For several weeks we have been working on letter sounds and formations using the Fundations program.  So far we have worked on the lower case letters t, b, f, m, n, i, u, c, and o.  Children are eager to practice what they have learned and as we are adding new letter sounds and formations they have been writing more and more of their own words during writing time.  In addition we have started learning sight words, focusing on I, the, a, and is, because these are either in our morning message each day or they are words we use a lot in our writing.  Some students have been using this new knowledge to write books with repeating patterns, for example "I see the..." or "I am..." modeling the emergent reading books that they have added to their reading bags.  Children have been practicing the strategies of pointing to words when they read, using pictures to figure out unknown words, and in some cases using the beginning sound to read a word.  They are enthusiastic about practicing the new skills they are learning and it is very exciting to watch their progression.

Thank you to everyone who was able to come to Open House!  It is always exciting for children to share their classroom and provide a glimpse of their time spent at school.

Yesterday morning our class was fortunate to have the opportunity to vote on dog tags for the town of Waitsfield.  Jen Peterson, Waitsfield town clerk, graciously came in and gave a brief explanation of the voting process.  After checking in with Jen, each child voted on shape and color for the dog tags before placing their ballots in the official ballot box.  We counted the votes immediately after so children would know the results.  The next round of dog tags will be gold shields!

We have had fabulous ECO days the last two Wednesdays.  Last week we broke into small groups and created "insect hotels".  Today, after learning about insect parts (thanks to Zach who modeled these for us), each group used items found in the forest to build different insects.   We also chose sit spots today, an individual place that each child will revisit each week through the year to write in their ECO journals and enjoy a few quiet moments before we return to school.

At the beginning of the week we read a book called Have You Filled a Bucket Today? by Carol McCloud.   This book is about treating others with kindess and the rewards that come from doing so, from helping out a friend, to including others, and even just offering a smile.  Children loved the book and have noticed many examples of bucket filling throughout the week.

We have also been talking about using words to let classmates know when something bothers us or makes us feel bad in some way.  I am encouraging children to be very specific with their words- for example instead of saying "stop it", try saying "please stop bumping me".  Along with this we have spent a some time talking about kid size problems versus problems that require adult help.  I am encouraging children to use their own words to attempt to solve kid size problems, and then let me know if they still need help.  I have also stressed the importance of always seeking adult help if someone is getting hurt or unsafe in anyway.  For kindergarteners this distinction can be tricky and I encourage the children to err on the side of seeking adult help if they aren't sure.

We had our first butterfly this morning.  We kept it with us for several hours while its wings dried out, and then released it with special wishes just after lunch.

We had a fantastic first day of ECO yesterday.  Hopefully your child shared a little bit about our morning, which was really focused on establishing the routines we will follow all year.  When we first get off the bus we gather in the field for a quick greeting and sharing.  Then we play a game before heading into the forest.  When we arrive at our usual spot we gather around the fire circle for snack and a story.  We will not be having a fire for a few weeks, but yesterday we were entertained by several red efts roaming in the circle.  This seemed to be a highlight for many!  We then split up into three groups for a scavenger hunt to help us get acquainted with the forest and the particular spot we will spend our ECO time, before ending with a closing circle and our walk back.  Thank you for all of your help with preparation- it was a fabulous morning.

During math we have been moving away from exploration of materials and into some beginning number work.  We have been practicing writing numerals 1-6 and also matching quantities to written numerals.  The children have been very excited to use dice and highlighters for this.  Today I also taught the class a game called garbage, which involves sequencing numbers.  We began with 1-6, but will soon add numbers up to 10.  This was a partner game and emphasis was placed on helping your partner, having fun, and being a good sport.  Many chose to revisit some of these activities during choice time.

We are in the middle of a fun caterpillar project with our third and fourth grade partners.  These will be finished just in time for Open House on Tuesday, September 23rd.

REMINDER:  Picture day tomorrow!

Greeting each other with a talking stick.

Getting ready for a game.

Walking into the forest.

Singing a song just before snack.

The red eft!

Sorted items from our scavenger hunt.

Playing Roll a Tower.

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Playing Garbage.

Being good sports.

Most days in our class children have an opportunity to read to themselves.  We began this routine by talking about three ways to read a book- read the pictures, read the words, or retell a familiar book. While most children in the class can't yet read words, we can all look at the pictures and use them to make sense of the story.  We have a large collection of wordless picture books in the class which are great for practicing this skill.  Some favorites seem to be Chalk by Bill Thomson, Rainstorm by Barbara Lehman, and The Chicken Theif by Beatrice Rodreguez.  Right now we are reading to ourselves for about 7 minutes, gradually increasing our time as we learn all parts of this routine.  Last week I introduced children to their reading bags which will become an essential part of this routine as well.  Right now they have two books in their bags, one is a book of nursery rhymes, and the other is a class book about us, a copy of which I have sent home as well.   For now these books are a great way for us to learn each other's names, but we will use them over and over throughout the year as we practice different reading skills.  The copy that came home is for you to keep.

We also read the book Sometimes I'm Bombaloo by Rachel Vail.  Ask your child to tell you what it means to be bombaloo.  We talked about that fact that everyone feels bombaloo sometimes (even adults) and discussed strategies for calming down when we are feeling bombaloo.  Some of the ideas were taking deep breaths, counting, drawing, finding a space alone, looking at a book, and looking at a drip toy (these have proven to be very popular in our room).

Our monarch caterpillars are changing rapidly.  When we arrived this morning we had three chrysalids, two caterpillars hanging, ready to become chrysalids, and one caterpillar still munching and growing.  During choice time we were lucky enough to see one of the hanging caterpillars shed its skin and wiggle its way into a chrysalis!

A couple of you have asked about our specials schedule.  We have gym and music on Mondays, library and French on Tuesdays, no specials on Wednesday, gym on Thursday, and art and technology on Friday.  Sneakers are best for gym on Mondays and Thursdays.

What an amazing group of children in our class this year!  I am astounded at how quickly they are learning all of the expectations and routines even as new ones are added each day.  We are making our way through artifact bags, using this opportunity to really practice being good listeners to see how much we can learn about each classmate.  After a classmate shares we are practicing asking questions to find out more, or just stating something we learned from the share.  About half of the children in the class have shared and I would love to have everyone share by the end of the week-if your child hasn't gathered items for his or her bag yet please help them with this soon.

We began writer's workshop today by writing about one thing we did this weekend.  Because most of us can't yet write words, we talked about using a picture to tell the story,  then adding pretend words, or letters we know, or maybe even beginning sounds to label parts of our pictures. As children are writing Susan Laskaris, who is with us each morning, and I had individual children tell us about their pictures while we wrote the words for them.

Today we also introduced several monarch caterpillars to our classroom.  These amazing creatures will be a main focus of our first science unit, which focuses on sorting and classifying plants and animals and the differences between living and non-living things.  We had a really nice discussion about how we need to care for these caterpillars while they are in our room, including making sure they have food and water and having calm and quiet bodies when we are near them.

Sharing an artifact bag.

Writing about the weekend.

Our monarch caterpillars.