Good Morning,
I hope you had a nice weekend. I am sorry I didn't post on Friday, but I had left school early (not feeling well). I am actually out again today but am at Fayston School. I am attending a district wide meeting on the math assessment that we give three times a year.
Since I was out Friday and out again today, I have not had a chance to get math homework together. Therefore, I will not assign a specific math homework assignment this week but do encourage you to play a past game, or try one of the math links on the blog. There is a reading log in each child's bag for the week.
I hope you have a great day. Wednesday does not look good as far as weather is concerned. Hopefully we will have school. At this rate we might be in school until late June.
**Remember, instruments were due today. If your child does not bring in an instrument he/she will have a hard time completing the final assessment.
Peace,
Tom
January 31, 2011
January 26, 2011
January 26, 2011
Good Morning,
What a great day to ski! It is suppose to be the warmest day of the week today. This morning we had our meeting and then went straight to music. After music, we had a 45 minute block where kids worked on finishing a project based on the book The Relatives Came, continued a sound science experiment, and practiced their sight words. At 10:00 we started math and then went to lunch and finished math before getting ready for skiing.
*Anda Gulley is the newest member of the 100 Book Club. Congratulations to her.
*Instruments for the sound assessment are due on Monday.
*Completed Reading Log due on Friday.
Have a great day!
Tom
What a great day to ski! It is suppose to be the warmest day of the week today. This morning we had our meeting and then went straight to music. After music, we had a 45 minute block where kids worked on finishing a project based on the book The Relatives Came, continued a sound science experiment, and practiced their sight words. At 10:00 we started math and then went to lunch and finished math before getting ready for skiing.
*Anda Gulley is the newest member of the 100 Book Club. Congratulations to her.
*Instruments for the sound assessment are due on Monday.
*Completed Reading Log due on Friday.
Have a great day!
Tom
January 24, 2011
January 24, 2011
Good Morning,
I hope everyone had a smooth start to their morning. I thought it was very convenient to get the call about a delay yesterday evening. Please remember on delay days that the kids need to arrive between 9:00 & 9:10. We will start class promptly at 9:10.
This week there will be no math homework. Instead I will be asking the students to create an instrument at home (this is part of their science assessment for sound). This does not need to be an elaborate thing but simply a design that makes noise. The point of the project is that the students will use their creation to explain how their instrument produces vibrations. The students will not be graded on the instrument but rather on their explanation of how the instrument creates sound. The instrument is due by January 31st.
Please remember that Wednesday is a ski day. Make sure your child has all of the appropriate clothing. If your child has a neck warmer/gator, please make sure to send it in.
Have a great day.
Peace,
Tom
I hope everyone had a smooth start to their morning. I thought it was very convenient to get the call about a delay yesterday evening. Please remember on delay days that the kids need to arrive between 9:00 & 9:10. We will start class promptly at 9:10.
This week there will be no math homework. Instead I will be asking the students to create an instrument at home (this is part of their science assessment for sound). This does not need to be an elaborate thing but simply a design that makes noise. The point of the project is that the students will use their creation to explain how their instrument produces vibrations. The students will not be graded on the instrument but rather on their explanation of how the instrument creates sound. The instrument is due by January 31st.
Please remember that Wednesday is a ski day. Make sure your child has all of the appropriate clothing. If your child has a neck warmer/gator, please make sure to send it in.
Have a great day.
Peace,
Tom
January 21, 2011
January 21, 2011
Good Afternoon,
Today: FLYNN EXPERIENCE, ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! Ask your child about the dance performance. Have a great weekend, stay warm.
Tom
Today: FLYNN EXPERIENCE, ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! Ask your child about the dance performance. Have a great weekend, stay warm.
Tom
January 19, 2011
January 19, 2011
Good Morning,
We will be traveling to the Flynn on Friday morning. We will be leaving at 8:05 and going with Mrs. Belknap's and Mr. Hubbard's classes. We should be back just before lunch time. Today, we worked on our Literature Circle Jobs, Reader's Notebook, and took an assessment on line plots.
*The students' poems will be hanging up in the classroom by the end of the week. Stop by and check them out.
*There is math and reading homework this week. Please make sure your child is reading nightly and playing the math game at least twice a week. Remember the survey and log are due on Friday.
It should be a great skiing day!
Peace,
Tom
We will be traveling to the Flynn on Friday morning. We will be leaving at 8:05 and going with Mrs. Belknap's and Mr. Hubbard's classes. We should be back just before lunch time. Today, we worked on our Literature Circle Jobs, Reader's Notebook, and took an assessment on line plots.
*The students' poems will be hanging up in the classroom by the end of the week. Stop by and check them out.
*There is math and reading homework this week. Please make sure your child is reading nightly and playing the math game at least twice a week. Remember the survey and log are due on Friday.
It should be a great skiing day!
Peace,
Tom
January 14, 2011
January 14, 2011
Good Afternoon,
I hope everyone enjoyed the presentation last evening. It was interesting to hear how the kids felt about it. Many of them were not excited about the tv camera. Today we read a book entitled Button Up! by Alice Schertle. This book is a collection of wrinkled rhymes. After reading the book, we looked at the rhyming schemes that the poet used in her poems. The students were then asked to create their own poem with an identified rhyming scheme. Below is one of the student entries created today:
Mr. Young
Mr. Young is funny.
Mr. Young is like a bunny.
He is nice,
but he might have lice.
Mr. Young is helpful,
but he is not dull!
Mr. Young is very odd.
He is like a pea pod.
Mr. Young is loud.
He is as soft as a cloud.
Mr. Young has black hair.
Mr. Young is not fair.
He is very lazy.
Mr. Young is very "gazy."
I like Mr. Young!
by: Liza Jernigan
Needless to say the class had fun with this and produced some very interesting and entertaining poems.
*Please have your child read and fill in the math survey over the weekend.
Have a great weekend.
Tom
I hope everyone enjoyed the presentation last evening. It was interesting to hear how the kids felt about it. Many of them were not excited about the tv camera. Today we read a book entitled Button Up! by Alice Schertle. This book is a collection of wrinkled rhymes. After reading the book, we looked at the rhyming schemes that the poet used in her poems. The students were then asked to create their own poem with an identified rhyming scheme. Below is one of the student entries created today:
Mr. Young
Mr. Young is funny.
Mr. Young is like a bunny.
He is nice,
but he might have lice.
Mr. Young is helpful,
but he is not dull!
Mr. Young is very odd.
He is like a pea pod.
Mr. Young is loud.
He is as soft as a cloud.
Mr. Young has black hair.
Mr. Young is not fair.
He is very lazy.
Mr. Young is very "gazy."
I like Mr. Young!
by: Liza Jernigan
Needless to say the class had fun with this and produced some very interesting and entertaining poems.
*Please have your child read and fill in the math survey over the weekend.
Have a great weekend.
Tom
January 13, 2011
January 13, 2011
Good Morning,
Performance tonight at 6:30. Please have your child go straight to the gym. Plan on arriving between 6:20-6:25ish. See you tonight.
*Since we have the performance, I am not sending homework home tonight. I will send the math survey home tomorrow and it can be completed over the long weekend.
Tom
Performance tonight at 6:30. Please have your child go straight to the gym. Plan on arriving between 6:20-6:25ish. See you tonight.
*Since we have the performance, I am not sending homework home tonight. I will send the math survey home tomorrow and it can be completed over the long weekend.
Tom
January 10, 2011
January 10, 2011
Good Afternoon,
I am actually writing to you, from my house, as I watch yet another show on the Disney Channel. My daughter has been ill since Thursday and my wife and I are alternating staying home with her. I was able to get into school yesterday, so the students should have had a productive and meaningful day planned for them. Tonight's homework is a result of the students requesting that the Yekti Cards be sent home. In your child's bag you will find the story behind them and information for using them. You will need to cut the cards out for your child. This activity is easy for them (we spent a lot of time doing attributes last year). However, since it is something every kid wanted and we have a week with skiing and a concert, I felt this would be a good time for this type of assignment. Let me know if you have any questions.
*Our Winter Concert is this Thursday. I will put more information in Wednesday's blog post.
I hope you have a great week. Please don't forget to help your child pack for Wednesday's ski day.
Peace,
Tom
January 7, 2011
January 7, 2011
Good Afternoon,
We have had a great week and the last two days have been fun and action packed. Yesterday we had all kinds of volunteer help as we worked on our Tar Beach and New York City writings. We will continue to finish these next week. We also continued working on our discovery and exploration of sound.
Today we read the story An Eye for Color (the story of Josef Albers). This selection is one of this year's Red Clover choices. After reading the story, the students all created their own homage to squares much in the manor of Mr. Albers. Their work will be hanging in the room next week. During math, the students worked in groups of two or three and gathered information about their peers. They then had to find ways to group their information and create some form of a visual representation. This is part of our data unit, and we will continue our work with this next week.
I hope you have a great weekend.
Peace,
Tom
We have had a great week and the last two days have been fun and action packed. Yesterday we had all kinds of volunteer help as we worked on our Tar Beach and New York City writings. We will continue to finish these next week. We also continued working on our discovery and exploration of sound.
I hope you have a great weekend.
Peace,
Tom
January 5, 2011
January 5, 2011
Good Morning,
This week we have been visiting New York City. On Monday, we read the story Tar Beach by Faith Ringgold. This book focuses on the beauty of the NY City lights and the George Washington Bridge. We also looked into the celebration of New Year's Eve in Times Square. We explored the official site of the celebration and watched a You Tube clip of the event. The students are currently writing about the events that go with this annual tradition.
Everyone was prepared for their day of skiing. Great job and kudos to everyone. I am hoping they have a great first day. During ski days, we have to change our schedule a bit. If we added up the ski days and Early Release days the students would miss close to 16 math classes. This would prevent us from finishing the program and put your kids at a disadvantage when compared to the other second graders. So, we will have math from 10:30-11:30 on ski days and then go to lunch. There is no recess on these days and the only thing that will be cancelled is spelling.
I hope you have a great day.
Peace,
Tom
This week we have been visiting New York City. On Monday, we read the story Tar Beach by Faith Ringgold. This book focuses on the beauty of the NY City lights and the George Washington Bridge. We also looked into the celebration of New Year's Eve in Times Square. We explored the official site of the celebration and watched a You Tube clip of the event. The students are currently writing about the events that go with this annual tradition.
Everyone was prepared for their day of skiing. Great job and kudos to everyone. I am hoping they have a great first day. During ski days, we have to change our schedule a bit. If we added up the ski days and Early Release days the students would miss close to 16 math classes. This would prevent us from finishing the program and put your kids at a disadvantage when compared to the other second graders. So, we will have math from 10:30-11:30 on ski days and then go to lunch. There is no recess on these days and the only thing that will be cancelled is spelling.
I hope you have a great day.
Peace,
Tom
January 4, 2011
January 4th, 2010
Good Morning,
First of all I would like to thank everyone for the gifts I received before and during vacation. They were very thoughtful and much appreciated. I also want to thank Angela for bringing in a birthday cake for me. We celebrated as a class today.
Tomorrow marks the start of the Winter Program at the Waitsfield School. This morning we had a quick assembly to help the kids remember the items they will need and the behaviors that are expected of them. Below is a list of reminders to help you and your child on our ski days.
*Please make sure every item is labeled with your child's name. This includes skis, poles, coats, pants, boots, hats, gloves, helmets, and neck gators.
*Your child should have the items listed above. It will be cold tomorrow and neck gators are highly recommended.
*In the morning, your child's skis and poles should be delivered near the entrance on the far side of the gym (again please make sure everything is labeled). Please do not bring these items to the classroom.
*Your child should pack a bag that contains all of the clothing he/she will need for the mountain (including helmets). In the morning, this bag can be placed in the hallway outside our classroom. Again, please make sure everything is labeled.
*If your child is staying at the mountain, he/she must turn in the permission slip before we leave tomorrow.
Each group will have a certified ski coach with them. There will also be three school employees at the mountain at all times. Please help me in reminding your child that we will be in a public place and must be exhibiting behavior that is indicative of the Waitsfield School. Any inappropriate or unsafe behavior can/will lead to the loss of participation privileges.
I hope everyone has a wonderful day.
Peace,
Tom
First of all I would like to thank everyone for the gifts I received before and during vacation. They were very thoughtful and much appreciated. I also want to thank Angela for bringing in a birthday cake for me. We celebrated as a class today.
Tomorrow marks the start of the Winter Program at the Waitsfield School. This morning we had a quick assembly to help the kids remember the items they will need and the behaviors that are expected of them. Below is a list of reminders to help you and your child on our ski days.
*Please make sure every item is labeled with your child's name. This includes skis, poles, coats, pants, boots, hats, gloves, helmets, and neck gators.
*Your child should have the items listed above. It will be cold tomorrow and neck gators are highly recommended.
*In the morning, your child's skis and poles should be delivered near the entrance on the far side of the gym (again please make sure everything is labeled). Please do not bring these items to the classroom.
*Your child should pack a bag that contains all of the clothing he/she will need for the mountain (including helmets). In the morning, this bag can be placed in the hallway outside our classroom. Again, please make sure everything is labeled.
*If your child is staying at the mountain, he/she must turn in the permission slip before we leave tomorrow.
Each group will have a certified ski coach with them. There will also be three school employees at the mountain at all times. Please help me in reminding your child that we will be in a public place and must be exhibiting behavior that is indicative of the Waitsfield School. Any inappropriate or unsafe behavior can/will lead to the loss of participation privileges.
I hope everyone has a wonderful day.
Peace,
Tom
January 3, 2011
January 3, 2010
January 3, 2010
Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a joyous and celebratory New Year. I am short on time, so I will write quickly today and more elaborately tomorrow. Your child has a permission form if he/she is planning on staying at Sugarbush in his /her homework bag (after the ski program). Please fill it out and return it to me tomorrow.
There is reading and math homework this week. Please make sure your child fills out the reading log each night and the survey form at the end of the week.
Tomorrow's post will have a more indepth note about the ski program and the procedures for the scheduled ski days.
Peace,
Tom
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