December 20, 2010

Good Afternoon,
  Great job on Day 1 of the Secret Pal activity.  Remember tomorrow is the day to bring in a snack and Wednesday is the wrapped book.  Tomorrow we will be finishing our read-a-loud Matilda.  On Wednesday, I would like to show the movie of the story to the class.  After watching the movie we would use a Venn Diagram to compare the similarities and differences of the book and movie.  Below is a review of the movie.  If you have any objections or concerns with this, please let me know by tomorrow.

What Parents Need to Know

This review of Matilda was written by M. Faust

Parents need to know that this often surreal family movie based on the book by Roald Dahl includes a lot of cartoonish violence, nearly all of it perpetrated by a bullying school principal. Children who displease the evil principal are put in "the pokey," a dark closet lined with nails and broken glass. When Matilda's parents aren't neglecting her, they're berating her ... so she decides to punish them. But she also stands up for the principal's victims. The film explores themes of youthful independence and personal identity.

Families Can Talk About

Talk to your kids about the media in their life. We have more tools and tips that can help

• Families can talk about movies based on books. After seeing the movie, are you curious to read the book? Or did reading the book make you curious to see the movie? What makes a movie a "good" or "bad" adaptation of a book?
• Is Matilda a good role model? What about the other characters?

*There is reading homework this week.

I hope you all have a great break, safe travels, and a wonderful New Year.

Peace,

Tom

December 17, 2010

Good Morning,
  Although I will be in this morning to see the play, I will be out of school today.  I am using a personal day to take my dog to the vet and my basketball team to a weekend tournament in NY.  Nothing like chaperoning 30 high school boys for a weekend.  Actually, I am looking forward to the trip.

  Mrs. Marble will be the substitute today.  She is a certified teacher and I have been impressed with her work at our school this year.  Today the students will be asked to finish up a variety of work from the week.

  PLEASE remember that the Secret Pal items are due Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of next week.  I hope the elimination of math homework this week has allowed time for your child to work on his/her card.

  Our class ended up finishing in 2nd place for the light competition.  We won $500 for our efforts.  I am hoping to use this money to buy more chapter books.

 I hope you have a great weekend.

Peace,
Tom

December 15th, 2010

Happy Pajama Day!  Most of the students really seemed to enjoy the idea and took pleasure in wearing their pajamas to school.  The VG provided a morning snack for our participation.  Today we had music, health, science, stations, and math.  We have finished our magnet unit and have started our study of sound. This unit will run through mid January.

Please remember that your child's Secret pal items are due next week.  It is important that the card is brought in on Monday, the snack on Tuesday, and the wrapped book on Wednesday.  Although next week will be a short week, we will be treating it as a regular academic period.  On Wednesday, the students will take the Unit 3 math test.

*Tonight you will find a sheet asking you to help your child identify 4-8 traditions that your family has during this time of year.  Please help them fill this out and return it tomorrow.  We will be using this information for a writing project (this goes with our Social Studies theme).

Have a great week.
Peace,
Tom

December 13, 2010

Good Afternoon Friends,
  Kind of a dreary day.  The kids had indoor recess with Mrs. Drysdale.  This morning we talked about the town of Hershey, Pennsylvania and its annual chocolate month celebration.  This afternoon we had math and library.

Homework:  There will be reading homework this week and next.  I am not assigning math homework but instead am asking that you have your child focus on the Secret Pal card that is due next Monday.

There is an assembly this Friday.  We have several class members that will be involved in the performance.

FINALLY, we have won another prize in this year's Valley Chamber Light competition.  The mixer is this Wednesday from 5:30-7:30 at the Timbers in Warren.  The prizes will be handed out around 6:15.  We need someone there to accept the prize for the class.  Is there anyone that is interested and/or able to attend?  Please let me know by tomorrow.

Peace,
Tom

December 10, 2010

Good Afternoon!  We started the day with our regular Morning Meeting.  During the meeting, Jacob shared a book that he wrote.  It was about an amazing truck that even had a snack bar in it.  A few of the kids were so excited about it, they asked if they could ride in it.  After meeting, we finished our Weekly News, met with our literature groups, and continued working on our city blocks.  During math we looked at counting groups and patterns within those groups.

During lunch Ms. Fair and I met with the whole class.  It was nice to eat lunch together in our classroom.  Today's focus was talking about recess and the things that make us feel good about it and the things that frustrate us as well.  It was a great discussion that will be picked up again at a later date (I am thinking once a month).  The information that I am getting from this will be used for modeling and role-playing during our morning meeting.

I hope you have a great weekend.

Peace,

Tom

December 8, 2010

Good Morning,
  We had a whirl wind of a day today.  We started with our meeting and then went right to music.  After that, we had health class.  We will have health class on Wednesday mornings until the engineering presentations are finished.  If you volunteer on Wednesdays, we won't start stations until 9:45 (through the 1st week in January).  The students also worked on their station activities and spelling words.

  I hope you have a great day.

Peace,
Tom

December 6, 2010

I hope you all enjoyed your weekend.  It is amazing how busy they are this time of year, and how fast they go by.  This morning we had our meeting and the students shared your Weekly News responses.  We also played a game called A Cold Wind Blows (rather appropriate).  The students also had gym and stations.  During stations, the kids worked on their literature circle jobs, finished their snowman poem activity, continued their decorations for the Holly-Day competition, and met with me for reading.  This afternoon we had math and library.

*Today your child will bring home a paper with his or her Secret Pal on it.  Please keep this in a safe spot.  If you checked that you needed supplies for cards, I will send them home on Wednesday.  Remind your child that this is a "game" and he/she should keep the identity of their pal a secret.

*Remember that Wednesday is an Early Release day.

*There is math and reading homework this week.  Some of the kids will have homework that focuses on even and odd numbers.  Please note the added directions to the sheet.  This is one way to make the game more challenging.

*We have three new members of the 100 Book Club.  Below is a picture of all of the members so far.

I hope you have a great week.
Peace,
Tom

December 3, 2010

Good Afternoon,
  Today we traveled to the state of Pennsylvania.  We read the story If You Want to Find Golden, by Eileen Spinelli.  This was a story about a child noticing the many colors of a city and what the colors can be associated with.  After reading the story many of the children chose to build their own city (using all of the little boxes that we collected earlier in the year).  The kids will continue working on these next week.

On Wednesday afternoon, Mr. Hubbard's class once again joined us as we tested the strength of a variety of magnets.  The students were then asked to draw conclusion from their results.  Most of the kids needed an extra day to finish this rather challenging task.

  During today's assembly, a team of parents discussed the idea of engineering and the activities that will soon be available to the students of our school.  One of the choices is a Lego League for the younger kids.  Each of the students wrote about this in their Weekly News.  See if your child is interested in signing up.  If so, ask Connie for a form and return it by next Tuesday.

I hope everyone has a great weekend.  I will be traveling with my team to the town of Hazen tomorrow morning.  I can't wait for that early morning bus ride :).

Peace,
Tom

December 1, 2010

Good Afternoon,
  A very quick post today.  It is a bit busy and crazy today.  This morning we had our meeting, had music class, stations and spelling.  The kids have been working with a snowman poem, and today they sorted the poem's words by different parts of speech.  This afternoon we continued working on addition and subtraction number stories.  Unfortunately in was another inside recess day.

*Assembly on Friday
*I am looking for green, white, and red, lights for the classroom.  We are again entering the rotary light competition.  The theme is Holly-Days.  If you have any lights that can be donated, I would appreciate the gift.  I would like them by this Friday.

Have a great day.
Tom

November 29, 2010

Good Morning,
  I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  It was nice to spend time with family and friends, and to get our house ready for both the holiday and winter season.  We now begin a very quick but busy and productive stretch before the December break.

*I thoroughly enjoyed meeting with each of you during our parent conferences.  I hope you found them informing and meaningful.  I feel like our conferences are a continuation of ongoing dialogue that occurs all semester long (through the blog, e-mails, and 1:1 conversations).  I feel this is the key reason why the conferences seems so "easy" and enjoyable.  If there is anything that I can do to strengthen the ongoing communication piece, please let me know.  If you have any other questions/concerns from our conference, please feel free to contact me anytime.

*Today I will be sending home a form in regards to Secret Pal.  I will run it much like I did last year (see specific details outlined on the form in your child's homework bag).  If you would like your child to participate, please fill it out and return it to me by Wednesday.  If I don't receive the form back, I will assume your child is not participating.  Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns about this.

*This Friday will mark the kickoff of the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) project that a few parents have been working on. The goal of this project is to provide an experience that enhances STEM instruction while broadening student understanding of the field of engineering.  This project has both in-school and after-school foci. There will be 4 guest speakers/ presentations:

Friday, December 3 7:50 – 8 a.m.	KICK OFF  - Kogut, Korb, Stover Presentation – morning assembly, exciting 3-minute slide show to music depicting engineering applications and 5-minute introduction to the project. Guest speakers and schedule announced.  Afterschool program announced for following Thursday.
Thurs, December 9 Upper Unit (3-6)  12:25-1:00   (GYM) 1:00-1:30 Q&A small group focus (scheduled in individual classrooms) Lower Unit (K-2) 1:30-2:00  (Taylor’s classroom)	Presentation #1      Guests:  Alisha Chaney, Electrical-Computer Engineering (senior) Norwich University IEEE Student Chapter President Civilian Honor Committee ;    Doug Bowman (junior) Content: ·       Perspective of a young engineer: e.g., Why am I becoming an engineer? When and how did I decide to become an engineer? What kind of engineer am I?  What do these types of engineers do?  What do I want to be when I graduate?  What have I learned at Norwich? Slide of my Norwich teams’ work.  What can WES students do if they are interested in becoming engineers to help solve world problems? ·       Promote LEGO League afterschool program
Thurs,  Dec.  16 Upper Unit (3-6)  12:25-1:00   (GYM) 1:00-1:30 Q&A small group focus (scheduled in individual classrooms) Lower Unit (K-2) 1:30-2:00  (Taylor’s classroom)	Presentation #2  Guests:  Garrett Bywaters, Systems Engineer and Jim Stover, Engineering and Product development Northern Power Systems (wind turbine manufacturer) Content: ·       Why I became an engineer. ·       Earth Science - Natural resources (oil vs. wind), weather systems (what makes wind?) ·       Physical Science: electricity and magnetism, forces and motion, wind as force; energy production process, turbines ·       Engineering skills used by Northern ·       Product: Turbine blade demo and “Wind for Schools” demo ·       Q&A
Thurs,  Jan. 6 Upper Unit (3-6)  12:25-1:00   (GYM) 1:00-1:30 Q&A small group focus (scheduled in individual classrooms) Lower Unit (K-2) 1:30-2:00  (Taylor’s classroom)	Presentation #3 (or 2, TBD) (Slides to be drafted by Melinda) Guest: Bob Kogut and Brandon Paulson O’Gara Group/Diffraction Content: ·       Why I/we became engineers ·       Physical science – what is a light wave, color, UV, etc. (see WWSU GEs – Stover has copy) ·       Life science - human eye capability vs. animal vs. computer ·       Engineering used with light waves, optical engineering ·       Product: Night vision goggles and beacons = safety ·       Q&A

*If Wednesday's weather is decent, we will be in the garden with Jeremy Gulley (1:30-2:15).  Please make sure your child dresses appropriately.


*There is math and reading homework this week.  


That is all for now.  I hope you have a great week.  I will post again on Wednesday.  


Peace,
Tom

November 22, 2010

Today we continued writing about our Thanksgiving traditions, finished a magnet observation/discovery, and started writing about things that we are thankful for.  During math, the students continued working with addition and subtraction number stories.  We are working toward gaining an understanding of the inverse relationship between addition and subtraction.

Below is the conference schedule.  As you can see, I am lined right up.  Please be on time, and I will promise to do the same.

Conference Schedule
11/22/10
2:30  Sawyer
3:00 Kelci
3:30 Ayla
4:00  Greta
4:30  Julia
5:00  Winter
5:30  Molly
6:00  Jacob
6:30  Bryn


11/23/10
2:30 Abby
3:00  Piper
3:30  Anda
4:00  Angela
4:30  Charlotte
5:00  Marieke
5:30  Liza


I will be sending home reading homework that will need to be done during the break.  Please make sure your child fills out his/her log and returns it on Monday.


I hope you have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving.
Peace,
Tom

November 17, 2010

Today we continued to explore the world of attractions, that is magnetic attractions.  Students had time this morning to explore magnet strengths.  They were asked to use magnets to try and pull chains of paperclips.  This afternoon we learned about the poles of magnets and how the opposite poles attract.  Later this week we will relate discussions and experiments with a magnet's field to explain the north and south pole of the Earth.

This afternoon we spent more time with solving number strings.  This is where students are solving four and five digit addend problems by using their knowledge of combinations of 10, doubles facts, and doubles facts +/- 1.

There will be an assembly this Friday morning.  I will be leaving school early on Friday.  I have to take my daughters to get their flu shots.

I will write again on Friday.
Tom

November 15, 2010

Good Morning,
  I hope you all enjoyed the weekend.  Yesterday was family picture day in our household.  I have to say I am glad that is over!  Last Friday, we once again joined the Harwood students in the orchard.  We played several games incorporating facts about the trees and the tree names.

  Today we continued our study of magnets.  The kids were experimenting with them and discovering some interesting facts.  One student was using a magnet to chase another magnet around the table.  I saw a few others noticing what a magnet does to a compass.  We will get into the science of these observations later in the week.

  Report cards will go home on Friday.  The report card grades will look a little different this year.  Your student will be graded on the second grade standards.  What this means is a lot of kids are being asked to do higher level work that is already exceeding the standard.  If this is the case, your child will receive a 4 because they are exceeding the second grade requirements.  I can explain this in more detail during our conference.

  I haven't heard of any conference changes, so I assume we are all set with our scheduled times.  As you may have noticed from the schedule, I am back to back for each time.  Please make sure to be here on time.  I would like your child to attend the first part of the conference.  I will repost the conference schedule on Friday's blog.

  I hope you have a great week.

Peace,
Tom

November 12, 2010

SKI AND SKATE SALE!!  SEE YOU THERE.  I will write on Monday.  Have a good weekend.
Tom

November 10, 2011

Don't you wish instead of snow days, we could have "sun" days.  Wouldn't it be nice to be outside enjoying the beautiful day?  Anyway, this morning we had our meeting.  During meeting Greta, Marieke, Jacob, and Ayla shared with the group.  Ms. Korb led the class in a game of Four Corners.  After music, we had stations where the kids read, continued their pen pal responses, and worked on their literature circle jobs.  We then had spelling and lunch.

This Friday we will be going to the orchard in the afternoon.  We will once again be meeting with the Harwood outreach group.  We will have math in the morning to accommodate the schedule change.  Please make sure your child dresses for the orchard.  Rain boots would be a good idea.

Yesterday we started our unit on magnets.  The students worked in teams and tested the idea of magnetism.

I hope you have a great day.
Peace,
Tom

November 9, 2010

A snow day in early November?  No one was more shocked than me.  Our family was dressed and ready to go when we got the news.  Please remember that the Thanksgiving Lunch forms were due today.  I would let Connie know if you haven't turned in your form.  The book orders were due as well.  I will be sending those out this weekend.  If you would still like to order, please send them in this week.

FYI:
*Tomorrow is a half day
*There will be no math homework this week (due to the short week)
*I am out on Friday morning.  Julianne has her two week check in on her hearing aid.

**CONGRATULATIONS TO AYLA!  She was the first one to join the 100 Book Club.  Her next goal is the 200 Club.  We are on the verge of having others join her in Club 100.

That is all for now.  I will write again tomorrow.
Peace,
Tom

November 5, 2010

Happy Friday!  This week we read the book Blueberries for Sal.  In honor of Sal, the state of Maine, and the town Machias, we made blueberry muffins this morning.  The students really seemed to enjoy the process and getting the opportunity to cook in school.

We all spent today working on our writes about the annual blueberry festival in Machias, Maine, writing in our Weekly News journals, and finishing up our unit on rectangles and symmetry.

Below is the parent conference schedule (Everyone should have received his/her note yesterday.  If your time doesn't work, feel free to call someone else on the list and try to switch with them,  However, please make sure to let me know and all changes should be made by Monday of next week.

*Remember book order forms are due by Monday.

Have a great weekend.

Peace,
Mr. Young

Conference Schedule
11/22/10
2:30  Sawyer
3:00 Kelci
3:30 Ayla
4:00  Greta
4:30  Julia
5:00  Winter
5:30  Molly
6:00  Jacob
6:30  Bryn
*6:30 is the last possible time on this day

11/23/10
2:30 Abby
3:00  Piper
3:30  Anda
4:00  Angela
4:30  Charlotte
5:00  Marieke
5:30  Liza
*5:30 is the last possible time on this day

*I can't go any later on either day because my kids have their conferences on this day too.  I am hoping to get a later time for each of theirs.  However, Waterbury hasn't put together a schedule yet.

November 3, 2010

Today we read Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey.  After reading the book we talked about blueberries and how important they are to the state of Maine.  We then learned about the town of Machias and through the use of the web learned all about their Blueberry Festival traditions.  We wrote a summary together focusing on the use of adjectives and elaboration.

Tomorrow your child will be bringing their parent conference form home.  Everyone has been given a slot.  Please make every effort to make the scheduled time.  After the Thanksgiving break, my basketball season goes into full swing.  I will have very limited time to reschedule any missed conferences.  If there is a major conflict with your time, please let me know a.s.a.p.

Dates:
*There is an assembly this Friday morning.  Mrs. Baker's Class will be hosting.
11/8/10  Book Order Forms Due
11/10/10  Early Release Day
11/10/10  Photo Retake Day
11/11/10  PTA Meeting
11/19/10  Thanksgiving Lunch (If you are planning on attending, please return your form by 11/8/10.

Have a great day.
Peace,
Tom

November 1, 2010

 Can you believe it is already November?  I am always amazed how quickly the school year goes.  I hope everyone had an enjoyable Halloween.  The students seemed to enjoy their evening of trick or treating.

  Today the students worked on their October Calendar Challenge.  At the end of each month, the students look at the month's calendar and answer questions based on dates and events.  This is a great way to work on calendar skills and gain an understanding of how elapsed time on a calendar works.  During stations the students started their new Literature Circle assignment, were tested on last week's sight words, and met with me for reading group.  During math we looked at the concept of symmetry using pattern blocks and small mirrors.

FYI:

*There will math and reading homework this week.  Please make sure your child fills out his/her reading log nightly.

*I am sending home a few book order forms.  If you wish to order from them, please fill the form out and return it by next Monday.  This will be the last order before the December break.

That is all for now.  I hope you have a wonderful week.

Peace,

Tom

October 29, 2010

We had a wonderful hike to the Wu Ledges today.  Sue Dillon led us on our journey.  I have lots of pictures that I took with my phone.  I will download them and update the slide show this weekend.  The kids all did a fabulous job today and seemed to really enjoy the hike.

*There is no weekly news today (we didn't have time because of the hike).

I hope you have a great Halloween.
Peace,
Tom

October 27, 2010

 Sad to say, indoor recess today!  Mrs. Dillon hiked the trail of our planed Friday hike.  Unfortunately it is very wet and muddy.  The brooks that we would have to cross are unsafe to pass with the group.  So, we will drive up to Mrs. Dillon's house and hike to the Wu Cliffs.  Mrs. Dillon will be joining us and lead us on the trek.  Please remember to pack a water bottle for your child.  Some of the chaperones are making a snack for the class, so you will not need to pack one for your child.

 Today we met Jeremy Gulley and talked about composting.  Jeremy talked to the class about the benefits to composting, how to do it, and then we started working on the composting bins in our school garden.  These bins will be our responsibility for the remainder of the school year.

  This afternoon the children had to use different dimensions of card stock to create three dimensional rectangles.  We also learned more about the state of Maine and some of its symbols.  If you have any pictures or items from the Maine coast, please send them in.

 I hope you have a wonderful day.
Peace,
Tom

October 25, 2010

Good Afternoon,
  I hope your children enjoyed their time off.  I was amazed at all the different weather conditions I observed throughout the weekend.
 
  Last Wednesday, the students teamed up with the Pre-Tech Outreach Program and worked on expanding the mulch rings around the fruit trees.  It was nice to team up with a few students from Harwood and was equally nice to share with them our orchard work.

  Today we started our geography dictionaries.  The students entered the words hill, ocean, island, and coast into their books.  These are terms that came right out of Mrs. Rumphius.  This is the current book on our travels around the country.

FYI:
*We will be hiking on Friday.  Please make sure your child has appropriate clothing, shoes, and a water bottle.
*I will be out tomorrow morning (not today as I thought) to bring my daughter for her hearing aid fitting.  Sally Utter will be the substitute.  I plan on being back by 11:00.
*There is math and reading homework this week.  Some of the math games involve some cutting.  Please do this for your child, so he/she can spend their time playing the game.

That is all for now.  Have a wonderful week.
Peace,
Tom

October 20, 2010

Good Morning,
  Today our goal was to finish a few tasks that we have been working on over the past few weeks.  Our main goal was to finish our Family write drafts.  This afternoon I am hoping to take the class to the orchard to meet Kristen and her crew from Harwood.

  I hope the kids enjoy the long weekend.  My family and I are off to a cabin in the woods.  I think it might be Fall's last hurrah.  Please remember to read on Thursday and Friday.

Peace,
Tom

October 18, 2010

I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend.  I took my dad to a football game on Friday evening.  The wind and rain reminded me of the typhoons I used to experience in the South Pacific.  Please remember that this week is a shortened week.  We do not have school on Thursday or Friday.

Today the students planned their (imaginary) trips to Boston.  They had to decide what kind of transportation would be needed, who would take them, and what they would visit while in Boston.  We also spent some time talking about the terms tradition and celebration.  Tomorrow the kids will write about Patriot's Day and the traditions that happen around this celebration.  Next week we will travel up the coast to the State of Maine.  We will be reading from the book Mrs. Rumphius.  If you have any pictures, posters, or items from the Maine Coast, please send them in.  

We are going to postpone our hike for another time.  Wednesday's weather looks questionable and we have more chaperones available on Fridays.  So, we will plan our hike for the 29th of October.  We will leave the school around 8:30 a.m.  The chaperones will be Susan H., Jennifer S., Bear S., Sandy T., Lynne B., and Jennifer S..

Please remember that the math game survey is due on Wednesday.  That is the game that was sent home last Tuesday.  I am also sending home a new reading log this week.  I would like each student to read Monday-Friday this week,  I will collect these logs next Monday.

I will be out of school next Monday morning.  We have another appointment for Julianne.  I plan on being back for the afternoon.

Peace,

Tom

October 15, 2010

Good Morning,
  This morning Winter and Liza were part of the first lower unit play of the school year.  It was a great performance with Liza playing bear and Winter playing the role of a musketeer.  During morning meeting, many of the students identified the play as the highlight of their week.  This morning we worked on a variety of projects.  A few of the students continued graphing the types of trees in the orchard.  All of the students worked on parts of our "Big" orchard map.  This involved laying out the tree plot and drawing the barn and bigger pines and maples in the field.  This afternoon the students worked with the concept of measuring area.  This was a fun activity in which they used inch blocks to figure out which candybar (paper version) would have the most chocolate.

*We will be going on our hike next Wednesday.  It looks like postponing it was a good idea.  Please e-mail me if you are still able to drive.
*A special thanks to Piper and Winter for snapping some of this week's pictures.

Peace,
Tom

October 14, 2010

HIKE FOR HUNGER IS CANCELLED FOR TOMORROW!

  Due to the inclement weather forecast, we will have to reschedule our hike that was planned for tomorrow.  I am thinking that we try for next Wednesday (the last day before teacher's convention).  Would my chaperones still be able to drive?  Please e-mail me if Wednesday doesn't work for you.  I will post more tomorrow.
Peace,
Tom

October 12, 2010

Good Morning,

  I am writing today and not tomorrow because tomorrow I have to leave at 11:00 for my daughter’s appointment.  Sally Utter will be the substitute for me.  She will be teaching math and social studies.  

  We will be going on our hike on Friday.  Instead of going to Sunset, we will be hiking to Beaver Pond.  I am planning on Bear, Sandy, Susan H., Jen Soucy, and Lynne B., to be our drivers.  Please let me know if anyone else would like to attend.  We will be leaving around 8:30.  Your child must bring a snack and water bottle for the trip.  Each child will be carrying their own items, so please clean out their backpacks or find a smaller bag for them to use.  Please make sure your child wears appropriate shoes and clothing.

FYI: 

*The math game I send home this week will not be due until next Wednesday.  Since we have a short week both this week and next.

*Lower Unit Play this Friday at assembly

*Please have your child bring in food for the food shelf/Hike For Hunger Campaign

*If you haven’t checked out the Hike For Hunger link posted on last Friday’s blog post, please watch it with your child.

*I am still collecting small boxes.

That is all for now.  I will write again on Friday.

Peace,

Tom

October 8, 2010

Good Afternoon!  Let me tell you about our day.  Around 9:30 we headed outside to hang the tree signs on each tree.  So, I had the pleasure of taking 16 wonderful children to the orchard.  Once there, we spent an hour enjoying a beautiful fall day enjoying the breeze, colors, and sunshine.  Could it get any better?  In all seriousness, the students did a wonderful job of creating signs for each tree.   If you drive by the orchard, you will see our wonderful work.  The next phase of the project will be creating a larger scaled version of our original map sketches, creating a digital image, and creating an interactive digital version.

Over the past two days we have continued working with geo-blocks and discovering the many attributes of each block.  This is a continuation of our geometry study.  The students have had a variety of ways to discover and explore the 2 and 3 dimensional shapes we are working with.

FYI:
*There is no school on Monday (Teacher Inservice).
*Next week we will be collecting food as we gear up for our Hike For Hunger.  Please have your child bring in food donations before next Friday.  For more information (there is a cool video for kids) about the Hike For Hunger Campaign, please check out this link:  http://www.vtnohunger.org/info/hikeforhunger.php

That is all for now.  I hope you have a wonderful weekend.  I will post again next Wednesday.
Peace,
Tom

October 6, 2010

What is geometry?  That was the question of the day (yesterday) as we started our 1st geometry unit of the year.  We talked a lot about 2 & 3 dimensional shapes, drew some of them, and identified the number of faces on a 3 dimensional shape.  We also started writing summaries of Make Way For Ducklings.  The students are illustrating their favorite part of the book and learning how to retell the story in their own words.  I will be creating a "Where Are We Now" bulletin board for the classroom.  This display will be dedicated to our year-long trip/study.  If you have any pictures of the Boston area, please send them in.  Throughout this week and next we will be discussing the book, learning about Patriot's Day, and discovering other places to see in Boston.

Indoor Recess!

Notes:
*The hike is set for October 15th.  As of right now; Lynne, Bear, Sandy, and Susan H. are our drivers/chaperones.  If you are interested in going, please let me know.  We will leave school at 8:30 that morning and return before 11:30.
*For your convenience, the upcoming events page has been updated.
*Reading Log and Math Survey are due Friday.
*We will be going to the orchard on Friday.

Peace,
Tom

October 4, 2010

Good Morning,
  I hope everyone enjoyed the wonderful weekend.  I found myself staring at the mountains and reflecting about how lucky we are to live in such a beautiful place.  Today we read Make Way For Ducklings by Robert McCloskey.  This is our first book on our journey around the country.  I started the lesson looking a a US map and we discussed the following words:  continent, country, region, state, county, and city/town.  These are terms that we will focus on throughout our geographic study.  We will be using this book over the next two weeks.  If you have any pictures of the Boston Common or Public Garden, please send them in.

FYI:
*You will notice that there is a button (on the right hand side of the page) that says "Follow."  If you click this, it will allow you to receive an e-mail notification that the blog has been updated.  I strongly encourage each person to do this.
*We will be hiking "Sunset" on Friday, October 15th.  This will be in conjunction with the Hike For Hunger Campaign.  Once again I will be asking students to bring in food donation for the Food Shelf.  If you would like to help chaperone/Drive on the trip, please let me know.  We will be leaving around 8:15 and hope to return by 11:00.
*Picture Day is tomorrow.  Our pictures will be at 12:00.
*Keep sending in the small boxes and the Box Top For Education tops.

That is all for now.  Have a wonderful week and I will post again on Tuesday.
Peace,
Tom

October 1, 2010

Good Afternoon,
  Today the river decided to come and visit our school.  Although it didn't get to the playground, it did spread across the lower field quite extensively.  Needless to say, we had indoor recess.  Yesterday we continued working with the concept of doubling a number and more story problems.  Today some of the students  worked on finishing our labels for the trees, some graphed the types of trees, and others worked on making a larger scale map of the orchard.  We also had spelling, Literature Circles, and I read from our new read-a-loud Matilda.

FYI:
*Picture day is next Tuesday.
*We are collecting General Mills Box Tops (school initiative).  Your child has a pink collecting sheet in his/her backpack.
*I would like to have our class do our Hike For Hunger Trek on Friday, October 15th.  Would anyone be able to drive students and help with the trip?  If you are able to help, please let me know by next Tuesday.

  This has been a fantastic week, and I am extremely pleased with the class.  I hope the students are having as much fun as I am and are enjoying the activities that are going on in the classroom.  I hope you have a wonderful weekend.
Peace,
Tom

September 29, 2010

Good Morning,

  Yesterday Charlotte and Liza presented their journaling that they did on their recent trips.  Charlotte talked to us about a goat named Rambo, Fort Knox, and her time on the coast.  Liza talked about her experience as a flower girl and the fun dancing that she was part of at the reception.  This year, when your child travels (misses school), he/she will be asked to keep a 

journal of his/her trip and continue to read from his/her reading book.  Upon returning from the trip, he/she will present their experience during our morning meeting.  I will also ask that the parents set up a time to meet (after your vacation) to make a plan on catching your student up with the missed work.  The September 8th blog posting briefly outlined this plan.

  We continue to work on both our Family writes and our pen-pal letters.  The students are almost finished with the pen-pal letters and we hope to mail them by Friday.  During math, we have been working a lot on problem solving and learning how to describe your thinking and represent it with an equation.  This has been a real challenge for many and you may hear some +/- discussions about this process.

  I appreciate all of the feedback on the Parent Night idea.  After reviewing the input, I have decided not to hold a formal night.  If you would like to meet sometime after school, please let me know (Wednesdays work best for this).

  We will have a short Fire Prevention assembly on Friday morning and then visit the trucks and rescue workers in the school parking lot.

Have a great day.

Peace,

Tom

September 27, 2010

Good Morning Friends,

  This year one of our Social Studies Themes is Celebrations and Traditions.  This year we will be traveling around the country through children’s literature.  We will travel through the country focusing on the following 7 U.S. Regions:  New England, Middle Atlantic, Southeast, Midwest, Southwest, Mountain, and Pacific.  As we visit each region, I will be focusing on local traditions/celebrations related to that region.  If you have ever been to the region, grew up there, or are an expert of the area and would like to present to the class, please let me know.  This could include places to see, celebrations to be part of, or anything else related.  Pictures or slide shows are encouraged.  Next Monday, we will start with the Northeast Region.  We will be reading Make Way For Ducklings and focus on the greater Boston area.

  During our Morning Meeting we played a game called Earth, Air, Water, Fire.  After meeting we continued our map skills work.  Today we talked about the directions North & South East and North and South West.  During stations kids continued working on their pen pal letters, started this week’s Literature Circle assignments, and had reading group with me.  During math we focused on solving story problems with logical approaches.  Today’s specials were PE and Library.

 Notes For the Week:

*Homework Monday-Thursday this week.  Book Log and Math Survey due on Friday.

*We will not be going to the orchard this week.  We will be working in the classroom on the mapping project.

*I am still looking for small boxes.

*Remember to respond to last Friday’s blog:  Do you want a “parent night?”

*Send in your picture order forms.

That is all for now.  Have a great week and I will post again on Wednesday.

Peace,

Tom

September 24, 2010

Good Afternoon,
 Since my last post, our class has started writing pen-pal letters to my daughter's 3rd grade class at Thatcher Brook.  Wednesday was National Pen-Pal day (I hope your celebration was as wild as ours) and it just seemed like the right day to start this project.  My goal is to write back and forth a few times and then get together at the end of the year.

  Today we went to the orchard and labeled the remaining 25 trees.  The groups did a wonderful job with this and every team finished in the given time.  Next week we will use this information to finish our label cards.

  Homework:  I need your help!  I realize that everyone's schedule is quite crazy and our children have a "million" things going on, but I need to have the math survey and reading log completed each week.  I need the students to understand that this is part of their school job.  We have had a few discussions about this but reinforcement from home would be greatly appreciated.  I thank you in advance for your support with this.

  Would you like a parent night?  Would you like me to take time and go over what's new this year, the blog, and take time to answer any questions regarding the general classroom procedure?  I would be more than happy to organize this but I want to make sure that it is something that people want?  Please let me know if it is something that interests you.

*Next Week's Parent Volunteer Schedule:
Monday: Jennifer Stella
Tuesday:  Sharon Parks
Wednesday: Sandy Tarburton
Thursday:  Sally Kendall
Friday:  Bear Simmons

You may notice that I try an update the slideshow every weekend.  I am not keeping track of which kids appear on the blog.  If you notice that your child has not been pictured, please let me know.  I hope your family has a wonderful weekend.  I am hoping to take my family apple picking at some point.
Peace,
Tom