October 25, 2019

Good Afternoon,
  I want to thank all of you for coming in for conferences.  I truly enjoy the conversation and the home to school connection that naturally happens with the student goal setting process.  I hope you found them informative and please let me know if you have any other questions.

The class just loves to write.  They have all been writing narratives (the stories shared during conferences).   The students have been working on writing stories that have them focusing on one specific event.  I am pushing 1st graders to get their thoughts down on paper and for the 2nd graders to write with detail.  Their enthusiasm for writing has been off the charts. 

The volunteer schedule is finally done.  Volunteers can start next week.  The volunteer schedule can also be found on the right hand side of the blog page.

g’s Classroom Parent Volunteer Schedule

Monday
Tuesday	Math 8:15-9:45: Jamie Ohanian
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday	Language Arts 10:00-11:15:  Maya Dillon
Field Trip Helpers	Christine Sullivan, Jamie Ohanian, Maya Dillon	Ryan Kramen, Michael Schavone
Typing Kids Stories from Home	Jamie Ohanian, Ryan Kramen, Sarah Kielich	Deanna Sellers

That is all for now.  I hope you all have a great weekend.

Peace,

Mr. Young

Good Evening,
  I hope you are all enjoying your weekend.  This past week was wonderful and your children have been rockstars with their work.  I want to start with their Weekly Highlight writing that are hung up at the end of the hall, near our classroom.  The entries this week are full of detail and many of the students felt great about their writing.  If you have time before or after your parent conference this week, I strongly urge you to take a look at these.  What I like about this bulletin board is each entry, for each child, is displayed from newest to oldest You can see how much their writing has progressed since the start fo the year. 

  We have also started our narrative writing unit. The writings are also called small moment stories.  Your child is being asked to think of their stories as a Watermelon.  From that watermelon they are asked to think about one slice of it and then about the seed in that slice.  The seed they think about is the small moment that will drive their story (see graphic to the right).  As you can see by the graphic, this organizational approach helps students with finding a focus that is not too big and also helps them do some prewriting before they try and start their story.  I will show you an example, from your child's writing, at parent conferences. 

  We also discussed the logical consequence of using our words to offer an apology.  It is not your typical, say I am sorry and move on.  The student speaks to the "offender" directly and tells them how he/she feels and that he/she would like him/her to stop.  The "offender" then apologizes and lets the other student what he/she will do next time (see chart on right).  I use this because of its effectiveness when introduced, modeled, and executed in an effective way.  I also like how it teaches students to let others know how they feel about actions that are being directed toward or at them. 

On Wednesday, we continued looking at maps, Papa Steve's travels, and introduced the directional points of north, south, east, and west.  We found these directional points as it relates to our classroom and a map of Vermont.  Then we used Resort Maps of Waitsfield to find these markings and looked found different points of interest on the map.  The students used the maps to identify points of interests based on location from the school.  We will continue to look at maps in both social studies and science.

Parent Conferences will be on Wednesday and Thursday of this week.  Please plan on having your child attend the first part of the conference.  I will use this time to set a goal for him/her.  The 2nd part will be for us to talk about the start of their year, some examples of their work, and anything else you may want to discuss.  Please make sure you are on time for your conference. 

That is all for now.  I hope you all have a great Sunday. 

Peace,
Tommy

October 5, 2019

Good Evening,
  I am sorry I am just getting to this on Saturday evening.  I have been in Maine to watch my daughter run her last race in Belfast.  They had a great day and her team became the first ever Harwood team to win the meet.  Harwood has a rich xc history and has come up to this meet for many years, so this was no small feat.  It was certainly a rewarding day. 

  We had quite a week and the students are ready to be full swing into their academic schedule.  We had a great discussion about timelines on Wednesday.  The students had heard of them but no one knew what they are used for.  We drew one of our day in school and did a few other examples as well.  I then took out the puzzle pieces that they colored during the 1st week of school, the piece they drew to represent our all school hike, and they created a piece for our trip to the apple orchard.  We started putting the pieces together and have the beginnings of our school year timeline.  This is currently hung up in the hallway outside our classroom.  Come on by and take a look.  We will continue to add to it as the year progresses. 

The first grader math students have been working with dominoes in a variety of ways.  They all focus around learning facts, and identifying the strategy they used to find the sum of the dots.  We have talked a lot about identifying strategies that students use when adding.  These strategies include counting all (where students count all of the dots and state a total), counting on (where students state one number instantly and count on from that number) and using a known fact (where a student sees two numbers and instantly states the fact).  I am hoping all 1st grade students can move away from counting all and toward counting on by the end of October.

  On Thursday, I introduced the students to their spelling groups. These groups are based on the spelling needs of your child.  They are not based on what grade your child is in but rather what do they need to be taught.  I used an assessment three times a year that allows me to check in and change group makeups or foci.

That is all for now.  I hope you all enjoy your Sunday.

Peace,
Tommy

October 1, 2019

Good Afternoon,
  Happy October!  I can't believe September has come and gone.  We are finishing up a few assessments this week and then we will be in full swing with our academic work and schedule.  I need to finish up a few more reading tests this week.

  Today we talked about logical consequences.  If you would like to read about them, please do so by clicking here.  Logical consequences are not punishments nor are they negative in use.  These are logical ways for your child to regain self control and/or fix a mistake.  Your child is not in trouble if they break a rule.  The are simply offered a chance to fix it on their own.  The hardest one for parents to comprehend (usually() is Take A Break (Timeout).  Timeout simply gives a child a chance to reflect, decide how they want to handle it, and then move forward when they are ready.  They completely control it.  Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions or would love to discuss these logical consequences in more depth.

VOLUNTEERS:
*I will be sending home a volunteer form tomorrow.  This will be for those who are able to come in and volunteer in the classroom, help with field trips, and/or type stories from home.  Please look for the yellow sheet in your child's homework bag on Wednesday.

That is all for now.  Have a wonderful week.

Peace,
Tommy

September 27, 2019

Good Afternoon,

  We have had a wonderful 5th week of school.  The field trip to the apple orchard was a success and we all enjoyed a few fresh healthy apples throughout the day.  The students were awesome on the trip and took great notes that they have been using to write about the correct way to pick an apple.  I am using this as an introduction into procedural writing for the 1st graders and a review for the 2nd graders.  We will do a formal procedural writing unit later in the year.  I want to thank the chaperones that were able to attend.  It is always a big help having a few extra hands when we are out of the building.

First grade math continued working on measuring items in the classroom.  We have used popsicle sticks, cubes, and our own feet to measure different items.  The discussion has been around why it takes different amounts of each item to measure the same object. We have been using the words most, least, greater than, less than, and equal to describe the weekly coin counts that we collected during the month of September.

I am finishing up assessments and and will start formal reading and spelling groups on October 8th.  I will be looking for parent volunteers that are interested in coming in during the day.  Look for a sign up sheet next week. 

That is all for now.  I hope you all have a great weekend.

Peace,
Tommy

September 24, 2019

Good Afternoon,
  Tomorrow is our field trip to Adam's Apple Orchard in Williston Vermont.  We will be leaving between 7:45-8:00.  If you are chaperoning, you can meet us up there or meet in the classroom and then carpool up with others.  Prepping for the trip tonight.  Your child should empty out their backpacks with the exception of their homework bag and a lunch and/or snack for tomorrow (for those who didn't order a school one).  Each child will be getting a small bag of apples and I will have them put the bag in their backpacks so that they don't go rolling all over the bus.  Please have your child dress accordingly (weather). 

  Over the last two days we have been working on illustrating our classroom rules.  The students are identifying ways in which they can follow the rules that the class developed as a group.  They will be sharing their work during out morning meeting on Thursday and then bringing them home to share with you.  Our new classroom rules are:  Be Responsible, Be Respectful, Be Focused, and Be Kind.  I love how broad they are yet very effective in the day to day situations that occur in our room and the school. 

First grade math students have been working on measuring with popsicle sticks and finding missing addends in equations with missing parts.  They have been number detectives, while using clues they have been given to find the missing addend on a number rack. 

NOTES:
*I received a few requests and will put out an October book order.  It appears that a few missed the deadline but would like to order.

*The books your child ordered for this months offering have been sent home in your child's bag.  Please look for them.

That is all for now.  Have a great week.
Peace,
Mr. Young

September 21, 2019

Good Evening,
  I am sorry I am just getting around to writing this post on Saturday.  It was certainly an amazing day today.  I was with my family as our oldest daughter ran in the Manchester Invitational.  It was certainly nice to see so many of you at the open house the other night.  It is always rewarding for me to see how excited the kids are to show you their classroom.  I hope you found the evening informative and shared in some of their enthusiasm.

This Wednesday, Mr. Hubbard's and our class will be headed to the apple orchard in Williston.  We will be leaving as close to 8:00 as possible.  If you are chaperoning the trip, please come right to the classroom when you drop your child off in the morning.  IMPORTANT:  If your child would like a bagged lunch and a snack provided for Wednesday, could you please email me at tyoung@huusd and let me know.  I will ask those who sign up what kind of sandwich they would like on Monday morning.  I am sorry to have to ask you to email me over the weekend but I forgot to send the forms home on Friday.

That is all for now.  I hope you have a great Sunday.

Peace,
Tommy

September 16, 2019

Good Afternoon,

Students hiking MRG just because they can.

  I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.  My oldest daughter turned 18 over the weekend and I found myself in and out of reflection about her 18 years with us and amazed by how fast it all went by.  I am sorry I did not post on Friday.  I had to be away from school on Friday to take care of a family thing and was bummed to miss the hike. 

 Today the students presented their hopes and dreams to the whole group.  We used these goals to establish an initial list of rules each student might need to allow them to accomplish these goals.  We will continue to work on this list and develop norms for our class as the week progresses.  Before starting this conversation, I led the glass through a discussion about positive language and stating what behaviors we want rather than the behaviors we don't want.  The use of positive language will be a focus for the class as we progress throughout the year. 

  First grade math continues to investigate games that work with developing an understanding of complements of 10.  We are also looking at why the numbers 11-19 are written with a one in the front.  I am using a lot of visuals to guide them in this concept. 

Students engaging with Katie during guidance

  Wednesday marks the date of this year's Open House at the Waitsfield Elementary School.  The start time will be at 5:30 and run until 6:30.  Please be mindful of the starting and stopping times and take that into consideration as you plan our evening of exploration.  The kids will be your tour guides and show you the things that are important to them.  They will have a checklist for my classroom and please make sure you ask them to explain some of the items to you.  I look forward to seeing all of you at the open house. 

NOTES:
*On Tuesday, September 17, your child will bring home a lunch and snack form for our field trip on September 25th.  If your child needs a snack and/or lunch please fill this out and send it back on Wednesday, September 18th. 

Greeting each other with fist bumps

*On Thursday, I will be at a meeting at the Agency of Education for the duration of the day.  I serve on a board, for the governor and agency of education, that meets once a month.  Thursday is our September meeting date.

That is all for now.  I hope you have a great week.

Peace,
Mr.

September 9, 2019

Good Afternoon,

A student leads the class in reading the morning message.

  I hope everyone had a great weekend.  I found myself at a soccer game, x-country race, a wedding, and a date night with my wife.  It is always nice to fill the weekend with such self fulfilling events.  We started today with our Morning Meeting. The primary goal of my morning meetings is to give students a safe environment that provides a sense of trust, allows all students to feel important, and encourages respectful learning.  It also acts as a tool for fostering a positive classroom environment.  As a reminder, meeting starts right at 7:40.  Please have your child in the classroom by this time.  If you find you are consistently 5 minutes late, you may want to adjust the routine to allow your child to be part of this important part of their day and learning.  If your child is on time, keep up the great work and a huge thank you from me.

Our Number Corner Routine and Display

  In math, the 1st graders continue to build the foundations for learning complements of 10.  They used their number racks to build numbers that were flashed to them (using dot cards).  Becoming fluent with the complements of 10 is one of the first big milestones in becoming fluent with additive reasoning.  The first graders also worked on making the numeral 7 the correct way and continued with number corner routines (calendar).  You can see the number corner display in the picture on the right of the screen.  Second grade math update can be found on Mr, Hubbard's blog.

  This afternoon Judy, our classroom helper, came in and read Bear Came Along, by Richard. T. Morris.  This book is "a cheerful and action-packed adventure about the importance of friendship and community. Once there was a river flowing through a forest. The river didn't know it was capable of adventures until a big bear came along. ."  The students really enjoyed the book and their time with Judy.

Judy reading a book to our class

  Today's specials were Music and PE/Health.  Make sure to check in with your child about these two specials and all the wonderful things they did with Mr. Hill and Ms. Bataille.

NOTES
*Book orders are due by Friday. 

*Tonight your child has a white form in their homework bag. This form is to sign up for a bagged lunch for for Friday's all school hike.  THIS FORM IS DUE TOMORROW.  We will be leaving around 9:00 am and hiking at Mad River.  Please make sure your child dresses appropriately. 

That is all for now.  Have a great week.

Peace,
Tommy

September 6, 2019

Good Evening,
  Well we have a second week in the books and I hope the students are having as much fun as I am.  This week, we have been brainstorming ideas of why we come to school.  The students used this discussion to develop their first goal for the year.  These goals are called their Hopes and Dreams.  The students have each illustrated their Hope and Dream and they are displayed in the classroom.  Next week we will use these to help develop simple classroom expectations/rules. 

  The first graders have been working on skip counting in math, numeral writing, reviewing combinations of 5 and been given an introduction to complements of 10.  We have been using a number rack (20 beads in two sets of ten) to create visuals of out thinking.  Every math class ends with a 25 minute calendar routine that we call number corner.  This segment focuses on the calendar, data collecting, and computational fluency.  To find out updates on 2nd grade math, remember to check out Mr. Hubbard's blog by clicking here. 

Today was picture day.  It was nice to have everyone present so that they all could be part of the class picture.  We also heard from Papa Steve.  He wrote to the students about leaving on his trip and his anticipation of seeing all of the leaves exposing their bright fall colors.  The students also have been working on reviewing or learning the correct way to write upper and lower case letters.  Students who show they have mastered this will move onto using a key skills program that Mr. Mongeon asks us to use.

NOTES:
*Please send in a reusable (cloth) grocery bag with your child.  This was a request that was included int he summer email that you all received.  The students will use these all year long.  If you need one provided, just let me know.

*We will be headed to Adam's Apple Orchard in Williston, VT on September 25th.  We have been using apples to learn how to write like a scientist in our science notebooks.  I thought it would be a great connection to take part in a great fall Vermont activity like apple picking.  If you would like to chaperone on the trip, please let me know via email (tyoung@huusd.org), so far we have three parents attending the trip with us.  I will ask that the parents all carpool together and follow us up to the Orchard.  We will leave a little bit before 8:00 am and arrive back to Waitsfield by 1:00 pm.  Your child will need a snack and a lunch for the trip.  If you would like the school to provide one, please fill out the form that will be in your child's backpack on Tuesday.  The school will be covering the cost of the trip, so please don't send in any money.

*Please make sure that your child's plastic Ziploc bag comes back each day.  Next week, I will start letting kids bring home a book of choice.

*Book Order:  Please remember that the deadline for Scholastic book orders is September 13th.

That is all for now. Have a great weekend.

Peace,
Mr. Young

 

September 3, 2019

Students Chatting with Papa Steve via Face Time

Good evening to all. I hope you all enjoyed the weekend and found time for something that allows you to relax and enjoy a moment or two. I find a lot of pleasure in watching my daughters compete in their respective sports and the fall weekends offer plenty of opportunities for this to happen.

INTRODUCING PAPA STEVE! Steve Osgood is my father in law and I will be using him to help the students learn about the towns and cities in the State of Vermont. Steve is an avid Motorcyclist and I am creating a scenario where Steve will send post cards from around the state. These interactions will allow us to incorporate map skills, geography, and vocabulary into my teaching. I will play this up to keep their interest and we will map his journey. I have collected some post cards from around the state but feel free to pick up some if you are traveling around the state. I am going to have Steve surprise the kids at the end of the year. Please don't cue them in on the fact that his trip if fictional. This project will cover the following vocabulary from our SS curriculum:

Essential Vocabulary: Geography, Symbols, Legend/Key, Cardinal Directions, north/south/east/west, Urban, Rural, Suburban

It will also cover the following curriculum requirements:

Students using tally marks to represent numbers

• Integrative Thinking
• Analyze a variety of media and visual representations (including maps, globes, photographs and other media)
• Students will demonstrate an understanding of how maps help us identify different places

1ST GRADE MATH
The past two math classes have been focused on counting by 5s and the use of tally marks. The students used popsicle sticks to represent quantities of tally marks and learned to record tallies with a numerical representation. We have also been working on writing the digits 0-9 correctly.

JUDY

Using a magnifying glass to add details to our science notebooks

Last year, Judy D'Estes started volunteering in our classroom. The kids truly enjoyed her company, her caring personality, and the read-a-louds she did with the kids. This year she will be in our room 3 days a week (a few hours each day). Today Judy read the class The Kissing Hand and helped with a few projects with the students. I am grateful she is able to volunteer some of her time with our class.

NOTES
*Friday is PHOTO DAY! We will be taking our phots right at 8:00 am. We will also be doing the class picture this day. Please do your best to have your child be present for this.

*We will be headed to Adam's Apple Orchard in Williston, VT on September 25th. We have been using apples to learn how to write like a scientist in our science notebooks. I thought it would be a great connection to take part in a great fall Vermont activity like apple picking. If you would like to chaperone on the trip, please let me know via email (tyoung@huusd.org). I will ask that the parents all carpool together and follow us up to the Orchard. We will leave a little bit before 8:00 am and arrive back to Waitsfield by 1:00 pm. Your child will need a snack and a lunch for the trip. If you would like the school to provide one, please fill out the form that will be in your child's backpack on Tuesday. The school will be covering the cost of the trip, so please don't send in any money.


*Please make sure that your child's plastic Ziploc bag comes back each day. Next week, I will start letting kids bring home a book of choice.

*Book Order: Please remember that the deadline for Scholastic book orders is September 13th.

That is all for now. I hope you all have a great long weekend.

Peace,
Mr. Young

Friday, August 30, 2019

Good Evening,
  I have to start by saying what a fun first week I had working with all of your children.  We have a GREAT class and I am looking forward to a fun and exciting year.  On Wednesday, the 1st and 2nd graders started math class.  The 1st graders are with me and the 2nd graders are with Mr. Hubbard.  The first graders have been focusing on graphing favorite popsicle flavors, counting by 1s, 2s, and 5s, and exploring a few math work places (math stations).  Today we took time during math to enjoy some popsicles too.  If your child is in 2nd grade, you can check out Mr. Hubbard's blog by clicking here (http://hubbardclassroom.blogspot.com/).  He tends to put great videos and photos on his site and posts informative updates on his math class. 

The kids each made a baseball card with information about themselves.  They will each be bringing home a set of cards to help them learn the names of their classmates.  The originals are hanging from the ceiling outside our classroom door.  The students also wrote about a favorite summer memory and shared their memory with the class.

NOTES:

*Please send in a reusable (cloth) grocery bag with your child.  This was a request that was included int he summer email that you all received.  The students will use these all year long.  If you need one provided, just let me know.

*We will be headed to Adam's Apple Orchard in Williston, VT on September 25th.  We have been using apples to learn how to write like a scientist in our science notebooks.  I thought it would be a great connection to take part in a great fall Vermont activity like apple picking.  If you would like to chaperone on the trip, please let me know via email (tyoung@huusd.org).  I will ask that the parents all carpool together and follow us up to the Orchard.  We will leave a little bit before 8:00 am and arrive back to Waitsfield by 1:00 pm.  Your child will need a snack and a lunch for the trip.  If you would like the school to provide one, please fill out the form that will be in your child's backpack on Tuesday.  The school will be covering the cost of the trip, so please don't send in any money. 

*Please make sure that your child's plastic Ziploc bag comes back each day.  Next week, I will start letting kids bring home a book of choice.

*Book Order:  Please remember that the deadline for Scholastic book orders is September 13th. 

That is all for now.  I hope you all have a great long weekend.

Peace,
Mr. Young