(802) 223-5429 x 1104
Welcome to Ms. Caitlin's First and Second Grade Class
What's Happening in First & Second Grade at Rumney?
Specials Schedule
Monday: Art
Tuesday: Music & Library
Wednesday: P.E.
Thursday: Spanish & Guidance
Friday: Spanish & P.E.
Happy Summer, everyone!
June 2020
Dear First and Second Grade Families,
This school year (and year in general) has been different than any other; it is certainly one that we will never forget. First and foremost, we want to thank you all and let you know how much we appreciate your openness, flexibility and hard work during this remote learning time. We also appreciate all of your support from the beginning of the year when we were in the building as a community! It seems hard to remember the beginning of the year, but we did have a great school year together in the building too! Some memories include: Primary Sing, the All School Outing at Hubbard Park, writing narrative stories in the fall, Winter Wellness, Global Day of Play and our day to day fun together!
Ending this school year and transitioning to summer also feels different this year. We are doing our best to celebrate and have closure on this school year. That being said, please feel free to contact us over the summer. Don’t hesitate to reach out- just send an email. Please understand that it will take us longer than during the school year to reply to emails.
You also may be able to access some of our apps this summer- such as SeeSaw, Epic and iReady (through August 8th). Your child should feel welcome to use SeeSaw as another way to connect with us and share summer activities- academic or not, although we won’t be posting new assignments! Feel free to send us letters in the mail! (Our addresses are below). We can also be available to connect over the phone, Zoom, etc. if you feel like this would benefit you and your child!
This year has been stressful for many of us and this summer should look however you would like and need for your family to help you recharge and relax. That said, if you are interested in continuing some school type structure for your child here are some ideas. We will also be sending home some summer packets if you are interested. These are totally optional! We just want you to have resources if you are interested!!
Read, read read!
A guide to leveled texts: https://www.the-best-childrens-books.org/guided-reading-levels.html
Please get in touch with us if you’d like your child’s reading level to ensure the books you get them from Scholastic (see below) or the library are a “Good Fit”
Ben’s Scholastic Class Book Code: MNQC2
Christine’s Scholastic Book Club Code: N8V82
Have interactive books read to you online. Go to: http://www.tumblebooklibrary.com/ and use the username: rumney and password: books.
Keep a journal about what you do this summer—write and draw pictures!
Go outside, observe what you see. Ask questions!
Count anything you can find!
Look for words and numbers around you in the world.
Talk about money and practice counting pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters.
Look around your family and/or neighborhood and see how you could help others.
Draw, create art in nature, listen to music, dance, move your body, use Spanish words, be mindful!
Take time to relax and enjoy yourself—it’s summer!
Run, play, laugh.
We also acknowledge that the end of this year and this summer brings more uncertainty than usual. This is something that staff and families are feeling alike! We are waiting to make decisions about placement and grade configurations for next year until we have the most recent information on both health practices and student numbers at different grade levels. Therefore, you can expect to hear more in August on what the upcoming school year will bring. We know that waiting can be challenging and we appreciate your patience. We are trying to let time help us make the best decisions to support kids both academically and social/emotionally.
Thank you again for all you have done and are doing. It has been a pleasure working with you all this year. Don’t hesitate to reach out with questions. Take care and have a great summer!
Sincerely,
The ½ Team
Christine Babcock, Caitlin Morgan and Ben Weiss
Mailing Addresses for letter writing:
Christine Babcock
213 Bartlett Rd.
Berlin, VT 05602
Ben Weiss
187 Worcester Village Road
Worcester, VT 05682
Caitlin Morgan
12 Spring St.
Montpelier, VT 05602
Friday 2/14/20
Hello 1st and 2nd grade families!
What an amazing winter we have been having! We have been enjoying lots of holiday celebrations, special school events, and staying active with Winter Wellness adventures! Last week we had the 100th day of school with a few fun activities and a visit from our friend Zero the Hero. Global play day was a huge success as students got to choose between several options to explore and learn through their play. Students got to engage in dramatic play, create with crafts, strategize with board games, design and build with cardboard, build with different types of blocks! We have been reading Matilda, by Roald Dahl and discovering a world of magical surprises.
In first grade math, students have been working on balancing equations, solving addition and subtraction word problems, and identifying whether equations are true or false. Second graders have been working on understanding place value of three digit numbers.
Literacy has continued to be quite a favorite for our class this year! We are devouring books and working hard at increasing our reading levels and comprehension. Students are working together during partner reading, showing kindness and support to each other as we practice what good partners do. Students have also been turning some focus onto spelling, both through spelling groups with different learning targets based on what skill each student needs to boost. We have also added a new literacy station called Word Work where students use their sight word books to quiz each other on the spelling of sight words they have mastered reading.
With so much going on and a break coming up we are excited as we continue to grow as learners and enjoy these cold months together!
Best,
Caitlin
Winter Wellness
Four Winds
Air
Friday, 9/20/19
Hello first and second grade families!
We had another great week of learning and fun! We are settling down into our routines and getting to know our systems. We have begun talking about what makes a "best fit book" for adding to book boxes. We have done read alouds (Elmer, by David McKee and Jamaica and Brianna, by Juanita Havill). We discussed and wrote about the lessons in these stories. We have been working on neat, lowercase letters in handwriting. We gathered apples from the playground and learned how to press cider. We ended our week enjoying the sweet cider together in the sunshine!
Be on the look out for a permission slip for our All School Outing in Hubbard Park! It went home in folders and back packs this afternoon.
Upcoming Events:
September 25 - Open House (5:30-6:30)
September 27 - All School Outing
I hope you all enjoy the weekend!
-Caitlin
Friday, 9-6-19
Hello 1st and 2nd grade families! I hope the first two weeks have treated you all well, though I imagine many may have felt tired as we are adjusting to the school schedule. It will become easier as we increase our stamina in the weeks to come. We have been busy getting to know each other and learning all about how to take care of our classroom space.
This week we started "shopping" for books to fill our new book boxes and have been really enjoying time to read to ourselves. We watched one of our monarch butterflies hatch live and projected onto our Smart Board. We released it out in the rock garden that afternoon! It was very exciting!
Next week we will be beginning work in our handwriting books and start writing Small Moment writing pieces. We will be having group discussions about class norms and expectations as we continue to come together as a class team.
Upcoming Events!
September 9 - Picture Day! (10:30 AM)
September 18 - Instrument Rental Night, 5:00-6:15pm in Rumney Gym (Also Board Meeting at Doty, 6:30pm)
September 24 - All School Meeting 9:05-9:35
September 25 - Open House, 5:30-6:30pm
September 26 - Kindergarten Screening Day
September 27 - All-School Outing
Thank you for all you do to support these young learners! I hope you all have a lovely weekend! - Caitlin