November 18, 2022

 Good afternoon families of incredible students!  I hope this finds all of you healthy and looking forward to Thanksgiving and all that comes with it for each family.  I will be headed to Pittsburgh, after school on Tuesday, to spend time with all of my siblings and parents. 

Well winter weather is finally here.  With this weather a ton of clothing and accessories come and go with your child everyday. If you have a mud room, you know a family of four can fill a space rather quickly with all of their winter attire. Picture a mudroom for 18.  It is important to me that your family doesn't have to purchase replacement pieces (glove, hat, a boot, etc.) during the winter.  As you can see by the picture, the kids can keep their stuff pretty organized.  However, many people can have the same set of black gloves.  It is with this in mind that I ask that you write your child's name on everything. This will save you stress and frustration, I promise! Remember, for recess a child needs a hat, gloves/mittens, boots, a coat, and snow pants. Your child also needs something else to wear on their feet besides their boots. Feel free to have your child leave a pair of shoes at school to save the back and forth each day. 

The kids enjoyed the first snow fall while in PE class and at recess. There is always excitement when vacation nears but adding the "energy" of the first snow really puts it over the top for kids. For those of you who have seen Elf with Will Farrell, just watch any scene that he is in with sugar in his hand. 

Our science focus has turned to the study of the moon, sun, and light. The students explored all of the different shapes of the Moon that can appear on different nights. They created a My Moon Book, while they observed photos of the Moon taken over the course of four weeks and drew pictures of the Moon's phases in their book. They used these observations to discover patterns in how the Moon’s shape changes and predict when the next full moon will appear.

Next week we will spend some time talking about the celebration of Thanksgiving and look at some of the traditions that are associated with the holiday.  This will take place during our writing and reading times next week (Monday and Tuesday). I would love to include some of the traditions that the students do with their families.  If you would, please click on this link and add your family's name and a tradition that you do.  Try to think of one that is really specific to your family. 

NOTES:

*I will not be sending homework bags home until we get back from the break.  Just to save you searching the house for it on Sunday evening/Monday morning.

*Please make sure your child has recess attire for winter.  If you need anything regarding this, please let me know.

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

Peace,

Mr. Young

November 11, 2022

 Good Evening,

I just spent the day of in-service training thinking and learning about students dealing with trauma, ideas regarding mindfulness and even some therapeutic drumming. I always like walking away thinking about some new things and insights. The therapeutic drumming was run by a gentleman named Trevor.  I will be looking to bring more of this into our school and classroom.  I will let you know if this is something that will happen this school year.  If you would like to check it out, please click on this link. 

This week we also finished our learning and work with Veteran's Day. Each child brought home an informational book that he/she made and you can find it in their bag. We sent a bunch of the cards to relatives of the students, my retired USMC brothers, gave some to Clayton Wetzel (Navy) and I also included some on Facebook and Twitter.  We already have had the cards shared more than 30 times.  

Chris Wadel visited our school.  Chris is a former middle school and college classmate of Mr. Hubbard. "
He is an American Paralympic sit-skier and wheelchair track athlete. He was a promising non-disabled skier while attending Middlebury College in Vermont, before a skiing accident left him paralysed from the waist down. As a sit-skier, Waddell won medals in Winter Paralympics. As a wheelchair track racer, he has also represented the US at the Summer Paralympics. Chris also became the first paraplegic to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. Currently, Wadell has a foundation called "One Revolution" that is dedicated to seeing the world positively, by the use of "Nametags" that define oneself."  Here is the link to Chris' website, if you would like to find out more about him. 

It was great to see all of you during parent conferences.  I hope you found them valuable and that it gives you a better insight on how your child is doing. If you have any questions, please reach out.

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

Peace,

Mr.Young

November 4, 2022

 Well, I hoped you all survived the Halloween week as well as the countless viruses and colds that are circulating amongst our community.  As promised, Monday had us looking at the celebration of Halloween.  The students all wrote about some of the traditions they all participate in around the day itself. I did show the students the video I made of all of their costumes (see below)

Next Friday will be Veterans' Day. This week we started talking about this day and why we celebrate it. The students are all making an informational booklet to share with you at home.  We finished that up today and it will be sent home next Friday. Next week the students will each make a card for a Veteran and we will send them out to Veterans to thank them for their service.  If you have a Veteran that you would like a card sent to, please send me their name and address and we will mail it.  We will have 18 cards to send out.  I am also going to teach the kids how to use social media to send the card out to Veterans around the country. It should be fun to track.

This week's writing class focused on using capital letters, ending punctuation and commas. Students continue to edit, complete and write new small moment stories. I will show you some of their work during our parent conference times.

Math class had the 1st graders focused on fact fluency, doubles facts, and complements of 10 and 20.  Through the use of dominoes, dice, and 10 and 20 sticks, the kid shad a variety of ways to practice their fact fluency.  The 2nd graders focused on expanded notation, place value and a couple of games involing place value trades.

A quick word from Ms. Belknap's guidance class focus: "I am just finishing a unit on Emotions Matter. Students enjoyed learning more about how bodily sensations match their feelings. Next, we will learn more about Community, Safety, and Climate. Finally, we will revisit the classroom charters and discuss how our emotions impact the group. Try to incorporate the Meta-Moment or Mood Meter at least 1x per week.

NOTES:

*Parent Conferences are next week.  Please make sure you are on time for your conference.  Mine are stacked back to back so their isn't much flexibility to add or make up time.

*I was talking to the kids today about the boys Harwood Soccer team and the fact that they are in the state championship game tomorrow.  If you are free around 10:00 am, head up to South Burlington High School as the team takes on Montpelier. 

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

Peace,

Mr. Young