Northborough school raising funds for Haiti - Framingham, MA - The MetroWest Daily News

Northborough school raising funds for Haiti - Framingham, MA - The MetroWest Daily News

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***Click on the link above to read about this great project which our class is involved in!

If you would like to buy your child's pin/ magnet please send in a 5.00 donation this week. Thanks very much!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Mrs. Dufault's Peek at the Week

What a busy week it has been!!! Here is what we have been up to this week!

Religion- Our class has been enjoying Bible stories about Moses very much. We also have been working on first grade projects for Catholic Schools Week next week. It has been lots of fun for us.

SUPERKIDS- This week we have been working on sentence dictation, reviewing blends, and focusing on adding -ed and -ing ending to short and long vowel words. We are still working writing projects, main idea, and sequencing. The children have also been assessed on reading the first half of the memory words for the program. This week's spelling words: boy, girl, two, about, over, before

Math- We have had lots of fun working with measurement using nonstandard units. We are also practicing addition facts +2, telling time to the hour, half hour, and quarter hour.

Social Studies- We have been talking about what a community is and learning about how communities change over time. The class created a time line using pictures that were from a story which was read to them.

Science- Our unit about the states of matter is keeping us busy. We are now going to be exploring how states of matter can be changed.

News to Know

Valentine's Day Party- February 11th Our Homeroom parents will be coordinating our snack and such. Children have been given a class list for valentines. As I mentioned on the list, the children may pass out a small trinkets to their classmates if they wish. Thank you for following the candy/food guidelines.

100th Day Celebration: February 12th Students will be bringing a collection of 100 things for our Hundreds Museum. More info will be sent out next week.



****Each child needs to bring an empty cereal box for a project. Please send yours in by Feb.8 th at the latest!****

Thank you for sending in a few games and such for indoor recess! It is so appreciated.

Technology Tickets- Parenting Idea

I saw this neat idea online and wanted to share it with you all. The tickets and clipboard with pockets are a fancy project, but the concept sounded interesting.


My kids love TV, DVDs, video games - you name it. And there have been many times (probably too many) that I have been so grateful that they will sit and devour a show while I do something. BUT . . . . there has been some bickering lately. Too much bickering. When all else fails, and I feel like throwing my hands up in the air, I usually buckle down and dig down to my elementary school teaching roots. We come up with systems.

I read on Ashley Ann Photography blog about Wii tickets. At first it seemed like a lot of effort, but as the crying and stomping of feet increased, I went back to this. I just used plain old tags as tickets. I think a pack of 25 cost me $1. I stamped their names on them. They each get 10 and Tom and I get 5 labeled "reward." We can pass them out as rewards. Perhaps my favorite part of Ashley's idea was that chalkboard clipboard. I had chalkboard paint, and old clipboards . . . . so that was easy.

Here is our system. Each ticket represents 1/2 hour of technology. On Sundays after church, they receive 10 tickets. They give me a ticket, I set the timer. Tom and I reserve the right to say "no" even if they have a ticket, though. That's for when they bust out the ticket at 8:00 at night, or they have already used several tickets in a row. When they are out, they're out and no amount of crying will get them more tickets. I sure hope this works. I'm crossing my fingers. At least if it is another system that doesn't really meet our needs, it was a cute system!

This idea was found on:
http://themacdougallfamily.blogspot.com/2010/01/technology-tickets.html

OOPS!

Hello! For some strange reason the computer system sent out a Busy Bees Blog message from last year regarding glue sticks. I am not sure why the message was sent out....but, I can reassure you that we have plenty of glue sticks!

Mrs. Dufault's Peek at the Week- 1/19/10

News to Know

• Our class will be heading to the Hanover Theater for a Charlotte's Web play on February 25! One chaperone is needed for our class. Please let me know if you are interested in joining us. If several people volunteer then I will pick a name at random. Permission slips will be sent home later this month. As of today I have had one volunteer.  Please let me know if you are interested by tomorrow, 1/21/10.

• Our class is very happy to have Mrs. Lapolito for their new Art teacher on Friday afternoons! Please send in an old oversized tshirt for your child to wear as an art smock labeled with their name inside. I would appreciate it if we could have all smocks in by this Friday's art class.

• January Scholastic Book Club orders were due yesterday. I have extended the due date to this Friday. This is a great way to help us earn books for our classroom. There are many great selections for a dollar this month. Please make your checks payable to Scholastic Book Clubs.

Help Wanted

**We are looking for empty cardboard toilet paper tubes and paper towel tubes! Please send yours in for upcoming projects.

Class Wish List items: 6 regular sized clipboards and Wet Ones Wipes. Thank you for donating 2 clip boards and two canister of Wet Ones.

We have been having many indoor recess days recently. If you would like to donate any of the following for our class it would be appreciated: coloring books, age level board games, card games, puzzle books or jigsaw puzzles. 

Thank you very much!

This week we will be working on the following:

• Religion: This week we will read the story of Zacchaeus, make cards and notes for our seminarian, Michael, and start or new chapter, "Jesus Teaches Us About Love".
  

• Spelling: Our spelling words are long vowel words which are also plurals: grapes, games, notes, whales, stones, planes
  

• Reading: In SUPERKIDS we are continuing to work on long vowel sounds, plurals with silent e, and sequencing events in a story. We are also working in reading groups 3 times a week where we are working with word games, reading mini books, and having extra time to read aloud in small groups. 
  
  
  In addition we are starting a writing project about a special gift. We will be brainstorming, writing a first draft, editing, and writing  a final draft of our descriptive paragraphs. We are really working on adding details to our writing.

• Math: In math this week we will continue our work with even and odd numbers, basic addition and subtraction facts, telling time to the hour and half hour, as well as counting change.

• Science: This week we will begin a new unit about solids, liquids, and gasses. We will read all about them, classify, and make projects in class throughout the rest of January.

• Social Studies: This week we will focus on goods and services. We will be learning about places in our communities where goods and services come from, too. 
  
  
  The children were very much into our study of Martin Luther King, Jr last week and were happy to  spend extra time learning about his life. I was very proud of the children  as I heard them speak about diversity. Our class enjoyed the story The Crayon Box that Talked which really connects with the Dr. King's message in a simple way for  children.

Happy 2010!

Happy New Year! I am looking forward to welcoming the Busy Bees back to school tomorrow.Yes, really I am. Vacation was great but it is time to get back into the routine! (I say this as a teacher and a mom!)

Each week I will now be updating the blog with my new posts: Mrs. Dufault's Peek at the Week. The peek will give a brief overview of an academic update, reminders, and of course the spelling words!