Hello, everyone!

I hope you had a great weekend!  I was in Orlando for a conference with the NEA, but I did manage to see Jack Hanna while waiting for my flight :) . 

We have many students out sick today :(  I hope your first grader feels better soon!!!  We miss everyone!

I thought you might like to see a video and a photo from Music and P.E. last week; I'll try to get to our other specials this week so you can see what it looks like when we go to those classes.

Next week:

-Green folders and homework menus are due on Monday.

-Eagle News are due on Monday.

-Library books are due on Thursday each week.

-We'll have Sharing on Monday.

-I will send home book orders today-please return or order online by Friday (Jan 31).  Our class online code is H63NZ.

Congratulations to our friends who were invited to the Reading Celebration on Friday for reading 1000 minutes! :D

On Friday, February 14, the kids will exchange Valentines if they wish.  If your child chooses to do Valentines, please be sure he/she has one for each classmate.  We cannot distribute Valentines with food/candy.  I'll send a class list in Friday's Eagle News.

Have a super week!

Becca

Hello, everyone!

Hard to believe that just under a week ago, it was in the 60s outside!

We reviewed math facts we know fluently, wrote about topics on which we are "experts", and learned about polar bears and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  We hosted a terrific Mystery Reader and shared some great new read-alouds, too!  In Music, our whole class earned a "Happy Note"!  Ask us about the new song we learned with Mr. O!

Mrs. Hesler, the RSU 14 Curriculum Director, was our Mystery Reader!

Next week, we'll learn about penguins and Antarctica.  We'll continue working on our nonfiction books, and do more peer editing with our writing partners.

Tuesday: Eagle News and reading folders are due
Thursday: Library books are due; don't forget sneakers for PE :)

Have a great weekend!  I will be preparing for presentations I'm giving at Bates College and Lewiston Public Schools, as well as a conference in Orlando next weekend.  I'm hoping to sneak in some fun, too :) Enjoy the new snow!
Becca

Hello, everyone!
It has been a great first full week back! We continued working with number bonds for 10, started some nonfiction writing, and learned about polar bears. Mrs. Cole shared some newly-published books with us, and we had a lovely time with our Mystery Reader!

Miss Cummings is the Chair of the RSU 14 School Committee. She gave us some colorful pencils and erasers to use at home and some cool supplies to use here at school. 😊

We decided to try something new for our blog video this week... ;)

Book orders were submitted today, and should arrive within a couple of weeks.

Next week:

1/13: Mrs. Cole has a sub for the morning

         Eagle News is due

         Take Home Reading and both books are due

Be sure to check Upcoming Events for other dates between now and February vacation!

Have an awesome weekend!  I am preparing for a couple of upcoming presentations and a conference in Orlando, but I'm hoping to get outside and enjoy the warm weather forecast for tomorrow!  Wishing you some wonderful time with your first grader :)

Becca

Happy New Year!

I hope your holidays were merry and bright!  I've almost reclaimed my house from all the excitement!

Before the break, we spent some time creating our gifts for our families, enjoying lots of seasonal literature, and learning combinations of numbers with sums of 6, 7, 8, and 9.  This week, we've been learning ways to build the number 10, reflecting on our vacation, and talking with Mrs. Patch about growth mindset and perseverance.  We learned about snow and how William "Snowflake" Bentley used a special camera to photograph individual snow crystals.  Next week, we'll learn more about the number ten, continue with our opinion writing, and start to investigate Polar Regions!

No pictures from class this week, as it was a short one, but here's one of Kola and Darla on Christmas Eve!  And, a thank you message for reading the blog! :)

Have a great weekend!  I have a meeting in Augusta all day tomorrow, and Mr. Cole and I are meeting some friends in Boston whom we haven't seen for several years.  I hope you get to have some fun, too!

Becca

Happy Friday the 13th!

Wow-it was certainly an exciting week!  We had a great concert, TWO Mystery Readers, celebrated another 25 Caught You Being Good Cards, read lots of seasonal books, and practiced writing reviews.

I'm including photos from our rehearsal and our performance:

DJ A.J. Dukette from WHOM and news anchor Kathleen Jordan from WMTW came to visit!!

-Next Friday, December 20th will be Pajama Day for our whole school.

-We return to school on Thursday, January 2nd.

-Green homework folders/homework menus are due on Monday, January 6.

-Our next Sharing Day will also be on January 6.

Have a great weekend!  I'm looking forward to seeing some friends in their holiday shows, finishing up holiday preparations, and...cleaning the basement. :)  Have fun!

:)

Becca

Happy December!

It's amazing that we are 1/3 of the way through the school year!  We worked hard this week-practicing fact families/number bonds, fine-tuning our how-to books, and talking about kindness, gratitude, and what it means to be a friend.  We had our first snow day, and read a lot of stories about snow.  Our Mystery Reader was the President of the Maine Education Association, Mrs. Grace Leavitt.  She taught us some Spanish words and gave us some handouts to take home and practice.

Next week will be our Holiday Concert on Wednesday evening!  Please be sure your first grader is at the high school auditorium no later than 6:15 so that I may help him/her find the right spot on the risers.  I will let you know on Tuesday, after our rehearsal, just where our class will be standing.  Please do let me know if your child is choosing not to attend the concert so that I can make our plan for where each person will stand on the risers.  Thanks!

Thank you for sending a coat, snow pants, boots, hat, and mittens/gloves with your child each day.  I do have a few pairs of mittens they can borrow in an emergency, but it is better if everyone has their own.  If you need help obtaining these for your child, please let me or the office know and we can assist you.  Thanks!

Thank you also for letting me know in advance, whenever possible, if your child will be absent or picked up early/dropped off late.  I really appreciate it!

Please try to avoid sending food in glass containers.  We had a bit of a scary accident earlier this week when someone dropped their glass container in the very busy hallway and it shattered.   Thanks for your help!

We earned another 25 Caught You Being Good cards!  We will vote on Monday for a special activity next Friday!

On Friday the 20th, we will have Pajama Day.

Have an awesome weekend!  I will be in Augusta most of Saturday and Sunday for an MEA  Board of Directors meeting, but am hoping to get some holiday preparations completed!  Mr. Cole is in a production of "A Christmas Carol", so I may get to see that as well.  I hope you have a fun and festive time, too!
Becca

Happy Thanksgiving!
I hope everyone is healthy and looking forward to a great holiday!  I know that the kids are excited about being with family and jumping into the holiday season!

This week, we read lots of seasonal books, learned about nouns and verbs, and wrapped up our doubles/doubles plus/minus one work.  We continued creating how-to books, which we hope to publish soon.  Our STEM activity was an engineering project which helped us practice using the how-to language from our writing (first, then, next, finally).

Our Mystery Reader this week was Mr. Seth Berner!  He is an attorney in Portland, and we talked with him about how we resolve conflicts with people by talking things out and making it right.

Mr. Howell and Mrs. Bertinet, the Superintendent and Assistant Superintendent, came by to visit so we could give them each a special gift.  They had asked for our help in creating some artwork for their new offices, so we thought about the books they had read to us and designed some colorful pieces to brighten their spaces!

Next week, we will only have school on Monday and Tuesday, so we won't have a regular blog post. Please do let me know if you are planning to attend our Project Day on Monday, as all volunteers must have turned in a Volunteer Form with the office prior to helping out.  The form is available on the school site;  just go to rsu14.org, find the Windham Primary page, and look under the Forms tab.

Fall picture retakes will be on Tuesday.  If your child is having retakes, please be sure to return the originals.  Thanks!

Please do also let me know if your child will be absent next week (or anytime) so we can try to make sure they don't miss anything special!  Thanks!

I hope you all have an awesome weekend!  I am going to the Gardens Aglow event at the Coastal Botanical Gardens with Mr. Cole-it's our November tradition and always puts me in the holiday spirit!

Thanks for all you do!
Becca