Homework for the Multi-Age Students

 As our homework policy dictates, grade one students should work on homework for 10 minutes each night and grade two for 20 minutes. To help your child continue their lifelong habits and encourage responsibilty, we have homework charts in each homeroom.
 As each child hands in work on time, he/she marks his/her name and takes an ice cream card. After collecting 10, the cards can be redeemed for an ice-cream, snack, or prize from the prize box.
 If your child forgets to complete,or misplaces the homework, please encourage him/her to see their homeroom teacher immediately.

 We hope this helps your child establish those important homework habits, and please contact us if you have any concerns or questions. Thank you for your continued support!

October

October conferences are here.  Don'f forget to call the school to sign up for a conference with your child's homeroom teacher.

Math- When working on math homework with your child, please take advantage of the online resource available.  A few weeks ago, we sent home a paper  with your child's username and password to access the online handbook.  There was a technical glitch with accessing it until now so if you tried it once and were unable to get to the handbook please try again. It is very helpful in seeing how your child should be working on their math papers. 

Reading- Students are practicing using all their strategies to solve words that trick them and are working on responding to the books they read. Some respond verbally and some in writing.  Books for reading practice have started to be sent home.  Enjoy this curl up time with your child.

Writing- Students are working on gathering ideas for writing personal narratives and working on rough drafts. They have recently made a "map of their hearts" to shows what is special to them and to give them ideas of what they can write about for their personal narratives.

Social Studies- The class has been exploring where they are in the world, country, state, town and community. We have been discussing what good citizenship looks like.

Second graders have begun their word study.  They will be working on 5-10 words at a time. The words are picked from the second grade word list as well as frequently misspelled words in their writing.  They will bring home the list they are working on to practice at home and will also be practicing them in class.

We are looking for some parent volunteers to help in the classroom room during our center time. If you are able to come in, please send us an email so we can set up a schedule. 

SEPTEMBER

SEEDS GROW

We are finishing up our first Science unit about seeds.  We have been fortunate enough to explore this topic right outside our classroom in our school community garden. The students got to be a part of the process from begining to end. They planted the garden last school year, took care of it and observed it grow.  They were able to partake in reaping the rewards today in our harvest lunch.

We will be looking forward skyping with the agricultural students at Wamogo about our seed study and continuing our contact with them for other topics.

Our next study will be a Social Studies theme of ourselves in our communities.

In Math students have been introduced to coins and telling time to the hour. Its a good opportunity for you to draw their attention to it at home with your digital and analog clocks. All students are practicing good counting and some comparing of numbers.

Students have starting reading from their individual bins with books that are just right for their reading level as well as a few books they have picked based on interest. We can tell many students have been reading and enjoying books throughout the summer and they are very excited when they explore our classroom library. Thank you for continuing to encourage a joy and love of reading.

 The students have been working on building their writing stamina and will be discusing how to choose ideas to write about. They have been putting together their writing binders with resources and materials. Thank you again for sending in all those wonderful materials.

We have started handwriting practice called "handwriting without tears." Students are writing (and building) some perfect letters!

HELP NEEDED!

We are lucky enough to have MANY books for our classroom library, but we need help organizing them.  If you have any time you could volunteer to help sort and label books please contact us. We will be using volunteers in the classroom soon.

Visiting our Classroom

It is important for parents to be able to visit our classroom and meet with the teachers.  If you are planning on coming into our rooms during the school day, please plan it in advance so our attention is not drawn away from the students and please check in at the office before you come down.  You are forewarned, if do stop by, you will most likely be put to work.

Return of the one room schoolhouse? The Republican-American

Return of the one room schoolhouse? The Republican-American

The new adventure of our grade one and two multi-age class has begun! The students have been amazing! They are learning how to navigate their way through our classroom and our day.  We look the same but our rooms have changed a lot. Our building maintenance staff have worked very hard this summer.  The much anticipated walkway between two of the rooms is now open and our two rooms are now one.


Some reminders:

Don't forget to send in a small healthy snack for students to have in the morning.
Plan with your child what they will be having for lunch. Will they be buying lunch or ordering from cafeteria.   Please send in lunch money in an envelope or reusable ziplock bag that is marked with their name on it.
 A water bottle for students to use in the classroom is very helpful and can be brought home each night to be cleaned and filled for the next day.

***Reporter from Republican-American will be visiting our class tomorrow to take some photos for an article on our multi-age program.  If you do not want your child to be photographed please be sure to send in a note tomorrow. *****


Amazing multi-age work this week:
 We had our first reading and writing workshop today and we were thrilled to see the reading and writing behaviors that were demonstrated! Any person walking into our rooms would have been unable to distinguish at a glance who was a first grader and who was a second grader. The second graders already knew what was expected of them and got right to work. The first graders just naturally followed their example.  During writing time, the team witnessed an interaction between a first grader and second grader. One was stuck on what to write about and with out missing a beat the other student quietly turned and asked questions exactly as the teacher would and with in 1 and half minutes the student who was stuck was on track with an idea and went right to work. Its the second day of school and we have hit the ground running.

Remember they will be very tired for the first month of school as they make the adjustment back.  An early bedtime and some fun unwinding at home will help. Please let us know if you have any questions or we can help in any way.

Specials Schedule

First grade:                               Second grade:

Monday- Library                        Monday-P.E. **

Tuesday- P.E.**                        Tuesday- Art***

Wednesday- Art***                    Wednesday- Music

Thursday- Music                       Thursday- Health**

Friday- Health**                        Friday- Spanish

Nuts and Bolts

Celebrating Birthdays in the Multi-Age Setting
Your child will celebrate his/her birthday at the end of the day in his/her homeroom. Since there are only 14 children, you can send in a snack for the smaller group and the teacher( if you'd like).
Just contact the homeroom teacher the day before you intend to send the snack, and we will take it from there.

Supplies
 Looking ahead to fall, the multi-age team has compiled a list of supplies each student will need for this school year. We wanted to send this list early for all you great bargain hunters!

Please send in the following items for the 2011-2012 school year:

One white 1 ½” binder-with a plastic overlay

One package of dividers(8) for the binder

One box of # 2 pencils-standard(Ticonderoga)

One 8 pack of washable markers(Crayola)

4-6 glue sticks

One 16 count box of Crayola crayons           

Specials Schedule

First grade:                               Second grade:

Monday- Library                        Monday-P.E. **

Tuesday- P.E.**                        Tuesday- Art***

Wednesday- Art***                    Wednesday- Music

Thursday- Music                       Thursday- Health**

Friday- Health**                        Friday- Spanish

**Sneakers are required for P.E. and Health class-you may store a pair at school with your child’s name on it.           

***A smock or an over-sized shirt is needed for Art class. Please label it with your child’s name.

We look forward to starting our school year on August 31st!

Our first 1-2 multiage post

Starting in the Fall of 2011, the first and second grade classes at James Morris School will be combined in a multiage class taught by three classroom teachers.                                                 

We recently held a well attended parent information night. The team would like to thank all the parents who took the time to come out and listen to our plans for next year. We had a productive two hour discussion on the program and truly appreciated the questions and feedback from the community. 

What will it look like?

Three teachers will be teaching both grades one and two.  Each teacher will have a homeroom of approximately 14 students of mixed ages.  The homeroom teacher will fill out their homeroom students’ report cards and can be the contact person for those 14 students, with the input from all three teachers. The three teachers will be teaching all of the students in all subject areas. Instruction will take place in whole groups, small groups and individually. Students will be assigned a homeroom, but will also be moving among three classrooms.

How will my child know where to go? Will they get confused, scared or lost in the shuffle?

We will be using three rooms. Two of the rooms will be joined by a large walkway/opening. The third room will be directly across the hall.  At this time, we are looking at using the present rooms of Ms.Phelan, Mrs.  Layman, and Mrs.Birdsall. Students will not be moving randomly.  All movement will be very structured and controlled to eliminate wasting time in transition.  An added bonus is that we made sure we had a bathroom in our room.

What curriculum will my child get?

When I started looking at how to explain this set up to parents and answering questions about how the curriculum will work, I realized that I needed to explain how all classrooms work. 

                Any given classroom can, and often has,  students with the level span of 2-3 grades.  Just like any other year, this year in kindergarten I am teaching a class that has a student that reads and comprehends on a second grade level and a student that is struggling to recall the letters in the alphabet. This is not unusual, it is typical.

How have we been teaching this wide of a span?  We differentiate their curriculum.  

We use assessments to determine what level each student is in different curriculum areas and then structure their lessons to meet them at their level.  We will teach whole group lessons that pertain to everyone, and we will teach small group lessons and individuals for specific levels, skills, and needs.  For example, in reading, we will teach a whole group lesson on how to do a character study, then as students work independently, the three teachers may work in small groups of various levels to go more in depth or to review and assist. In other words, students will be working at their level.  We call these groupings flexible groups because we move the students in and out of different groups based on what projects, skills, or needs are being addressed. As students progress and needs change, groupings can and do change. Students will not be "tracked." They will be continually assessed and monitored.

We will be using the current first and second grade curriculum. Therefore the students of second grade age will still be acquiring what they will need to move on to the third grade curriculum and will be receiving the same preparation for CMTs.  Social Studies and Science units will be presented on a two year cycle so students will not be repeating topics.  

This model is designed to meet all children at their level whether they need more review or more enrichment.

The newest research for what the 21^st century learner needs involve collaborative working skills, problem solving skills, and strong social skills. The multiage classroom model builds a strength in all of those areas. 

Will there be a distinction between first and second graders?

The answer is yes and no.

Why "yes"
* Second grade age children will have special privileges such as being team leaders for projects.  The first graders will look forward to this as a rite of passage.
*  Second grade age students will have responsibilities such as being good role models for the younger children.
*  Students will go to specials (P.E., Art, etc.) separately as one first grade class and as one second grade class.  This is designed to allow the classroom teachers to have a common planning time.
*  In Science and Social Studies, we'll work on common themes together as a whole learning community.  The second graders will be expected to perform at a more advanced level than they did in first grade.

Why "no"
* All first and second grade students will have all three teachers.
* All first and second grade students will be a part of a combined learning community.
* Students will receive instruction based on their individual needs, and be appropriately challenged.