Good Morning,
I hope everyone enjoyed the circus performance on Friday evening. It was wonderful to see so much enthusiasm and so many smiles form all of the students. Below is a video from the evening event.
I would like to take the students to Harwood on Thursday, March 26th. We would leave school around 9:45 and leave Harwood around 11:15. The purpose of the trip is to have the students work with a freshman writing class. The students would be sharing their narratives and would receive editing help from the high school kids. I need a few drivers. If you are able to help, please let me know by this Thursday.
As we continue our study of sound, I am looking for clean plastic containers with lids (i.e. yogurt). If you have any, could you please send them in. I am also looking for shoe boxes for our light unit. Please send in any that you are willing to part with.
I hope you all have a great week and I will see you at our scheduled conference.
Peace,
Tommy
March 16, 2015
March 13, 2015
March 13, 2014
Good Morning,
It's SHOWTIME! The students' excitement for tonight's performance is inspiring. They are truly ready for the show to begin. Here are the final details about tonight:
*Kids should go to their classrooms between 5:45-5:50. Please don't be late. I ask that they wear boots to the performance and change into shoes once they arrive. This way none has to sit in mud and snow during the performance (we will be on the gym floor). The kids will leave their coats and boots in the hallway (by their classroom) and be able to pick them up after the performance.
*The kids should wear brown or black (or dark colors) to go with our monkey skit. There is one person who is a banana and they should wear dark colors as well.
I look forward to seeing everyone tonight and look forward to a great show. I will create a video of the show after tonight's performance.
Notes:
*We only had math class today. The kids had health, art, French, and rehearsal during the rest of the day. So, there is no homework tonight.
*Several kids are still showing up to school with just boots. Please help them remember to pack shoes for class.
I hope you all have a great weekend.
Peace,
Tommy
It's SHOWTIME! The students' excitement for tonight's performance is inspiring. They are truly ready for the show to begin. Here are the final details about tonight:
*Kids should go to their classrooms between 5:45-5:50. Please don't be late. I ask that they wear boots to the performance and change into shoes once they arrive. This way none has to sit in mud and snow during the performance (we will be on the gym floor). The kids will leave their coats and boots in the hallway (by their classroom) and be able to pick them up after the performance.
*The kids should wear brown or black (or dark colors) to go with our monkey skit. There is one person who is a banana and they should wear dark colors as well.
I look forward to seeing everyone tonight and look forward to a great show. I will create a video of the show after tonight's performance.
Notes:
*We only had math class today. The kids had health, art, French, and rehearsal during the rest of the day. So, there is no homework tonight.
*Several kids are still showing up to school with just boots. Please help them remember to pack shoes for class.
I hope you all have a great weekend.
Peace,
Tommy
March 11, 2015
Good Morning,
I wanted to write to fill you in on the Circus Residency and the needs for Friday. The class has really been enjoying Troy and he has a wonderful demeanor with the students. He has been able to capture their excitement and energy and focus it toward a class routine (for the performance). Our students will be monkeys. If your child could wear brown or black on Friday evening that would be most helpful. Please don't go out and buy something just for the evening. If you don't have brown or black just go with something dark.
**There is reading homework this afternoon. Please make sure your child takes the time to read.
**I will be out tomorrow afternoon. My daughters both have dentist appointments.
**If you haven't signed up for a conference time please do so.
Have a great day.
Tommy
I wanted to write to fill you in on the Circus Residency and the needs for Friday. The class has really been enjoying Troy and he has a wonderful demeanor with the students. He has been able to capture their excitement and energy and focus it toward a class routine (for the performance). Our students will be monkeys. If your child could wear brown or black on Friday evening that would be most helpful. Please don't go out and buy something just for the evening. If you don't have brown or black just go with something dark.
**There is reading homework this afternoon. Please make sure your child takes the time to read.
**I will be out tomorrow afternoon. My daughters both have dentist appointments.
**If you haven't signed up for a conference time please do so.
Have a great day.
Tommy
March 6, 2015
March 6, 2015
Good Morning,
I hope you all had a great break and for those who had time off found it rewarding and restful. We are in the midst of fishing up our 1st drafts of our narratives. The next step will be to meet with a group from Harwood to help the kids edit their stories. Next week we will be starting our next science unit. This unit will be on sound and light waves. It will be a 20 lesson unit and will Take us through the end of April/beginning of May. As I was writing the sound lessons, I kept finding myself singing Good Vibrations by the Beach Boys. Now it is stuck in my head!
Next week will mark the start of the school's one week artist in residency. This year we will be guided by the work of Troy Wonderle. Troy is returning to our school to lead us through a week of circus adventure. If you would like to find out more about Troy and his talents, check out http://www.bigtopadventures.com/home.html.
Our residency schedule is as follows:
Monday: 1:45-2:15 (in place of PE)
Tuesday: 10:15-10:45 (in place of writing)
Thursday: 9:50-10:20 (in place of PE)
Friday: 12:45-2:15 All School Rehearsal (no reading/Weekly News in the afternoon)
There will be an evening performance on Friday, March 13 @ 6:00. All are encouraged to attend.
Notes:
*Your child has reading homework and their Weekly News in their backpacks.
*Please make sure your child brings a change of shoes to school. It would be helpful and appreciated if they weren't wearing their boots all day long.
*Wednesday is an Early Release Day.
PARENT CONFERENCES: On Monday, the online parent conference scheduler will be available to you. You will see that I have a lot of slots on Thursday and only a couple on Friday. I have a meeting at the Department of Education at 9:00 on Friday. If you can't find a time that works for you, please let me know and I can work with you to find a time. If you don't plan on attending a conference, could you please let me know.
I hope you all have a great week.
Tommy
I hope you all had a great break and for those who had time off found it rewarding and restful. We are in the midst of fishing up our 1st drafts of our narratives. The next step will be to meet with a group from Harwood to help the kids edit their stories. Next week we will be starting our next science unit. This unit will be on sound and light waves. It will be a 20 lesson unit and will Take us through the end of April/beginning of May. As I was writing the sound lessons, I kept finding myself singing Good Vibrations by the Beach Boys. Now it is stuck in my head!
Next week will mark the start of the school's one week artist in residency. This year we will be guided by the work of Troy Wonderle. Troy is returning to our school to lead us through a week of circus adventure. If you would like to find out more about Troy and his talents, check out http://www.bigtopadventures.com/home.html.
Our residency schedule is as follows:
Monday: 1:45-2:15 (in place of PE)
Tuesday: 10:15-10:45 (in place of writing)
Thursday: 9:50-10:20 (in place of PE)
Friday: 12:45-2:15 All School Rehearsal (no reading/Weekly News in the afternoon)
There will be an evening performance on Friday, March 13 @ 6:00. All are encouraged to attend.
Notes:
*Your child has reading homework and their Weekly News in their backpacks.
*Please make sure your child brings a change of shoes to school. It would be helpful and appreciated if they weren't wearing their boots all day long.
*Wednesday is an Early Release Day.
PARENT CONFERENCES: On Monday, the online parent conference scheduler will be available to you. You will see that I have a lot of slots on Thursday and only a couple on Friday. I have a meeting at the Department of Education at 9:00 on Friday. If you can't find a time that works for you, please let me know and I can work with you to find a time. If you don't plan on attending a conference, could you please let me know.
I hope you all have a great week.
Tommy
February 16, 2015
February 16, 20145
Good Morning,
Today the students used their knowledge of magnets and attraction of poles to fix a problem. We watched a video of a kid using a pogo stick. I explained that I was trying to do the same tricks with my pogo stick and the spring inside broke. I asked the students to use a spindle and magnets to create a new spring for it. The students worked in teams of two and came up with great solutions and backed up their thinking with scientific evidence.
The students also started writing their own narratives today. I am hoping to have most of the rough drafts done by the end of the week.
On Wednesday, we will have our school wide PBIS celebration. This is a reward that the students had earned because of their behavior. Recently we have been focused on being responsible. Our class has really done a fabulous job of focusing on their own responsibility around the school itself. We will be outside all afternoon on Wednesday to celebrate their success. They will all take part in a winter celebration. Please make sure to dress them accordingly.
Have a great week.
Peace,
Tommy
Today the students used their knowledge of magnets and attraction of poles to fix a problem. We watched a video of a kid using a pogo stick. I explained that I was trying to do the same tricks with my pogo stick and the spring inside broke. I asked the students to use a spindle and magnets to create a new spring for it. The students worked in teams of two and came up with great solutions and backed up their thinking with scientific evidence.
The students also started writing their own narratives today. I am hoping to have most of the rough drafts done by the end of the week.
On Wednesday, we will have our school wide PBIS celebration. This is a reward that the students had earned because of their behavior. Recently we have been focused on being responsible. Our class has really done a fabulous job of focusing on their own responsibility around the school itself. We will be outside all afternoon on Wednesday to celebrate their success. They will all take part in a winter celebration. Please make sure to dress them accordingly.
Have a great week.
Peace,
Tommy
February 13, 2015
February 13, 2015
Good Morning,
I hope you have had a great week. I was out all day Wednesday and half a day on Thursday. I was at a meeting on Wednesday and took half of a personal day on Thursday (to do my taxes).
Next week the school will be having their PBIS celebration. The school will gather and take part in a variety of winter fun. The event will be outdoors, so dress accordingly. This will start around 12:45 on Wednesday.
Notes:
*There will be no Weekly News this week. We used the time to pass out Valentines.
*I will be testing the kids reading and spelling abilities next week. Although I won't be out of the classroom to do this, our schedule will look a little different.
I hope you all have a great weekend.
Peace,
Tommy
I hope you have had a great week. I was out all day Wednesday and half a day on Thursday. I was at a meeting on Wednesday and took half of a personal day on Thursday (to do my taxes).
Next week the school will be having their PBIS celebration. The school will gather and take part in a variety of winter fun. The event will be outdoors, so dress accordingly. This will start around 12:45 on Wednesday.
Notes:
*There will be no Weekly News this week. We used the time to pass out Valentines.
*I will be testing the kids reading and spelling abilities next week. Although I won't be out of the classroom to do this, our schedule will look a little different.
I hope you all have a great weekend.
Peace,
Tommy
February 12, 2015
February 6, 2014
Good Morning,
I realized that I never posted last Friday. Sorry about that. This week the students finished writing a narrative piece about the picture book that their group chose. They will present their stories next week. Yesterday, we continued looking at the Statue of Liberty. This is a continuation of our monument unit. The students have been using a variety of sources to find the information they need to research each monument. The final project will have them using their research/notes to create a presentation about their learning. This week the first graders have been working with non-standard measuring and the concept of telling time to the hour and half hour. We have also looked at the concept of fraction notation (1/2s). The second graders have been working with the concept of patterns within numbers and completed a unit on subtraction with regrouping.
Valentine's Day: The students will be allowed to make Valentines for their classmates. Next Friday (after lunch), we will have a time where the kids can pass out their valentines. Below is a list of the students who would like to participate:
Isaac, Jaedyn, Chip, Parker, Noa, Lydia, Juno, Jack, Riley, Soren, Logan, Lucy, Julia, Matthew, Emma
If students would like to bring in a treat for the afternoon, they are welcome to do so. We will do this from 12:45-1:30. We will not be doing Weekly News next week (to accommodate the time for this).
Notes:
*Your child has their Weekly News in their homework bag.
*There is weekend reading homework.
I hope you all have a great weekend.
Peace,
Tommy
I realized that I never posted last Friday. Sorry about that. This week the students finished writing a narrative piece about the picture book that their group chose. They will present their stories next week. Yesterday, we continued looking at the Statue of Liberty. This is a continuation of our monument unit. The students have been using a variety of sources to find the information they need to research each monument. The final project will have them using their research/notes to create a presentation about their learning. This week the first graders have been working with non-standard measuring and the concept of telling time to the hour and half hour. We have also looked at the concept of fraction notation (1/2s). The second graders have been working with the concept of patterns within numbers and completed a unit on subtraction with regrouping.
Valentine's Day: The students will be allowed to make Valentines for their classmates. Next Friday (after lunch), we will have a time where the kids can pass out their valentines. Below is a list of the students who would like to participate:
Isaac, Jaedyn, Chip, Parker, Noa, Lydia, Juno, Jack, Riley, Soren, Logan, Lucy, Julia, Matthew, Emma
If students would like to bring in a treat for the afternoon, they are welcome to do so. We will do this from 12:45-1:30. We will not be doing Weekly News next week (to accommodate the time for this).
Notes:
*Your child has their Weekly News in their homework bag.
*There is weekend reading homework.
I hope you all have a great weekend.
Peace,
Tommy
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