Winter Solstice Celebration!

 Winter solstice is an astronomical phenomenon which marks the shortest day and the longest night of the year. Winter solstice occurs for the Northern Hemisphere in December. We will celebrate this phenomenon on December 23rd with a read-in. I've ask the boys and girls to bring in a flashlight, a small blanket, some favorite books and a small stuffed animal (if they choose). We will darken the room and read our favorite books by flashlight.
Here is an explanation about the

Winter Solstice

Winter solstice facts for kids 

December Gingerbread Happenings!

Next Monday we will have our Holiday Party at snack time. Thanks to all the parents who have agreed to donate the gingerbread men and decorating goodies. Pictures of our fun event will be added after the party.
Remember, the party is for the children only!

Hope you enjoy the story!
The Gingerbread man story

December

                                                            Welcome December!
(click above)

 December is here already? It is hard to believe!! I have attached a couple of Thanksgiving Feast pictures. Thanks so much for all of the goodies you sent in. We had a grand time!
Also, please read my updated newsletter found on the left side of the blog. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. I look forward to seeing you all soon at our conferences!

We feasted in Mrs. York's room.

We gave each other placemats.

Thanks to Lauren and her family for taking such good care of our frog over Thanksgiving!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

 Click below for songs:                                   Click below for story:
 Thanksgiving songs for children                 A Turkey for Thanksgiving

I would like to wish all of you a wonderful Thanksgiving! We were busy in our room creating our Thankful Turkey. Your children were thankful for you, siblings, pets and teachers to name a few. We really enjoyed creating our turkey. They seem to really appreciate the important things in life! I hope you all have a enjoyable and restful Thanksgiving break.

                                  

Thanksgiving question?

Technology Standard: Demonstrates the ability to use technology for research, critical thinking, problem solving, decision making, communication, collaboration, creativity and innovation.

Created with Padlet

Happy Veteran's Day

I hope you all have a wonderful Veteran's Day. I wanted to share the cards we made for our Veterans. We gave them to Mrs. Walker who dropped them off to the VFW. The children were very excited to thank our Veterans.


1.16. Learning Standards: United States Leaders, Symbols, Events, and Holidays: Give reasons for celebrating the events or people commemorated in national and Massachusetts holidays. On a calendar for the current year, identify the months for Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans' Day, Thanksgiving, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Presidents' Day, Patriots' Day, Memorial Day, Flag Day, and Independence Day. (H, C, G) 30
Suggested Titles for Massachusetts Social Studies State Standard 1.16.

From Adam

From Lidia

From Madeline


 Please take a minute to watch the video "Veteran's Day at Sea Park" .

Veteran's day at Sea Park





 

November has arrived

Hello All,

November has arrived. Please check out the latest newsletter on the side of my blog.
You will also receive a hard copy home on Monday. Please remember to check this blog regularly. You can do so by going to the Cole School Webpage and clicking on
Grades - First Grade - Mrs. Suther.
Here is the link!
Harry Lee Cole School

We had a lot of fun on Halloween. Thanks to everyone for coming to our Open House. We had a great time showing you around our classroom. Our Sing-a-long was a big hit as well. We love singing Halloween songs! Also, we hope you enjoyed the Halloween Parade. We looked awesome in our costumes, didn't we! Finally, thanks for all the yummy snacks you sent in for our party. It was a great way to kick off a fun filled day.

Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure! Lidia, Ryan, Chester and Alex making Jack-o-lanterns at abcya.com
abcya


These are great eyes!

I like these spooky eyes!

Do you like this scary mouth?



Star glasses are a nice touch!





 

Boo!

"I'm so happy that Halloween falls on a Wednesday this year!" said no teacher ever.

 ~Author Unknown

A Very Busy October 31st!

Hello Parents,

Just a reminder that we have a busy last week of October coming up.
We will start our day with an Open House on Friday ~ October 31st from 8:10-8:40. All parents are invited, please bring your child with you.
At 9:30 we will have our annual Halloween Parade which parents can watch from outside in front of Cole School.
We will have our Class Party following the parade. Please send in any party items by 9:30 on the 31st. Thanks so much for your donations. The party is for the students only.
Finally remember the 31st will be an Early Release day at 1:15.


We have been very busy learning about Fact Families. Please enjoy Lauren and Madie showing what they know about fact families.

1.OA.C.6

Operations & Algebraic Thinking

Add and subtract within 20.

6. Add and subtract within 20, demonstrating fluency for addition and subtraction within 10. Use strategies such as counting on; making ten (e.g., 8 + 6 = 8 + 2 + 4 = 10 + 4 = 14); decomposing a number leading to a ten (e.g., 13 – 4 = 13 – 3 – 1 = 10 – 1 = 9); using the relationship between addition and subtraction (e.g., knowing that 8 + 4 = 12, one knows 12 – 8 = 4); and creating equivalent but easier or known sums (e.g., adding 6 + 7 by creating the known equivalent 6 + 6 + 1 = 12 + 1 = 13).

 

Cole Kingdom Fun!

 Marcus, Joey, Adam, Cole, David, Isabella, Madeline and Brynja are enjoying Cole Kingdom!

We like to climb .            

I can climb high!



We are enjoying recess time!

I like to swing.

"Play gives children a chance to practice what they are learning."

Fred Rogers 

American television personality

1928-2003



I am hanging on tightly!



Here I come down the slide....what fun!

Sad News

                                                           

Hello parents,
I just wanted to let you know that my mother passed away on October 4, 2014. She came to live with me after my father passed away on May 8, 2014. The boys and girls have been asking me why I have been out of school. I was absent on October 2nd and 3rd and then again on October 10th and 14th. I have not told them because I don't want them to worry about such things. However, I thought you might like to know as it is unusual for me to be out of school. My parents lived wonderful lives into their eighties and for that I can celebrate. However, it is sad and I do miss them.
I am back in school today.
Thank you,
Kim

Our Field Experience

Yesterday we had a great day to explore the habitats for animals living right in our backyard.
We explored the FIELD and had a lot of fun with our nets catching the little critters that live in the field. One group caught a snake!

We love to journal.

We learned lots of information in the FOREST and looked for berries and mushrooms. We saw many leaves and learned how to figure out how old a Pine tree is.

At the WETLANDS we learned all about the beavers and how they make their lodges. Some of us even got to dress up as a beaver.
It was a great day and we look forward to our next field experience in the winter.

October News

                                                       

Welcome to October! It was great to see so many of you at Open House.

It is hard to believe that we are already into a new month. Our transition to first grade has been good. We are getting the routines and expectations of first grade established and for the most part are successful. We are still working on talking out.

Our bathroom procedure is such that the girls and boys have passes. When they leave the room, they must put a pass on their desk. I will restrict the “abusers” so if your child has a legitimate reason to use the bathroom more frequently, I would appreciate a note. Otherwise, I will hold them to typical standards.

We have new October seats. This is very exciting and they have new partners with whom to work. Each month, we will rearrange our desk to give us an opportunity to work with a different partner. However, there are plenty of times during the month where your child is able to choose a partner other than the October partner.

In September, we studied the genre "Animal Fantasy". Ask your child the following essential question:
"In  what ways do the animal characters act like humans?" They should be very good at answering that essential question!

Children are still coming to school unsure of the lunch choices. This is an independent responsibility they have in the morning so I would appreciate your acquainting your child with the delicacies available.

I will send out the reader volunteer schedule by the end of the week, if you volunteered and do not receive one please let me know. Also, our room parents are Elizabeth Palmer and Jessica Schoonmaker. Thank you ladies and all our readers! Don’t forget to do a CORI if needed.

I have attached an updated class list. This is the only information we are able to pass along. Remember, unless all the boys or all the girls are invited to a party, please mail invitations.

We will start our “Student of the Week” next week. Please read the flyer introducing the “Student of the Week” activity. Thanks so much! FYI- we won’t have one every week.

We had our Audubon field experience Monday. We had a great time. Watch for my next blog with pictures and videos! Also, I will have an Open House on October 31^st from 8:10-8:40. This will be an opportunity for your child to show you around the room and for you to see his/her work to date.

More information about Halloween festivities will be forthcoming.

You have done a terrific job with the supplies. The only thing I need at the moment are 2 gallon zip lock bags and baby wipes. So thanks for your generosity!

Don’t forget a great place to get information is at the Cole website.  The address is: http://www.tritownschoolunion.com/harry-lee-cole

I am really enjoying your children and I am very excited about our first grade year. As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please call me at x - 5108 or jot me a note.

Thank You!

Hello Parents and Happy Fall!
I would just like to thank all of you for your generous donations. We have received a lot of snacks and 1 gallon bags, as well as many pencils and other writing materials. I would say that we are all set on those items for a while.
If, however, you didn't make a donation and would like to do so, we are in need of tissues (soft) and 2 gallon zip-lock bags. We really appreciate all the donations! You are a very generous group!!

Also, I would like to thank you all for attending our Parent Open House on the 17th. It was great to see so many of you there. It is always a good opportunity to get a better understanding of our day and the expectations of First Grade. However, if you were unable to attend or have questions that I didn't answer, please feel free to email me or leave me a message at x-5108. I will return your message as soon as possible. ( As I stated at Open House....if more than a day goes by and you haven't heard from me....please resend as we may have experienced a technical glitch.)

Brian likes to end his blog with a quote.....I, on the other hand, like to end mine with a joke:

Here goes:

If you had 8 apples in one hand and 5 apples in the other, what would you have?
(Really big hands!)

(FYI ~ many of you have started on IXL.....good job. Here is the link to the Cole School Portal.)Cole School Portal

September Newsletter

Dear Parents,

Welcome to First Grade!  I hope you all had a terrific summer, I sure did. I would like to let you know about a few things now, but most of the information about first grade I’ll give to you at the First Grade Open House on September 16th (watch for info). You can check out the Cole School website here:Cole School Website

Our Specialist schedule:

Art– Day 1 with Mrs. Dalton

Computer – Day 2 with Mrs. Suther
Early Library - Day 2 with Mrs. Patch

Music– Day 3 with Mr. Turner

Library – Days 4 with Mrs. Patch

STEM – Day 5 with Mrs. Wainwright

Physical Education – Day 6 with Mr. Aho/ Mr. Tolios

                  

First of all, I would like to welcome a new student to our class. Her name is Madigan and she is from Long Island NY. Welcome Madi!

The children should bring their art smock to school on Day 1 as we will not keep them in school. Also, please remember to have the children bring their library books on Day 4 and wear their sneakers on Day 6.

On the first day of school you will receive a red folder.  I am strongly suggesting that this folder be utilized as a “school to home to school” folder. I believe that this will help us to stay organized. Please read the papers you receive in the folder and return the appropriate forms to me as soon as possible. Please check your child’s bus tag, add the appropriate bus number and secure it to his/her backpack. Also, please check your child’s folder daily. 

I will have volunteers in the classroom, however, we were asked to not start volunteers until mid- October, so we can discuss the opportunities at the Open House.

Lastly, we will eat a morning snack in class.  I am allowing juice/water/milk at snack time. Please let your child know that one snack is sufficient at snack time. We have no known allergies in our classroom at the present time. Lunch is at 12:20 so a mid-morning snack will hold them until then. Also, if your child wants to bring a water bottle to school to be kept in the backpack (so it must be leak proof) he/she may do that. However, there is a working water fountain in the classroom. I am asking for initial donations to the snack basket. Then, should your child forget a snack, he/she may choose from the basket. The following day, your child should replace the snack taken. (It does not have to be the exact same snack, just another healthy choice.)

The children do not need to bring in individual supplies but I am asking for donations for general classroom supplies. 

They are: dry erase markers, #2 Ticonderoga pencils, non-bleach wet wipes, one and two gallon zip-lock bags, scotch tape and white envelopes.

I look forward to seeing you all at our Open House. If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to call me (ext. 5108). 

Also, please take note of the pages along the side of my blog. Hopefully those pages will be helpful throughout the year.

Sincerely,

Kim Suther