Hello, families!
Brrrr!!!!!  It certainly feels like winter!  Thanks for making sure we have nice warm clothes for recess!

We spent our chilly week writing nonfiction chapter books; learning how to make snowflakes and reflecting on the challenges/solutions for that STEM activity; hosting Mrs. Koutalakis, our Mystery Reader; walking up to the high school to practice for Monday's concert; estimating and doing some graphing work in Math; and continuing to practice our reading!

Next week will be realllly busy!  It will be WPS Spirit Week!

Monday: Movement Day (and our concert that evening)...we'll have some extra motor breaks :)

Tuesday: Radiant Reading...I will have a "bright" surprise for the kids to enjoy during our reading time!

Wednesday: Holiday Sock Day...I am extending this for our class to be Holiday Hat day as well
                     Project Day-please be sure to send in a smock/old shirt, if your child does not already
                                         have one here :)

Thursday: Ugly Sweater Day...I am extending this for our class to be Holiday Wear in general

Friday:  Pajama Day...with a surprise after lunch :)

🎄Please don’t feel that you have to go out and buy special clothes for Spirit Week! We can find ways for your first grader to participate. 🎅🏻

Have an awesome weekend! I have a lot of wrapping to do, which I actually enjoy 🎁 . I hope your holiday preparations are fun for your family, too!
Becca

Hello, everyone!  Happy December!

Wow!  A full week of school! 😀  It was spent working on our literacy skills, getting better and better at computation, doing some great engineering work in STEM, enjoying our Mystery Reader, saying goodbye to Miss Mooradian and Mr. Carrigan (though they promise to come back and visit), and practicing for our concert during music class!  I can't believe it's less than 2 weeks away!  We also earned another 25 Caught You Being Good cards and celebrated with a special crafting time.

💗

Our Mystery Reader this week was Mrs. Cole's friend, Pat Phillips!  She is from England, and grew up in South Africa and The Netherlands.  We had a lot of fun finding those places on the globe and looking at some of Mrs. Cole's vacation photos of London.

We continued learning about engineering this week during STEM by using clay and straws to make the tallest structure we could.  It was super challenging!  

Don't forget to check the Upcoming Events tab! :)

On Monday, we will be walking up to the High School to rehearse for our concert on Dec. 17th.  Please help us remember to wear shoes that are comfortable for walking up the sidewalk to WHS and back, as well as standing on the risers for 45m-1h.

I wish you all a marvelous weekend!  I am going to try to finish my Christmas shopping and tackle the mountain of Amazon boxes that are accumulating in my dining room, gift wrap and tape in hand!  I hope you get to enjoy a restful pre-holiday weekend!

Becca

Hello, families!  Goodbye, sNOw-vember!

Well, it was certainly an exciting month for lots of reasons-the weather being one of them!  Fingers crossed that December is a little less stormy! ☃️

We read many books about the first Thanksgiving, practiced our computation and reasoning skills, got more and more independent with the laptops and iPads, finished our first writing unit (personal narrative) and started a new one (nonfiction),  enjoyed learning more about reactions and trying out some new thinking with an engineering project during STEM, guessed the number of bears in the Estimating jar...not to mention sharing stories about the snow days and Thanksgiving!  Whew!

Don't forget to check out the Upcoming Events tab as these days leading up to vacation get busier! :)

Thank you for returning reading books in the folder on Monday each week!

Thank you for making sure we all have the right outdoor gear!

Thank you for the contributions for Miss Mooradian's teacher tote!

I hope you get a chance to enjoy Saturday before another wintry mess on Sunday!  I have meetings for the Maine Education Association Board of Directors tomorrow and Sunday, but am hoping to squeeze in some seasonal fun too.  Have a marvelous first weekend in December! ❄️
Becca
PS...
Here are some images from the past few weeks:

 Biddeford City Theater Artistic Director,                                                                                                  Linda Sturdivant

Our Perky Turkeys!!

Attorney for the Maine Public Utilities Commission, Jody McColman

 

STEM: Engineering Challenge #1 !

 

                                          More STEM: physical and chemical reactions

Real Estate and Business Attorney Jaimie Schwartz

Hello!
I hope you all had a great week! We enjoyed being back to our usual routine after all of the excitement last week!

Some of the fun we had in first grade over the past few days...

-TWO Mystery Readers- Ms. Oliveri, a counselor and professor at USM, and Mr. Schwartz, an attorney, who are both theater buddies of Mrs. Cole's.  We loved hearing about their work and enjoying some fun stories with them :) .

   

-STEM!  This week we explored chemical reactions using water, lemon juice, vinegar, and baking soda.  Check out the lab report in our Eagle News!

-Veterans' Day-we read a Scholastic News about this important day and wrote letters to some local veterans.  Thank you, veterans, for your service!

-Windham Police Officer Andrews came to read to us during Library as well!

Thank you to everyone who turned in their homework folders, library books, Silver Graphics, etc. on time.  It makes the days run smoothly when we have everything organized! :)

A couple of friends have already finished their Turkey in Disguise projects and brought them in!  We can't wait to see everyone's creations!  They will be posted on the hallway bulletin board for others to admire as well.

Our next Project Day will be on Tuesday the 20th from 2-2:40 PM.  Please let me know before November 16th if you will be participating so that I can plan the activity according to how many helpers we will have and purchase materials. :) . Thank you!

Book orders went home today and are also due on the 16th.  I do not send book orders in December because they sometimes don't make it back to us before the holidays.  Please let me know if your book order contains a gift and I can hold it aside until you're able to pick it up at school.  Thanks!

There are a LOT of new items in the Upcoming Events calendar!

Thank you for marking your child's Reading Incentive calendar with his/her name and for jotting down the total books read. :)

I hope you all get to have some fun this weekend!  I have a first reading of the new play I'm in and a gathering of extended family to attend.  Enjoy your time with your loved ones, too!
Becca

Happy November!

What a busy week!  Between the World Series, Halloween, guest speakers, and our assembly, there was a lot going on!  We also had our first Project Day, Sharing on Friday, and our first lockdown safety drill of the year.  Whew!
 Officer Matt Cyr came to talk with us about being                                                                                   safe on Halloween!

We had a really fun assembly with Dr. Quinton Quark,
who taught us Newton's 3 Laws of Motion!

                                                                                   

Project Day was a success!  Special thanks to Soren's mom and Kai's grandmother for coming in to help!

                                                  
Our Mystery Readers this week were AJ Dukette from WHOM and Kathleen Jordan from WMTW!  They told us a lot of fun facts about working for a radio station and a TV station!
                                       
Thank you for sending warm gear for recess!

Please be sure to return library books no later than Thursday.  The librarians have double classes and duties, so they need books back early in order to check them in before our library time.  Thank you for your help!

Have a terrific weekend!  I'm going to work on building the set for "A Christmas Carol" at Biddeford City Theater and spend some time here at school.  Whatever your plans, have fun and stay dry!
:)
Becca

Hello!  Happy almost-Halloween!  There is a lot of excitement in the air!

This week, we shared several seasonal books, practiced writing with "craft moves", and continued working on writing two-digit numbers in expanded form.  We've solved 2000 problems on IXL and several of us moved up to the next guided reading level.  Thank you for helping us practice at home!

Our Mystery Reader this week was Mr. Mitchell Thomas.  He is an actor, director, musician, singer,  college professor, and the director of the Franco-American Heritage Center in Lewiston!

                                           

In STEM this week, we began to learn about the difference between physical and chemical changes.  We also learned all about bats-ask us some of our favorite facts!!

Thank you for helping us remember a peanut-free snack and any needed utensils every day!

Thank you for sending a written note in the morning if your child will be picked up on a day when they normally ride the bus-I am supposed to send a written note from the parent with each child who is not usually picked up on a given day.

Project Day will be on Wednesday the 31st from 11:45-12:30.  Please let me know if you plan to come so I can plan an activity/materials/groups/etc. :) . Be sure you have filled out a Volunteer Form if you plan to come and help out.  See you then! :)

Also-just a reminder that we don't wear Halloween costumes on October 31.  Your child is welcome to wear orange in support of anti-bullying. :)

Congratulations to Darius and Kai for earning the privilege of taking home Darla and Kola!

Congratulations to our class on earning 25 Caught You Being Good cards!

Stay warm and dry this weekend-maybe you can do GoNoodle to have some indoor fun ;) Don't forget about the Fall Festival at WPS tomorrow from 1-4PM!
                                        
Have a great weekend!
Becca

Brrr!!!  This week's weather was quite a change from two weeks ago!  Thank you for sending warm gear for recess!

Our days were very full this week, with Fire Safety, Picture Day, and TWO Mystery Readers!  The first one was Mr. Quinn, a friend of Mrs. Cole's who is an optician.  He told us how he helps people get just the right glasses so they can see better.  Our other guest was Dr. David Jefferson, who has been the veterinarian for Mrs. Cole's horses for many years.  He told us all about how he takes care of animals and teaches their owners how to care for them too.
 . In STEM we did some leaf investigations and read about how and why leaves change color in the fall.  Ask us about chlorophyll! :)

 .          
We're doing a great job with place value and decomposing numbers/writing them in expanded form!  Thanks for helping us find other opportunities to practice this at home-it's big thinking!  I am also hearing kids skip counting by 2s, 5s, and 10s!
                                         
Thank you for keeping our reading books in our reading folders, and returning them on Mondays so we can swap them out. :)

Homework folders (the green folder with the homework menu and blank reading calendar) are due on November 5th.  Thanks for helping us complete squares on our menu and tally our books!

Congratulations to Jacy and Shyanne on earning the privilege of taking Darla and Kola home for the weekend!

Congratulations to Kai for doing Quality Work, which we posted in the Quality Work Showcase!

I hope everyone has a fun weekend planned!  I am going to a teachers' conference in Rockport and hoping to complete outdoor fall cleanup at home.  Enjoy your family time!

Becca