Good Evening,
Well we just finished our second week. I am really impressed how quickly some routines are falling into place. I was telling the class, as we wrapped up today, how awesome they did this week. One of the things that has jumped out to me is the kindness that so many students are exhibiting. We have one student who was really worried about connecting to so many new peers and I have seen kids guiding, connecting and supporting this individual. This speaks volumes of the types of great kids we have in the classroom.
The overall theme continues to be getting to know our routines, our expectations, and how we function as a community of learners. As part of our school's social emotional curriculum and goals, each class was asked to create a charter with their students. I read the students a book that focused on kindness and how they felt when people were kind to them. I then asked them to describe how they want to feel when they come to school. The kids came up with the words safe, happy, excited, loved and included. I have to say the word "included" jumped out at me. In 28 years of teaching, I've never had a group express this as a need. I thought it was fantastic and kids were able to explain what this meant and why it was important to them. The charter is now displayed next to our fish tank.
The kids have been working diligently on posters that go into quite a bit of detail about themselves. These poster look like owls and ended up being quite elaborate. It's great to see the students taking time to look at their own work but also that of their classmates. These posters are now displayed in the hallway right outside our classroom door.
Yesterday we talked about why they come to school. The kids identified reason like "to learn," "to see our friends," and other reasons along the same lines. The one that made me laugh was when a child said, "to get us out of the house." Today we used that conversation to identify students strengths in school and each child told us about something that they did well last year. I then turned the focus to asking them to think of something they wanted to get better at or learn to do in our classroom this year. I wanted them to think of a goal that each of them would want to accomplish. These goals will be known as their Hopes and Dreams as we start the academic year. We will revisit these goals periodically and students will create new ones as needed. Next week, the students will use these goals to create classroom rules that they feel are needed to allow them to focus and accomplish their Hopes and Dreams.
You may hear your child talk about "shopping for books" and the term read to self. This week I introduced the students to the concepts of finding good fit books for times when they need to read books to themselves. There are three ways that kids can read books:
- Read the Words: This is where kids who are already reading can go page by page and read the words in the stories they have chosen.
- Read the Pictures: This is where the kids can use the pictures and "read them" to gain an understanding of what is going on in the story.
- Retell from Memory: This is where kids can look at the pages and tell you the story from hearing it so many times.
The kids use the grocery bags that you sent in to collect 7 books each week for this activity. Thank you for those who were able to send in a bag. I had a few extra so everyone is now set.
NOTES:
*Parent volunteers will start in October. If you would like to volunteer this year,
please use this link to sign up for a slot. You don't have to sign up if you wish to visit the classroom. That can happen anytime (after October). This is more for people who can commit to a weekly or bi-weekly time slot. If you sign up for the math time, that is for 1st grade math. Any 1st or 2nd grade parent can sign up but it will be for my 1st grade math class.
*I will do three book orders this year. A September one, a December one, and one in May. The September order forms and information will be sent home on Monday. The deadline for orders will be September 20th. All orders will be done online. If that doesn't work for you, please let me know and I will work something else out. I use Scholastic because it allows students to access interesting books at a fairly cheap price and it also allows me to use reward points to get free books for the classroom.
*Homework bags will start coming home next week. These are a gallon Ziploc bag that will have your child's name on it. I explained these in my introduction letter too. Any forms, notes, or information that you need to see, will be in this bag. Please look for it each night, take care of the items and then send the bag back. Eventually kids will be able to take home a book (each night) from our classroom library. The books must stay in this bag when it is not being read. Please take the time to work with your child on this routine and how to take care of the books they bring home. Books will start coming home at the start of week 4.
That is all for now. I hope you all have a great weekend. I will be on Lake Mascoma for a family gathering. It will be nice to have both of my daughters home for the weekend. I can't wait for week three and all that it has in store.
Peace,
Mr. Young
I hope this finds you all well. I want to start with information about our Apple Orchard field trip this coming Wednesday. We have funding for the bus but I found out today that field trip costs were cut from the budget. The cost is $6 a student. I am asking that you send this in by Tuesday (if you can swing this). I am also asking that if you can give a little extra, that would be great too. This would help me cover the costs for kids that might not be able to swing the $6. You can send cash or a check. The check should be made out to Waitsfield Elementary School. If we end up collecting more than we need (due to donations), it will be put into our field trip account for another trip. Please let me know if you have any questions. Again, I need this by Tuesday.
