News From Room One

Super Bowl Sunday

2012-02-05T16:25:00.000-08:00

Photos from indoor recess on Friday

Hello, All

As I am not watching the Super Bowl, I have a few minutes to update my blog! Our St. Anselm student intern has been very busy this week typing student stories. We only have three left to type. You will see these stories, but right now they are in our classroom library. Another project Ms. Yarnall has taken on is putting the children's slides from Kid Pix into a movie. The title of the movie is Silly Snowmen. Each child created a silly snowman picture, typed an accompanying sentence, and saved the file to their personal work folder. When the movie is completed, I hope to post it on the blog. Stay tuned! Watch the folders this week for a list of student names for Valentines. We will have a party - cards, stickers, pencils etc. are all welcome, but please, no snacks.

Weekend Update

2012-01-29T16:13:00.000-08:00

I hope you all enjoyed this beautiful weekend. It wasn't exactly winter, but the sunshine was welcome. I also noticed that it was quite light at 7 AM, which is a sign of brighter days ahead.
This week will be a testing week in first grade, with a unit 2 benchmark test in Reading Streets, and two math tests : unit 5, and the midyear test. We will break up the testing over several days, so the kids should not feel overwhelmed.
In science, we are finishing up our study of living and non-living things, and moving on to magnets. We have lots of magnets for the kids to experiment with.
Miss Yarnall, our St. Anselm's student, has been very busy. She is "publishing" stories for all of the students, and assisting at the art center where the kids made those cute triceratop models. If you haven't seen yours yet, they will be coming home on Monday.
Wednesday brings February, and that of course means Valentine's Day. We will be exchanging cards - I will send home more information, including student's first names, next week.

Winter Reminder

2012-01-17T16:16:00.000-08:00

Hi, everyone. Winter is officially here. How can I tell? One snow day and one delayed opening in one week. Also, many children (and teachers) with the sniffles. Also, snow is on the playground, which is great fun for the kids, but only if they have boots and snow pants. Without boots and snow pants, kids have to stay on the black top, which can be booorrrring! So, if your child has this winter clothing, and hats and mittens, be sure he/she brings them. We have extra hats and gloves, and the nurse has ski pants if your child needs to borrow a pair. Please remember to send in shoes or slippers to wear inside.

On another subject - our class has earned homework passes for good attendance at last week's math night. The homework pass can be used anytime, just staple it to the homework, and your child is excused from doing that assignment. I hope to get the passes out this week - I'm sure the children will remind me if I forget.

Happy New Year

2012-01-02T13:16:00.000-08:00

2011-12-18T17:05:00.000-08:00

Free picture slideshow personalized with Smilebox

2011-12-18T15:57:00.000-08:00

Weekend Update

2011-12-04T17:21:00.000-08:00

Hi, Everyone - I hope you have all received your conference confirmation (two are going home tomorrow.) I look forward to meeting with you and sharing your first grader's successes. You will receive your child's report card at the conference, so we can talk about any questions you may have about that report. A reminder about holiday plans: instead of gifts of any kind, we will be accepting donations for the Union Leader and Salvation Army Santa Fund. Another reminder - if you would like to order a book from the Scholastic book order, please send in the order tomorrow so I can place the order in time to get the books before the holiday break. Speaking of holidays - our special project supplies have arrived, and the children will be working with their book buddies on these either this week or next. There is no school on Friday, so our spelling test will be Thursday, and we will also exchange library books on Thursday. Have a great week!

November Newsletter

2011-11-23T08:07:00.001-08:00

Weekend Update

2011-11-20T14:45:00.000-08:00

Due to the short week this week, the children will not be having a spelling test. We will review the words in class - the concept is adding s to make a plural, so I think it will be fairly easy for them. Watch for a sign up sheet coming home for parent conferences. Parent conference day is Friday, December 9th. I am also holding conferences on the afternoon and evening of December 8th. If need be, I can schedule a conference for you at another date as well. We are finished with Unit 3 in math, and our Unit test is Monday. Counting dimes, nickels and pennies is still a challenge for some students - your help at home with this is much appreciated. This week in writing we are working on pet stories told from the pet's point of view. These stories will be up on our bulletin board for you to admire when you come in for conferences. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and I hope to see you all in December.

A few reminders:

2011-11-14T12:52:00.000-08:00

Tuesday is Turkey Walk day. All permission slips are in! A special snack is being served (apple crisp) so unless your child does not like apple crisp, no other snack is necessary. Please send in 10 dimes with your child Tuesday. Yes, we are now going to learn to count pennies, nickels and dimes together! A note about dismissal. If someone new is coming to pick your child up, please send in a note, and ask that person to have an ID with them so we can be sure we are doing the right thing to keep the children safe. Many children got all or almost all of their spelling pretest words correct, so they should be studying the word wall words written on their pretests today.

Book Buddies

2011-11-09T12:31:00.000-08:00

Make your own picture slideshow

Weekend Update

2011-11-06T17:13:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween a week late! I hope you have seen the Halloween slideshow from last week. Our parade was wonderful - thank goodness we had it on Friday. We are on to turkeys now. We did take a listening walk to Sarette field on Thursday. It was trash pickup day in the neighborhood, and lots of work was going on at the field so we heard mainly mechanical noises again. Just goes to show how noisy life is, even in tiny Pinardville. With the beginning of Unit 1 in Reading Streets, we now have a weekly spelling list. I will give a pretest on Monday, and send home the words the kids need to study. If they get most of the words correct in the pretest, I will add some word wall words to their list. The final test is on Friday. We now meet with our Book Buddies on Wednesday. I will get some pictures up from Book Buddies this week. It is going to be another short, but busy week!

2011-11-01T16:45:00.000-07:00

Make a picture slideshow

Weekend Update

2011-10-23T17:41:00.000-07:00

This past week we finished our first book in Reading Streets. The kids easily read through the last story and are ready for more challenges. This coming week will be a review and testing week. We begin our next unit and book next week. On Friday afternoon we paired up with students in Ms. Garon's third grade to share books. Everyone enjoyed reading to their buddy, and we hope to make this a weekly event. Not this week, though. This week is the Halloween parade! What will you be for Halloween is a hot discussion and writing topic. If the weather allows, we will take our first walk to Sarette Field. The children will have to be careful observers to find signs of the rapidly changing season.

Weekend Update

2011-10-16T16:18:00.000-07:00

Hi, everyone - fall has certainly arrived this weekend! On Monday I will send home a permission slip so that we can take occasional nature walks to Sarette Field behind the school. We tried listening for sounds of nature on school grounds, but all we heard were cars!
As you know from the math homework, we are now studying nickels and pennies. The children have been bringing in 5 nickels, we will use these and other coins to understand the value of money. I purchased some cool Halloween erasers today, and the children will pretend to buy them from me. They will get to keep the erasers and the money - a real deal! This week, watch for the children's writing books to come home. They picked out their favorite or "best" story, and after editing them for some spelling and punctuation marks, they will bring them home. Make sure to have your child read these stories to you - you may recognize the events described. Their spelling at this point in first grade is a sign of their knowledge of phonics. We do have spelling expectations in first grade, and these will increase as the year goes on.

Update/Library Reminder

2011-10-10T16:27:00.000-07:00

I have included a copy of the October newsletter below, and also several pictures from writing and center time. The kids have asked me to remind you that Friday is library day. There were some disappointed first graders last Friday when they could not check out a new book. I will remind them Thursday as well.

2011-10-10T16:20:00.001-07:00

September Scenes

2011-10-10T13:22:00.000-07:00

As the Month Turns

2011-10-02T16:23:00.000-07:00

I was hoping to have a slide show up and running, on this site, but technical glitches are causing a delay. Stay tuned. Meanwhile... the children all brought books home this week from their reading groups. I hope you have had time to listen to them read to you. This extra practice will really accelerate their reading progress. Please send the books back the next day in the bags provided. Thank you for all the treasures you sent in for our Discovery Center. Logan's deer skull, and Paige's starfish were especially popular. This week I have various leaves for the kids to examine and identify. Everyone successfully logged on to the Everyday Math website and played a game or two. I will be sending home those passwords and your child can access this site at home as well. In writing the children chose a character from one of three versions of the Henny Penny story. Their choices were Henny Penny, Chicken Little, or Chicken Big. Chicken Big is a new version of this old story - he eats acorns rather than panicking when one falls on this head!

Weekend Update

2011-09-25T17:06:00.000-07:00

Another busy week! We used the laptop computers in the classroom, along with visiting the computer lab. This week they will visit the Starfall website along with Tumblebooks. We have been listening to different versions of favorite nursery tales such as Goldilocks, and Chicken Little. This week we will read Chicken Big. The children are writing their own stories, using their own experiences, their own drawings, and their own spelling! We are learning that stories have a beginning, middle and end, and have lots of details. In Reading Streets we are already on story three. Reading groups begin this week. While some children are in reading group, others are working in centers. Ask your child about his/her centers for the day. The discovery center will open tomorrow. In this center, the kids will examine and write about natural treasures they have brought from home. Help your child look for really interesting treasure, like bird nests, feathers, sparkly rocks etc. Soon we will be able to study beautiful fall leaves.

Weekend Update

2011-09-18T16:43:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone enjoyed this beautiful almost-fall weekend. The weather for the upcoming week is looking pretty good as well. I know the kids watch the weather on TV, as several of them predicted thunder showers for Thursday. Luckily, the weather forecasters were wrong; just the thought of thunder showers was scary for some of our first graders. On Wednesday we all went over to the Smart Room (computer lab) so I could teach the kids how to log on and use Kid Pix. The teaching computer and Smart Board were not working properly, but to my surprise, Mrs. Longval and I were able to help everyone log on and get to Tumblebooks pretty quickly. These kids are definitely digital natives. You can use Tumblebooks at home by going to the Bartlett home page, then information center, and then find Tumblebooks under reading on the right side of the page. We will also be using Starfall, another site available by going to the Information center page. In other news - watch for the family newsletter for Reading Streets which goes home on Monday, math homework should begin this week, and Scholastic book orders are due on Friday. Picture day is Friday, as is the first day of fall.

Update

2011-09-11T16:47:00.000-07:00

Our first week of school was wonderful, in spite of all that rain! Just a few reminders as we begin our second week of school. PE is Monday, so kids need their sneakers and play clothes. Friday is library day, each first grader is allowed to check out one book, and they are due back every Friday. We checked out our first books this last Friday. This week we begin our Reading Streets program, and we begin our math books. I also plan on introducing the children to the computer lab. Week two - here we come!

First Day Happy Gram

2011-09-06T12:09:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful first day of school - the children were awesome! We read books about making friends, and about our talents. Every child had a talent to share, and they wrote them down. These papers will be hanging up in our classroom, and will go home later in the fall. We were lucky to be able to go out to play - the apples and carrots were a big hit at snack time and we learned how to get a lunch and eat in the cafeteria.

Speaking of lunches, you should have received a letter in the mail with your child's account number and a password to check his/her account on line. I have the account numbers, but not the passwords. For that information, you need to contact Megan Bizzarro, food service director. Her number is 603-666-5311, and her email is mbizzarro@goffstown.k12.nh.us. The children are allowed to charge milk and lunches assuming their account is up to date. If you don't want them charging for any reason, you can let me know. Applications for free and reduced lunches are going home on Wednesday.

Remember to hand in the Tell Me About Your Child sheet - send any notes in the homework folders - and enjoy your evening.

Corrected Welcome Letter

2011-09-01T09:46:00.000-07:00

Back to School Night

2011-08-31T17:11:00.000-07:00

Hi, first graders and families! I hope you will all be able to join me at our Open House September 1 at 6 PM. We will be going over a few things about first grade that will help everyone feel more comfortable about starting school. If you can't make it, I have posted some information above that should be helpful. I will send this information home with your child on day one, along with a request for you to share some information with me about your child. Happy September!

The Flume

2011-06-13T12:40:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! We had a great trip to the Flume on Friday. The kids were wonderful, as was the weather. Here are a few photos of some first graders - do you recognize anyone?

Field Trip News

2011-05-19T10:57:00.000-07:00

Our field trip to Franconia Notch and the Flume is set for Friday, June 10th. The rain date is June 17th. Due to gas prices, the cost of the trip is $10.00. There will be no other costs, we are asking that the children bring a lunch, and bring no money for the gift shop. Volunteers are welcome. Unfortunately, you will need to drive, and you also need to have been fingerprinted. Once you are fingerprinted, you will be able to volunteer for the rest of your child's time in the Goffstown school system. There is fingerprinting available at the MVMS spring carnival on June 7th from 5:30 - 7:30. The results will probably not be back in time for this trip, but you will be all set for future trips. Questions or concerns? Let me know.

April News

2011-04-10T16:25:00.000-07:00

I think we can safely assume that we have had our last snow day. There are still a couple of pairs of snow pants in the classroom - they are both black. The children are not claiming them, but if you think they belong at your house, let me know! As you know from the math and reading newsletters, we are now in unit 4(of 5) in Reading Streets and unit 9 (of 10) in Everyday Math. Of course we will be working right up until the last day of school. We will have plenty of time to cover all the material, and in math especially will be able to review some of the harder concepts. Money is one such concept that comes to mind. Any opportunity that you have to give your child experience with real money will be helpful for them to grasp the concept.
With Easter coming up, our class has been reading Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit and assorted animal friends. You may want to check out the official Peter Rabbit website (just google Peter Rabbit). There are some very appealing activities that the children will enjoy. We will be doing some of them at school this week. In other news, the animal reports that the children researched are finished and in our class library. They have been read and reread, making everyone feel like real authors. The children also got to be actors, when we rehearsed and acted out a story from Reading Streets: Where Did All My Animal Friends Go? Ask you child what part he/she played.

March News

2011-03-06T16:49:00.000-08:00

Welcome to March! Mud season seems to be right on schedule. I am eagerly awaiting spring, but the kids are not so excited. When we wrote about spring, many confessed that it was not their favorite season. Some even said that winter was their favorite! I do remember loving winter as a child, but that feeling is long gone - especially this time of year. The year is moving quickly - Friday was our 108th day of school. Report cards come out the end of this month, and we are finishing up unit 7 in Everyday Math, and Unit 3 in Reading Streets. A couple of reminders about math and reading: spelling words go home on Monday to be studied for the test on Friday. Also, the children can access the Everyday Math website at home. This site has great games designed to reinforce math skills taught in class. Your child should know his/her login and password, but if not, I will send them home again this week. The PTA Scholastic book fair continues this week, there is still time for your child to purchase a book or two. Enjoy the longer days, and warmer sunshine that is March in New Hampshire.

Almost Spring

2011-02-06T16:17:00.000-08:00

So, the groundhog has spoken, and spring is on its way - have faith all ye of little. In the meantime, we are trying to enjoy winter by going out as much as possible to play in the snow. Please send in boots and ski pants so your child is not restricted to the blacktop. Staying in is usually not an option if outdoor recess is declared.
The erratic schedule we have had over the past month has not helped the children's ability to focus on their work. This week I am beginning an incentive program to reward hard work and listening skills. The children will have a chance to earn points towards a prize to be awarded at the end of the day on Friday. Total number of points possible ( unless we have snow days) will be 10. I haven't yet decided on total number of points needed to earn a prize, but it will be close to that magic ten mark. Ask your child on Friday how many points he/she earned.
Valentine reminder: cards exchanged next Monday, the 14th. Names went out last week. If you did not see them, let me know. Happy almost spring!

Happy New Year

2011-01-02T16:10:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a great holiday, and the kids are rested and ready to go back to school. Over the vacation, the Bartlett phone system was updated. The main number remains the same, but all the extensions have changed. Mine is 5927. I tried it today so I know it works. You do need to let it ring - I think about 4 times before you connect with my voice mail. This month we will be learning about living and non-living things in science. Mr. Bousquet gave me an amaryllis plant, so I am hoping we can get it going in our classroom. In writing, we will be learning about friendly letters. Maybe you can help your child think of friends and relative he/she can write to. We will learn about addressing envelopes also. For math and reading news, watch for the parent letters which come home with each reading lesson, and each math unit. I did update our classroom library this week, and Leo Lionni, Audrey Woods and Lois Ehlert are our new authors. Winter Note: If your child wears boots to school, be sure to provide shoes to change into. These can be left at school if you like.

December Update

2010-12-12T16:32:00.000-08:00

Our December birthdays are done - we had six in a row! Now we can focus on our December holiday/Christmas party. As I mentioned earlier, we will not be exchanging gifts , and that includes children and teachers. We will welcome gifts for the class to use. Suggestions for these gifts are : crayons, coloring books, storybooks, markers, play doh, games and puzzles. All of these items will come in handy during our indoor recesses that happen frequently during the winter. As far as food for the celebration goes, we will just have a regular snack time, and I may come up with a small surprise. We won't be having anything beyond that. We will have fun with the new recess materials though!

Speaking of recess and winter: We do go out in quite cold weather, so please make sure your child is dressed warmly, with mittens and hats especially important. The temperature in the classroom is variable, so dressing in layers is helpful.

December Notes

2010-11-28T16:06:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We had a taste of winter here in Concord yesterday. Luckily, I got home from shopping just before the snow arrived. December will be a short but busy month. Report cards will go home and parent conferences are next week. If you have not signed up for a conference, it is not too late to schedule one. If the dates arranged are not convenient for you, we can choose a better date and time. December is a fun time for kids, and I have several projects and seasonal activities planned. If you celebrate a holiday other than Christmas, let me know so we can celebrate at school as well. We have many December birthdays, so I am planning a party for all birthdays next week. We will have a small Christmas party as well. If you were planning on buying any gifts for school, teacher or student, I ask that you purchase something for the class - coloring books, markers, play doh, paints, games, storybooks all would make great classroom gifts. Just wrap the gift, and your child can open it at the party. Everyone enjoys this event, as the gifts are really for all.

Halloween Parade Pictures

2010-11-04T11:23:00.000-07:00

There are several sets of Halloween pictures posted on this blog. Be sure to view all of them. Be sure you see the beautiful banner made by Joey's mom and sister, Sogna and Andrea. On to Thanksgiving!

Halloween Pictures

2010-11-04T11:15:00.001-07:00

Halloween Pictures

2010-11-04T11:11:00.001-07:00

Halloween Pictures

2010-11-04T11:07:00.000-07:00

2010-10-31T17:43:00.000-07:00

Coming soon: Halloween pictures!

October Update

2010-10-24T10:39:00.000-07:00

The countdown is on to Halloween, and the children are very excited. Halloween is lots of fun, but we will try to keep to our regular schedule this week, until Friday afternoon of course. We will not be having a class party for Halloween, so no treats please. Joey's mom (and big sister?) have volunteered to make our banner for the parade - Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!
A lot of information went home with the children this week, especially about reading opportunities. I hope you will all participate in the Bartlett Reading Program. You should have received an information sheet and book log. Just have your child read (or read to him/her) for fifteen minutes a night, and fill out one line on the log. When the log is done, return it to school. We are hoping for 100% participation in our class. Even if you don't read every night, the log can be filled in as you read, and turned in whenever it is full. Ms. Doris remarked this week on how well the children were reading, and it will only get better the more they read. We also have a Scholastic Book Fair at school this week, which I did not realize when I sent home the book club book orders. Our day to shop at the fair is Thursday, so you may send in money any day this week and we will shop on Thursday. The fair will also be open on Spooky Story Night, which I believe is Thursday as well.

Halloween Updates

2010-10-11T17:32:00.000-07:00

As I am sure you know, we will be celebrating Halloween on the 29th with a parade in the village. I was reminded that our class needs a banner to march under. I wonder if anyone is crafty, and would like to volunteer to make said banner? It should be fabric, about 3 or 4 feet by 2 to 3 feet. It needs to say Mrs.Starvish's class, and have appropriate fall/Halloween decorations. I will reimburse you for materials, so if you can help out, let me know! In other Halloween news, the children have completed about half of their Halloween mobiles - they will go home next week. This week I hope to send home Everyday Math logins, so your child can play math games on line at home. I will also send home a Scholastic book order. They have good books at very reasonable prices. Don't forget about the trip to the Orchard on Wednesday 10/13. Each child needs a lunch and drink, no glass please.

Street excavations, writing, and other first grade news.

2010-09-26T16:30:00.000-07:00

This past week was an exciting one in room one. The big trucks and other equipment were very active right outside of our windows digging up the street. The whole building shook! The kids did a good job ignoring all this and staying on task, however. We finished the first unit in math, and are more than halfway through our first unit in Reading Streets. We also started science, and wrote our first real stories. We learned that stories need a beginning, a middle and an ending, so the kids were asked to be sure that their stories had all of these. I like to keep the children's writing for a semester, so I (and they) can see their progress. I will send these stories home so you can see them too, but please send them back. You may notice errors in spelling- at this stage in the writing we are focusing on content. As the children become more proficient spellers, this will be reflected in their writing.
This week September turns into October, which of course means fall and Halloween! Today I took out my fall decorations, including a mobile made by my daughter in first grade 26 years ago! I think I will borrow the concept for my students - so watch for a family heirloom coming home some time in October. I hope yours lasts as long as mine has.

Technology and Other News

2010-09-12T16:10:00.000-07:00

I hope your first grader was excited about our first use of the computer lab on Friday. They did very well signing on and getting right to work on Kidspiration. We adults have had a few more problems. Parents have been unable to reach me via email, and I think it is because you have been trying to click on my address on the Bartlett website. I tried this myself, and it did not work! If you use your email, and type in my address - mstarvish@goffstown.k12.nh.us, it should work. Let me know if it does not. Re: Power School, you will be mailed from the office a login and password, probably in October. In the meantime, notices will be sent home on Thursdays. I sent home lunch account numbers on Friday - please help your child learn his/her number, and you can use it when you send in money for their accounts. On some non-tech matters:
Homework folders are very important, right now for sending home important messages. Please make every effort to send the homework folder in your child's backpack every day. Math homework will begin shortly. If your child brings home an incomplete worksheet, he/she does not have to complete it unless I have written homework on it. If you want to help them complete it, that is fine of course. Remember to read Summer of Riley.
And finally - No School On Tuesday - due to primary voting at our school.

First Day of School

2010-09-02T12:49:00.000-07:00

Well, we survived the heat - and are finished with our first day. The children were wonderful - we kept things very low key. They did have art class, listened to several stories, and wrote about their talents. They also practiced their reading. Tomorrow we will do more writing and hopefully do some real math. Thank you for sending in the Tell me about your child sheets - I will send more home in the homework folders on Friday if I did not get yours. A few things to remember: Water bottles are fine to bring to school, and they can be refilled at the bubbler during the day. The kitchen keeps track of lunch and snack money, and sometimes children order something when they really should not be. If you discover your child is ordering and eating food from school when you are sending food in from home, just let me know. Menus are going home tomorrow. Stay cool!

Welcome to Bartlett.

2010-08-25T10:34:00.000-07:00

The Wanderer

2010-06-08T08:28:00.000-07:00

Hannah, Sujanah, and Jenna wrote and performed this skit based on Sharon Creech's novel The Wanderer.

Coming Attractions

2010-06-04T10:14:00.000-07:00

Coming soon - Wanderer Video.

Thoughts on blogging.

2010-04-06T06:41:00.000-07:00

It has been way too long since my last post. I have to admit to being a reluctant blogger, and I think I have figured out part of the reason why. This weekend I took a few minutes (35, actually) and listened to a podcast of a discussion between Nancie Atwell (author of In the Middle, and middle school teacher extraordinaire) and Tom Newkirk, award winning English professor at UNH. Nancie mentioned that when her students compose on the computer, she has them print out their writing every couple of days and read it over. This gives them the distance they need to reflect on their writing and make appropriate revisions. When I write, I like to come up with a draft, let it sit a day or two, and then reread it and make changes. Blogging is a more immediate kind of writing. Of course, I can save my post, and revisit it on another day, but that is not really the blogging process. That brings me to another excuse for not blogging - taking the time! Watch for at least two more postings this school year.

By the way - I highly recommend the podcast. It can be found on the Heinemann website.

Loser by Jerry Spinelli

2010-01-22T13:17:00.000-08:00

In December, Jeremy, Ben, Hannah, Samantha, Sujana and Jenna entertained their classmates with an original play based on the novel Loser by Jerry Spinelli. Hannah created and acted as the car, Clunker (4). Ben starred as Donald Zinkoff AKA Loser. Jeremy played Mr. Zinkoff and the Waiting Man. Jenna played Claudia, and Samantha was Claudia's mom. Sujana kept everybody on track as the narrator.

November Musings

2009-11-17T12:59:00.000-08:00

November comes/And November goes/With the last red berries/And the first white snows. This is the first verse of a favorite poem (of mine) by Elizabeth Coatsworth. Poor November is often overlooked - sandwiched between Halloween and Christmas - the colorful fall leaves and pumpkins and the snow, greens, and excitement of the winter holidays. Still, November has its quiet charms. Cynthia Rylant would agree - In November is her tribute to the month.

At Bartlett School, the first graders that I work with are becoming reading pros, and the fourth graders are itching to move beyond their short, skills-based articles to real books - "How about Diary of a Wimpy Kid? or Fantastic Mr. Fox"? they suggest. Maybe, I mumble noncommittally. The old dilemma ... Do we read something hard but interesting? This year, the answer will be yes, at least some of the time. Motivation is a key piece to becoming a good reader. Speaking of motivation, if you are looking for a book to interest a young reader that you know, check out the website ReadKiddoRead.com. This is the website of novelist James Patterson, and it is sure to have suggestions that will tempt any child.

Gooney Bird Inspires Young Writers

2009-10-06T10:51:00.000-07:00

Our Gooney Bird Greene reading event is over. It culminated a couple of weeks ago with many of us at Bartlett wearing outrageous outfits to school - a la GB. Gooney's influence has lingered, however. Our Celebration of Writing bulletin board is beginning to fill up with Absolutely True Stories inspired by the unusual - but absolutely true stories that Gooney Bird told her classmates. Some of the story ideas suggested by Gooney Bird include: How I Got My Name, How My Family Came to Goffstown and How I Lost My Pet. First graders in Mrs. Lavigne's classroom had no trouble when asked to write their own absolutely true stories. Many told about their own lost pets,
but others told about how much they love peaches, mom's cooking, and how a window got broken during a baseball game. All of us, even the youngest, have stories to tell. A big thank you to Gooney Bird for helping first graders to find their voices and tell their stories.

Summer Reading

2009-09-17T11:10:00.000-07:00

At our first all school meeting on September 10, eleven students were honored for their participation in the summer reading program. Each of these students read at least 8 books over the summer. They received a Reading Certificate, and they were able to choose two books to add to their personal libraries. Students honored were: Adam Zienkiewicz, Alyssa Allaire, Jenna Weigler, Kailee Ely, Justin Kaminski, Aidan Hughes, Patrick McVey, Emily Rourke, Karrie Cormier, Sarah Stantial, Jenna Thibault. Congratulations Summer Readers!

Back to School

2009-09-01T09:42:00.000-07:00

September 1 - summer is over. (Did we have a summer?) Teachers are gathered to get ready for the real first day of school - tomorrow - when the students arrive. This year, our school community is again reading a school-wide book. The title is Gooney Bird Greene by Lois Lowry. Gooney Bird is quite a girl - a free spirited second grader with amazing writing talents. At first her stories seem outlandish, but she assures her teacher that they are absolutely true - and they are! I am hoping that Gooney Bird will inspire Bartlett students to write their own fabulous stories. Books will be handed out on September 10, Parent Information Night. I guarantee that you will fall in love with Gooney Bird.

Summer Reading

2009-06-24T16:24:00.000-07:00

Summertime and the Reading is Easy! This is the motto chosen by the Goffstown Public Library for their summer reading program.

There are many summer reading opportunites available, and we hope you and your familiy will participate in at least one of them, if not more. It is an unfortunate reality that chidlren who don't read over the summer lose a substantial amount of their hard-won reading skills. Nobody wants that to happen, and it so easy, and so much fun to prevent.

Here is a list of summer reading opportunities:

The Goffstown Library summer reading program. A flyer about this program went home a week or two ago. For more information, contact them at 497-2102, or at www.goffstown.lib.nh.us.

The Bartlett library is open Monday-Thursday, 8:30-11:30, July 13th-August 6.

Barnes and Noble is once again sponsoring a summer reading program. Read 8 books, and they will give you a free book. Contact the store for details.

Read at least 8 books, (can be the same as those read for Barnes and Noble), record the title and date completed, and bring back to school in the fall. We will have our own summer reading celebration in September.

Happy Summer Reading!
Mary Starvish, Reading Specialist

Bartlett Elementary School

June 24, 2009

May update

2009-05-14T07:28:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since my last post. Spring has come and nearly gone! We did have a wonderful party to celebrate Winn Dixie. I dressed up in a shiny green outfit to serve dump punch.(Sorry, no pictures.) We also had Littmus Lozenges and egg salad sandwiches. The gym was decorated with dog pictures, just like in the book. It was a big success! We all want to choose another book to read as a school in the fall. If you have a recommendation for a great book for kids in grades 1-4, let me know! Speaking of great books, the Fudge series by Judy Blume is a big hit among the third graders this year. After Jenna, Jenna and Hannah read Fudge-a-mania and Sheila the Great, they decided to follow-up with a TV interview of two of the characters - Sheila, and Fudge. They modeled it on the Ellen Show. Here is the Fudge interview:

Here is the Sheila interview:

Bartlett Reads Winn Dixie

2009-03-30T12:07:00.000-07:00

If you are a member of the Bartlett school community, you are familiar with the book Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo. All of us at Bartlett, staff, students and families, have been reading this enchanting book since March 17th. Most of us will finish it next week, if we have not already done so. Monday through Thursday we are assigned two chapters to read, and Mr. Bousquet our principal has a question about that reading on the next day. As I mentioned in my last posting, reading is becoming somewhat of a lost art, so we were happy to come up with an activity to get everyone excited about a book. Believe me, Winn Dixie is a book to get excited about. The characters are unique, each with human failings and redeeming qualities. All of them are fond of Winn Dixie - a big ugly stray dog with an amazing smile. When we have finished reading, we are planning a celebratory party, with pickles, egg salad sandwiches, and dog picture decorations. I plan on coming dressed as Miss Franny the librarian, with a fancy dress and heels! I'm sure I won't be the only character there. Watch for pictures on my next posting!

Reading Woes

2009-02-20T12:22:00.000-08:00

Is reading becoming obsolete - along with newspapers , magazines, and yes - books ? The recent release of the NECAP scores caused consternation at Bartlett School. Of particular concern was student performance in reading and writing. As reading specialist, I was able to take a closer look at the reading of students who were not proficient on this test. I found that most of them were very proficient at decoding, and were fluent readers. Their comprehension, on the other hand, was weaker. The assessment that I did was an oral reading assessment, and it was done one on one. The NECAP involves a lot of independent reading and writing. It is easy to understand how these students might have struggled with the task. They can read the words, but catching the meaning, and being able to respond to questions in writing is a different story.
The good news is that we are doing an excellent job teaching our students to decode words - hard words, multisyllabic words, words that have little or no meaning for these readers. It is not good news that these children see reading as an activity that takes a back seat, a way-back seat to computers, video games, and TV watching. Even in school, I sometimes see reading(and writing) real stories taking a back seat to phonics, spelling and grammar lessons. My first grade students shook their heads when I asked if they knew the Little Red Hen Story - they had never heard of the troll in Little Billy Goats Gruff.
What to do? I advocate, as I always have, for more time for read- alouds, more time for guided reading and independent reading. As a school, we are promoting a One School, One Book reading program. We are buying a copy of Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo for all of our families and staff, and this spring we will ask families to read aloud a chapter or two every night. Each day, Principal Bousquet will ask a trivia question about the book and classes can spend a few minutes talking about their reading. Who knows - if families get excited about Winn-Dixie, they may continue on with DiCamillo's other wonderful books for children. Those of us who love reading need to do all we can to pass on that love to the next generation, and at Bartlett School, that is what we will do.

Notes from the frozen tundra that is New Hamphsire

2009-01-26T12:10:00.000-08:00

I wish I could say that January is flying by, but it is not. A friend told me that last Monday was the most depressing day ever (in history) due to a number of factors. I could think of a few reasons for that myself. On the other hand, the Inauguration on the 20th was surely a day for celebrating. Another friend reminded me of the book Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles which I had shared with her a while ago. Apparently there was a reference to that story in relation to Sasha Obama on the news. If you don't know the story, you need to find it. It is truly amazing how far we have come since the bad old days in the early 1960's when Ruby was harassed and taunted for being the first black child to enter an all white school in New Orleans. I have shared this book many times with students, and have taken it out again to read with a group of somewhat advanced second graders. As a read aloud or guided reading book (it is a level O, end of third grade) it is a wonderful choice for MLK day, or Black History month. Speaking of guided reading books, my advanced third grade group is well into The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. This title is the first in the Percy Jackson trilogy. Percy Jackson is a half-blood, that is half human and half Greek god. This is written at about a fifth grade reading level, with tons of references to Greek mythology. This book is not for everyone, but the adventures, humorous asides, and Greek mythology is keeping this particular group very involved. I am managing to stay one chapter ahead of them, and they are helping me out with my rusty Greek mythology knowledge.

Harry the Chinchilla

2008-12-29T08:04:00.001-08:00

Meet Harry the chinchilla. Harry does not read, but he likes books. He likes to chew them, along with magazines, Ivory soap, woodwork, and curtains. He is not really evil, just curious. Still, I have had to redo my bathroom thanks to his bad habits, and may end up having to do it again.

Reading First and the Art of Teaching Reading

2008-12-15T10:36:00.000-08:00

Reading First was created as part of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Reading First provides funds for schools to establish reading programs based on "scientifically based reading research." Five essential components of reading instruction were identified in the Reading First legislation: phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension. An interim report on the effectiveness of the Reading First Programs was released in April of 2008. The good news: On average, Reading First increased instructional time spent on the five essential components. The bad news: on average, estimated impacts on student reading comprehension test scores was not statistically significant. There will be a final report in early 2009 which will give the relationship between the degree of implementation of scientifically based reading instruction and student reading achievement. Opinion alert: I do not believe there is such a thing as scientifically based reading instruction. Teaching reading is an art. I do believe there are more effective and less effective methods of teaching reading, and a less effective way focuses on discrete skills, and reading small amounts of text chosen by the teacher. A more effective way emphasizes student engagement with text, student interest and motivation. Skills are taught, but they are a tool to achieve the goal of creating accomplished, eager readers. Stay tuned for the report due in 2009. I will keep you posted!

Literacy for All

2008-11-24T10:59:00.000-08:00

Last week several Bartlett staff members attended the Literacy for All conference sponsored by Lesley University. The conference has been held for many years in Providence Rhode Island. I have been attending since 1980. In those days it was called the Lesley Kindergarten Conference and was held in Randolph Ma. I have seen some top notch names in early childhood education over the years at this conference including Mary Baretta Lorton, Don Holdaway and Regie Routman, to name a very few! Nowadays there are sessions for middle schoolers as well as kindergarteners, but the presenters continue to be excellent. This year Tony Stead impressed me with this thoughts on non-fiction reading and writing, and especially his emphasis on the importance of promoting independent reading in the classroom. One quote from Mark Twain sums up the importance of this reading time : "The man who does not read books has no advantage over the man who cannot read books." As a classroom teacher, and reading teacher, my greatest satisfaction is having students who love to read. Check out Tony's new book : Good Choices for lots of ideas in efficiently promoting independent reading in the classroom.

Reading on the bus creates calm...who knew?

2008-11-10T12:44:00.000-08:00

OK, busy teachers, moms, dads, kids, and especially bus drivers. Not enough time to read? Did you ever think about book buddies on the bus? A bus driver in Wisconsin, faced with too many rambunctious students, calmed them all down when she paired them up and passed out books. The older students read to the younger ones, and peace prevailed. What do you think, Mrs. Evans? Could it work on Bartlett bus runs?

Halloween

2008-10-27T12:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was pumpkin carving day at the Starvish household. What is the worst part of carving pumpkins? Cleaning out the yucky stringy stuff on the inside. Still, the finished product(s) is pretty impressive, don't you agree?

Guest Author

2008-10-20T12:18:00.000-07:00

On October 29th, author Jennifer Ericcson is coming to talk with students about her books. Teachers have read these wonderful picture books to students, and your child might love to own one of their own. For information on purchasing a book or two, click on the image to the left.

October News

2008-10-05T12:31:00.000-07:00

Wow - October already. My new first graders are busy learning words and reading books. My third grade group has settled on Tale of Despereaux as their first book. This is good news for me, because I haven't read the book yet, and Kate DiCamillo is one of my favorite authors.

In writing, Mrs. Crete's and Mrs. Rioux's fourth graders invited me in to help with their first piece of writing - interviews of their classmates.

Speaking of writing check out our Celebration of Learning bulletin board in the front hallway. This month we are featuring pieces of writing that demonstrate the writing trait of Ideas. Good writers choose topics (ideas) that they know a lot about, and can include interesting details.