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