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

August 27, 2019

WELCOME! WELCOME! WELCOME!

It is an absolute privilege to welcome you to the 2019-2020 school year and my classroom.  This blog will serve as my primary communication tool for the school year.  If you would like to receive a paper printout of this please let me know.

If you would like to learn how to subscribe to the blog, this will email you a notification every time I submit a post, please watch this video.  Note:  This video was made in 2016 (by me).

Yesterday, we started the day with an all school assembly.  The students were treated to a musical duet and were introduced to the new staff members of the school.  The students worked on a project that described their feeling about the 1st day of school and also completed a writing about the day one highlights.  I am going to be weaving on a sports theme throughout the year and referring to our class as a team will be part of it.  The students' work from both of these projects can be found out in the hallway outside our classroom.The students also made a bracelet and we discussed and modeled shared classroom and school expectations for the lunchroom, hallway, bathroom, and playground.

Today the students completed a super hero picture of themselves, where they identified their own super power, their favorite subject in school, and their birthdate.  They also did a scavenger hunt, during morning meeting,  that had them finding out interesting facts about their classmates.

READ A LOUDS:  Read A Loud is something that will happen each day.  I love sharing books with students and studies show 15-20 minutes of read a loud a day goes along way in developing young readers.  Yesterday we read First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg and The Pigeon Has to Go to School by Mo Williams.  Today I read Dear Teacher by Amy Husband.

NOTES:
*The school day does start at 7:40 and we start with a morning meeting right away.  It is a HUGE issue for me when students arrive late (I understand something may come up once in a great while).  Riding a bus will assure your child will arrive on time.  If you are taking on the responsibility of transporting your child to school, please plan accordingly.  Students arriving late miss out on parts of the meeting, feel awkward coming in, and sets a different tone for the start of their day compared to that of their peers.

*Your child will bring home a ziploc bag each night.  This will have any notes, work, and/or reading that your child should do.  Please send the bag back to school with your child each day.

*Book Orders:  Today your child brought home information regarding book orders.  Please look through it and let me know if you have any questions.

That is all for now.

Peace,'
Mr. Young