December 16, 2022

Well it's our first snow day of this school year.  I know the kids were excited with the possibility of a lot of snow. I hope you all saw that I sent home the stuff for your child to make their secret pal card.  They also have an envelope that has the schedule for the week and who their secret pal is. Please make sure your child has their item for each day.  

This week the students continued working on their final narrative writing piece.  The students will spend 3-5 writing times creating a story and demonstrating all of the skills they have learned within their writing itself. I am so impressed with what I have seen so far and I know the kids are happy with their work too. I will send home copies of their work in January with the report cards.

On Wednesday, the students continued working on their gifts for you.  They are excited to be creating a gift for you and it will truly represent their artistic abilities.  We will finish them and wrap them next Wednesday.  

The Final Week: 

This coming week we will look at the celebrations and traditions of Hanukkah and Christmas.  These are the two holidays that the members of our classroom celebrate.  On Tuesday, Zip and Olive will help us talk about Hanukkah and share some of the traditions they have around the celebration. On Wednesday, everyone will share their family's traditions around Christmas. 

Speaking of Hanukkah, Zip's family had this to share.  It sounds like a great way to learn about the holiday. all are welcome and that there is no Hannukah experience required. There will be traditional food which is fried-potato-fritter-kind-of-things (latkes), and donuts. It is important that people RSVP though so that there is enough of the above-mentioned yummy food. Please see the information on the picture below.

NOTES:

*I will not be sending the homework bags home after Tuesday evening.

*Snow is here.  Please make sure your child has everything they need for recess time. 

This will be the last post until after the New Year.  I hope you all have a wonderful and joyous Christmas, Hannukah, and/or New Year. May your hearts be filled with the joy of family and your minds full of positive reflections form the year gone by.

Peace,
Mr. Young

December 9, 2022

Good Afternoon,

Well colds, flu and all other illnesses are amongst us.  The students are being real troopers as we deal with our symptoms.  I know I have a head cold and sleeping has not been ideal.  I both appreciate your efforts to keep kids home when they are sick and push them to come when they can. I used a small block of time this morning to catch kids up on work they missed.

This week's 1st grade math class had a variety of things going on. We have been working on telling time and writing digital notation.  We started this in November and kids are doing a great job with half hour and hour times. We have also been focusing on solving subtraction word problems where they are asked to compare one quantity to another and then find the difference. The main lessons this week focused on students comparing equations and determining if they were equal or not. The 2nd graders have been working on geometry and shapes of pattern blocks. They then estimated how high of towers they could build with those shapes and tested their estimations.  The students then used their data to determine why some shapes worked better than others.

This week's science lesson had us focusing on the stars again. They learned how they can use the North Star to find directional points.  We practiced using directional points as we found items in the classroom. The kids then learned how to use the Big Dipper to find the North Star. I have been encouraging them to get out and check out the moon phases as well as finding stars in the sky.

This was our final week of our narrative unit (writing).  Next week the kids will start to write their final piece that will challenge them to demonstrate all of the skills and techniques they learned during the unit.  I will use this piece of writing to determine most of the report card grade for this unit.  Each kid sat with an adult this week and looked at their current writing goals, edited a new piece of writing, and then were given two new goals to focus on.

Secret Pal:  This particular group is really excited for their traditions and celebrations that come with this time of year.  Everyone in the class has talked about what they celebrate during some of our Morning Meetings.  The kids have seen us, as a staff, doing Secret Pals these past few weeks.  They have asked if we can do it too.  Here is how it will work.  If you want your child to participate, they must be signed up here by 12/15.  I will assign them a Secret Pal on Friday and send home a note with the information and schedule.

To Participate Your Child Will Need To Bring the Following on Each Day

*12/19  They will make a Happy New Year's Card for their Secret Pal.  I will send home the paper they can use on 12/16

*12/20 They will need to bring a healthy snack for their Secret Pal. A simple item or two, no drinks are necessary.  We have mill and water.

*12/21  They will bring in a gift for their Secret Pal with a value of less than $5 (This can be bought or handmade).  If this is a difficulty for anyone, please let me know and I will gladly cover that expense. 

NOTES:

*The weather looks like it will turn more toward a wintry mix next week.  Please make sure your child has boots, a hat, gloves/mittens, and a coat. Also, label everything and make sure they have inside shoes too.  I appreciate your help with this. 

*Please let me know if you are not going to be here during the last week of school this month.  I want to plan for your child accordingly and not have stuff lingering when we come back from break.

Peace,

Mr. Young

December 2, 2022

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and a chance to enjoy some family time. It seemed like the break came at the right time for the students.  This week we continued to look at the moon and stars (in science). Yesterday the students learned about why we see the stars at night and not during the day (with the exception of the sun). We also talked a little bit about constellations and the class each made their own pattern of the big dipper.  They used a flashlight to project the constellation onto a sheet of paper. The challenge for them is to go out in the evening and find that constellation.  

During Wednesday's Literature Project time, I read the story Don't Turn the Page by Rachell Burke. This is a story about a parent and their child's bedtime. "Like most children, Sami puts off going to bed for as long as possible. But reading a story about Little Bear's bedtime ritual inspires Sami" to follow the same routine. After we read the story, the students each made their own 'bedtime buddy" using a variety of craft supplies. The kids brought these creatures home on Monday.

This week's writing focus was on the young writers using powerful moves in their writing.  We looked at some examples and then practiced writing elaborate beginnings that get the reader's interest, comparisons that the reader can relate to, and using onomatopoeias. The students are really getting into using these crafts in writing.

Mr. Hubbard's math class has been using pattern blocks and creating and predicting patterns with them. My first grade math class has been working on solving story problems, learning their doubles +1/-1 facts, and telling time to the hours and half hours.  

NOTES:

*Please make sure your child has a hat, boots, and mittens/gloves each day for recess.  If their is snow, they also need their snow pants.  

*I will not be sending homework bags home on Fridays, during the month of December.  I know how busy this time of year gets and that is one last thing to worry about over the weekend.

I hope you all have a great week.

Peace,

Mr. Young