October 29, 2018

Good Evening,
  I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.  We certainly saw the variety that Vermont weather can offer over the two days.  Saturday, I spent the day in Thetford watching high school runners compete for the State Titles.  As I stood there in my three layers of clothing, watching runners in a tank tops and shorts, I realized just how driven kids can be.  It was truly inspiring. 

 I truly enjoyed our conferences last week and was psyched to meet with almost all of you.  I feel the goal conferences are very valuable and allow for student ownership and also gives you a connection to a goal they are working on in school.  Your input was greatly appreciated.  I hope you found the time useful and beneficial.  Please let me know if you have any suggestions, or follow up questions.

Last week we started, a science unit on light and sound. This is a unit that Ms. Fornaby will be leading the class through over the next few weeks. Here are her thoughts on the 1st week as well as her read a louds from last week. On Wednesday afternoon we started our first science unit, which is on Light and Sound. We spent this first lesson learning about what an engineer is and that they create products to solve certain problems. We discussed examples of things created by engineers, like cars, bridges, and tractors. We then read story about a hiking trip that ended with one group getting lost. Together we identified the problem, and the students recorded it with pictures and notes in their science journals. Next week we will begin to think of solutions to this problem using light and sound,

and will practice thinking like engineers. This week during read aloud we read two books. The first was Tacky and the Winter Games by Helen Lester. As a kid I was a big fan of these books and knew I had to share them with the class. This book from the Tacky series is about a delightfully off-beat penguin who takes part in a winter games competition. We loved this book! Everyone laughed when Tacky ate the baton because he mistook it for a hotdog. I’ve already seen several kids take the book home for a night to read again, and I can’t wait to share more Tacky books with the class.On Tuesday we read Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty. I chose to read this book as a subtle hint at the science unit that we would begin the next day. This is the story of a young girl named Rosie who loves to create and build. Using her big imagination and materials found at her house, she creates silly things like helium pants and a hat that fights off snakes with cheddar cheese spray. While Rosie’s creations do not always work as she had hoped, we discussed the importance of trying our best and learning from our mistakes.  We have not completed our Social Studies unit on traditions and celebrations.  That focus will be strung throughout the year.  

Last Friday, we had a fireman from the Waitsfield and Fayston fire department come in and talk to the class about fire safety, having an evacuation plan at home, and general precautions.  The students even got to see him all dressed up in his gear.  

I have to say this class has been doing some pretty spectacular things and people are noticing.  They received three separate compliments from teachers last week.  Their hard work, focus, and respect for each other shines brightly.  Keep up the great work!

NOTES:

*I am not in the building on Tuesday, October 30th.  I will be at my monthly state meeting.  Sarah will be in charge.  

*We will have an all school celebration/pumpkin carving event on Wednesday afternoon.  We did this last year and the kids really enjoyed it.  It is always great when the younger and older kids get to work together and collaborate.

That is all for now.  Have a great week.

Peace,

Tommy