This week with our Wonders program we will be talking and reading about maps and how to use them.  What is a compass rose?  Why are maps important?  How can we use a map to locate places?  The book Me on the Map by Joan Sweeney is a great introduction to maps and geography.  We will take what we learn about maps in this book and apply it to our own lives.  Where is New Boston on the map?  How about the state of New Hampshire?  Our country...our continent?
 
Our phonics focus continues with tricky digraphs.  This week we will learn about ch, tch, wh, and ph.  Our spelling words are:
 
whip, whale, catch, match, chin, graph - - many, around, with exposure to:  by, place, walk
 
How many of the Acts of Kindness activities been done by your child?  Each time your child does an act of kindness, they get to “trim” Santa’s beard.   I can’t wait to hear all about this during the upcoming week.
 
We will continue adding and subtracting within 10 as well as work on measurement.  We will be comparing the lengths of objects as well as measuring with standard and nonstandard units (such as unifix cubes).
 
This week in Science we will answer the question:  Why are polar bears white?  We will be making observations to construct an explanation of why camouflage is helpful to animals.
 
We are about halfway through the book Charlotte’s Web.  We are all enjoying Wilbur and Charlotte.  In fact, Charlotte and her web have made their way into our classroom.  Our plan is to watch the movie on Friday, December 21st.  Your child may bring in a stuffed animal or a pillow for Movie Time.  The only rule is:  the object must be able to fit in their backpacks.   
 
Elfie, our classroom Shelf Elf, appeared last Monday.  He is a big help in reminding us about “expected behaviors”.  Ask your child about his hiding places.
 
Snow reminder...your children will need the following snow gear in order to play outside at recess:
              hats, warm coat, snow pants, gloves/mittens, boots
Please be sure your child has all of these every day.

This week with our Wonders program we will focus on:  How do people help out in the community?  We will read the book, The Story of Martin Luther King, Jr.  The book tells how Dr. King excelled in school, became a minister, and worked to end segregation in America.  We will be having many conversations around “what can we do together to make a difference”?  Our phonics focus will be the following digraphs:  th, sh and ng.  Digraphs are difficult because, although they have two letters, the sound that they make is different.  Our spelling words are:
fish, shop, ship, with, thing, sang - -  want,  call

We will also be looking at three additional sight words:  all, day, her
 
Our grammar focus will be nouns.  Your children know that a noun is a person, animal, place, or thing.  They know that some words always have a capital letter.  We will connect this thinking with the terminology of:  Proper Nouns and Common Nouns.
 
We continue to work on number sense with adding and subtracting within 10 and counting to/within 120.  What is the difference between knowing your facts with fluency and knowing your facts with automaticity?  If your child can add and subtract within 10 or count to/within 120 using a number line, number grid, blocks, or Rekenreks then they can do this with fluency.  The goal by the end of the year is to do these same tasks automatically (without any tools to help them).  In other words, your child should able to look at a math problem and know the answer immediately.  To help with reinforcing these skills and helping your child reach this goal, they will be responsible for a quick math homework paper one day a week.  Be on the lookout for this first homework paper this week.  This will be a very quick review for your child and should only take them about 1 - 2 minutes to complete.
 
All year long we have been talking about and looking for Acts of Kindness within the classroom.  Your children have shown wonderful empathy and kindness with each other.  This week we will be working on a fun project, The 12 Days of Christmas Kindness.  Your child will be bringing home this project and will be responsible for daily Acts of Kindness at home.  Be on the lookout Thursday afternoon!
 
Last week in Science we revisited “Tiny Town” but with a new challenge.  This time your children had to figure out how to change the strength and direction of a wrecking ball’s push in order to save the town.  Ask your child about this fun exploration.  ​

​​​​​This week with our Wonders program we will look at:   Where do animals live together?  Our guided reading books are all about Meerkats.  We will continue our learning about this interesting little animal during the week as we work on a Research Project – learning how to gather interesting and important facts about Meerkats.
 
The spelling this week will be tricky word endings:
 
lend, send, fast, past, sink, wink - - of, who (with exposure to:  eat, under, no).
 
With our Everyday Mathematics program we continue with adding and subtracting using the number line and the number grid.  We will also be learning how to fill in a “Frames and Arrow” diagram.  This is what a
​ Frames and Arrows diagram looks like:



 

​
Frames and Arrows show a sequence of numbers that follow a given rule.  Each frame contains a number.  The frames can appear in a variety of shapes.  The arrow stands for the rule that determines the next number in the sequence or the number that goes in the next frame.

 A Home Link will be sent home that explains this further.
 
In Science we will define, test, and solve another problem – can changing the strength and direction of a wrecking ball’s push save a house from being crushed?
 
We are winding down our first Trimester.   I am looking forward to getting together with you and sharing all of the wonderful social, emotional, and academic growth that has happened with your child.
​

Although the snow was falling outside all day it didn’t stop the First Grade and Readiness children from their inside Harvest Celebration.   All the children participated in the following activities:
 

• Making Scarecrows
• Nature Weaving with former (now retired) Art Teacher Mrs. Keefe
• Musical Instruments and Movement
• Apple Printing
• Sing Along with Mr. Real Fallu and his son

 
We also enjoyed homemade doughnuts and cider.  Ask your child to tell you about their favorite activity.

Why do birds have beaks?  We had such a fun time investigating the relationship between the shape of different beaks and the food each bird eats during our Mystery Science adventure last week.  Ask your child to tell you about this.
 
We will continue learning about the first Thanksgiving - comparing and contrasting with our present day celebration.  Be on the lookout for your child’s Thanksgiving flipbook – they will have lots to share with you.
 
Friday’s snowstorm...specifically the wet snow...brought about a reminder about the importance of packing an extra set of clothes for your child in their backpack.  It’s time to replace the extra “summer” clothing with “winter” clothing.  Also, please pack extra socks!  Although boots get left at the classroom door somehow the wet snow still appears on our classroom floor and we have puddles which seem to find all stocking feet.
 
Has your child learned how to tie their shoes?  Beginning in January it is expected that your child is able to tie their own shoes, independently.
 
Between the excitement of Halloween and Thanksgiving, full moons, the time change, and the unexpected November snow we have found that there has been difficulty following routines and maintaining expected behaviors.  We are working hard at earning our “dobs” by showing kindness and expected “Bobcat” behavior.  A conversation with your child on how they are doing would be greatly appreciated. 
 
Mrs. Queen and I send warm wishes from home to home and from heart to heart to wish you and your loved ones a very Happy Thanksgiving.  May this day be a beautiful reminder of the wonderful things in life!

Happy Veterans Day.  A heartfelt THANK YOU to all the brave men and women who have chosen the path of service in our armed forces. 
 
Our Wonders program will focus on our Essential Question:  What buildings do you know?  What are they made of? We will be talking and reading about buildings and what they are made of.  So, of course, the three little pigs is a perfect story for us to dive into.  There are so many wonderful variations of this tale, we will read two that your children have probably not read yet - - The Pigs, the Wolf, and the Mud by Ellen Tarlow and The Three Dassies by Jan Brett.
 
 Our phonics focus is short vowel Uu.  The spelling words for the week are:
                             run, fun, nut, cut, bug, rug, - - could, one 
 
Last week I sent home a list of the Sight Words that your child has mastered.  If there were any words that your child is still having difficulty with, please help them to practice these words.  Next week they will be assessed again.
 
Our Wonders program will expose us to singular and plural nouns as well as contractions. 
 
The cold weather is upon us.  Cynthia Rylant’s beautiful book, In November, will help to guide us to write our own stories about the approaching winter.  These stories will go on the bulletin board just outside our classroom door.
 
Your children are learning how to use different resources to help them to add and subtract as well as identify numbers up to 120.  Rekenreks continue to be a favorite!  We have been working hard on number operations and algebraic thinking.  By the end of First Grade, your child will need to be proficient with:

• adding and subtracting within 20, demonstrating fluency within 10
• solving word problems involving addition within 20
• counting to/within 120
• reading and writing numbers to 120

 
This week in Science we will investigate Animal and Plant Superpowers.  Why do birds have beaks?  Why do baby ducks follow their mother? Why do leaves change color in the fall?
 
A quick preview of what is planned for Thanksgiving week:  On Tuesday, November 20th we will get together with our friends from the Readiness and First Grade classrooms for some seasonal activities.  We will have two very special artists working with us:  Mrs. Keefe (our former Art Teacher) and Mr. Real Fallu.  We are planning a special snack for all the children.  Please let me know if you could donate:

• 100 napkins
• (2) gallons of apple cider

This week with our Wonders program we will be reading and talking about jobs with our Essential Question of:  What jobs need to be done in our community?  The short vowel “Ee” will be our phonics focus. 
 
Our spelling words are:  leg, beg, men, hen, head, bread
Our sight words are:  there, again
 
Since there is no school on Tuesday due to the elections, your child will be bringing home their reading group book on Wednesday.
 
We are continually adding and subtracting numbers.  We will be looking at numbers in Number Stories this week.  This is a fun activity you can do with your child.  Here is an example of an addition number story:  On our drive to school I saw 5 white cars and 3 blue cars.  How many cars in all did we see?  Here is an example of a subtraction number story.   For Halloween I collected 10 pieces of candy.  I ate 6 pieces of candy.  How many pieces of candy do I have left?
 
Did your child tell you about “Tiny Town”?  We had so much fun investigating how pushes can change the speed and direction of falling objects.  Using great teamwork as some trial and error, your children were able to successfully direct a “boulder” down a mountainside away from a town.
 
We will be talking about Veterans Day this week.  Is anyone is your family a veteran?  Talk with your child about this special person – we’d love to have them share this information with us.

We have fixed the problems with the on-line resources for Wonders and Everyday Math.  You should now be able to access both programs.  Have fun!

This week our Essential Question is:  How does your body move?  We will be reading and talking about ways that our bodies and some animals’ bodies move.  We will connect this week’s learning to our daily gross motor exercises.
 
Our phonics study will be “r” and “s” blends.  Another tricky week! Our spelling words are: 
                  spill, spin, grab, grass, drop, drip. 
Our sight words are:  two, move
 
We will have our first Wonders assessment this week.  It will be exciting to see how we can put all our new learning together to sound out and stretch words, respond to stories, and read for details.  We will also have our Unit 2 assessment with our Everyday Mathematics program.
 
With our Everyday Mathematics program we will continue to work with Number Stories, with a focus on subtraction.  Using Fact Triangles to guide us, your children are discovering that sometimes instead of subtracting down from a number...they can add up.  (Example:  10 – 7 = ?  We can add up instead:  8, 9, 10.  That’s three jumps.)   Last week your children discovered some interesting things about the 100’s grid.  We will continue to look at ways to add and subtract on the 100’s grid and our Number Lines as well as counting on from any number.
 
A reminder about Wednesday’s Halloween Parade... as per the school policy:  your child must be able to see clearly if there is a mast, they must be able to walk easily, and their costumes cannot contain blood, guts, or weapons.  We will have lots of learning going on all day long.  Please do not send your child to school with their costume on.  We will get dressed right before the parade at 1:00.  We will return to the classroom for some yummy snacks and a Mystery Science video on spiders!

his week our Essential Question is:  What do friends to together?  We will be reading and writing about friendships all week long.  Friends and friendships are an important part of our day.  Working with friends, getting along with friends, and learning how to make good choices when we are with our friends are daily conversations in the classroom.  Our conversations will lead us to exploring what to do when you want to do one thing…and your friend wants to do something else.  Hmmm….This will be a great follow-up to our weekly discussions with Ms. Brown and Mrs. Dana with our Social Thinking/Second Step programs. 
 
Speaking of friendships within our classroom and within the NBCS community.... We have noticed a comfort level that has settled in with everyone.  Friends are reaching out to one another – but that also means friends are comfortable with “tattling” on one another.  We read Julia Cook’s book, A Bad Case of Tattle Tongue and then brainstormed rules that we could follow to help us determine if something was “tattling” or information that needed to be shared.  Using this great book to guide us, we came up with the following rules - - ask your child to explain these to you.  We had such a great classroom discussion.


​​We are back to short vowels with our phonics focus.  Our spelling words are:
                   hop, top, log, hog, hot, lot

Our sight words are:  they, too.  We will be reviewing flip and black from last week.
 
This is Fire Safety week.  We will be heading out to the Safety Trailer on Monday morning. 
 
Volunteers – check your child’s folder for information about volunteering in the classroom!