May Newsletter

Greene Gazette

May  2016                       c.greene@hwschools.net

Language Arts: We will be writing friendly letters to students from my daughter Lucy’s first grade class in Bradford, MA. The children will each be paired up with a first grader from Lucy’s class and we will exchange some letters and drawings back and forth.  Folktales and Fairy tales: We are having so much fun exploring different tales and looking at several versions of each tale as we compare illustrations styles and story content. The children have been so engaged in this process. We have created a large chart of all the traits we are noticing in each of the tales we read. We are talking about characters in each tale, the place/setting of the tale, morals and lessons to be learned, problems and solutions. We are of course including many opportunities for art into our genre study. The children have each selected a favorite tale and made a complete puppet set, background “place” mural drawings, and large character drawings.  We look forward to sharing these projects with you during our family picninc on June 1 from 4-6 here at Cutler. We will also be welcoming a puppeteer on that afternoon.

Math: This unit we have spent time comparing 2 digit numbers using greater than and less than symbols and putting groups of numbers in order from least to greatest. We are looking closely at specific number patterns on the 100 chart and we continue to practice using coins and base ten blocks to represent a variety of numbers. Science:  This week we planted green bean and sunflower seeds. We have created a special flip book to record our observations in over the next few weeks as we care for our growing seedlings. The children will learn the functions of the plant seed, roots, stem, and leaves. We have a large basket of fiction and nonfiction literature on the topic of all things plant related. The week we sprouted our own mushrooms in the classroom from a kit that Helen donated. We are enjoying watching them grow.

Parent information: Wednesday June 1st First Grade Family Picnic 4:00-6:00. Bring a blanket and picnic dinner for your family, celebrate our year of literacy learning as you see your child’s bookmaking collection, and browse our read aloud books. Puppeteer performance by “Lindsay and her Puppet Pals”  from 5-6. DeCordova Sculpture Garden Field Trip in Lincoln, MA.  June 3th from 9:00-1:30. Parents are invited to join us and work with a small group of children as they explore the grounds and sketch a variety of sculptures. Picnic lunch outdoors on the museum grounds. All parents are welcome to attend, (no siblings) you will be able to follow the bus to the museum. Please be advised that parent volunteers for field trips now need to be finger printed. Sincerely, Mrs. Greene