May 23, 2016

Good Morning,
  I hope you all had a great weekend.  It was certainly nice to have some sunny and arm weather.  This week I will be wrapping up our social studies unit.  I will also be testing each kids reading ability, sight word recognition, and comprehension skills.  This work will happen in place of reading groups.  This means your child will have a Book of Choice each night this week.

  Anna Van Dine, the daughter of Mr. Van Dine, is a senior at Harwood.  She is also one of my daughter's dance teachers.  Tis summer she would like to work as a nanny or babysitter.  I told her that I would put her information on my blog.  If you are in need of an incredible person to be with your kids please reach out.  Anna's info:  "My email is annavan33@gmail.com, I have a profile on Care.com if people want to see more info about me, I’m going to NYU next year, I’m available all summer, I’ve had experience with all ages."

I hope you all have a great week.

Peace,

Tommy

May 20, 2016

Good Morning,
  I hope all is well on the home fronts!  The students were quite excited about their performance last night.  We had a discussion about it during our Morning Meeting.  All but one student felt it went well.  The one student who didn't feel okay about it expressed his having to deal with stage fright.  It was great that the student was willing to share his thoughts and feelings with the class.

  Today the students had math and art class.  The excitement around the Bridge Street Art Fair is the talk of the class.  I hope you all have an opportunity to attend this wonderful event.  Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend.  Julianne has a track meet tomorrow and we have my mother in law's retirement party that evening.

 NOTES:

*I will have a sub on Thursday,  I will be in and out of the classroom but testing each students reading ability.  Katie D. will be the substitute.

*Each town will be deciding if there should be a district consolidation on Tuesday, June 7th.  Please don't forget to get out and VOTE! If you would like any information on the issue at hand, please contact Kaiya.

*I am not sending home any homework this weekend.  Please enjoy the events and beautiful weather that the weekend will offer.

Peace,
Tommy

May 16, 2018

Good Morning,

  I hope all is well with everyone.  We are rapidly approaching the end of the year and yet we still have much to do.  The students continue to write persuasive pieces.  Our focus lately has been on adding introductions to their pieces and continued attention to editing.  Our Social Studies projects are moving along.  The composting group has already collected over 35 pounds of paper towels.  The books for Peru group is steadily collecting change.  Please send in any coins that you can spare.  The group working on the Visitor's Guide is on the final stage.  This Wednesday and the following Wednesday will be used to collect photos of the different locations.  We will be leaving the building for this part of the project.  I will be sending an email (to those kids involved) with specifics.  Please be on the lookout for that.

This Thursday will be our spring concert presented by Mr. Hill and his music and band classes. Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend this event.  Unfortunately our school and my daughters' school have a performance on the same night.  I will be attending their event.  My daughters and I appreciate your understanding with this.  Students are asked to bring in a food or monetary donation for the food shelf on Thursday.

NOTES:

*We will have a bus safety drill on Wednesday at 2:00.  This is required of the whole school.

*We will have a concert rehearsal on afternoon on Thursday.  Your child will not have homework this night.

*On Thursday, June 9th our class will be presenting their Social Studies projects to the class.  We will do this from 7:50-8:30 a.m.  If you can;t attend, I will be sending home the links to their videos as well.

Have a great week.
Peace,
Tommy

May 6, 2016

Good Afternoon,
  Today the students had art class.  They were very excited because they earned the Golden Ticket for the focus and kindness during the class.  They couldn't wait to tell me once they got back to our room.

  This afternoon a BIG decision needed to be made.  The sun was finally shining and the kids (and I ) were drawn to the light like a moth to a flame.  So, I made a deal with the class.  If they wrote a GREAT weekly news entry, I would take them for a walk to the VG for popsicles.  They seemed excited about the prospect and quickly got to work.  Some even chose to work outside.

I hope you all have a good weekend.

Peace,
Tommy

May 2, 2016

Good Morning,
  I hope you all had a great weekend.  As I had mentioned last week, I was out of the building this morning.  This afternoon the students had a language arts block and PE.

  It is hard to believe we are already into May. During this month, I will be testing a variety of language arts and math skills to assess how each child progressed this year.  It is all one to one testing and it will be done throughout the day.  I will not use students lunch or recess time to conduct the assessments.

Notes:

*A new homework log is in your child's bag.

*I know springtime has many of the students participating in a variety of activities.  Please make sure to set aside a time to read each day.  It is important that this remains a routine and that your children see that reading is a priority.

Peace,
Mr. Young