Fall Festival Fun!

Fall Festival
A BIG thank you to our parents who volunteered to help us at our Fall Festival. We had a fantastic fall morning celebrating the Autumn season! Another thank you to our families who donated materials for our event. Check out some pictures of our festival below!

READO Boards
November READO boards will go home next week. Students who choose to complete the board by the end of the month will receive a prize. Your first grade may require some assistance in completing the tasks on the board. November boards must be completed and returned to school by Monday, November 30th for students to receive a prize.

Library Volunteers
The Pine Glen Library is looking for volunteers! For more information or to sign up, please contact Miss Carney at (781) 221-7798 or email mcarney@bpsk12.org.

Talking Tidbits:

• Halloween Sing-A-Long
• Fall Festival Fun!
• Using ASK (Appropriate/Safe/Kind) Behavior to earn “Hoots!” at Pine Glen
• Meeting Scout the owl!

Fall Festival Fun!

Monster Mash Freeze Dance!

Homework Is Here!

Homework
Our first week of homework was successful! A reminder that Homework Folders go home on Mondays and are due back on Fridays. Please leave their reading corp chart in their blue folder. If your child reads over the weekend, you may record it when the folder comes home on Monday. This makes it easier for us to track our progress on becoming Five Star Generals. If you have any questions regarding homework, please let me know.

Please Note:

Reading corps should be filled out with the date read and parent initials. Each box is 15 minutes, so if there was 30+ minutes of reading one day, 2+ boxes can be filled with the same date. Thank you!

Example:

10/19 MM	10/20 MM	10/21 MM	10/21 MM	10/22 MM

Writing
This week we began writing about our experience in StarLab. We learned that when authors write about something that happened to them, it is called Narrative Writing. We discussed features of a great narrative then we wrote about our StarLab experience in order. We first wrote the beginning, then the middle, and moved on to the end. Our narratives were typed, and then we edited our work to see if we could find any corrections or if we could add any extra details! Be on the lookout for your child’s rough drafts and graphic organizers of this writing project. They will be sent home in the coming week. Next week we will finish publishing these wonderful narratives!

Fall Festival
A reminder that next Friday is our Fall Festival. First graders may bring in their pumpkins and paper towel rolls beginning on Monday, October 26th. Students are also invited to bring in a special fall snack on Friday to enjoy during our event. Thank you to families who helped us by donating items and thank you to our volunteers! We are looking forward to some fall fun!

Crazy Hat Day!
The PG Student Council is also hosting a Crazy Hat Day on Friday, October 30th.

October READO Boards
This is the last week to turn in October READO Boards, which are due by October 30th. READOs are not required but are strongly recommended. They can help to build independent reading routines at home, plus - they’re fun! :) Be on the lookout for a November READO Board coming home soon!

Talking Tidbits:

• Digraphs in phonics
• Starlab Narrative Publishing
• Stories about Subtraction
• “Expanding our Horizons” in library
• What we’ve been learning in Reading Groups

An All-STAR Week! :)

Writing & Science
This week was a very exciting week in first grade. Mr. Musselman from the science center visited our school with the Burlington Science Center’s “Star Lab”. To prepare for this exciting event, first graders were given research notebooks and researched all about the sun. We discussed what researchers do, brainstormed facts we thought we already knew about the sun, and then explored the topic further by reading and exploring some nonfiction books on the sun from the Pine Glen Library. We even wore special "research glasses" :)

When Mr. Musselman got here, we were so excited to venture into the Star Lab and learn even more about the stars and planets! We learned about all kinds of constellations such as the Big and Little Dippers, Orion the Hunter, Sirius the Dog, Queen Cassiopeia and more! We had a blast!

After Star Lab, we began writing about our experience. We spent time sketching pictures to help us remember the beginning, middle and end of our morning under the stars. Next week, we will work on turning those sketches into a Narrative Writing story with lots of interesting details!

Don’t Forget!
Next week is Elaine Babajtis’s retirement celebration on October 21st at 3:00pm! If you plan on attending, please RSVP to Mrs. Gordon at gordon@bpsk12.org

Homework!
Homework will begin on Monday. Your first grader’s homework folder will go home on Monday and should be returned to school on Friday. An overview of assignments will be included in the folder. A reminder that there are four components to first grade homework:

• Reading - Every night for at least 15 minutes. (Please leave Reading Corp slips in the blue folder)
• EnVision Math Sheet
• Journal
• ST Math

If you have any questions or trouble with homework, just ask!



Talking Tidbits

• Starlab!
• What good researchers do
• The sun
• CVC words
• Subtracting in math
• Strategies to solve math facts (punch it out, count on, count back, draw a picture)

Octo-Burrr Is Here!

Recess
As the weather starts to get cooler, please be sure your first grader is prepared for outdoor recess! :)

Starlab!
On Wednesday, October 14th, first grade will have a pajama day and will spend their morning exploring the stars in Burlington Science Center’s “Star Lab”! Even though we will be cozy in our pajamas, please be sure students have appropriate footwear for outdoor recess.

Math Time!
First graders began Topic 2 of our math program EnVision. This topic focuses on subtraction. When possible, use the math resources sent home last week to help support your child at home.

Reado Boards
Have some reading fun and help your child complete their October READO board. Students may bring in completed boards before the end of the month to receive a special prize!

Fall Festival
First grade will have a Fall Festival on Friday, October 30th. A notice was sent home this week in your child’s green folder. If you would like to volunteer for this event, please let me know. Be sure you have a CORI on file and that you have attended a Confidentiality Meeting.

Library
In Library this week, Miss Carney gave us a tour of the library. Each first grader was challenged to “branch out” and find a new book, character, or author to check out. As a class we discussed trying something new whether it be trying a new food, a new game, or a new book! We talked about how new things can make us feel all sorts of things-- scared, nervous, excited! In the next few weeks we will continue to encourage first graders to step outside their comfort zones and try some new kinds of books. Please remember that if your child checks out a book that they cannot read independently, it is okay to read it to them! Most importantly, we want to foster a love of reading and literacy. It is our hope that by asking first graders to try some new things, they made find new genres and authors they enjoy in addition to those books they already know and love.

Writing & Science
This week in writing we finished publishing and shared our All About Me books. We went outside and did an "All About Me Scoot" where we shared our books with multiple partners! We practiced being good listeners, asking questions to make our authors think, and giving compliments to make our authors proud. Check our some pictures of our "scoot" below! Next week we will begin researching about the sun to prepare for Starlab with Mr. Musselman. Writers will use a research notebook and learn to take notes to organize their information.

All About Me SCOOT!

Have a great long weekend!