Greetings and Salutations! I hope you all had an wonderful weekend. I was in Washington DC for 5 days and it is definitely still summer down there. It was a bit of a relief stepping off the plane and feeling that cool crisp Vermont fall air.
Today the students continued working on their small moment stories. Everyone has sketched out their stories across 5 pages and are in the process of using their sketches to write. They are also learning how to elaborate on their stories based on their pictures.
And now a note from Ms. Fornaby:
Each day during read aloud I am impressed by the students’ ability to transition back into academics after the high energy of recess and lunch. It has helped to make these 15 minutes enjoyable and productive. This past week, we read 3 books: Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt, and Grandma Calls Me Beautiful by Barbara M. Joosse. Where the Wild Things Are follows the story of a young boy named Max who is having a bad night at home. After getting sent to bed without supper, he imagines that he arrives by boat to an unfamiliar land. There, he meets a group of “wild things,” who make him their king! We enjoyed looking at the pictures of the wild things as they danced and sang through the forest.
The next book, The Day the Crayons Quit was recommended to me by Mr. Mongeon. When a boy named Duncan goes to color a picture, he finds an empty crayon box and a stack of letters addressed to him. Each letter is written to Duncan from a different color crayon. Each crayon has written to explain their reasons for quitting. Between the bright illustrations and the humorous letters from the crayons, this seemed to be a class favorite!
Our final read aloud book for the week was Grandma Calls Me Beautiful by Barbara M. Joosse. I read this book as part of our social studies unit on families. The story is about a little girl living in Hawaii, and her relationship with her Grandmother. The little girl, named Beautiful, asks the story of when she was born and how she got her name. The grandmother goes on to tell her what makes her beautiful and special. Later in the afternoon, Tom read a story about a grandfather to the class. The students then drew pictures of their grandparents, and next we will be talking about the role that grandparents play in our lives.
I had the privilege of attending a conference put on by the NEA Foundation over the weekend. One of the events was a series of speakers who shared their stories about education and the promise of public education. One of the speakers really impacted my thinking. She reminded me the importance of seeing each child as an individual and finding what's right for that individuals needs and learning. If you have a minute, I would HIGHLY recommend that you listen to her story. Go to the 104:50 mark of this video link and listen.
Tomorrow will mark the start of our artist and residency program. This year's artist is Lucie delaBruere (view her slide show here). The focus will be on STEAM (Science, technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) through the use of circuits, coding and storytelling. Our times are as follows:
10/10 12:55-1:40
10/11 10:50-11:25
10/15 10:40-11:25
10/16 10:40-11:25
Feel free to stop in and check out their residency experience.
That is all for now. I hope you all have a great week.
Peace,
Tommy & Sarah
