Classroom News: Week of September 27th

Pika is on my finger and Teddy is by his mirror.

Extra Special News!

Pika and Teddy are here! Pika has been our class bird for the last three years. She is a very tame and polite female cockatiel and loves to be held! Teddy is a visiting parakeet and is a very spunky and quirky male. The birds get to be out of their cage all day long while we have class. They are being very well behaved! We are hoping to be reading to Pika soon, as she loves when people hold and talk to her. She is the perfect reading partner!

Dates to Remember

-Camp Tilikum Canoe Trip This Tuesday!

Tuesday, September 28th, from 9:00-2:15

Great news! We have enough adult volunteers for the entire class to be on the water at the same time! We will have at least three students in a canoe at a time, with one adult volunteer in each canoe. I will send a check off list of 'things to bring' and put it in your child's Home Bag this afternoon. Thanks for helping your child be prepared for a great adventure!

-Pizza Wednesday Weekly Fundraiser Begins

Wednesday, September 29th

As mentioned in the FGCS news, pizza orders are due today. If you are interested in participating in this fundraiser, please visit the school website link above for more information on how to order. Orders are due today, Monday.

FGCS Spirit Day and All School Meeting:

Friday, October 1st

Our school has regular All School Meetings in the Grove Room at Central School during the school day. This Friday, students are asked to show their 'school spirit' by wearing 'Crazy Clothes'. This theme was chosen by one of our FGCS classes. Your child can wear crazy clothes that allow him or her to be safe. Have fun choosing what to wear Barn Swallows!

-Teacher In-Service (No School):

Friday, October 8th

-Student Conferences (No School):

Thursday, October 28th and Friday, October 29th.

Sign up information is soon to come!

Veteran's Day (No School)

Thursday, November 11th

Thanksgiving Break (No School)

Wednesday, November 24th through Friday, November 26th

Last Week's Classroom News

Community & Classroom Procedures

Students continued to take turns sharing something that is special to them during our morning meetings. Alyssa D., Hunter, Apollo, Siobhan, and Connor shared something special with the class during our morning meetings. We learned a new greeting called the 'Braid Greeting' where we make two circles and as we greet each other, we end up making a 'human braid'! We also learned the song 'Michael Finnegan'.

Literacy: Reading and Writing

Students continued to do their reading assessments and I introduced our literacy structure, which is called Daily 5. The five literacy activities being: read to self, read to someone, work on writing, word work (spelling), and listen to reading. Students this week are learning how to 'Read to Self' independently. When students learn how to be prepared and independent readers, I will be able to meet with small reading groups and confer with individual students. We also brainstormed 'How to Choose a Spot' in the classroom so that everyone can do their best.

I gave the students a spelling inventory test to find out where they are at on the spelling continuum. This will allow me to match students up with spelling words that are just right. The spelling program that we currently use is called 'Words Their Way'. It focuses on patterns of vowels and consonants within words. Once students understand their pattern, they are able to apply this knowledge to the spelling of other words.

I also introduced our writing structure, which will allow for students to write independently while I work on writing strategies with small groups and confer individually with students. The writing structure will eventually revolve around students creating personal goals under one of the following categories: conventions (punctuation), spelling (phonetic and conventional), ideas and content, word choice, and organization.

Out and About

The boat floating at Gale's Creek was a success! All boats floated and we learned about the current. It pushed the boats back against the bank. Some students attempted to create an 'equal and opposite force' by paddling sticks to make an opposite current. This helped the boats go a little farther away from the bank. There was also a lot of excitement when we had a few visitors, crayfish! Students took turns observing the crayfish in the shallow water near the bank. I wonder what creatures we'll see in the water during our canoe trip?! We ended our boat floating trip with a quick, fresh, and healthy snack-we picked blackberries!

Home Bags

We have been doing a good job of remembering to bring Home Bags back and forth to school! On Thursday we had 18 out of 20 and on Friday we had 16 out of 20. The class is hoping to get 20 out of 20 many days in a row!

Level 1 hopes that the Home Bag will mostly serve as a communication tool that connects home and school. When important letters come home they can often get lost in young hands, accidentally left behind, or scrunched in backpacks to never be found again. (Not all students have backpacks.) The Home Bag will be used to tote these letters home. I also want to send finished student work home regularly, and again, the Home Bag will help you know when there is finished work to be collected (and protected!) In late October students will set their personal academic goals during our student conferences. Student goals become a part of each child's PLP (Personalized Learning Plan). If families prefer, I will send 'just right' work home after goal setting conferences, that will help support students' personal goals. Once in a while, math teachers will send home a math game that allows for extra practice at home. (Please communicate with your child's teacher if you prefer to not have additional math practice sent home.)

The Home Bag is for:

• Letters and notes from school
• Finished work to take home
• Work that supports student goals
• Work that students want to take home and continue

This is new for all of level one and we are looking forward to your feedback!

Snack

For snack last week we had grapes & pretzels, pitas, hummus, & carrot sticks, sliced cheese & whole grain crackers, and bananas. The students enjoyed all of these snacks very much! Thank you! The snack schedule is included in the classroom blog. Look at the top of the page on the far right and you should see the link to the snack schedule page.

This Week's Classroom News

Community & Classroom Procedures

This week the following students will be sharing during our morning meetings:

• Monday: Emma
• Tuesday: Lola
• Wednesday: Gage
• Thursday: Ramsey
• Friday: Emilee
• Next Monday: Alivia

Literacy: Reading and Writing

We will continue to do reading assessments this week. I have been able to read one on one with students, as the class is learning how to 'Read to Self' independently for longer periods of time. Students were also able to choose their own places to work today and followed the chart that they brainstormed. We will continue to practice 'Read to Self' and choosing a spot for independent work this week. Students are doing a great job with reflecting upon what worked well and how to fix something that didn't work well. Again, the five literacy activities of Daily 5 are: read to self, read to someone, work on writing, word work (spelling), and listen to reading.

The spelling inventory test that students took last week has given me some great information on where to begin with our spelling program for each student. Word work (spelling) will soon become a part of our regular literacy block. If you would like your child's spelling words sent home in the 'Home Bag', once we begin word work, please email me.

This week we will continue to build upon our writing structure. Students have been building their writing stamina and working for longer periods of time. The writing block will be broken up with writing strategy lessons and student sharing.

The writing block structure will eventually revolve around students creating personal goals under one of the following categories: conventions (punctuation), spelling (phonetic and conventional), ideas and content, word choice, and organization. While students are writing independently, I will begin meeting with small writing strategy groups and conferring one on one with students about their writing. The work that we do will support the students' individual goals. Once students reach their goal, we will choose another one in a different category to work on.

Out and About

As you already know, we are going canoeing for our Out and About this week! I will take as many pictures as I can and share them on the blog.

We were hoping to go to B Street Farm on Thursday and make pizzas and salsa. Our student forms are not all in yet, so we won't be allowed to go as a class. If you have your form, please be sure to get it in. The food at the farm is ready for us to harvest and the kids are anxious to see their food forest from last year!

I might be able to take the students to the new garden on Thursday, but would need an additional adult to go with us. Would you like to join us? We would love to have you! Email me at S.Reuter@fgcschool.org if you are interested in coming to the garden on Thursday afternoon between 12:30 and 3:00.

Home Bags

We have been doing a good job of remembering to bring Home Bags back and forth to school! On Thursday we had 18 out of 20 and on Friday we had 16 out of 20. On Monday we had 15 out of 20. The class is hoping to get 20 out of 20 many days in a row!

Classroom News: Week of September 20th

Dates to Remember

-Picture Day is Today

Monday, September 20th

Please send your picture form to school with your child on the 20th. If your child wants an id card for $1, please write that on the form.

-Scholastic Book Fair Begins This Week

Books can be purchased before and after school. There is a great variety of books at this sale!

-School Open House this Wednesday Night

Wednesday, September 22nd, 5:00-6:30

Come visit the school and see what our students have been up to in these first weeks of school. We'll have a scavenger hunt that will take you all around the school. Then stop in the Barn Swallow classroom to meet your new classroom community!

-Camp Tilikum Canoe Trip Next Tuesday

Tuesday, September 28th, from 9:00-2:15

If you are interested in volunteering on this day, we would love to have you! We will have at least three students in a canoe at a time, with one parent volunteer in each canoe. If we have 6 parent volunteers, the class can go canoeing all at one time for a longer period of time. Please let me know if you are interested in joining us for this water adventure! As of today, we have one parent who has confirmed that she is coming. We need many more of you lovely parents! I hope to hear from you soon. (Please email me at S.Reuter@fgcschool.org)

-Pizza Wednesday Weekly Fundraiser Begins

Wednesday, September 29th

If you are interested in participating in this fundraiser, please visit the school website link above for more information on how to order.

-Teacher In-Service (No School): Friday, October 8th

-Student Conferences (No School): Thursday, October 28th and Friday, October 29th.

Last Week's Classroom News

Community & Classroom Procedures

Last week students continued to build community, learn routines and procedures, and get to know each other through a variety of activities. We practiced greeting each other during our morning meetings with the 'Handshake Hello' greeting where we focus on giving eye contact, having a firm but gentle handshake, and greet with sincerity. Students learned or reviewed the 'Little Bird' song and dance (ask your child to teach you!). We also sang 'Do Your Ears Hang Low' and 'My Bonnie' along with very fast actions. On Friday afternoon we had a great time as students volunteered to either lead the class in a song, OR they sang alone! This class is full of music! Emilee led 'The Itsy Bitsy Spider'. Apollo led 'Little Bird'. Colby san 'Bye Bye Miss American Pie' and Ben enchanted us with his fast folk sining of 'Ol Rattler' and 'Town Hall'.

Last week we started sharing time during our morning meetings. Students signed up to bring in something special to them from home. We have time for one student each morning. Luella shared her shiny dance trophies and medals and Ben shared two amazing rocks that he found outside with his dad. Students share in front of their class and practice presentation and speaking skills. Student presenters begin speaking when their audience is ready to listen, make eye contact with people in the audience, and use a loud and clear voice. The students in the audience are practicing how to be 'audience members' by showing the speaker they are paying attention by looking at them, giving comments, and asking follow up questions.

Our class has also brainstormed and came up with our classroom rules. Students came up with 21 different rules and we were able to condense them into the following four:

-Do your best.

-Take care of each other and all living things.

-Be safe.

-Take care of all things.

Snack

Last week we had a mixture of organic cranberries sweetened with apple juice, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, almonds, and peanuts. The week before, we had Aussie Bites which have many whole grains and dried fruit.

Student News

Emma lost a tooth at school and the tooth fairy came to her house. Hunter is in the planning stages of a level 1 Warrior Dash! He is also working on a Star Wars comic book. Siobhan's escape hamster was found in the basement and is recovering. Gage found a bean that was in the shape of a 'G for Gage' and he also dug up the 'record winning beet' for our picnic! (Gage wants to be a farmer when he grows up.)

Literacy: Reading & Writing

Some of the books we read as a group last week were, 'The Curious Garden', and 'The Kingdom With No Rules'. Level 1 has had a team of volunteers begin helping teachers with doing individual reading assessments with our students. The reading assessment results offer information on what book levels would be appropriate for students to read independently and in an instructional setting. Our literacy structure will allow for small groups of similar reading levels to meet together and work on various reading skills. The structure this year will also allow for students to work on goals with the teacher within the following categories: Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency, and Expanding Vocabulary. I am excited to begin working with reading and writing strategy groups as well as be able to individually confer with students!

Last week, students were given daily opportunities to choose and read books, as well as write about any topic. This allowed me to see what books students were naturally gravitating towards, as well as see their comfort level with both reading and writing. I was able to informally help students find books that matched their reading and comfort levels.

Students also began their 'All About Me' books where they fill in information about themselves in a book that asks for a variety of information. In this book, some students are working on sounding out words and writing the sounds that they hear (phonetic spelling), while others are focusing on conventional spelling and neat italic handwriting. Students also created water color self portraits, which will be on display at our open house. They are fantastic!

Physical Education, Art, and Out and About

Students met their 'specials' teachers last week. In P.E. students met their teacher Rick and played 'Sharks and Minnows', 'China Wall', and a fox game. In art students met their teacher Teresa and learned about their classroom. They did a silent partner 'two hands on a crayon' activity and they also did vegetable prints, using vegetables from the school gardens. Students met their Out and About teacher Erin on Tuesday. We went to the new school garden and picked beans, basil, and tomatoes. Students picked, washed, prepared, and arranged their group's vegetables for a class picnic. I saw many kids eating LOTS of vegetables! It was great! On Thursday the Barn Swallow class was able to join the Violet Green Swallow class at the new garden. Students picked and prepared beets, purple lettuce, purple cabbage, beans, nasturtium flowers, and squash flowers. We had a great picnic and I did not know that beets would go over so well! (I saw a lot of purple mouths!) Ask Gage about his 'record winning beet!' After the picnic, students had time to explore the garden. Even though it was sprinkling, I saw a lot of rain-jacket-clad kids laughing, learning about their 'natural world', and having a GREAT time!

Mathematics

Math class started on Tuesday last week. Students have math class by grade. First graders go with Ms. Karen, second graders go with Ms. Rachel, and third graders go with me, Ms. Sherry. We have math class regularly on Mondays through Thursdays. Students have been spending time getting to know their new math classmates as well as their teacher. Please refer to the 'MATH CLASSROOM NEWS' link above every week and click on your child's grade to see his or her weekly math class news. Thank you!

This Week's Classroom News

Community & Classroom Procedures

Students will continue to take turns sharing something that is special to them during our morning meetings. We will learn new greetings and of course, more songs!

Literacy: Reading and Writing

Students will continue to do their reading assessments and this week I am introducing our literacy structure, which is called Daily 5. The five literacy activities being: read to self, read to someone, work on writing, word word (spelling), and listen to reading. Students this week are learning how to 'Read to Self' independently. When students learn how to be prepared and independent readers, I will be able to meet with small reading groups and confer with individual students. I will also give the students a spelling inventory test to find out where they are at on the spelling continuum. This will allow me to match students up with spelling words that are just right. The spelling program that we currently use is called 'Words Their Way'. It focuses on patterns of vowels and consonants within words. Once students understand their pattern, they are able to apply this knowledge to the spelling of other words. For example, the silent 'e' in 'cake'. The silent 'e' in 'cake' makes the 'a' say its name. If students are writing the work 'rake' later, they could apply what they learned with their word work, and spell 'rake' also with a silent 'e'. I will also be introducing our writing structure, which will allow for students to write independently while I work on writing strategies with small groups and confer individually with students.

Out and About

We are not able to go to B Street farm this week so I am hoping to take a walking trip to Gale's Creek. Since we're going canoeing next week, students will design their own miniature canoes in small groups and learn about how different materials react with water. Once the canoes are ready, groups will safely take turns testing them out from the level bank of Gale's Creek. Mini canoes will have fishing line tied on to them so that we can bring them back in and we will have prior tests in a bucket of water to make sure pieces do not fall off into the water. I'm excited to see what the students come up with!

Home Bags

This year each student is going to have a 'Home Bag' that will hold any unfinished or additional school work to do at home. This will look different for each student and I will be able to individually address that through what you will find in your child's Home Bag. Some activities will be having students mark on a sheet how many minutes they read that night. Some students will borrow black and white copied books that are at their level to read as many times as they can. Some students may have math games. Sometimes there may be unfinished work from the day, or work that students want to take home and keep working on that night.

Since this is new, I would like to begin by establishing a habit of bringing the home bag back and forth to school each day, Monday through Friday. For example, Gina brings her Home Bag home on Monday and there is a book inside to read. Gina reads the book at home, puts it back in her Home Bag, and brings it back to school the next day on Tuesday. I am going to get Velcro strips that will attach the handles of the Home Bag to lunch boxes. That way, just as we remember to bring a lunch each day, we will begin the habit of bringing the Home Bag to school each day. This week I would like to do a practice round, starting on Wednesday. This might be too much to ask, but I'd like to try it and see how it goes! I'd love to hear your feedback. Though students might not have something in their Home Bags every day, I thought it would be easier to remember to take it every day with the lunch box as a routine. Let me know what you think and we will adjust this as needed! This Wednesday through Friday there will not necessarily be any work found in the Home Bag. It is mainly to see if this is a routine that we would be able to do with practice. Again, I'd love to hear from you about this and if you think this would work for you and your family. Thank you!

Would you like to volunteer for our canoe trip next Tuesday?

Please consider joining us for our canoe trip next Tuesday, September 28th. We need a few more parents in order to go canoeing, as each boat will have an adult. We will leave the school around 9:00 and come back by 2:15. Please remember to send water bottles, a healthy lunch, layers of clothing, an extra set of clothing in a backpack, rain boots, and a rain jacket with your child. It's going to be a great water adventure!

Classroom News!

Weekly Schedule

Mondays: P.E.

-Wear comfortable running shoes and loose clothing.

Tuesdays: Out and About

-Wear comfortable walking shoes that can get wet and muddy.

-Bring enough layers and appropriate clothing to be outdoors for two or more hours, even in the rain!

Wednesdays: Art

Thursdays: Garden, Computer Lab, or Library

-Wear comfortable walking shoes that can get wet and muddy.

Fridays: Art

Every Day:

Please be sure that your child brings the following each day to school:

-A healthy lunch

-A full water bottle

-A rain jacket (Students go out for recess and have Out and Abouts on rainy days!)

-Comfortable walking shoes that can get wet (no flip flops or slip ons)

-Clothes that can get dirty

-Sunscreen

-Sunhat

-Extra set of clothes kept in the back pack

Dates to Remember

-Math Class Begins: Tuesday, September 14th

First graders will go to Ms. Karen, Second graders are with Ms. Rachel, and third graders are with Ms. Sherry.

Please be sure to also refer to teachers' math blogs for information on math class.

-Picture Day: Monday, September 20th

Please send your picture form to school with your child on the 20th. If your child wants an id card for $1, please write that on the form.

-School Open House: Wednesday, September 22nd, 5:00-6:30

Come visit the school and see what our students have been up to in these first weeks of school!

-Camp Tilikum Canoe Trip: Tuesday, September 28th, all day

If you are interested in volunteering on this day, we would love to have you! We will have at least three students in a canoe at a time, with one parent volunteer. If we have 6 parent volunteers, the class can go canoeing all at one time for a longer period of time! Please let me know if you are interested in joining us for this water adventure!

-Pizza Wednesday Begins: Wednesday, September 29th

If you are interested in participating in this fundraiser, please visit the school website link above for more information on how to order.

-Teacher In-Service (No School): Friday, October 8th

-Student Conferences (No School): Thursday, October 28th and Friday, October 29th.

Our First Days Together

The Barn Swallow class has had a great beginning to the school year! We have been spending a lot of time getting to know each other, building class culture and community, and learning the procedures and the routines of the classroom. We have learned a few new games, for example, the Freeze Game, Cooseki and Pebble Pebble. We've learned the songs Make New Friends, Do Your Ears Hang Low, and Whadalee-Atcha. Students practiced the 'Hand Shake Hello' greeting where we practice giving a firm, but gentle hand shake, with eye contact.

I have read a few good stories to the class, Stephanie's Ponytail and The Three Wishes, which inspired students to draw or write three wishes that they would make if a 'tree fairy' appeared in front of us, granting wishes. Students practiced being presenters and good audience members as almost every student took a turn presenting their favorite wish that they would make. Ask your child about 'sound waves' during a presentation! Students have worked on water color paintings of their favorite summer memory and then wrote a sentence about it using neat italic handwriting. They also had a great time acting out their memory, having the rest of the class guess what is was. We've had time to read books and pictures independently and soon our literacy block will be running smoothly!

We also had a math dilemma where we were having a hard time figuring out how all 21 of us could fit on the carpet in a circle. We measured the carpet in feet and then measured how much space one student needed when he or she sat cross legged (1 and a half feet). Then students made a 'map' of the carpet on graph paper and tried to figure out how to make room for everyone on the carpet. We have tape on the rug now, which marks all 21 places to sit on the carpet!

Students used magnifying loupes in the garden and had fantastic close-up views of plants and insects. The loupes are amazing and we will be sure to have them out at our Open House night for everyone to experiment with. We also visited the garden to see how many different living creatures we could find. The list was long!

This Week

We will continue to build our class community this week and begin to form our classroom rules as a class. I am going to begin introducing the main parts of our literacy structure, which allows students to work productively and independently while I meet with reading and writing strategy groups, as well as confer with students one-on-one. Math by grade begins on Tuesday for a short, half hour session. We will have math on Mondays through Thursday every day after the morning recess. Students will also meet their P.E., art, and Out and About teachers this week. Please refer to the weekly schedule above to ensure that your child is prepared for each day at school. We will also have our first Out and About on Tuesday to the garden across the street where we will pick and sample fresh vegetables! We may be lucky enough to go again on Thursday. I hope that all students will come to school every day prepared for the weather. We often go outside in the rain and rain jackets and waterproof shoes are necessary every day. Students should also bring a full water bottle each day to ensure that they are comfortable and hydrated. Sun hats also do a wonders in keeping cool and are encouraged! Students will also be having lunch on Fridays this year, rather than a 'big snack'.

Snack

Students have a morning snack before their first recess and in the past we have had a snack schedule where families would take turns bringing healthy snacks every day for a week (Monday through Thursday). On average, families bring the class snack 2 times during the entire year. We currently do not have any food allergies. Good snack choices are foods that are substantial, low in waste/wrappers, and ready to eat. The students and I will not have time to cut apples or peel oranges, for example, because we will be busy working on literacy goals and will be reading up a storm! Because food is a part of our curriculum, fresh and seasonal snacks are always exciting. In the near future I might have an option where families send $20 before their snack week and I would buy the snacks for the class. I also might be getting a small refrigerator in the classroom, if I can fit it in, which would allow for more interesting snacks! The snack schedule will be sent out by the end of this week.

Thank you Barn Swallow families. I'm really looking forward to our year together.

We have a GREAT class!

Please email me with any questions, ideas, or thoughts at: S.Reuter@fgcschool.org

I look forward to hearing from you!