Please note that a few important letters were sent home this week in your child's home/school folder:   

1. There will be no school for kindergarten on April 10th and 11th.  These days have been set aside as orientation for next year's incoming kindergarten students. **All other grades will have normal school days.**
2. The block schedule rotation for April was sent home as well.  Due to the SBAC testing, our computer lab time has been moved from day "D" to day "C" throughout April and most of May.
3. Another important letter was regarding placement for next year's 1st grade classes.  I understand that Kristi spoke with you prior to going on leave and took detailed notes on discussions involving your child's placement.  Those notes have been turned over to our kindergarten Team Leader and my understanding is that Kristi is planning to be involved in the placement process.

This week wrapped up with an exciting visit from Animal Embassy!  Our visitors included tiny tree frogs, a rather large iguana, and a chinchilla, to name a few.

Reading Workshop - Reading continues to be an adventure!

• We continued to practice using pictures in books to help us learn more than just what's written on the page.  Readers were given the opportunity to practice doing this on their own and also with their reading buddy.
• Readers worked more on comparing two books on the same subject (both fiction and nonfiction) to make comparisons and see how we can learn from both.
• We have started looking for patterns in nonfiction books, and asking ourselves what the author is trying to teach us.

Writing Workshop - We continued our unit on "All About" Books!

• Writers continued to work on their "All About Me" books.  
• We discussed the difference between "How To" books and "All About" books.  (Important take-away: "How To" books tell us how something is created and "All About" books teach us about something that already exists).

Math: This week, we continued to practice story problems.  Children worked with partners playing a variety of games that allowed them to make up their own story problems.  Using various manipulatives, we practiced different ways to arrange the same number of cubes, counters, etc.  This is an important concept as it allows children to see that an arrangement may look different, but still consists of the same number of items.  In the coming week, we will begin the "Apple Boxes" unit by Cathy Fosnot (this unit is connected to the "Bunk Beds" unit that the class completed with Kristi prior to her leave).

Social Studies/Science:  We continued our unit on "living and nonliving" things.  Students sorted a variety of living items in to people, animals, and plants and also sorted a variety of items in to living or nonliving.  We discussed habitats and watch a short movie through Discovery Streaming that taught about habitats and some ways that plants and animals adapt to their environment.  We will be discussing this in more depth in the coming weeks.  Our visit from Animal Embassy was a perfect complement to this unit.


Technology: This week, our Smartboard center focused on counting and putting numbers in order from 1-100.  All groups had the opportunity to play the game, spread out over a 2-day period.  As noted above, with the older grades completing the SBAC testing over the coming weeks, we will be in the computer lab on day "C", rather than day "D", throughout April and the majority of May.

This week began with a fun St. Patrick's Day celebration and ended with a valuable Kimochi lesson, during which we made Kimochi soup!  To acknowledge the first day of Spring, we colored beautiful garden books to bring home for you.

Reading Workshop - Reading continues to be an adventure!

• We reviewed the technique of using pictures in books to help us with tricky words.
• We also worked on using pictures in books to help us learn more than just what's written on the page.
• We discussed the value of reading more than one nonfiction book on the same topic (we practiced by reading two different books about baby animals and discussing the similarities and differences between the two).
• Readers discovered that we can compare a fiction book with a nonfiction book on a similar subject, and learn from both.
• Next week, we will be reading nonfiction books, looking for patterns in them, and asking ourselves, "what was the author trying to teach me?".

Writing Workshop - We continued our unit on "All About" Books!

• Writers continued work on their "All About Me" books.  
• Writers who have completed their "All About Me" book are beginning a new "All About" book, using a topic that they are experts on.

Math: This week, we introduced story problems and talked about visualizing the story in our head.  We "acted out" a few story problems and discussed various ways that we could figure out the answer.  We will be continuing to work on story problems moving forward and will be discussing the idea of "more or less" in the coming week.

Social Studies/Science:  We have begun our unit on "living and nonliving" things.  For the purpose of our studies, in order for something to be considered "living", it must need air, water, and food, and it must be able to grow.  We also classified living things into 3 categories: people, animals, and plants.


Technology: This week, our Smartboard game center focused on identifying and recognizing upper-case and lower-case letters.  All groups had the opportunity to play the game, spread out over a 2-day period.

Thank you so much for the warm welcome that I have received through email messages, visits, and the smiles on your children's faces.  My first week with the class went very well; I have enjoyed getting to know them and look forward to the wonderful things to come this year.  Please know that I am always available should any needs arise - you may email me (ABien@darienps.org) or call me (203.353.4371 ext.6160) at any time.

I am looking forward to our St. Patrick's Day celebration on Monday!  We will be doing a craft and having a special treat (thank you to our room moms and parent volunteers for coming together on this!).  Don't forget to wear your green - after all, everyone is Irish on St. Patrick's Day!

Reading Workshop - Reading is a (continuous!) adventure!

• Readers continued to read non-fiction books to learn new information.
• Readers ask questions like; "How does this work and what does this mean?"
• Readers solve tricky words!  Everyone has a laminated star in their book bag that outlines word solving strategies - check the picture, look for words your know inside larger words, (chat) does the word look or sound like another word (book/cook).
• Readers are now using the pictures in non-fiction books to make observations and learn more about the topic simply from what they see in the photographs.
• In the coming week, we will be learning to compare and contrast two different non-fiction books on the same subject.

Writing Workshop - We continued our unit on "All About" Books!

• We began writing our first "All About" book about a topic that all children are experts on - themselves!  As writers complete their "All About Me" book in the coming week, they will move on to write about topics that they are experts in.

Math: We continued to practice our math exercises using a "math centers" approach.  We used Dreambox during computer lab, and practiced using the math rack and 10-Frame.  We warmed up our math brains with a fun Leprechaun counting video - here's the link if you would like to practice it with your child on your own: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSvz1lkvih4

Social Studies/Science:  We learned about the history of St. Patrick's Day and discussed different traditions that people may have.  Each day, we had a St. Patrick's Day themed activity incorporated in our educational centers.

Technology: Each week, I will have a new Smartboard-based activity incorporated in to center time. All groups will be given the opportunity to be at that center, broken up over a 2-day period.  I have also incorporated the use of educational programming on the classroom computers (Dreambox, Starfall, RAZ-Kids, etc.) as an option for students during free choice time (at the end of the day).

Lastly, please see the message below regarding the Holmes School Literary Magazine - entries are due by Monday, March 31st!

Dear Students and Parents,

            It is the time of year to start thinking about the Holmes Literary Magazine! The Holmes School Literary Magazine is a compilation of student work from students in grades K-5. Each student is able to submit a piece of writing to be included in the magazine. Anyone who submits a piece will be included (as long as the piece follows the criteria below and is content appropriate). Students can submit poems, stories, research articles, reviews, etc.  We are looking for submissions for the Holmes School Literary Magazine. 

All student work must be submitted by Monday, March 31^st.  

Students may submit a piece that they have created in school or at home, students are limited to submitting one entry. Participation is voluntary.

Students’ work must fit the following criteria:

·        400 words or less

·        Typed in Microsoft Word

·        Single spaced in Times New Roman, 12 pt font

·        Centered title (using the center justification tool, rather than tabbing)

·        Students' first and last name and grade level typed on separate lines at the end of the piece

      Ex. John Smith

            1^st Grade

Document edited with an adult.  Spelling and grammar must be corrected.

·         Illustrations for pieces can be scanned and e-mailed.  Please make sure that illustrations are clearly labeled with the student’s first and last name and grade level.

·        K-2 should email pieces to kpaladino@darienps.org .  3-5 should email pieces to rsatter@darienps.org. A confirmation note will be sent upon receiving all e-mail submissions.

Entries must be submitted by Monday, March 31st.

^{If you have any questions please feel free to contact Kim Paladino at x 6168 or Rachel Satter at X6166.} 

^{Thank you!} 

Happy March!

Everyone enjoyed Read Across America week and our fun-filled, theme days!  

We welcomed Ms. Bien into our classroom and are excited to have her teach the students until the end of the year.

Reading Workshop - Reading is an adventure!

• Readers read non-fiction books to learn new information.
• Readers ask questions like; "How does this work and what does this mean?"
• Readers solve tricky words!  Everyone has a laminated star in their book bag that outlines word solving strategies - check the picture, look for words your know inside larger words, (chat) does the word look or sound like another word (book/cook).

Writing Workshop - We began a new unit on - All About Books!

• Writers explore published All About books to get ideas.
• Writers brainstorm topics that they know all about or our an "expert" on.
• Writers create chapters to match their topic.

Math: We introduced two new activities to math workshop - Build On and Grab and Count (using two handfuls).  We used Dreambox during computer lab, and practiced using the math rack and 10-Frame.  

Social Studies/Science:  We discussed similarities between Dr. Seuss books and read aloud several of our favorites.  We continued our exploration of maps and direction.