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