Mr. Cadwell leading a math lesson

 

Good Afternoon,

  I want to thank all of you for coming in for our conferences.  I always enjoy the chance to talk about your child with you and discuss all of the things we do here.  As always, if you have any other questions, please reach out any time.  This week Parker took the lead on writing and 1st grade math instruction.  They were the final pieces for him to lead before he starts his two week solo teaching.  I will be in the building, over the next two weeks, but will be working on some projects for the school/district.  I am always available by email if you need anything.  

Here is Parker's first full blog entry as well as a note from Ms. Figdor regarding 2nd grade math.

This week in Math, first graders continued their exploration of three-dimensional shapes, learning to identify and compare attributes between each. On Tuesday, we explored the concepts of rotational symmetry by creating “mini-quilts” out of 3x3 inch paper squares. Students explored various combinations of patches to make different quilt patterns, based on their symmetry. On Wednesday and Thursday, first-graders were introduced to the concept of fractions, looking at various ways to make halves and quarters. Much discussion followed about the properties of each of these fractions: how we determine their size, and how different sized fractions compare to each other. We also started working on problems which asked us how to share items equally among a group of people: how do you split 3 pizzas equally between two people? What would the slices look like? What is the name of those fractions?

In Writing this week, students started the first lesson of our unit on informational writing. At this time of the year, students are focusing on teaching their readers about things they are experts on. Students started many excellent informational books, including some on all different types of snake venom, snow forts, how to care for chickens, and how to make clay pots in pottery. We have lots of experts in the room. Our first lesson was on Monday, using our “teaching voice”, switching from our “storytelling voice”. On Tuesday, we focused on adding details to the facts we know about our chosen topic. Next week, we will focus on turning these informational picture books into chapter books with tables of contents!

Ms Figdor writes:  It has been another busy week in second grade math. We wrapped up unit 5 with an end of unit assessment. On this assessment the second graders demonstrated amazing flexibility with numbers. In addition, they displayed a solid understanding of place value up to 1,000 and are using multiple efficient strategies to add three-digit numbers together. Research finds that in order to develop a strong number sense, fluency with numbers, and strong conceptual understanding students must move through a progression of strategies when adding and subtracting numbers.Throughout the year we will continue to develop efficient strategies for both addition and subtraction. Next, we will start a unit on geometry and fractions.

NOTES:

Kids should remember to bring their boots and jackets: we will be wearing jackets on any day it's below 40, and we are certainly not through mud season.

Reminder about the WES Climate Survey. Waitsfield School is hoping to hear from all families! The link can be accessed here: https://rezed.io/1NC3Y5

Peace,

Mr. Cadwell

March 18, 2022

 Good Afternoon,

Luckily this post didn't get stuck in the mud too.  This might be the most epic mud season I have seen since we built our home in 2005.  I want to thank you all for remembering to send in boots each day.  IT certainly helps keep our classroom carpet a lot cleaner.  

Kids load up for the last mountain day (maybe)

This week the students worked on their golden stories (a.k.a. their final opinion piece).  I will share these at conferences next week.  It was great to see the students using the strategies they have learned throughout the unit.  Again, these are pieces that will be scored and submitted to the district.  

Today we continued our science unit on States of Matter.  The students continued to work with the vocabulary of the unit.  Today they worked in their science teams as we played  game with the words and continued to discuss reversible and irreversible changes.  We will be heading on our field trip this Tuesday.  As of right now Misa, Koji's mom, has asked to attend.  If anyone else wants to go, please let me know by Monday.  This week in second grade math we wrapped up our learning about money with a checkpoint.  While there is still some minor coin mix up, the second graders have done a great job exploring place value within our money system. Towards the end of the week we explored the length of 1,000 paper clips. We built a chain of 1,000 paperclips. Most students estimated that 1,000 paper clips would be about as tall as a teacher. They were surprised to find out that 1,000 paperclips was too long to be stretched out in our classroom. We took our chain of 1,000 paperclips into the hallway, and it was able to stretch from our classroom all the way to the kindergarten classroom.  First grade math had the students identifying 3 dimensional shapes and their characteristics (i.e. cone, cylinder, prisms, pyramids).  Later in the week the students toured the building to identify items that reflected these shapes.  Today the students took the module assessment on 2-D and 3-D shapes.

Parent conferences are next week.  I will be doing 23 conferences this time around.  Please make sure you arrive 5 minutes early since so many are back to back.  Here is the schedule:

NOTES:

*If it is above 50 degrees, I will allow kids to go outside with just a long sleeve t-shirt.  If it is under I will ask them to wear a coat.

That is all for now.

Peace,

Mr. Young

March 11, 2022

 

Good Morning, I hope this finds all of you well and bracing yourself for the next big snow storm.  I was so happy to be back in the classroom this week.  I find it a relief that after 25 years of teaching, I still love doing my job and the excitement of being back brings.  

You may have heard talk of Facebook this week.  Don't worry, I am not having each kid create an account.  Two of my reading groups are starting new chapter books.  One group is starting Charlotte's Web and the other group is starting an A to Z Mystery book (their choice).  Before we started, I showed the students my Facebook page and focused  on the components of the page.  The students will each be taking notes, capturing images, and having group discussions about each chapter of their book.  Upon completion of the book, they will use a paper template and their notes to create a fake Facebook page for a character from the book.  The students are really excited about this project.  It is always fun to find new ways to get them to record comprehension information.

GEOMETRY is the focus in first grade math this week.  I love this unit because it levels the playing field for kids that find some of the number and operation skills.  The unit started with defining some two dimensional shapes by their defining attributes.  We used words like vertices, lines, angles, and sides.  The students spent the week creating shapes with smaller shapes and decomposing bigger shapes into smaller shapes.  Ms. Figdor has this update for 2nd grade math:  "This week in second grade math we have been exploring place value in the context of money. Students have been learning to recognize the value of pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters. They have been exploring how different combinations of coins can be used to represent a specific amount of money. For example, a few ways to represent 25 cents are: 25 pennies, one quarter, and two dimes and a nickel. During Number Corner we have begun to talk about three dimensional shapes. The students have been learning how to identify the faces, edges, and vertices of these shapes. Students enjoyed learning that three dimensional shapes with straight sides are called polyhedrons."

We also started a new science unit this week.  I am teaching the students about states of matter.  We will spend the next few weeks learning about them, exploring them through experiments, and taking a trip to a sugar house.  The students will eventually take their learning from that trip and create a non-fiction book that will explain how to make maple syrup and also identify the three states of matter through this process.  The Field trip is scheduled for next Tuesday (weather dependent).  Please make sure your child has boots and appropriate clothing to be outside for a few hours.  If you would like to attend the field trip, please let me know.

Mr. Cadwell Update:

I asked Mr. Cadwell to write a piece about his work with the students over the last week. Here is what he had to say. "Hi, all. This week students finished up the cumulative piece of our Social Studies unit on different communities: a letter to a penpal in Newark, New Jersey. We've covered rural, urban and suburban communities, and their defining characteristics. By fortunate coincidence, my supervisor at St. Mike's has a connection to a first-grade classroom in Newark whose students are also engaged in a similar unit. In our pen-pal letters, our students described the qualities of our rural town, and posed questions about life in an urban community. I will be mailing these letters off to our friends in Newark, and will expect a reply in the next month or so. We're excited to hear from them. In math, I've been teaming up with Tom to teach our geometry unit to the first graders, and supporting him as we get started on what will be an excellent science exploration: maple sugaring!"

We continue, as a school, to focus on social emotional learning (SEL) each and everyday.  Today is SEL day.  Last week I was reading an article of a project that a kindergarten class did around this work (check it out here).  I used Wednesday to work on a project with the kids, that was inspired by the work of the kindergarten class.  Take a look at the article and then the picture of our new board.  Ask your child about their contributions to this.

NOTES:

*Please send in boots and a change of shoes each day.

*There are no homework bags this weekend.  I want them to get out and enjoy the snow.

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

Peace,

Tommy

March 4, 2022

 Good Afternoon,

I hope everyone had a chance to do something fun during February break.  It sounds like the students got to enjoy a great ski and board day on their first day back.  Mr. Cadwell has done a great job of filling in for over the past few days and it certainly made it easier to have direct instruction while I have been out.

Mr. Cadwell has used the writing and social studies times this week to wrap up his social studies unit. The students were asked to write letters to students in an urban school in NJ.  In the letter they described what it was like to live and go to school in a rural school.  Eventually our students will  receive letters back.  

This week marked the start of Ms. Ashley teaching from a program called Ruler.  It is something I will be doing on Wednesdays, once winter sports program is done, too.  Here is what Ms. Ashley had to say about the program: "I will be introducing RULER with 1st and 2nd graders this week. In light of this new curriculum, I will send a blurb each week, over the course of the next 5 weeks, around the topic we will be broaching and common language used. This week the topic is 'Emotions Matter.' The goal of our time together is to better understand how emotions influence our lives and how they show up in our 1) minds; through our thoughts and expressions and 2) our bodies; through our behavior and sensations within our bodies.Students will be asked to reflect on what their typical thought patterns are and how they feel in their bodies when they experience a range of emotions. Reach out if you have any questions!"  

If you would like to learn more about this program, please check out this link.  You may want to check out this video too.

NOTES:

*As the weather becomes more of spring like condition, please continue to send in boots for your child. As you all know, it gets pretty muddy and it's nice to not get it all over the classroom.

*I look forward to being back next week.  We will be starting a new science unit, next week that focuses on the states of matter.

*If any of your daughter's is interested in doing a basketball camp this summer, I run one every year at Harwood.  Please click here if you would like the application.  

Peace,

Tommy

I hope you all have a great weekend.

Tommy