September 30, 2022

Good Morning,

Student sharing their science work

Wow what a fun week!  This week we started our "official" writing instruction. I use the Lucy Calkins writing units as a guide to my writing instruction. "The units are written with 1st and 2nd graders in mind. These young writers are chomping at the bit for something new. They feel very big now and want work that feels big and important. These units invite young writers into author studies that help them craft powerful true stories, science investigations and lab reports, and finally, into some very grown-up writing about reading. Across the writing genres, children learn to understand—and apply to their own writing—techniques they discover in the work of published authors. In Lessons from the Masters: Improving Narrative Writing students learn how to create engaging narratives by stretching out small moments and writing in detail. Unit 2, Lab Reports and Science Books, uses inspirational nonfiction texts to help students design and write about experiments and other scientific information. Unit 3, Writing About Reading, has students read closely and gather evidence from texts to craft persuasive arguments."

Art class this week

We are starting with the small moment unit. I explained the concept of a small moment story by comparing it to a watermelon.  If a kid was to write about their school day, that would be the whole watermelon. If they chose to write about math class that day, that would be a slice of the watermelon. Within that slice is a seed or a specific part of math class.  That seed is their small moment and what their story should be all about. The students have all begin to write their own small moment stories or personal narratives.

Wednesday is the day we put our reading groups aside and use the time to do a variety of things. During the winter it is the time we are at the mountain.  It also serves as our time slots for our school wide inspiration hours, special events, and a variety of other events. I also use this time for literature projects.  This is when I use a picture book as a base for a writing and/or language arts project based on the book we read. This week I read the book After the Fall by Dan Santat. "After the Fall imagines the familiar nursery rhyme character paralyzed by anxiety and afraid to climb the ladder to the top of the wall he famously fell off of. He lost his courage and his spirit of adventure after he cracked up. His bummed-out mood improves when he successfully makes a paper airplane, but when it gets stuck on the top of the wall, he must face his fear or lose it forever." After I read the story to them, we talked about how Humpty deal with his worries and his fears.  The students identified ways in which he persevered. They then wrote a spot that they like to go to that can help them feel calm and relaxed. If you would like to hear the story read, check out the video below.

Part of our social emotional curriculum asks the students to identify how they want to feel when they are at school. This is different than rules or expectations. Once the kids decide what they want it becomes our "Classroom Charter." One of the words the kids mentioned was feeling calm in school. We spent this week talking about how we can create and keep a calm demeanor when we are at school. From belly breathing, to controlling our movements and tone, all of these things were discussed during the week.

NOTES:

*Scholastic book orders are suppose to be in today (Friday). If they arrive in time, I will be sending these home in your child's backpack (if they ordered). 

*I am psyched that we can have parent volunteers in the classroom again. We are fortunate that several of you can volunteer this year.  The volunteer times will start on Monday, October 3rd. 

*Just a reminder that we will not have school on Friday, October 7th.

I hope you all have a great weekend. It is suppose to be beautiful weather wise and I hope to get out with my wife to enjoy the beauty of the season.  I also hope to catch the Steeler game on Sunday and that they even pull off a win!

Peace,

Mr. Young

A brother and sister act

writing time

Zack working with kids during writing

A little math time

All School reward with cider and donuts

writing in our science journals

 Good Morning,

I hope this finds all of you well and healthy. I want to thank you all for attending the open house this week. I know your work schedules, your child's extra curricular schedules and just life in general can make another evening activity challenging. The kids certainly were excited to show off their school, their work, and their room. 

This year, one of our social studies units of study is traditions and celebrations. To kick off this unit, we looked at the tradition of apple picking. We had a great time at Adam's Apple Orchard. The students learned how to pick apples the correct way, how to make cider, and even got to sample some. We lucked out with the weather and had a great time on the trip. Over the past two days, the students have been writing up their report about this tradition.

This week's residency was PE. Ms. Ally has been working with the kids on how to play gaga ball. They have been learning about the rules and how to play fairly. We actually have our own gaga ball pit on the playground. Feel free to reach out to another family from the class and challenge them to a game. It is a lot of fun to play.

I just wanted to say how awesome the first few weeks have been.  I am fortunate to have such a nice group of students who are excited to learn and a group who loves to laugh.

NOTES:

*Book orders are due today.  IF you still want to order, I will submit it on Monday. You can order by clicking here. https://orders.scholastic.com/K3277. With a $25 order, you can pick a FREE $5 Book (use code: READS). Please share the Class Page link to extended family and friends. All orders also earn FREE Books for our class.

*Please remember that all kids need to be in the classroom by 7:40 each day.  The doors do open at 7:30.

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

Peace,

Mr. Young

September 16, 2022

Good Morning,

Well a five day week went just as fast as the four day weeks have. We have had a very productive week with a lot of development with our classroom culture, norms, and expectations. This week we talked about why we come to school.  We used this discussion to talk about what academic goal each kid will want to set to start the year. The students then illustrated their goal, colored them in and they are displayed in the classroom. 

We have rules! Well, I like to call them norms, not because I liked Cheers as a kid but rather because they represent the normal expectations for all of the students and teachers in our classroom. We started with a conversation about what each student would need in order to accomplish their Hope and Dream (their goal) that they set to start the year. The class came up with over 25 rules that they wanted. I asked them if they thought they could remember 25 rules or if there was a better way to do it where we still kept everyone's needs in place. A second grader suggested that we combine them and another child added that we should put all of the similar ones together. After doing that we came up with 5 Classroom Norms. Yesterday I showed them the poster of our rules and each kid signed the poster. By signing, they agreed to follow these norms to allow everyone to learn and achieve their academic goals

The students have continued working on modeling expected behaviors in both social and academic situations. The students have been practicing their reading group rotations and we have been building stamina by adding the amount of time each day. Before we start we talk about our roles during Lexia and Read to Self. After we practice, we gather to discuss all the good things that happened during that time. Again this is all part of the Responsive Classroom approach and helps build a cooperative classroom with shared ownership and understandings.

A few years ago, one of my classes asked if we could have a tree in our classroom. Through the use of a big branch, a bag of Quikrete, and a 5 gallon bucket, we had our tree trunk and branches. Each year, I have had kids paint and add fall colored leaves to this tree to add to the beauty of this tree. On Wednesday, the kids each painted two or three leaves for the tree.  It certainly adds a nice fall tone to the room.

PARENT VOLUNTEERS

I am excited to announce that we are able to allow volunteers in the classroom again. We will start inviting volunteers into the classroom in October. If you would like to volunteer, see me during open house.  I will have sign up forms for you there. Please note that we will have a quick volunteer meeting (after school) prior to the start of volunteers coming into the classroom.

NOTES:

*Just a reminder that the Scholastic Book Order is due by Friday, September 23rd. If you would like to order books, please go to https://orders.scholastic.com/K3277. With a $25 order, you can pick a FREE $5 Book (use code: READS). Please share the Class Page link to extended family and friends. All orders also earn FREE Books for our class.

*Overall kids are doing a great job with their homework bags and bringing the bag and book back each day. Thank you all for you help with this. Making it part of their daily routine helps them to take responsibility for it at home. 

*Ski and Skate Sale Volunteers are still needed.  This is our school's only fundraiser and it is amazing what the PTA can fund, provide, and contribute to because of the proceeds from this sale. To volunteer, please click here. In addition to the general positions we are also looking for individuals that have marketing skills, event planning skills,photography skills or artistic skills to help make the sale come alive. If you have ANY of these skills please reach out to the Ski and Skate team at WESskiandskate@gmail.com.

*Open House will be next Wednesday, 9/21, from 5:30 - 6:30 pm. Open House is an opportunity for students to give their families a tour of the place where they spend much of their waking hours, introducing the adults and environments the connect with every day.

*Field Trip:  We will be going on a field trip with Mr. Hubbard's class on Wednesday, September 21st. We will be headed to Adam's Apple Orchard in Williston. This year we will be looking at traditions and celebrations that we take part in as a school community, as families, as a state and as a nation. One of my favorite traditions is apple picking in September. We will not be asking for volunteers for this trip but stay tuned for other volunteer opportunities. The fee for the trip is covered in our school budget.  Each kid will get a small bag of apples to bring home. Please either have your kids sign up for a cold lunch or send them with a home lunch that day. 

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

Peace,

Mr. Young
 

 Good Morning,

What a great 2nd week.  The class has been fantastic and what better way to end week 2 than with a hike at Mad River.  It's a great way to get all of the school out and doing something together as well as team building within our class groups. We are certainly lucky to live in an area that has access to such beautiful sights.

We had our first week of math this week too.  The 2nd graders all go to Mr. Hubbard's room for math and all of the 1st graders come to my room. This week the 1st graders worked on learning how to play partner games and be efficient to get the most out of playing the games. I also talked to them about wanting to eliminate number reversals and making sure they use the right starting point when writing their numbers.  This week we worked on the numbers 0,1,2,3,4 & 5.  

Zearn math was also introduced this week.  "Zearn Math is a curriculum developed originally through Engage NY which created Common Core Standards. It personalizes teaching and math content with are aligned to Common Core standards and grade level. It is developed to each individual grade level assigned by the teacher. Each student is working toward bettering their mathematical knowledge, not working toward a grade score. The program is designed to help students’ math fluency. Since the program is strictly designed within Common Core standards, it meets K-5 requirements of:

• Making Sense of Problems- students are able to view their strengths and through following a module path, if understanding is struggling, students can be moved to different level difficulty to master.

• Reasoning abstractly and Quantitively- students are given the ability to make symbolic representations of numbers, compute them and reference them to what is happening.

• Students are able to critique the reasoning of others by participating in Sprint simulations where students race against each other to solve problems within a certain period of time. 

• Students are also able to construct mathematical arguments by use of symbols, graphs, diagrams to understand the conceptualization of the math problems being presented.

Zearn will be used as a supplemental part of my math class. This allows me effectively differentiate my math instruction by having rotating stations so that every child is challenged and continues to grow as a mathematician.  

The students also completed their "All About Me" posters and their self portraits.  The posters are displayed in the hallway outside our classroom. It's always great to see the kids so excited to see their work hanging up. The self portraits are actually an assessment piece.  I use a book called Yardsticks, to look at developmental progressions and this is one piece that lets me see where each student is at. These are now displayed in the classroom. 

This week Mike Leichlighter, our new superintendent, paid a visit to our school.  He joined us for a bit of out math class. It was great to see him connecting with our students, getting to know our school community, and learning what Waitsfield is all about. Dr. Mike will be visiting each school frequently and truly loves seeing everyone's work in action.

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

Peace,

Tommy

September 1, 2022

Good Afternoon,

I hope this finds all of you well and full of stories, from your child, about the 1st week of school.  We are off to a great start and this group is coming together rather quickly. This week has been a mix of learning expectations, learning how to use tools, kids learning names, and learning about each other.  The students have been working on posters about themselves and have been presenting their information to each other.  These posters will be hanging up during our Open House in September.  

We have read a variety of picture books this week including The Book With No Pictures, Hello My Name is, Pout Pout Fish, It's okay to be different and Chairs on Strike. I have to say one of my favorite books is The Book With No Pictures by BJ Novak.  It's all in the presentation by the reader but kids will absolutely be hysterical by the end of the book.  Check it out with your child.

THE FIRST 20 MINUTES of the DAY

I wanted to review the 1st 20 minutes of each day.  As I said during conferences, it is a chance for kids to come in, connect with me, have breakfast/snack, and connect with their friends.  The doors of the school open at 7:30 and the time goes until our meeting at 7:50.  Students must be in the room by 7:40.  If your child arrives after 7:40 it makes it challenging for them to access this important time. Please do everything you can to have them in school by 7:40.  Obviously things come up and appointments happen,  This is not what I am referring too. 

NOTES:

*The book bags will start going home each day starting on Tuesday.  Please talk to your child about establishing a routine to pack them up and putting them in their backpacks before they go to bed each evening.

*As the weather starts to cool, it is helpful to have your child bring a sweatshirt/fleece to wear at school.  We have the windows open as much as we can in the classroom.

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

Peace,

Tommy