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