Busy As Elves

We are busy as elves here in Transitional!  We are looking forward to our class holiday party on Wednesday, December 23.  Thank you to all of the parents who have contributed to our celebration!

Lego Lab

Our Transitional students have had the opportunity to do some fun, hands-on learning with Lego Lab. Lego Lab combines math concepts and Legos -- something many children love! The children have been working both with partners and alone to explore new concepts in the computer lab.

 

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Colonial Life

The children had an opportunity on the day before Thanksgiving to see a wonderful presentation on Colonial life presented by Mrs. Badger (our own Ms. Badger's mother). This was a hands-on experience with children getting to crush cinnamon, write on slates, play a ball and cup game, and explore actual Colonial artifacts collected by Mrs. Badger over many years. In preparation, we read Sarah Morton's Day, giving children a chance to discover what a child's day was like during the time around the first Thanksgiving in Plymouth.

 

 

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Whole Class Sharing

Because our class filled our HEART jar, the students selected whole class sharing as a reward.  Everyone may bring in one small item to share.

Digraph Detectives

A digraph is two letters together that make one sound (sh, ch, th, wh, ck). Our class has been working hard on writing, reading and identifying these special letters and on becoming Digraph Detectives!

 

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Pictures from Halloween

It was a beautiful day for Shaker Lane's annual Halloween Parade! It was amazing to be a part of the parade and to look out on the sea of excited faces as we walked in front of the school. Following the parade, we participated in the all-school sing a long and had a classroom celebration. Thank you to my room parents and volunteers for organizing the party and helping with children's costumes! I couldn't have done it without you!

 

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Halloween Celebrated Tomorrow!

Tomorrow is a big day!  Shaker Lane will have its annual Halloween Parade at 1:45 p.m.  Parents are welcome and encouraged to attend if schedules allow.  The students will parade along the sidewalk in front of the school and come back inside for an all-school sing along.  Parents are welcome to view the parade from outside, but due to safety considerations, the sing along will be held in the cafeteria for students only.

Our class will be having a Halloween party at 1 p.m.  I have several parents who have volunteered to help, and I'm very thankful to our room parents, Shannon Gannon and Meghan Berube, for coordinating this effort.

Costumes should be brought to school in a labeled bag where I will have volunteers to help them change.  As you would expect, I ask that no weapons, toy knives, swords, etc. be brought to school with costumes.

If you have any questions, please email.  Thank you!

Pajama Day

Our class has been working hard on showing "HEART!" Because we filled our HEART jar, the class voted and chose pajama day as a reward. We were very cozy!

Parents, the PTA would like to remind you to please remember to either return the Kidstuff coupon booklets that were sent home several weeks ago or $25. There were some great bargains inside!

 

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Leaves and Letters

A walk outside turns into a great opportunity for scientific observation. We found some beautiful leaves on our nature walk, and we were able to explore their differences. We found one leaf that was as big as a plate!

Below, students are working on writing full sentences using capitalization and punctuation. Fundations is a great, hands-on program!

 

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We learn from each other

In Transitional, we have an opportunity to learn from each other. Students are regularly selected as student teachers, and they love the opportunity to share their knowledge.

The top photo shows a student sharing her special book from home. We have learned that there are three ways to read a book: read the pictures, read the words, or retell the story. Our student leader was utilizing two strategies: read the pictures and retell the story.

The bottom photo shows a student taking on the role of Fundations leader. She is holding up a card and asking students the letter name, keyword, and sound - H, hat, /h/.

I think we have some future teachers in our class!

Class pictures are Tuesday morning. I look forward to seeing everyone in their picture day finery!

 

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"Mrs. Harte, take our picture!"

 

This week we have been working hard in math learning about 10 frames and in recognizing numbers as patterns. When I drew a pattern of five dots, one student was excited to share that he recognized that pattern as the number five on a dice. Playing board games with your child can be such a powerful learning experience because they learn how to count quickly, what a double looks like (Monopoly, anyone?) and that numbers can form patterns.

"Mrs. Harte, take our picture!" is something I hear quite frequently at the end of choice time. The students are quite proud of their creations and worked hard to play together, to share, to compromise, and to try something new. As adults, I think we could use a little more learning through play! Have a great weekend!

 

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Sharing

 

Sharing is an important part of our day! Sharing gives children an opportunity to speak, to listen, to answer questions and to learn a little about each other.

 

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Scenes from our first week

We've had a terrific beginning to our school year getting to know each other, reviewing skills learned in kindergarten, and getting aquainted with new routines. Our new math program is under way, and this week we spent time talking about sorting by attribute and the concepts of more than and fewer than.

Barring very hot weather, we should be going to the computer lab on Monday. If you have not sent in headphones, please do so on Monday. Headphones are kept here at school in labeled ziplock bags for the remainder of the school year. They will be returned at the end of the school year.

Have a wonderful weekend!

 

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Curriculum Night - 7 p.m.

Save the date!  Transitional/1st grade curriculum night will be held next Tuesday, September 15 at 7 p.m.  This will be an opportunity to explore our classroom, to talk about the things your child will be learning this school year, and to ask questions.  There was some confusion here as to the starting time, but it has been confirmed that it will be at 7 p.m.  See you then!

First Week in the Books!

It seems like just last week I was sitting on the beach imagining what my new students would be like (oh wait, it was), and now the first week of school has come and gone.  I honestly have to say that this was probably the best first week of school that I have ever been a part of.  Parents, you should be very proud of your children!  They came in happy, excited, prepared and ready to meet their new friends.  I think we are going to have a terrific year!

As soon as I receive all of the blog permission forms back, I can begin to post pictures of our activities.  I have received most of them, but I am just waiting for a few more.  If you need another copy of the form, please email me or put a note in your child's folder.  I know you are overwhelmed with back-to-school forms!  This is my first year without a child in public school, and it felt pretty good not to have to sign my name over and over again Wednesday night......

Things ran very smoothly this week.  Just a couple of notes:

• Please write your child's name on the outside of their lunchbox (Sharpie works well).  Sometimes they get separated in the lunchroom, and if they accidentally end up with the kindergarten lunch boxes, we need to be able to identify them.
• It's hot outisde, which means our classroom is very warm inside (no air conditioning).  Please provide a labeled water bottle for your child.  We are very active and get very thirsty (waiting in line for the bubbler/fountain isn't that fun and takes time).
• Sneakers are your best bet for footwear.  The playground is covered with big chunk bark mulch which gets inside shoes.  Ouch.  Our beautiful new playground equipment has a lot of climbing activities which are difficult to do in flip flops.  I know there are lots of beautiful, fashionable shoes that we all love to wear, but save them for the weekend so you can be happy and comfortable during the school day.

Finally, save the date!  Transitional/1st grade curriculum night will be Tuesday, September 15 at 6 p.m.  See you then!

Welcome back!

I hope everyone had a great summer! I would like to share a couple of photos from my summer. The top is a recent trip to Wingaersheek Beach, followed by a family picture in San Juan, Puerto Rico on a stop during our cruise. We also made it to Hermit Island Campground, Maine at the beginning of the summer for a slightly less fancy vacation. I'm rested and recharged and ready for a terrific year.

Tomorrow, Tuesday, September 1 is the first day for teachers. We will be meeting as an entire school system with Mr. Clency in the morning and will return in the afternoon to work in our classrooms. If you would like to stop by tomorrow between 2 and 3 p.m. to drop off supplies, see the classroom, etc., please feel free to come by. Otherwise, I can't wait to see everyone Wednesday morning! Enjoy the last day of summer!

 

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Welcome to my blog!

Hi Parents,

It's only July 30, but I'm hard at work at Fitchburg State in a technology class.  I've made a link to a screencast that I produced about my blog.  Take a look!

Blog Screencast