February 11, 2024

 Good Afternoon,

I hope you all enjoyed this beautiful weekend. It was nice to have a stretch of days with sunshine. We have a really busy week and only two weeks until vacation. It's hard to believe how fast January flew by. 

Wednesday is Valentine's day and we will have a pretty packed schedule. We will get done with math at 9:30 and then head to PE class. We will arrive back at 10:10 and will hand out Valentines (for those who chose to write them). A class list of names can be found on the previous two blog posts. We will lay out our ski stuff and head to lunch at 10:55. We will not be doing any sweet treats or anything like that. I rather have them just focus on the act of kindness that is giving a valentine to each kid. 

Last week I read the book The Perfect Pet by Margie Palatini. This book is about a little girl who really wants a pet."Even though Elizabeth's new plant proves to be a good listener, Elizabeth still really wants a pet. While Elizabeth campaigns to find the right pet, her family imagines some hair-raising possibilities, until Doug comes along. Doug is, without a doubt, the most unusual, perfect pet of all. Doug is a bug!" After the reading, I asked the students to write me a letter that would convince me to get them their own individual classroom pet. We started by partnering up and working on a good "hook" for the start of their letters. The groups then broke up and finished the letters on their own. This allowed the students to collaborate with writing a good introduction to their letters. 

I continue to be impressed with how quickly this group gets ready on ski days. I have a few expert boot bucklers that have been so helpful and kind to their classmates. Twice now, adults from around the building have come down to help out and the kids have already been done. Thank you all for making sure your child has everything they need each week for the sports program. 

NOTES:

*I will once again be running a week of basketball camp for next year's 2nd graders through 4th graders (boys and girls) and 5-8 boys and girls,  Please click here to obtain an application. Reach out with any questions.

*The weather will be back to seasonal temperatures this week. Even though the sun is out, the kids still need a coat, hat, gloves, and boots.  Thank you for your help with this.

*Please let me know if your child will be leaving early for vacation or not returning in time (after the break). For those who have already communicated this, thank you.

Have a great week!

Tommy

February 4, 2024

 Good Evening,

I hope you all had a great weekend and enjoyed the beautiful sunshine (I think that is what it is called) over the weekend. I was psyched to have no plans on Sunday and used the day to just relax. This past week we conducted another science investigation and used the scientific process to see if permanent markers were truly permanent. The kids tested different solutions to determine if their hypothesis was correct or not. 

Our writing focus this week was a response to the story Hey Little Any by Phillip Hoose. The story is about a young boy who comes across an ant, and wants to squish him flat, however he begins to question whether he should or not, after hearing the perspective of the little ant he is trying to squish. The story ends with the students deciding what the boy should do. The students then used persuasive writing to convince me on their decision. 

On Friday, the whole school accomplished their We Rock ticket goal and the school celebrated with a sledding and hot chocolate celebration at the end of the day. As always, the kids really seemed to enjoy it and it was a great way to wrap up the week. Our next student focus will be exhibiting great behaviors in all of the specials classes. 

NOTES:

I will be running basketball camps again this summer.  I will do a incoming 2nd-4th grade boys and girls, a 5-9 boys and a 5-9 girls.  Please click here for the camp brochure.  Each camp is capped at 30 participants.

REPEAT: Valentines: It's hard to believe but it will be here in a short amount of time. We will hand out valentines but not be having a party on this day. It is most likely going to be a winter sports program day so it will happen in the morning. All I ask is that if a kid is giving out a valentine, they do it for every student in the class. Here is a class roster:

Ava, Zip, Hazel, Olive, Rowen, Nora, Amelie, Landen, Edie, Ashton, Wiley, Finn, Annabelle, Warren, Miles, Jacob, Patrick, Keagan.

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

Peace,

Mr. Young