Good Evening,
Yesterday's trip to the sugarhouse was quite a success. I have to say it was one of the best field trips I have ever done with a class. It was such a great hands-on experience and Stacey did a fabulous job of organizing it in a way that all of the academic goals I had were met. I loved that the kids got to be outside experiencing learning through our "backyard." Here is a video of the day.
There is no Weekly News Journal this weekend. We used the time to write thank you notes to our field trip hosts.
I am trying to set up a visit to theHartshorn sugarhouse next week. This will give us a chance to see how technology has changed the sugaring process as the students learn how reverse osmosis works. This learning will allow us to meet some of the design tech components of our unit. It will also allow for the students to make sure they have recorded enough information so that they can write their informational books about sugaring.
I hope you all have a great weekend.
Peace,
Tommy
March 30, 2018
March 27, 2018
March 27, 2018
Good Afternoon,
I hope you all had a good weekend. Yesterday we spent some time working on writing strong introductions in our writing pieces. We looked at several examples in mentor texts and each student then spent time revising one of their own to make it stronger. Today the students partnered up and shared their introduction revisions and some even presented to the class as a whole.
Monday's mindfulness moment had us taking a walk for 10 minutes in the sunshine. The kids were focused on their breathing and actually did this with a silent voice. They said they enjoyed getting outside and being able to move around. It is certainly nice to have such great sidewalks in town to use for this (Thank you taxpayers)!. As the weather becomes warmer, we will continue to bring our mindfulness activities to the outdoors.
We will be going on our field trip this Thursday. We will leave at 9:50 and be back by 12:30. Feel free to join us if you like. If your child has signed up for a bagged lunch, it will be provided on Thursday. If you would still like to make a donation to the farm, please feel free to send it in.
This week Lev and Caroline sat down with Donovan to get to know more about him. Here is what they found out.
Donovan is seven years old. His birthday is September 28th. His favorite thing to do in school is typing club because you get to learn on a computer. His hobby is football because he likes tackling. His favorite food is snails because they are salty. His favorite thing about the Waitsfield School is that he gets to work with computers because they include games. His other favorite food is ice cream because it is sweet.
Peace,
Tommy
I hope you all had a good weekend. Yesterday we spent some time working on writing strong introductions in our writing pieces. We looked at several examples in mentor texts and each student then spent time revising one of their own to make it stronger. Today the students partnered up and shared their introduction revisions and some even presented to the class as a whole.
Monday's mindfulness moment had us taking a walk for 10 minutes in the sunshine. The kids were focused on their breathing and actually did this with a silent voice. They said they enjoyed getting outside and being able to move around. It is certainly nice to have such great sidewalks in town to use for this (Thank you taxpayers)!. As the weather becomes warmer, we will continue to bring our mindfulness activities to the outdoors.We will be going on our field trip this Thursday. We will leave at 9:50 and be back by 12:30. Feel free to join us if you like. If your child has signed up for a bagged lunch, it will be provided on Thursday. If you would still like to make a donation to the farm, please feel free to send it in.
This week Lev and Caroline sat down with Donovan to get to know more about him. Here is what they found out.
Donovan is seven years old. His birthday is September 28th. His favorite thing to do in school is typing club because you get to learn on a computer. His hobby is football because he likes tackling. His favorite food is snails because they are salty. His favorite thing about the Waitsfield School is that he gets to work with computers because they include games. His other favorite food is ice cream because it is sweet.
Peace,
Tommy
March 20, 2018
March 19, 2018
Good Evening,
I hope you all had a great weekend and St. Patrick's Day. We have started our states of matter unit today. We will be focusing on solids, liquids, and some design tech concepts throughout this unit. I have decided to rewrite the Project Lead the Way unit and gear our focus toward the sugaring process. Today we had a discussion about what matter was, and the states it can exist in. We also watched a quick Youtube video to gain a basic understanding (For reference, when I asked is anyone knew what the 3 states were, the only answers I got were Florida and Vermont).
We are scheduled to go to a sugarhouse next Monday to see a traditional wood fired operation. We will be visiting the Living Tree Alliance farm where Stacey Oshkello and Tim Crowley will teach us about the process and students will see how sap can be transformed into a solid. They will also learn how the process for making maple syrup. We will be taking a bus but adults are welcomed to attend, just let me know if you would like to join. We will leave at 9:50 and return by 1:30. NOTE: If the weather doesn't allow for a sap run, we will postpone until the end of next week.
The farm usually charges $6 a student. They were kind enough to waive the fee this year. However, if anyone would like to make a donation to the farm, checks can be made out to Living Tree Alliance. Please send those into me before Friday of this week.
IMPORTANT: IN your child's homework bag is a form regarding lunch for Monday. If your child would like school to provide a bagged lunch, you must fill out the form with their choice and send it back to me by this Thursday. Please understand that Cheryl makes these off site and there will not be extras available.
That is all for now. Have a great week.
Peace,
Tommy
I hope you all had a great weekend and St. Patrick's Day. We have started our states of matter unit today. We will be focusing on solids, liquids, and some design tech concepts throughout this unit. I have decided to rewrite the Project Lead the Way unit and gear our focus toward the sugaring process. Today we had a discussion about what matter was, and the states it can exist in. We also watched a quick Youtube video to gain a basic understanding (For reference, when I asked is anyone knew what the 3 states were, the only answers I got were Florida and Vermont).
We are scheduled to go to a sugarhouse next Monday to see a traditional wood fired operation. We will be visiting the Living Tree Alliance farm where Stacey Oshkello and Tim Crowley will teach us about the process and students will see how sap can be transformed into a solid. They will also learn how the process for making maple syrup. We will be taking a bus but adults are welcomed to attend, just let me know if you would like to join. We will leave at 9:50 and return by 1:30. NOTE: If the weather doesn't allow for a sap run, we will postpone until the end of next week.
The farm usually charges $6 a student. They were kind enough to waive the fee this year. However, if anyone would like to make a donation to the farm, checks can be made out to Living Tree Alliance. Please send those into me before Friday of this week.
IMPORTANT: IN your child's homework bag is a form regarding lunch for Monday. If your child would like school to provide a bagged lunch, you must fill out the form with their choice and send it back to me by this Thursday. Please understand that Cheryl makes these off site and there will not be extras available.
That is all for now. Have a great week.
Peace,
Tommy
March 16, 2018
March 16, 2018
Good Afternoon,
I hope you all have had a fantastic week. The students have been busy writing and illustrating their new goals for the final stretch of the year. You can find their work hanging ob the bulletin board outside our classroom. We will also discuss these goals during our parent conferences next week.
Two students, Lev and Caroline have set a goal of interviewing students for the blog. The goal is that they will interview a student each week and take their notes and turn it into a paragraph about that child. This week they took some time to sit with Kai Dreimiller.
"We want to introduce Kai Dreimiller. He is 7 years old. His birthday is February 21st. His favorite thing to do in school is write fiction books. His hobby is to play soccer with his friends. Kai's favorite food is read apples. His favorite part of the Waitsfield School is the ski program and skiing with his friends. He likes to play video games for fun." by: Lev and Caroline Note: Our technology policy does not allow me to publish a picture with an identifiable name. Therefore, please shut your eyes and picture Kai at this moment.
There is no weekly news this week. This afternoon we headed to the Valley Players to see our 5th and 6th graders perform the play The Wiz. We will pick up with Weekly News entries next week.
Notes:
*There is reading homework in your child's bag. Please take 2o minutes to work on it this weekend.
*Thank you all for signing up for conferences. Please don't forget to bring your child too.
Peace,
Tommy
I hope you all have had a fantastic week. The students have been busy writing and illustrating their new goals for the final stretch of the year. You can find their work hanging ob the bulletin board outside our classroom. We will also discuss these goals during our parent conferences next week.
Two students, Lev and Caroline have set a goal of interviewing students for the blog. The goal is that they will interview a student each week and take their notes and turn it into a paragraph about that child. This week they took some time to sit with Kai Dreimiller.
"We want to introduce Kai Dreimiller. He is 7 years old. His birthday is February 21st. His favorite thing to do in school is write fiction books. His hobby is to play soccer with his friends. Kai's favorite food is read apples. His favorite part of the Waitsfield School is the ski program and skiing with his friends. He likes to play video games for fun." by: Lev and Caroline Note: Our technology policy does not allow me to publish a picture with an identifiable name. Therefore, please shut your eyes and picture Kai at this moment.
There is no weekly news this week. This afternoon we headed to the Valley Players to see our 5th and 6th graders perform the play The Wiz. We will pick up with Weekly News entries next week.
Notes:
*There is reading homework in your child's bag. Please take 2o minutes to work on it this weekend.
*Thank you all for signing up for conferences. Please don't forget to bring your child too.
Peace,
Tommy
March 9, 2018
Friday, March 9th
Good Morning,
I hope everyone enjoyed at least a portion of the winter break. We certainly had an easy transition back with a ski day on Wednesday, a delay on Thursday, and then the weekend ahead of us. Now that the students have had a long break, I hope they are rested and ready to go as we hit a very valuable academic stretch. Please continue to do everything you can to have your child present as close to 100% as possible.
If you have not signed up for a parent conference slot, please do so ASAP. I am asking that the students also attend the conference as we talk about the goals they have set and review their part in achieving them. I look forward to seeing all of you during the conference times. You can register by going to this link.
It was certainly nice to have a full day of school today. The students had math class this morning and then we had reading groups and literacy stations throughout the morning and afternoon. The class also had art class after lunch today. Your child does have homework and their Weekly News journal in their homework bags.
Have a great weekend.
Peace,
Tommy
I hope everyone enjoyed at least a portion of the winter break. We certainly had an easy transition back with a ski day on Wednesday, a delay on Thursday, and then the weekend ahead of us. Now that the students have had a long break, I hope they are rested and ready to go as we hit a very valuable academic stretch. Please continue to do everything you can to have your child present as close to 100% as possible. If you have not signed up for a parent conference slot, please do so ASAP. I am asking that the students also attend the conference as we talk about the goals they have set and review their part in achieving them. I look forward to seeing all of you during the conference times. You can register by going to this link.
It was certainly nice to have a full day of school today. The students had math class this morning and then we had reading groups and literacy stations throughout the morning and afternoon. The class also had art class after lunch today. Your child does have homework and their Weekly News journal in their homework bags.
Have a great weekend.
Peace,
Tommy
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