Raz-Kids, Reading Challenge, and More!

First Graders had a busy day reading! First we learned all about our new reading at home program.  We are asking kids to read for 15 minutes, 4 nights a week. For every 15 minute chunk they read,your child can  color in an apple on the reading log.  When they have 4 apples colored in,they can bring in their sheet and add a sticker to our classroom reading hour chart.  When we have read 60 hours, we will have a celebration!

Raz-Kids-

Reading Raz-Kids books at home on the computer also counts towards reading minutes. Today we practiced using them in the computer lab.  Learners could choose between Tumblebooks and Raz-Kids. Reading Raz-Kids books lets you earn stars to spend in the star lab.  At school , children read for 30 minutes and then spent their stars for 10 minutes.  We had such a fun time.

To log in at home go to   Www.razkids.com   Teacher Name: bhackettd 

Students know their picture password.

Friday Letters

Today our first graders wrote their first Friday Letters to their families.  These letters tell a little snippet about our week.  They are a great way for families to learn more about our week and watch learners progress as writers throughout the year.  Sometimes our Friday Letters might be a bit tough to read. If you can't read your child's letter, just ask them to tell you about their week.  Please write a note back to them, they love to read your letters! Help your learner remember to return the notebook by next Friday so they can write back to you. 

Dot Addition

First Graders are adding it up! Today learners used our new double dice to play an adding game! They loved looking through the large dice to find the small one inside! Learners are working on  the Counting On strategy to solve their addition problems. 

Crazy Hair Day- Tuesday, Sept. 22nd

Shelburne Farms Trip

Our class got the unique opportunity to visit Shelburne Farms on Thursday for a Farm to Table Workshop. We will be starting a new unit next month on the economic cycle of farms. This unit will focus on the buy, produce, sell cycle that farmers of all types use. In collaboration with the Play 60 Dairy in the Classroom Grant, we will learn about many types of farms around Vermont and how farms can be sustainable.

Shelburne Farms offered our learners an introduction to where our foods come from. Students learned and participated in gathering, preparing and eating a farm fresh pizza. Thank you to all the families that chaperoned and made our trip possible. 

The Newest Arrivals!

Today we welcomed 2 more girl butterflies to our classroom! In the photos you can see one just emerging from her chrysalis. Her body is full of fluid that she will push into her wings. Then the wings will dry and harden over several hours.  You can tell they are girls because they do not have spots on their hind wings.

Below you can see a comparison of a male and female monarch. 

The black spots on the male's wings are highlighted for you. To learn more and check out the picture in more detail visit: http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/monarch/id_male_female.html

It's a Girl, and a Boy and another Boy! Triplet Tuesday!

Today our first graders got a chance to witness something very special! Three of our butterflies emerged. Our learners got to see first hand how the butterfly crawls from the chyrsalis, and pumps blood into their wings.  We watched as the butterfly closed its proboscis  and let their wings harden and dry. 

We learned that male butterflies have black spots on their wings. We then examined our butterflies and learned we had one female and two males. We finished our day releasing them into the wild.  We saw them heading south and wish them a safe migration.  

Labeling Butterflies

We are continuing to learn about the life cycle of the monarch butterfly.  Today we learned the parts of a butterfly. We created labeled diagrams to share what we learned.

We Dare to Play Double Compare!

Our first graders practiced playing the card game Double Compare today! Learners worked with a parter to add up pairs of cards. They were solving for the greater number. The partner with the highest total wins the cards! It was great to see all partners working together, playing fairly, solving problems and having fun!