April 15, 2024

 Good Morning to all of you.  I hope you had a nice weekend. My wife and I were on the North Shore , visiting Abby, and enjoying the sunshine and the ocean. It certainly felt relaxing and very spring like. As you know, this is the final week before vacation. We are finishing up our persuasive writing unit with an assessment piece. The goal is that each kid finishes this before the break. 

We will be going on a field trip on Friday. Our gym teacher Kai has put together a trip to a gymnastics facility in Essex. I have everyone's permission slip with the exception of Rowen, Hazel, and Edith. I will put new ones in their homework bags today.  Please return them tomorrow. I have signed everyone for a bagged school lunch for the trip but kids are also allowed to bring their own if they prefer that.

Notes:

*I will not need parent volunteers on Thursday or Friday of this week. We will be doing a classroom library project on Thursday and Friday is the field trip.  

*Your child has book order forms and information in their reading bags. This will be the last book order of the year. This is a cheap way to get new books for summer reading.

*If you would like to come on the field trip, please let me know by Wednesday. We will have room on the bus. We will be leaving at 10:15.

I hope you all have a great April break.

Best,

Tommy

April 5, 2024

Good Morning All. I am writing this post, from my classroom, and wondering how it is that we are having another snow day.  Mother nature has certainly played havoc on our school calendar this year. Today I was going to read a book to the class about the Solar Eclipse, we were going to have an assembly about it too. I didn't want to miss out on reading the book I bought for the event and I also wanted to make sure the kids all got their viewing glasses. So I made the below recording and I am leaving the glasses on a bag outside my exterior door (by the gazebo).  Please top by and grab a pair for your child. There are exactly 18 and I ask that you only take one pair.  That way every member of the classroom gets a pair.  I hope you all enjoy the book.

Last week we read the book Mud by Mary Lynn Ray. As much as Mud can be a problem and a hindrance for us, it can be absolutely magical for kids. The book is "An ode to muddy hands and feet, brown earth, and new grass. The Simple text and exuberant illustrations make children and their grown-up friends want to sink their feet into gooey, gloppy, mucky, magnificent mud." After reading the story, the students were asked to think about something they truly enjoy about mud. The class drew pictures and wrote about their favorite "mud thing." The pictures are e hung up in the hallway and in our classroom library.  Feel free to stop by and take a look.

This week we also worked on writing a counter point to an opinion.  I wanted to teach the class how you can disagree with someone without attacking them.  The idea being that you use facts to support a counter argument.  I started Monday by telling the class that I had a big announcement. I decided that we would be more productive if we cut recess from 30 minutes to 15 minutes. I told them how excited I was about this idea and thought they would really like it. HOWEVER, your children (most of them) didn't particularly agree. So they spent the week trying to convince me otherwise. The one student who thought it was a good idea is writing a piece on why she agrees.  We will look to finish these as we start the new week.

NOTES:

*I will be doing one last summer book order.  The flyers will be in your child's homework bag and an email with the ordering information and other online flyers will be sent next week. This is a great chance to stock up on some summer reading books.

*Recess Attire for Next Week: Monday: Snow Clothes, Tuesday: Fleece and pants, Wednesday: Winter Coat and Shorts,  . . . Just kidding.  Please make sure your child is dressed for being outside each day next week.

Have a great weekend.

Tommy