End of the year!

Dear Parents,

   I cannot believe how quickly this school year has gone by. I feel like it was just yesterday that we started school. I have truly enjoyed being your child's teacher. I have seen them all grow and strive to be the best they can be. We have had a great year together. Thank you, for all of your help and support throughout the year. I want to wish you all a happy and safe summer!

Field Trips:
On Tuesday, we went to Katydid Farm. We met Tigger, Mrs. Gebhard's horse and had a chance to see her ride.  On Thursday, we went the New England Aquarium. We toured the aquarium and had an opportunity to touch sting rays in the new touching pool. Below are some photos.

New England Aquarium

Mrs. Gebhard with Tigger

At the farm 

Feeding the horse

Tigger and the kids

Tigger being fed carrots

Group photo

Thank you to all of the parents who joined us on both of these trips. 

Looking Ahead:

On Monday, we have field day from 9:00 - 10:00, at lunch time we will have a picnic with our fourth grade buddies. On Tuesday, we have our class picnic at the Gebhard home. The picnic will begin at 10:30. If you would like to help drive students to the picnic please let me know and arrive at school at 10:15. All are welcome, the picnic will end at 1:30. If you are unable to attend the picnic, please do not worry. Your child will be dismissed from school at 3:00 on that day, email me with any questions or concerns.

Warmly,

Kristina Tomkinson

Bookworm 2011 Video

Week in Review!

Dear Parents,

      On Monday, we met in our constellations. Each student received a copy of the Friendly Falcon. Students from grades K- 5 each submitted a piece of poetry that would be included in the anthology.

     On Wednesday, we enjoyed a wonderful performance of Beauty and the Beast by the 7th and 8th graders.

     We are finishing up our unit on Fish, students have been hard at working researching and writing about the fish they chose. In math, we are reviewing key concepts from 1st grade. The homework I have been sending home this week is all a review.

     On Friday, we had a special performance from the group Rhythm Room. In the morning we attended "drum boot camp". Students had an opportunity to play the drums, hand drums and make music with plastic buckets. In the afternoon we enjoyed an all school performance on the Beech Tree Terrace.

Treasure Box: Mrs. Gebhard was our mystery guest, she shared a horse shoe with us that was once on her horse Tigger. She shared many important facts and information about horses. We are very excited for our trip on Tuesday. 

Mrs. Gebhard with Tigger's  Horseshoe

Reminders:

• If you have not already ordered your Amicus order forms are available on the school website. 
• Tuesday May 31 - trip to Katydid Farm 
• Thursday June 2 - field trip to New England Aquarium
• Class Picnic will be held on Tuesday June 7th (last day of school) at the Gebhard household. Report to school first. 

Have a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend! 

Kristina Tomkinson

BOOKWORM!

 Dear Parents,

        Hooray! The first grade Bookworm has already reached the Commons. You should be very proud of your child for all of the reading they have done. Today's Bookworm Celebration was fantastic. Thank you to all the parents who made the day a success.

BOOKWORM  cupcakes

         On Monday, we met with our fourth grade buddies to count Bookworm links. We ended with a grand total of 2,450 Bookworm links.

        We had some egg-citing news this week. Eighteen Guinea Hens have finally hatched and they are we the highlight of our week. First grade spent Thursday's Science period holding and caring for these young hens.

    



       In math this week we finished Unit 9 Fractions and we will begin Unit 10, a review of counting coins, telling time and making change. These are a few skills that first graders should continue to work on over the summer.

Have a great weekend!


Kristina

What's New This Week...

Dear Parents,

On Monday we met with our fourth grade partners. Each first grade student chose the fish they would like to study and their partner helped them create an outline. Later in the week students stuffed their fish with paper scrapes to create a 3-D replica of the fish they are studying. Below you can see a picture of our classroom bulletin board. 

3-D  Fish

In math this week we started Unit 9, the focus of this unit is place value, number grids, weight, fractions and decimals. Students solved number grid puzzles, they used a number grid to move up, down by 10's and across by 1's. Partners used animal cards to make up and solve number stories to practice two-digit addition and subtraction. Students also played the Number Grid game, see pictures below. 

Our BOOKWORM celebration is a week away. This year's theme is books and poetry, we chose this theme because our first graders have truly enjoyed reading books and poetry this year. Mrs. Fletcher and I have chosen a small collection of poems and have assigned each child a part. Please practice at home over the weekend in preparation for Friday. Thank you in advance for all of your help.


FIELD TRIP - On Thursday, June 2, 2011 we will be heading to the New England Aquarium. I am still looking for a few chaperones. If you are interested let me know as soon as possible. 


Treasure Box: Mrs. Reimer was our mystery guest this week and she shared her reflex hammer with us and tested our knees to ensure we have good reflexes. Thank you Mrs. Reimer!

Have a great weekend!
Kristina Tomkinson

Grandfriends' Day

Dear Parents, 

     The sound of young actors and actresses filled the air this week as we rehearsed and finally performed our Fable plays for our Grandfriends. We also created our own version of The Important Book. Each child wrote an important thing about their Grandfriends. Finally, we entertained our guests with a performance in the Commons. Below you will find three videos of the fable plays performed during our rehearsal on Thursday. We hope you enjoy watching them. 

REMINDER: All library books will be due in the library on Friday, May 20th. 

The Hare and the Tortoise

The Bad Kangaroo

The Goose Who Laid the Golden Eggs

This week...

Dear Parents,
    
      We had a very eventful week. On Monday, we met with our fourth grade buddies and created curly fish.

Curly fish

On Thursday, we attended a presentation by the New Bedford Symphony, below you can view a video of our presenters playing the song Trout. We learned about different types of form (rhythm and repetition) and how it relates to the music we hear. 

Students have selected an Aesop fable that they would like to perform during Grandfriends' Day. Your child has taken home a script; please help them practice during the coming week.  Reminder: On Grandfriends' Day there will be 12:00 dismissal and No After School Program.

In Math this week, students have been practicing making change; we created a mock school store so that students could practice this skill. We also began studying fraction halves, fourths and thirds. 

Treasure Box: Our mystery guest this week was Mr. Rodin. He shared his biking helmet with us. Ask your child why Mr. Rodin's helmet is special to him.

Class Picnic: Our class picnic will be held on Monday, June 6th following Field Day. Mrs. Gebhard has graciously volunteered to host this fun end of the year event. All families are invited! 

Arts & Poetry Night was a big success. Thank you for joining us!

Warmly, Kristina Tomkinson

Happy Earth Day!

Earth Day is Friday, April 22. This week students brainstormed ideas for helping keep our earth a healthy place to live. 1st grade decided that they would REDUCE, REUSE and RECYCLE.

On Wednesday, April 27 during All School Meeting we will share our class pledge, then parade to the garden and place our flags around the school garden. Join us if you can.

Earth Day flag

Math 

This week in Math students explored a one dollar bill and played the game One Dollar Exchange. Directions on how to play this game are in your child's Blue Folder.

Have a great weekend and 

Happy Easter !

Kristina Tomkinson