School Wide Morning Meeting - Our very own 1st Graders will perform tomorrow! Come and join us in the auditorium at 8:50AM!

Friday, June 26th is a half day - dismissal will be in the auditorium at 11:30

Updates for this week:

Tuesday is a half day. Dismissal will be at 11:30. Please let us know if your child's routine will change.

Our School Picnic  is this Friday! Please read the email we sent out for details on what to send with your child. It will be a fun and sun filled day!

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PICNIC DAY SCHEDULE

8:30 Arrival at EVCS
9:00 Walk over to Tompkins Square Park 10:00 Short Announcements
10:15 Morning Activities
11:15 Lunch
11:45 Afternoon Activities
12:45 Clear sprinkler area

1:00
Sprinkler play for pre-K – 2nd grades Watermelon for 3rd - 5th grades

1:30
Sprinkler play for 3rd - 5th grades Watermelon for pre K - 2nd grades

2:00
Pack-up, clean-up.

Dismissal

Parents may take their child(s) from the park OR students return to EVCS with class for regular dismissal at 2:50 pm in the yard. Students who attend after-school will go directly to their respective programs.

We Support JAZZ JENNINGS!

We support Jazz Jennings! Jazz is transgender.  Do you know what transgender means?  That means she was born with a girl brain and a boy body.  It's okay if Jazz wants to be a girl.

There's a problem though.  Jazz is not allowed to play on the girls' soccer team at her school.   She wants to play with her friends.  We think it doesn't matter if she's transgender or born a boy.  She identifies as a girl so Jazz should be allowed to play with the girls.  Jazz dresses like a girl, looks like a girl, and she wouldn't fit in on the boys' team.  She wants to be on the girls' team - and that's who she wants to be, a girl.  Anyway, we think there's no such thing as girl things and boy things.

Written by the first graders during Drama with Kevin

New Social Studies Unit - Community Activism

Last week, we launched our new social studies unit, "Community Activism." In this unit, the first graders will consider questions such as, "What is an activist?" "How can we peacefully and creatively solve conflicts in our community?" and "How does activism relate to community building?"  During this unit, we will also work with Kevin, the EVCS drama teacher.

We started our unit by referring to community activists we've already studied, like Martin Luther King Jr and Cesar Chavez. We also started learning about Wangari and the janitors from Los Angeles who went on a strike a few years ago. We will also study many more activists such as Gandhi, Rosa Parks, Claudette Colvin, and Jazz Jennings.

Meanwhile, in writing workshop, we are studying opinion writing!  We will think about big world issues and express our opinion about these issues.  We'll learn how to structure our opinion pieces, how to include supporting reasons, and lots more!

Stay tuned for more details on this important work!

Farmers Market Share

Our share is coming up! We hope to see you this Wednesday, May 6th at 8:45AM. Please come ready to "purchase" delicious treats from our very own Farmers Market.

More On Our Current Math Unit on Place Value

This unit builds upon students' work with place value within 20, now focusing on the role of place value in the addition and subtraction of numbers to 40. Students study, organize, and manipulate numbers within 40. Students use fingers, linking cubes, dimes, and pennies to represent numbers to 40 in various ways—from all ones to tens and ones. They use a place value chart to organize units. 

Students also compare quantities and begin using the symbols for greater than (>) and less than (<).  Students demonstrate their understanding of place value when they recognize that 18 is less than 21 since 2 tens already have a greater value than 1 ten 8 ones.

Students also focus on on addition and subtraction of tens. Having used concrete models at the beginning of the unit to represent 10 more and 10 less, students now recognize that just as 3 + 1 = 4, 3 tens + 1 ten = 4 tens.With this understanding, students add and subtract a multiple of 10 from another multiple of 10.

Finally, students use familiar strategies to add two-digit and single-digit numbers within 40. Students apply  strategy of counting on and use the strategy of making ten, this time making the next ten. For instance, when adding 28 + 5, students break 5 into 2 and 3 so that 28 and 2 can make the next ten, which is 30, or 3 tens, and then add 3 to make 33. 

Math Fluency Practice

Spelling Practice

Below you will find some sentences for spelling practice. Dictate the sentence to your child and have her/him write it. Then, go through the sentence together and correct any mistakes (including punctuation).

I got a chill from that bad draft.
Peg swept the rug with the brush.
Did you have any shrimp?
He slept in the tent.
She has many red plans.
I will print on the pad.
Jack felt his leg twist.
Russ slept on the cot.
The blimp did not go fast at all.
Ben twists off many lids.
They can rest and get some drinks.
Should I get stamps now?
You can chop the stump down.
The tot crept to her dad.
How did the skunks smell?
The skunk stinks!
I sat down on the clump of grass.
How many pranks did they do?
She printed our tests.
Frank is swinging on our swing.
He drifted out on the pond.
I am thinking about my class.

Spring Break

Just a reminder that Spring Break begins this Friday, April 3rd and school resumes on Monday, April 13th. This Thursday, April 2nd, is our last day of school.

Mark Your Calendars!

Below you'll find a list of important upcoming dates.  Please note our Farmers Market Share date has changed from our last update (due to some calendar conflicts, such as upper grade testing, half-days, etc).  

Saturday, March 27th from 10:00-12:00- Math Workshop at EVCS

Monday, March 30th - School Wide Morning Meeting in the auditorium

Wednesday, April 29th - Field Trip to Queens County Farm

Wednesday, May 6th - Farmers Market Share starting at 8:45 am

Friday, May 29th - New Beginnings Celebration starting at 8:45 am

Our drama share facilitated by Kevin is still TBD but will be in June.  This last Social Studies unit will focus on Community Activism and we are super excited about this project.  

Also, our end of year party is tentatively set for Tuesday, June 23rd, but we'll be in touch as we get close.

Math Sprints

Here are some math sprints for fluency practice at home! Set the timer for 60 seconds and off you go!

Prompt your child to try to *make 10* first (reinforcing the associative property - we can add numbers in any order and STILL get the same total!).

Conducting Surveys in Math

Today the first graders learned about conducting surveys in math workshop.  They learned that people can conduct surveys to learn more about a group of people.  The first graders responded to a survey about their favorite read aloud so far in first grade.  After gathering the responses, the first graders organized and analyzed the collected data.  We found that more kids liked Charlotte's Web than any other book.  We also figured out that 6 more kids liked Charlotte's Web than The Stories Julian Tells.

After our meeting on the rug, the first graders went off and conducted their own surveys.  We asked lots of different questions and found out new information about each other!  Everyone enjoyed the activity and we are excited to continue learning about surveys and organizing data!

Parent Workshop, Saturday March 28th

Saturday, March 28, 2015 

10am - 12pm.

Come out to learn more about the progressions in mathematical understanding from Kindergarten through Fifth Grade!  We will gather in our auditorium.

School Wide Morning Meeting

Join us for our next School Wide Morning Meeting on Monday, March 16th in the auditorium!

Gail Gibbons

Our students have developed a love for non-fiction - and they especially love non-fiction author Gail Gibbons! Look out for Gail Gibbons' books in the library or bookstores!

Some titles include...

Farming
Bats
Pigs
The Milk Makers
Apples
Horses

Progress Reports

Progress Reports went home today in purple folders! Please check your child's backpack for reports from the classroom, Maggie (art), Stephanie (music) and Reina (dance).  Some children also have updated reports related to their IEPs.

We look forward to discussing your child's progress in first grade next week!  We are proud of everyone's hard work :)

Measuring In Math!

This week we began our new Math Unit - Measurement and Data Collection!  Today we discovered some important rules around measuring with centimeter cubes... Ask your child to share what she or he has learned so far!

Spelling Practice at Home

Here are some sentences you can dictate to your child so that she or he can practice spelling. Say the sentence aloud twice. Then, have your child write the sentence using her or his best spelling - remind your child to remember capitalization and punctuation. Then, go through the sentence together and fix any mistakes.

My belt is on the shelf.
Did Beth step on that frog?
This clock is the best gift!
Bill fell in the sand.
Stan must dump in the sand.
Come to the pond and swim.
Could mom mend the rip in this dress?
I wish that Kim would not brag.
Could Tim get the cloth on the shelf?

Math Fluency Practice at Home

Set a timer for 60 seconds and see how many questions you can accurately answer!

Upcoming Important Dates

March 13th - Poetry Slam
March 18th - Evening Parent Teacher Conferences
March 19th - Half Day for Students & Afternoon Parent Teacher Conferences
March 26th - Queens County Farm Trip
April 3rd - April 12th - Spring Break *School resumes April 13th
April 24th - Farmers Market Share

From Farm to Table

Today the first graders began their next Social Studies Unit, "From Farm to Table." This unit is a drama-based unit that focuses on the big question, "Where does our food come from?" Students will explore the journey of food from the farm to plate, learning about parts of a farm, organic versus industrial farming, and animal and farm worker rights. We'll learn how a farm works – in particular, the animals that live there, what they provide to people, and how farmers take care of the crops and the animals.

Starting in two weeks in writing workshop, students will write non-fiction information books covering all sorts of farm topics. The first graders will learn how to write different kinds of facts, how to organize information, and how to elaborate in their writing. Some first graders will also use research to add details to their books.

We'll also visit the Queens County Farm and the Union Square Farmers Market.

All of our work will culminate in a "Farmers Market Share" on Friday, April 24th.  Stay tuned for updates on this exciting project!

*** Updated Family Share Schedule ***

Please note the new schedule for our family shares!

Friday, February 13th - Post Office Opening

Friday, March 13th - Poetry Slam

Friday, April 24th - Farmers Market Share

Friday, May 29th - Opinion Writing Celebration

May/June TBA - Drama share with Kevin

June TBA - End of Year Celebration

This Week in School 2/2

- Join us tomorrow (2/2) for a School Wide Morning Meeting! We'll meet in the auditorium around 8:45.

- Tuesday is our class trip to the Transit Museum! Remember to pack your child a school lunch if he or she needs one! Thanks to all who have volunteered to join the class, we are so excited!

- This week you will receive a permission slip for our next field trip - it's coming up soon!  Next Tuesday 2/10 we'll be going to the Children's Museum of Art.   The CMA is one of our favorite places!

Snow Day Tomorrow, 1/27

Stay warm and safe tomorrow and enjoy our first snow day of 2015!

Updated Weekly Schedule

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
8:30 - 9:15	Arrival Routines & Morning Meeting	Arrival Routines & Morning Meeting	Arrival Routines & Morning Meeting	Arrival Routines & Morning Meeting	Arrival Routines & Morning Meeting
	Word Study	Word Study	Word Study	Word Study	4Rs
9:15 - 10:00	Art	Reading Workshop	Reading Workshop	Reading Workshop	Reading Workshop
10:00 - 10:45	Library	Math Workshop	Art	Math Workshop	Dance
10:50 - 11:40	L	U	N	C	H
11:45 - 12:30	Quiet Time	Quiet Time	Quiet Time	Quiet Time	Quiet Time
	Math Workshop	Writing Workshop	Academic Choice Time	Writing Workshop	Writing Workshop
12:30 - 1:15		Music
	Choice Time		Writing Workshop	Social Studies	Math Workshop
1:15 - 2:00	Music	Social Studies
			Science		Choice Time
				Read Aloud & Pack Up (1:45-2:05)
2:00 - 2:50	Read Aloud	Read Aloud	Read Aloud	Dance	Read Aloud
	Closing Circle	Closing Circle	Closing Circle	Dismissal	Closing Circle

Reading with friends is the best!

Parts of a Letter

In writing workshop we learned about the parts of a letter. If your child writes a letter at home, make sure to point out these important parts!

Word Study

We are studying bonus letters in word study.

The bonus letters in our language are f, l, s, and z. Bonus letters are letters that double up at the end of a word when the word contains a short vowel sound.

Here are some sentences you can dictate at home to encourage correct spelling and punctuation.

Did Chet get the red shell?
Beth sat in the den with Bill.
Tim will fill up the dish with fish.
We had to mop up the mess.
The bug fell in the web.
Jack had to sell his pig.
The hall is a mess.
Mom did not miss the mud at all.
I fell on the path.
Toss the ball to Kim.
Can you call the pup?

Today we met Mail-gals Mollie and Millie!

We launched our post office study through drama today. Our students met Mail-gal Millie (Stefanie) and Mail-gal Mollie (Kristin) - they used to work at a post office until it was closed due to budget cuts! After listening to Mollie and Millie, our students decided to help them by opening up a post office here in our school! After reading an article about post office closings and reading "The Post Office Book" by Gail Gibbons, we came up with a list of things we will need to build and make to sustain a working post office. The first graders are so excited for this work!

Letter Writing & Post Office Study

This month, the first graders will study letter writing during writing workshop (in alignment with our post office study). The first graders will learn lots of things about letter writing.  They will explore the different reasons people write letters (friendly letters, persuasive letters, etc), learn to write a letter with a particular reader in mind (using voice and asking specific questions), learn to use writing conventions associated with letter writing (and addressing an envelope), and will learn about the overall process for sending a letter.

a chart from today's letter writing lesson

Students will also design their own stationery, post cards, stamps and envelopes during project work. In social studies, we will use drama to learn about different post office jobs and machines.   In the block area, students will create sorting bins & mailboxes.  The first graders will also design flyers and posters advertising the opening of the post office to classes in our school.  Come the middle of February, we will have established a fully working post office for EVCS.  Our first graders will deliver mail to classrooms in EVCS for the remainder of the year!

today's brainstorming work during social studies

Stay tuned for updates about this work!

Our New Math Unit

Today we began a new unit in math from the Contexts for Learning curriculum - a curriculum that uses carefully crafted math situations to foster a deep conceptual understanding of essential mathematical ideas, strategies, and models. Our unit is entitled "The Double Decker Bus."


This unit begins with the story of a double-decker bus—a bus that has two decks with ten seats on each. Five seats on each deck are red and five seats are white. The bus goes by quickly and the little girl in the story, sitting at her bedroom window and watching, works out ways to use the colors of the seats to calculate quickly how many people are on the bus. Her father drives a double-decker bus and she helps him figure out a way to know how many empty seats there are on the top deck even though he can't see them.


The unit introduces the arithmetic rack as a powerful model and tool to act out the story. The arithmetic rack is a calculating frame consisting of two rows of ten beads—two sets of five (one red and one white) in each row. (Instructions for creating or buying your own arithmetic racks are included.)


Cognitive psychologists, such as Susan Carey and Stanislas Dehaene (1999), have shown that even toddlers can recognize small amounts, such as two or three, as a unit and that this ability (known as "subitizing") is probably innate. Children can even do addition and subtraction with amounts of this size because they use this innate perceptual ability to see that three is one more than two. Using the arithmetic rack allows kindergarteners and first graders to build on their natural ability and see five as a unit. When five can be subitized as a whole, it can be used to support understanding of 6 as 5 + 1, 8 as 5 + 3, or 4 as 5 - 1. The arithmetic rack also supports the strategies of doubles and near doubles, 6 + 7 = 6 + 6 + 1, and making tens, 9 + 6 = 10 + 5.


In this unit, children move the beads on the arithmetic rack to represent passengers going from one deck on the bus to the other, and sitting in various combinations in the red and white seats. This context supports the development of the understanding that numbers can be named in many ways, for example 10 as 6 + 4, 7 + 3, or 5 + 5. The unit also includes minilessons with quick images, and strings of related addition and subtraction problems solved with the arithmetic rack to help automatize the basic facts.


Several games-Passenger Pairs, Rack Pairs, and Passenger Combos—are also included in this unit. They can be played throughout the year as a way for children to extend composing and decomposing strategies as they establish equivalence—for example, representing 7 as 5 + 2, 3 + 4, or 1 + 6.

Upcoming Field Trips

In February, we will go on two exciting field trips! Permission slips will come home soon.

Tuesday, February 3rd - Transit Museum
Tuesday, February 10th - Children's Museum of Art

Indy Kids

Looking for a great non-fiction resource that focuses on current social justice news events? Check out Indy Kids - a newspaper written by kids for kids. We use some of the articles to spark conversations and share current events - they are interesting, thought-provoking, and engaging. Have fun reading!

Spelling Practice

Word pyramids are a fun way to practice spelling at home.

Let's say your child is practicing the word "think"

Here's how the word pyramid works:

t
th
thi
thin
think

Then - write the word in a sentence!

Happy New Year!

It was great to be back in school today! We had a fun day complete with art, music, dreambox and choice time!

Joining us through the end of April is our Teachers College student teacher, Liz! She started in our class today and will be with us Mondays, Tuesday, half days on Wednesdays, and Thursdays.  We are so excited to collaborate with Liz these next few months!

Here's to a productive and enjoyable 2015!