Hello!

I hope the kids had a great vacation!  We came back from our break ready to learn about fractions, take our fiction writing even further, and begin our Ocean Life unit.  We also started being able to earn "Bee Tickets" for quality work and outstanding citizenship!  

We had some special guests this week!  

We played a fun game about Needs and Wants with Mrs. Stephen during Junior Achievement!

Firefighter/Paramedic Mike read us a story!

Kathy from the MSSPA came to talk with us about caring for animals, both at our house and at the Society:

We began learning about fractions in Math!

Next week will be the WPS BOGO Book Fair!  There is a flyer in this week's Eagle News.

The WPS Color Run will take place on Sunday!

There is a permission slip for our June 6 field trip to the Children's Museum.  If you or another adult from your family plan to chaperone, please be sure to submit a volunteer form ASAP (if you haven't already completed one for this school year).

We'll also be planning a First Grade Field Day for June 7 (rain date: June 1-I'll send more info as soon as we have sorted out details.

Be sure to check out the blog for more upcoming events!

Have a great weekend!  I'm rehearsing and building sets for the play, doing some yard work (finally!), and planning for the last 35 days of first grade!  

Becca

Happy Vacation, everyone!

We had a number of fun activities this week-STEM, Mrs. Becker's visit to talk with us about weather and the water cycle, Pajama Day, reading and watching Charlie and the Chocolate Factory...on top of the unexpected return of snow, it was a pretty exciting week!

When we return from break-on Earth Day!-we'll be learning about the environment and ecology.  Then, our last big thematic unit of the year will be Ocean Life!  We're really excited to do some work with both fiction and nonfiction!

Mrs. Becker helped us make clouds and snow during her visit!

Be sure to check out the Upcoming Events-there are many exciting things happening in our classroom and school in the coming weeks!

I wish all my young friends a wonderful vacation!  I've traveled a lot in the last few months, so I'm looking forward to spending some time at home, with one quick to trip to Augusta on Wednesday to meet with legislators and educators from across the state.  I hope you all get to have some quality time and fun together too.

:)

Becca

Hello, everyone!

Spring is trying to arrive-hopefully we'll have some warmer temperatures to prove it soon! :)  We had a great week here in first grade as we worked on measurement, writing realistic fiction, reading and thinking about springtime and caring for the Earth, and doing a STEM experiment to help us learn about how sap flows in maple trees.

Mrs. Burns was our Mystery Reader!

We had our first Junior Achievement lesson!

We wrote some great lab reports about our STEM activity!  Check them out in our Eagle News!

We really enjoyed attending the Kinderconzert on Tuesday!  

The featured instruments were the woodwinds.

Our calendar is starting to fill up as the end of first grade approaches.  Be sure to check out the Upcoming Events here on the blog!

Mrs. Stephen, former WPS principal, will be joining us on Fridays for the next few weeks for Junior Achievement!

Book orders have been submitted! :) We will have one more book order in May.

Just a reminder-there is no school on Friday, April 12th-it is a teacher work day.

Our first Mileage Club run will be on Thursday, weather permitting.  Please help us remember to wear shoes that are good for walking and running on the track.

It looks like the weather will be nice this weekend!  My daughter, who teaches biology, and I will be  attending a teachers' conference tomorrow.  I also have some spring DIY projects I need to finish before vacation.  I hope you all have a fun and productive weekend too!

:)

Becca

Hello!  Welcome to April (almost)!

     We finished out March with a new writing focus (Realistic Fiction), a new math unit (Measurement) new reading levels for several of us, and other fun activities!

Thank you for being a terrific audience for our concert on Monday!  I included photos of both the rehearsal and the performance, as a few friends had commitments elsewhere Monday evening:

          

Our STEM activity this week: thinking about how much condensation a cloud can hold before precipitation happens.  We put 10 drops of "condensation" in the first cup, 15 in the second, and 20 in the third.  The 2nd and 3rd cups showed "precipitation" right away, but amazingly our first cup STILL hasn't "rained"-since 11:55 Wednesday morning!

We were excited to have Mr. Howell, Assistant Superintendent, return as our Mystery Reader!  He was our first guest reader this year and has been hoping to come back and see how much we've grown and learned!

We are enjoying our new Realistic Fiction writing focus!

We'll be walking up to the High School on Tuesday morning to see the PSO Kinderconzert!  Please help us wear appropriate shoes for a walk.

Just a reminder that there is no school on Friday, April 12-it is a teacher work day.

Green homework folders with menus and calendars are due on Monday.
Reading folders and books are due on Monday.
Eagle News is due on Monday.
Library books are due on Thursday.

Thank you also for sending a snack, or helping your child remember to bring one every day, including any needed utensils. :)

The current last day of school is Monday, June 17th.

Be sure to check the Upcoming Events, especially as we move toward the end of the year...things will be very busy at school and at home, I'm sure!

Enjoy your weekend!  I have to be in Augusta tomorrow and most of Sunday for the MEA Board of Directors, but am hoping to squeeze in some spring cleaning and time with family and friends.  I hope you have a great time, whatever your plans!

Becca

Hooray!  It's officially SPRING!

     We had a great week!  To celebrate the new season, we created wycinanki, a Polish paper-cutting project!  They're really fun and the kids made some awesome examples of this traditional craft:

We also enjoyed meeting our next Mystery Reader, Giovanna Bechard!  She is the Communications Director for the Maine Education Association and a friend of Mrs. Cole's.  She shared a great Mo Willems book and talked about her job and family.

To cap off our exciting week, we shared our 120 Museum and our Poetry Reading with lots of friends and family members!  Thank you to everyone who helped us with our projects, our poems, and our performance!

Just a reminder that our concert will take place on Monday night!  Please be at the high school no later than 6:15 so that I can help your child find his or her spot on the risers.  I can't believe it's time for the spring concert already!

We'll be walking up to the high school in the morning to practice, so thank you in advance for helping us wear walking-friendly shoes. :)

Looking ahead: please mark your calendar for Friday, April 12-it will be a teacher work day, so there is no school for students.

Have an awesome weekend!  I will be attending a baby shower and visiting some extended family in Bethel.  I hope you get to enjoy some great family time too!

Becca

Happy almost-Spring!
       It was a great week in first grade!  We tracked the first finishers in the Iditarod, read several books related to St. Patrick's Day, and began studying the weather by creating a water cycle map!  Our guest reader was Mr. Tom Nash, the director of RSU14 Adult Ed.  We loved his reading of Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs!

Be sure to sign up for a conference time in PTCFast.  The link is here, or you can access it from the WPS web page.  https://wps.rsu14.org/apps/news/article/1006199  If the dates/times don't work for you, let me know and we can find another option.  After 3/22 I will better know my early evening availability for the next few weeks.

Spring pictures will be taken next week!  A flyer went home in Eagle News last week, and it's noted in the Upcoming Events tab here on the blog.

Have a great weekend!  I'm at the airport on my way to the NEA Leadership Summit in Denver.  I hope you all have some interesting adventures too!

Becca

Happy Friday!

 I hope everyone has had a great week!  We packed a lot into just a few days!  We've been working on comprehension/retelling strategies, wrapping up our opinion writing, practicing our poems, following the Iditarod, and finishing up our work in Geometry!  Next week we'll be doing some more exploration about the weather, working with coins, learning some more poems, and beginning some narrative writing.

Our Mystery Reader this week was Dr. Hal Cohen!  He is a general practitioner and a theater friend of Mr. and Mrs. Cole.

These are our Poem Pockets!  Thank you for helping us practice our poems at home!  Our Poetry Reading will take place on Friday, March 22nd at 2PM.  We'll view our 120 Museum in our classroom first, then go to the cafeteria to recite our class poems and then break into small ensembles to share our individual poems.

We have had a blast following the mushers' progress in the Iditarod!

Just a reminder that book orders were due today! :)
Also, there is no school for students next Friday-it is a teachers' workshop day.

Parent-teacher conferences have been launched in PTCFast.  If your child has had recently, or will soon have an IEP meeting, that may be used as the conference if you wish.  If none of the dates and times listed work for you, we can find a different one.  I will know my further availability better after March 22. 

We're busy practicing our songs for the First Grade Spring Concert!  Please be at WHS by 6:15 so that we can help the kids find their spots and I can take a group photo.  I will find out at our rehearsal that morning where our class will be standing, and will send home an email that afternoon to let you know. :) https://wps.rsu14.org/apps/news/article/1006199

Spring pictures will be taken on Thursday the 21st- a flyer went home in Eagle News today.

Have a terrific weekend!  I'm going to spend some time with my family, visit my horse, and pack for my next NEA work session in Denver next weekend.  I hope you all have some wonderful time together.

:)
Becca