Winter Recess

Winter recess begins Wednesday, December 24th and school resumes Monday, January 5th.

We wish you all a joyous and wonderful break and happy and healthy new year!

One more page please!

"One more page please!" the first graders exclaimed when we had to pause reading any of the books from the Mercy Watson by Kate DiCamillo! We still have to read books 4 & 5!

Here are some more books we've been enjoying these last few weeks…
Ezra Jack Keats books (Goggles, Apt 3C)
Punctuation Takes A Vacation
Subway

The Stories Julian Tells

Dr. Seuss' Yertle the Turtle 

Soda Pop Head

Tentative Family Share Schedule *Update*

January TBA - Math Games
Friday, February 13th - Post Office Opening
Friday, March 6th - Poetry Slam
Wednesday, April 1st - Farmers Market Share
Friday, May 15th - Opinion Writing Share
June TBA - Community Activist Drama Share (with Kevin)
June TBA - End of Year Celebration

Sneak peak...

We hope to see you all at our Neighborhood Study Share this Friday, 12/19, around 8:45 in the morning!  Here's a sneak peak of some of the work the first graders have been up to...

Tenement Museum Trip

The first graders had an amazing time at the Tenement Museum today.  We learned about immigration and New York City long ago.  Be sure to ask your child all about the trip!

Spelling Practice

For extra spelling practice at home, you can dictate one or two sentences a week to encourage correct spelling, punctuation, and using an uppercase letter only at the beginning of a sentence or for someone's name. Read the sentence twice, and have your child write the sentence down. When your child is finished writing, go through the sentence and make corrections together. Here are some sentences we recommend this month.

The fish is hot.
Rick is not back yet.
Tim sat on that big rock.
Beth had a wig and a hat.
Dad met Bev at the shop.
A big moth is in the pot.
Did Rick hop on that bus?
He had a nap on the rug.
Did Tom nab the fish?
Did Jack rush to the bus?
Beth had to get the pup.
Mom sat on the deck.
Did Chet wish for a pup?
The fish is for the cat.

Practice Math Facts at Home!

Mindset

Mindset by Carol S. Dweck

"Everyone is born with an intense drive to learn. Infants stretch their skills daily. Not just ordinary skills, but the most difficult tasks of a lifetime, like learning to walk and talk. They never decide it's too hard or not worth the effort. Babies don't worry about making mistakes or humiliating themselves. They walk, they fall, they get up. They just barge forward." ~ Carol S. Dweck (Mindset)

We recently read the book Mindset:The New Psychology of Success - How We Can Learn to Fulfil Our Potential" by Carol S. Dweck and love it. It's a highly recommended book for educators and parents on how to foster self-esteem, motivate our kids, and help them improve in school - and life.

Let us know if you pick it up! If you have any other recommended books (for parents/teachers --- or just for fun and pleasure), post here!

How to Draw Books

The first graders in room 401 LOVE to draw! Ed Emberley has some fantastic "how-to draw" books and most of our students love using the books during quiet time or choice time. Here are some of his popular titles....

Make a World
Little Drawing Book of the Farm
Animals
Fingerprint Drawing Book
Book of Faces

Strategies for Solving Tricky Words

The first graders have been busy learning strategies for solving tricky words.  Here's a chart that shows some of the strategies we've learned so far.

Thanksgiving Recess

We are so thankful for working at a great school with awesome kids and families! Wishing you all a joyous Thanksgiving break - see you on Monday!

Math & Literature

Here are some great counting books you can find in your local library. Have your child count the objects on each page. These books can also provide a good context for posing addition or subtraction problems such as "There are 7 birds on this page. How many would there be if 4 more birds came along?"

Ten in Bed, Penny Dale
Fish Eyes, Lois Elhert
12 Ways to Get to 11, Eve Merriam
Uno, Dos, Tres, One, Two Three, Pat Mora
From One to One Hundred, Teri Sloat
Math-Terpieces, Greg Tang
Count on Your Fingers African Style, Claudia Zaslavsky

School Wide Morning Meeting

Join us Monday Morning in the auditorium for a School Wide Morning Meeting! :)

Harvest Festival

Please join us on Tuesday, November 24th for our annual EVCS Harvest Festival.  We will gather around 9:15 in our school yard. After our gathering activities, we will deliver our collected cans to Trinity Lutheran's soup kitchen.

Dreambox

Our school has purchased DreamBox Learning's Math Program, an online, Intelligent Adaptive Learning program that helps all students achieve better, faster math proficiency.

Our students can access DreamBox Learning from any computer, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week!  We will be playing DreamBox in school, and your child can play at home (as long as they use the same account).


We will send home more information soon! 

Family Morning - This Friday 11/21

Join us this Friday for our 3rd Family Morning.  We will share a potluck breakfast together, continue getting to know each other and building our classroom community.  Make sure to sign up on google drive!

Looking forward to seeing you all there :)

Next Up in Writing Workshop: How To Books

Next week, we will launch our next writing unit - how-to books!

Our students come to school knowing so much. From constructing forts to playing games to navigating the dynamics of friendships. This next unit on writing how-to books will provide the opportunity to show our students that they are all experts at something. Further, they have the power to pass that knowledge onto others. The unit frames students as experts, rallying them to teach their areas of expertise through writing. We can't wait to see what knowledge they will decide to impart on others!

School Wide Morning Meeting - Schedule Update!

Start your week off right with school wide morning meetings!

Monday, November 24th
Monday, December 15th

Upcoming Trip

The first graders are gearing up for the first trip - to the Tenement Museum on Tuesday, December 16th.  We sent permission slips home today so please return them as soon as possible!

For information about the Tenement Museum, click here!

Our Neighborhood Study

Our Neighborhood Study has taken off in Social Studies and all of the first graders are so excited to begin researching buildings and places.  After reading the book "Harlem" and brainstorming a huge list of places in a neighborhood, we selected these six specific places to study: 1) supermarket; 2) pet store; 3) hospital; 4) fire station; 5)  school; and 6) museum.

Today, the first graders met in teams to begin planning for building.  They brainstormed parts of the building, furniture and tools needed, community workers, and more!  Soon, we'll begin researching these places and building in the block area!  If you have any resources around any of these neighborhood places (people, books, etc), please share!

pet store team

supermarket team

school team

fire station team

museum team

hospital team

Starfall

Looking for an interactive and engaging website or iPad application around building reading skills?  Click here and have some fun with your child while learning how to read!

Solving Story Problems in Math

By the end of first grade, students are expected to solve story problems with numbers whose sum is less than or equal to 20. Story problems can go in lots of different ways.  Here are some examples.

Add to with result unknown
Ben had 5 pencils.  Then he got 4 more.  How many pencils does Ben have?

The class is collecting canned food to help those in need. The teacher brings in 3 cans to start the collection. On Monday, Becky brings in 2 cans. On Tuesday, Talia brings in 2 cands. On Wednesday, Brendan brings in 2 cans. How many cans were there all together?

Add to with change unknown

Ben has 5 pencils. He got some more from his mother. Now he has 9 pencils. How many pencils did Ben get from his mother?

Put together with result unknown
Ben has 5 pencils and 4 erasers.  How many pencils and erasers does Ben have?

Put together
There are 8 children in the after-school cooking club. How many boys and how many girls might be in the class? (more than 1 answer)


Coming soon: student work samples showcasing strategies for solving math story problems.  Stay tuned and have fun with this math work at home!

students sharing their thoughts on a story problem 

Book Baggies Come Home Tomorrow!

Read on for some tips on how to support your growing reader around comprehension!

Comprehension is an incredibly important reading skill, and there are many ways to support this work at home with your growing reader! Here are some guiding questions to ask as your child is reading. If your child is reading level A-F, it is more appropriate to ask your child forms of these questions at the end of the book. For children reading G and up, it is important to stop and talk throughout reading the book. Only focus on 2-3 questions in one reading session.

Literal questions:

What happened in the beginning?  The middle?  The end?
Tell me what has really stuck in your mind so far (what seems important).
Explain why that part seems important.
Where does the story take place? What kind of place is it?

Tell me what you know about the character so far?

Inferential questions:
At this point in the story (or an important part the reader mentioned), what do you imagine the character might be feeling and why?
Tell me about any themes or issues you are noticing.
Are there any lessons so far that you think the character is learning or could have?
How would you describe this genre and what do you know about it?

Upcoming Important Dates

Tuesday, November 4th - Election Day, NO SCHOOL for students
Tuesday, November 11th - Veteran's Day, NO SCHOOL
Wednesday, November 12th - Evening PTC
Thursday, November 13th - 1/2 Day for Students (11:30 dismissal); Afternoon PTC
Friday, November 21st - Family Share
Thursday, November 27th and Friday, November 28th - Thanksgiving Recess

Equivalent Expressions

In math, the first graders have been thinking about equivalent equations. We now know that equations (or number sentences) can go in many different ways. Here are some examples: 6+4=10, 4+6=10, 10=6+4, and 10=4+6. At first, our students were confused by seeing the total as the first number in the equation, but now we understand that it makes sense!

First graders have also been thinking about balanced equations. For example, we know that 4+6=5+5 or that 5+5=7+3. Test your child at home by asking if an equation is true or false! Or, have your child fill in the missing number of an equation! Here are some examples...

True or False

3 + 3 = 5 + 1

7 + 3 = 4 + 6

2 + 7 = 5 + 7


___ + 8 = 3 + 5

9 + 1 = 8 + ___

2 + ___ = 6 + 5

A Sentence Study

Our next writing unit is entitled "A Sentence Study." After attending a brilliant writing PD for teachers last week, we were inspired to do a study around the mechanics of writing. So, after looking carefully at our students' work, we decided to focus on sentences.

Goals for this unit include:
Learning to capitalize the first letter of a sentence.
Learning to to end sentences with a period, exclamation point, or a question mark.

Learning to use commas to separate single words in a series.

Learning to produce simple and compound declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory sentences

The best part about this unit is that the first graders get to write within any genre of their choice! Some of us are writing fairy tales, while others are mysteries or personal narratives! Our writing workshop is buzzing with excitement!

We look forward to continuing our study of sentences!

Air & Weather

Today we launched our science unit "Air & Weather" with an inquiry based lesson focused on the question: What can air do?  Students used straws, feathers, cotton balls, and balloons to explore.  After our investigation, we learned that air can: (1) move things (2) be felt (3) pull or push (4) be hot or cold (5) make sounds and (6) fill up space.  Our scientists took their materials home so the fun with air exploration can continue!

sucking in air pulls the feather
and cotton ball to the straw

air fills up space in this balloon

blowing air through the straw
pushes the feather across the table

sucking in air makes the cotton ball
stick to the straw

Harvest Festival

Family Share

Just a friendly reminder our Family Share is this Friday, October 24th from 8:45 - 9:30! Looking forward to seeing you all there. :)

Library Books

Today, most first graders returned their library books and checked out a new one.  So many of our first graders are obsessed with the DK Eyewitness Book Series! Remember to return library books every Thursday!

The Neighborhood Study

Today we launched our social studies unit - the neighborhood study. Students began by responding to the prompt: "Write and draw about what you see in your neighborhood." After the writing assignment, we started reading the book, "A Walk in New York" by Salvatore Rubbino.  

the first graders love this book!

There's lots more to follow in our exciting new study.  Tomorrow, we are going on a neighborhood walk with James to observe places and buildings in our neighborhood.  Soon, the first graders will also have their first "how to draw" lesson around cityscapes. We will use the book "Make a World" by Ed Emberley to learn how to use simple shapes to make a city skyline.

This is just the beginning of our exciting work around our neighborhood! We are so excited to continue our study!

A Note from our Music Teacher, Stephanie

Dear Families,

Our first graders are very excited to share a short song at Monday's School Wide Morning Meeting.  Our SWMM on Monday 10/20 starts at 8:50am.  We would love for you to attend!  The first graders will be sitting on stage for the entire meeting, so you will not be able to sit with your child during next week's meeting.  We hope to see you there!

Thank you,
Stephanie Nantell
Music Teacher

Three Day Weekend

Enjoy the 3 day weekend and see you on Tuesday!

Reading in Sauer Park

Today the first graders spent some time in Sauer Park.  First we read books from our book baggies, and then played, enjoying the beautiful weather! Check shutterfly soon for pictures of our lovely afternoon :)

Upcoming Important Dates

Monday, October 13 -  
No school in observance of Columbus Day

Saturday, October 25 - Fall Ball

Tuesday, November 4 - Election Day (No school for students)

Tuesday, November 11 -  
No school in observance of Veteran’s Day

Wednesday, November 12 - Evening Parent/Teacher Conferences

Thursday, November 13 - 
Afternoon Parent/Teacher Conferences 
(Half-Day for students)

Thursday, November 27 & Friday, November 28 - Thanksgiving Recess (Schools closed)

Library Contracts

We visited the school library on Thursday and all first graders had a blast looking at books!  In your child's purple you will find a library contract.  Please send sign and send the contact back to school ASAP so your child can begin taking library books home! Thanks for your help.

Nothing beats reading with friends

Self Control

Some of you may have heard about Titi and Toto, our self-control stuffed turtles.  In our classroom, first graders are thinking a lot about self control.  It's something we can always work on - even as adults! The first graders know self control means having control over their bodies and minds.  Like a turtle, we are practicing moving slowly and thinking BEFORE doing.

Our refill station is a place first graders go to REGAIN self control.  Some strategies first graders use to calm down and refocus are: (1) count to 10; (2) think of something happy; (3) take deep breaths.

Titi and Toto love sitting with first graders showing
 self control on the rug or at their tables.

Read Alouds

Here are some of the read alouds we've read over the past two weeks. Themes include: community building, hopes & dreams, and peace.

The Kissing Hand
It's Okay to Be Different
Reading Makes Me Feel Good
Me.. Jane
Elephant & Piggy Series
Big Al
The Curious Garden
The Tin Forest
Ish
The Peace Book
What Does Peace Feel Like?

Oops!

School Wide Morning Meeting

Join us for a School Wide Morning Meeting this Monday, September 29th.  We look forward to seeing you there!

Tentative Family Share Schedule

Mark your calendars! We have lots of interactive and enjoyable shares coming up!

Friday, 10/24 - Personal Narratives Writing Celebration
Friday, 11/21 - Thanksgiving Potluck
Friday, 12/19 - Block Neighborhood Share
Friday, 2/6 - Post Office Opening
Friday, 2/27 - Poetry Slam
Thursday, 4/2 - Farmers Market Share
Friday, 5/15 - Opinion Writing Celebration
May/June TBA​ - Drama Share with Kevin
Tuesday, 6/23 - End of Year Potluck Goodbye Party

Reading Buddies

Today we met with our fifth grade reading buddies for the first time this year! We went to our buddies' classroom, met their two guinea pigs and planted seeds for guinea pig food.  The first graders even took turns holding the guinea pigs.  Check our Shutterfly site soon for pictures of our fun times!

We'll meet with our reading buddies every other week.  Make sure to ask your daughter or son about reading buddies tonight!

No School this Thursday & Friday

In observance of Rosh Hashanah, school is closed this Thursday (9/25) and Friday (9/26).

Launching Reading & Writing Workshop

We are launching our first reading and writing workshops this week in school. We will focus on establishing rules and routines and sparking a love for literacy in our first graders!

Reading Workshop
Our first reading unit is titled "Readers Build Good Habits." This unit focuses on sparking students' love for reading and reading routines. Each first grader will also come up with reading goals. Essential questions around this unit include: How do we become more grown up as readers and take charge of our own reading lives? How can the readers in our class feel secure, safe, and confident that they will become strong readers?

Writing Workshop
This week, we are launching our first writing unit - personal narratives; the first graders will focus on sharing true, small, focused moments about themselves.

In our Personal Narratives Unit, first graders will write true stories about themselves, sharing stories about summer vacations, family memories, and everyday experiences. We will learn about each other through the stories we share. First graders will storytell both through verbal and written expression.

If something funny, exciting or memorable happens at home, be sure to point out to your child what a wonderful story it would be to share with the class!

First Grade Daily Schedule

First Grade Curriculum Overview

First Grade Curriculum Overview
	Sept	Oct	Nov	Dec	Jan	Feb	March	Apr	May	June
Social Studies	Community Buidling	Neighborhood Study			Post Office Study		Farm to Table		Collaboration in Action
Writing	Personal Narrative	Sentence Study	How To	Partner Writing	Letter Writing	Poetry	Information Books	Opinion Books		Elaboration & Revision
Reading	Building Good Habits		Tackling Trouble	We Can Be Our Own Teachers		Noticing & Noting	Learning About the World by Reading	Non-Fiction	Reading Across Genres	Book Clubs
Math	Sums &  Differences to 10		Introduction to Place Value through  Addition & Subtraction within 20		Ordering and Comparing Length Measurements	Place Value, Comparison, Addition & Subtraction to 40		Geometry	Place Value, Comparison, Addition & Subtraction to 100
Science	Air and Weather				Insect Study			Solids & Liquids

Mathematical Standards of Practice

Our math curriculum, Engage NY, is based on common core standards, as well as standards for mathematical practice.  Students discuss and practice these standards throughout their years in school - and beyond!

Standards for Mathematical Practice
1. Mathematicians make sense of problems, persevere in solving them.
2. Mathematicians reason abstractly and quantitatively.
3. Mathematicians construct viable arguments and critique others.
4. Mathematicians model with mathematics.
5. Mathematicians use appropriate tools strategically.
6. Mathematicians attend to precision.
7. Mathematicians look for and make use of structure.
8. Mathematicians look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.

Today was our first official math workshop - and what a thoughtful, inquisitive math community we already have! We are looking forward to seeing where our math journey takes us this year.

What's a "Just Right" Book?

“Just Right” Books

What is a leveled book?

It is very important for your child to read books at their “just right” reading level. We call these “Just Right” books - books that she or he can read comfortably and fluently. These books provide some challenge, but not so much that children stumble over words frequently, lose confidence in their reading or lose track of the actual story. Most importantly, children should be reading books that are fun and make them feel like a strong reader!

Leveled books are an important part of our classroom libraries. They are used to teach reading strategies and support students as they gain more skills, becoming better prepared to independently read more complex and longer books. As book levels go up in the alphabet, books become steadily longer and more challenging to decode and comprehend. 

In Reading Workshop, teachers meet with students individually and in small groups, matching readers to books that are “just right” for them. Our leveled libraries have baskets of books at all the different levels. Once a teacher has assessed a child’s reading level, students independently select books that are interesting as well as “just right” for them. We call these “Just Right” books. Teachers routinely meet with students to foster a love for reading and to teach them new reading strategies that will help them grow as readers. When a student is ready for more challenging books, a teacher assesses their new reading level and students choose books from this new “just right” level. We then continue to meet with students to teach them new strategies that will help them tackle their new books with enthusiasm and confidence.

We provide students with “Just Right” books at school but you can also look for “Just Right” books in libraries, bookstores, or online booksellers. They can be a single book or part of a series, so children can become familiar with characters and book features that are the same from book to book in each series. It is important to understand that any book can be a “just right” book as long as it has been leveled and is at your child’s current reading level.

Tools for selecting a “Just Right” book for/with your child:

• Find out from us what your child’s reading level is
• http://www.scholastic.com/bookwizard/
• type any title into this search engine - make sure to set the engine to guided reading
• www.booksource.com
• make sure you go by the alphabetic level typically written next to the title
• BookLeveler
• This is an app that can be downloaded to your phone
• Scan any book’s barcode or ISBN # to find out its level
• There are other similar apps that you can get

Examples of Just Right Books

Level	Title Of Series Or Book	Author
C -D	Ethan Larry and Rita Piggy and Dad Worm	Various authors: Brand New Readers by Candlewick Press
E	Puppy Mudge Go Do, Go Mrs. Wishy Washy	Cynthia Rylant P.D. Eastman Joy Cowly
F	Biscuit Baby Bear  Harry The Hungry Giant	Alyssa Capucilli Beverly Randell Harriet Ziefert Joy Cowly
G	Sheep In A Jeep Greedy Cat The Carrot Seed	Nancy Shaw Joy Cowly Ruth Krauss
H	Life In A Polar Region, Life In A Rain Forest Just Me and…Little Critter books	Carol Lindeen Mercer Mayer
I	Dragon Messy Bessy There’s A Nightmare In My Closet Leo The Late Bloomer	Dav Pilkey Patricia McKissak Mercer Mayer Robert Kraus
J	Henry and Mudge Mr. Putter and Tabby Poppleton Fox Little Bear Danny and the Dinosaur	Cynthia Rylant Edward Marshall E. Homelund Minarak Syd Hoff
K	Arthur Commander Toad Fluffy Frog and Toad M&M	Lillian Hoban Jame Yolen Kate McMullan Arnold Lobel Pat Ross
L	Horrible Harry Song Lee Pinky and Rex Pee Wee Scouts Triplet Trouble George and Martha	Suzy Kline James Howe Judy Delton Debbie Dadey James Marshall
M	Arthur chapter books Matt Christopher (sport series) The Magic Tree House  Junie B. Jones Marvin Redpost Second Grade Friends Polkstreet Kids
N - O	A-Z Mysteries Julian books Jigsaw Jones Amber Brown Herbie Jones Judy Moody

Here is a short description of the kind of reading work that students will be doing at different levels.

First Grade: Time of Year	Expected Independent Reading Level  Description of books/reading work at this level.
September	D/E	A much wider variety of vocabulary is found in these books. Readers now must rely on their print strategies, paying close attention to the way words look and sound rather than relying on help from pictures and patterns in their books. Level E books become longer and begin to have short plot lines. At this level students should be following words with their eyes, and only using their fingers to point at tricky words.
January	G	Level G books have longer sentences, many high frequency words, and a large number of decodable words with regular and irregular patterns. They include a variety of characters and ideas and vocabulary becomes more challenging. The story line is carried by text, and pictures support and extend meaning. Readers are expected to remember information and action over a larger reading time.
June	I/J/K	At this level, books have much more text on each page and fewer illustrations/ A variety of nonfiction books are available at this level, and fiction books begin to resemble early chapter books. Readers at this level should focus on comprehension and correcting errors so words make sense in the context of the book. Levels J and K books include many early chapter books, such as Henry and Mudge and Frog and Toad. Books are longer (30-60 pages), but sentences are fairly short to help readers move through the book quickly. Readers must keep track of two or more characters, and character dialogue. Many books have episodic chapters, which can be read as their own short story.

Curriculum Night Agenda

5:30 - 6:30
Informal meet/greet with all EVCS teachers and family members in school lobby

6:30 - 7:00
Everyone gathers in auditorium, Bradley welcomes & addresses family members

7:00 - 7:45
Family members visit classroom for curriculum presentation

7:45 - 8:30
Family members visit cluster teachers (art, music, dance)

We are looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow evening!

Upcoming Important Dates

School-Wide Morning Meeting - Monday, 9/15 @ 8:50 in the auditorium


Curriculum Night - Tuesday, 9/16 from 5:30-8:00 ish


Family Morning - Friday, 9/19 @ 8:45 am - Reading with Family Members

This Week

Wondering what we're up in room 401 to these days?  Read on to find out the juicy details... and use this info to get more news out of your child!

• Community Building Activities:     Creating a safe, warm and inclusive classroom environment is crucial these first weeks. Through getting-to-know-eachother activities, whether a read aloud, project activity, or playing games in the park, we hope to establish a firm foundation for friendships, kindness, and collaboration. 
• Classroom Routines:     This week, we are teaching and practicing classroom routines, such as responding to the chime, arrival and dismissal procedures, and transitioning from activity to activity. Routines are so important in sustaining a self-sufficient and self-directed classroom community. Having routines in place from the beginning of the year only helps us later on as the work load becomes more rigorous!
• Hopes & Dreams:     After reading inspirational books such as "The Tin Garden," "Leo the Late Bloomer," and "Matthew's Dream," students will be asked to decide on their own hopes and dreams for first grade. After several rough drafts, each student will illustrate and write their hope and dream on a quilt patch.   We'll assemble all the patches together into a beautiful quilt that will hang by our classroom door all year long, reminding us that if we work together, our hopes and dreams will prosper.
• Classroom Rules: Once the students have finished detailing their hopes and dreams, the class will come together to create rules necessary for making their hopes and dreams come true. This process spans several days.
• Self Portrait Project:     Each student will draw and then paint a self portrait. We will display our water-color portraits in the hallway, and later hang them in our classroom.

School-Wide Morning Meetings

Throughout the year, our entire EVCS community will meet almost every other Monday for School-Wide Morning Meetings in the school auditorium (similar to Town Meetings last year).  Our School-Wide Morning Meetings will start at 8:50am and last 30-40 minutes.  All family members are encouraged to attend these gatherings.  Below you'll find a tentative schedule for September through December.

School-Wide Morning Meeting Schedule
September 15
September 29
October 20
November 3
November 17
December 8

Art, Music & Dance

This year, the first graders will have 3 special classes: Art with Maggie, Music with Stephanie and Dance with Reina.

Schedule:

Monday: Art and Music

Tuesday: Music

Wednesday: Art

Thursday: Dance

Friday: Dance

On dance days (Thursdays & Fridays), please make sure your child is dressed appropriately (no tights, velcro sneakers or slip-on shoes if possible, loose clothing).  

First Day Jitters

We are so excited (and a little nervous!) for our first day tomorrow! See you all in the yard around 8:15 am.

Angie

We are excited to announce Angie will be working with us as a paraprofessional this year! Angie has been at EVCS for almost 20 years! Both Stefanie and Kristin have worked with Angie in the past and we love her! We are lucky to be a team again.

The First Day of First Grade

We can't believe the first day of school is tomorrow! We are so excited to meet our new students and their families!

Here are some things to expect tomorrow morning...
1) We will meet you in the yard around 8:15 (we will leave the yard around 8:30).  We will be holding a big sign that reads "Stefanie and Kristin's class" and a sign-in sheet.  As soon as you see us, come right over!

2) We encourage you to say good-bye to your child in the recess yard.  If a child is extremely distressed or upset, we may suggest you walk upstairs.  Usually, good-byes are best when loving and brief, especially when little ones (and us adults!) are feeling anxious and nervous.

3) As for supplies - we should be able to carry most supplies up ourselves.  If we have lots of bags, we might recruit 1 or 2 adults to help us.

4) Dismissal will be in the schoolyard at 2:50 pm.  Please try your best to be on time everyday; we will, too!  Each first grader is to shake Stefanie and/or Kristin's hand before leaving.  Please remind your child to do so before you exit the yard.

Here's to a great first day of first grade :)