About Town

We had another magical day last Monday (April 16th) at Hubbard Park. We joined Mrs. Koch's class and had a wonderful time reading maps. Using clues hidden in the forest, the children hiked to the tower and walked to the top for a bird's eye view of the city. We then broke into small groups and chose different walking trails to reach the shelter for lunch, using maps to find their way.

Today we visited Deputy Chief Jimmy Quinn (Aidan's dad) and the firefighters at the Montpelier Fire Department. After the first 5 minutes there, they were off on a call and Jimmy continued the tour for us. We had such fun exploring the trucks, trying on gear, and watching one of the firefighters slide down the pole. After cheers from the kids, he agreed to go a second time to everyone’s delight!

It was an exciting week!

Upcoming Dates

Mrs. Dostie’s Class
Upcoming Dates

Friday, April 13th – Book Fair-our class is signed up to browse and purchase books in the afternoon.
Brandin’s last day- We will have a send off party for Brandin who will be moving to Maine on April 14th. Please let me know if you would like to contribute a treat for the class.
lindad@mps.vt.org

Monday, April 16th- NAP- Please be prepared for spring weather!
• Rain pants
• Boots or sneakers
• Water bottle
• Coat
• Layers
• Lunch (please let me know if you would like me to order a bag lunch for your child).

Tuesday and Wednesday, April 17th and 18th- Kindergarten Screening- All of the first grade teachers will be screening the upcoming kindergarten children. The current kindergarten teachers will be subbing for our classes.

All About Reports

Today we published our "All About" Reports! We have been working so hard on learning about non-fiction features and how we can incorporate them into our writing. We plan on sharing our reports with our 3rd grade buddies before sending them home to share with families. Look for them to come home soon!

Geometry in First Grade

When I tell people I'm teaching geometry to first graders, they often give me a look of surprise. But when you think about it, children are surrounded by 2 and 3 dimensional shapes in their daily life. Most children have built with blocks or Legos, have rolled a ball, or ate a triangular sandwich that was once a square.

We are currently working on identifying shapes by name, combining shapes to make other shapes, and exploring symmetry. The current "Home Connection" gives your child a chance to teach you how play one of the workplace games we have been enjoying in class. Have fun!

Going to Antarctica!

If you haven't heard already, the first graders boarded an imaginary plane today for Antarctica! We’ve begun our trip as part of an integrated theme for math and prepared by completing passports, making a packing list, and learning about Antarctica. For the next month, we will be studying the physical attributes, behaviors, and life cycles of 6 different penguins. The mathematics students use focus around measurement, sorting, map-reading, and graphing. We will also look at patterns, and create and solve story problems. More to come!

Lobster Picture Problems in Math

Today our class explored the processes of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division by understanding and solving story problems about lobsters. Since lobster's legs come in sets of 10, students are able to practice counting by 1's, 5's, and 10's as they solve problems such as: 5 lobsters are walking by the rocks. How many legs are moving?

After solving example problems, the first graders created their own lobster picture problems. Next, we will work to solve each other’s problems and share our strategies and solutions.

Nature Adventure

We had another magical day in the woods yesterday for Nature Adventure.  Three other first grade classrooms joined us in an all day event to celebrate the end of the fall season in the woods.

We made nature crafts, hiked the woods to re-visit the debris shelters we made earlier in the year, cooked bread on a stick and apples over a fire, learned about ropes and used them to climb a small hill, and took part in a nature scavenger hunt.  Mid-day all of the classes came together to sing and hear a story told by our naturalist Amy.

With all of the exciting things we did yesterday, my favorite memories are witnessing the discoveries and joys the children had in being in the woods.  From observing icicles forming to the joy in watching a leaf fall from the sky.  It was magical.