, please don't hesitate to drop me an email!

Here's to a wonderful school year!