Good Afternoon,
Today we started our final opinion pieces. The students are working on the writing portion of their Pokemon cards. We will have an evening, in June, where all of you will be invited to explores some of your child's writing from this semester as well as vote on your favorite new Pokemon card. More details to come on this in the coming weeks.
This afternoon, the tooth tutor cam in to talk to our class about good practices and how to best clean your teeth. She has been visiting all of the classrooms.
The next few days will be quite sunny and you may want to start thinking about applying sun screen to your child in the morning. We will be outside at various times over the last few weeks of school.
FIELD TRIPS:
*We will be headed to Harwood Union on the morning/afternoon of June 6th. We will be working with a freshman english class as we share our writings and get editing suggestions. I am looking for drivers to help get kids to and from on this day.
*We will be going to meet our pen pals in Waterbury on Friday, June 9th. We will pick them up at TBPS and then head to Little River State park to hike. We will eat lunch at the park and then head to Sunflower to get creemes. Your child will need $1.50 for this trip. I am looking for any and all volunteers for this. So far I have Brynley's mom signed up to go.
Tommy
May 15, 2017
May 9, 2017
May 9, 2017
Good Afternoon,
I am sorry I didn't get a post out yesterday. Over the last two days, the students teamed up and worked on editing their writings about the school's hat rule. They were asked to use an anchor chart (about persuasive writing) that allowed them to check for all of the elements within their writing. Most groups found that they were missing introductions in their pieces. Ask your child about our "Hamburger" format in writing.
Field Trip Update: I am working with our pen-pal teacher as we set up our final pen-pal celebration. We are looking at June 9th. We will go to Little River State Park and hike. Tom and I are working out the final details. I will get back to you with more information and cost. Any and all chaperones would be welcomed. Please let me know if you want to come along for the fun in the (hopefully) sun.
Yesterday we set a new record on our power walk. The kids powered through the "snowy conditions" and were proud of their achievement. We stopped by the VG on the way back and celebrated with a cup of hot chocolate for each kid.
I hope you have a great week.
Peace,
Tommy
I am sorry I didn't get a post out yesterday. Over the last two days, the students teamed up and worked on editing their writings about the school's hat rule. They were asked to use an anchor chart (about persuasive writing) that allowed them to check for all of the elements within their writing. Most groups found that they were missing introductions in their pieces. Ask your child about our "Hamburger" format in writing.
Field Trip Update: I am working with our pen-pal teacher as we set up our final pen-pal celebration. We are looking at June 9th. We will go to Little River State Park and hike. Tom and I are working out the final details. I will get back to you with more information and cost. Any and all chaperones would be welcomed. Please let me know if you want to come along for the fun in the (hopefully) sun.Yesterday we set a new record on our power walk. The kids powered through the "snowy conditions" and were proud of their achievement. We stopped by the VG on the way back and celebrated with a cup of hot chocolate for each kid.
I hope you have a great week.
Peace,
Tommy
May 5, 2017
May 5, 2017
Good Afternoon,
We welcomed a new student to our class on Wednesday. Zack Berry comes to us from Barre City School and is a 2nd grader. He has two sisters and a brother. He likes basketball and to have books read to him. He is a great addition to our class and look forward to these last 30 days with him.
We continued writing persuasive pieces this week. The students finished their pieces on why students should or should not wear hats in school. The kids were a bit divided on this and had some interesting reasons for their stance on the issue.
Yesterday, the class joined Mr. Van Dine's group as they presented their books that they made in French class. The kids split into smaller groups and listened as the 5th and 6th graders shared their stories.
I hope you all have a great weekend.
Peace,
Tommy
We welcomed a new student to our class on Wednesday. Zack Berry comes to us from Barre City School and is a 2nd grader. He has two sisters and a brother. He likes basketball and to have books read to him. He is a great addition to our class and look forward to these last 30 days with him. We continued writing persuasive pieces this week. The students finished their pieces on why students should or should not wear hats in school. The kids were a bit divided on this and had some interesting reasons for their stance on the issue.
Yesterday, the class joined Mr. Van Dine's group as they presented their books that they made in French class. The kids split into smaller groups and listened as the 5th and 6th graders shared their stories.
I hope you all have a great weekend.
Peace,
Tommy
April 28, 2017
April 28, 2017
Good Afternoon,
As I write this post, I am sitting in the empty classroom and starring out the big window. It is certainly nice to see the sun and blue sky. This week we continued working on persuasive pieces. We read the book The True Story of the Three Little Pigs. It allowed me to focus on the idea of perspective and the students had to use evidence from the text to support his point of view. Next week, we will write a piece that defends the wolf and how it was all a big misunderstanding.
This morning we were visited by two lambs. A student in Mr. Greenleaf's classroom brought in his lambs to share and then brought them to each room to share. Needless to say math class came to a stop and all attention was given to the two animals.
NOTES:
*Your child has reading homework in his/her bag. Please make time for them to read over the weekend.
*Please read and respond in your child's Weekly News journal.
That is all for now. I hope you have a fabulous weekend.
Tommy
As I write this post, I am sitting in the empty classroom and starring out the big window. It is certainly nice to see the sun and blue sky. This week we continued working on persuasive pieces. We read the book The True Story of the Three Little Pigs. It allowed me to focus on the idea of perspective and the students had to use evidence from the text to support his point of view. Next week, we will write a piece that defends the wolf and how it was all a big misunderstanding.
This morning we were visited by two lambs. A student in Mr. Greenleaf's classroom brought in his lambs to share and then brought them to each room to share. Needless to say math class came to a stop and all attention was given to the two animals.
NOTES:
*Your child has reading homework in his/her bag. Please make time for them to read over the weekend.
*Please read and respond in your child's Weekly News journal.
That is all for now. I hope you have a fabulous weekend.
Tommy
April 24, 2017
April 24, 2017
Welcome Back, Welcome, Back, Welcome Back! I hope those of you who were fortunate to have some time off truly enjoyed it and found it to be a refreshing break as we transition into spring. May and June prove to be a whirlwind of a time. Between the end of the year testing, the need to thoroughly complete instruction, and all of the extra curricular activities that the students are involved in, June 16th will be here before we all know it. It is with all of this in mind that I ask that you help your child find balance with all that this time of year brings and to keep school and rest in the forefront.
Today, we started our persuasive writing unit. We discussed what the point of a persuasive piece is and then read two books that modeled an opinion piece. The 1st book was Dear Mrs. LaRue Letters from Obedience School and the other was Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! Each book had the main character trying to convince the audience that events from the stories were not their fault. We will continue to read persuasive pieces and then transition into group writings before moving to individual pieces.
I hope you all have a great week.
Peace,
Tommy
Today, we started our persuasive writing unit. We discussed what the point of a persuasive piece is and then read two books that modeled an opinion piece. The 1st book was Dear Mrs. LaRue Letters from Obedience School and the other was Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! Each book had the main character trying to convince the audience that events from the stories were not their fault. We will continue to read persuasive pieces and then transition into group writings before moving to individual pieces.
I hope you all have a great week.
Peace,
Tommy
April 14, 2017
April 14, 2017
Good Morning,
This week we started our unit on the sun and moon. Our first objective is for the students to gain an understanding that the sun appears to move through the sky. The students each built a sun dial and spent today (every hour) marking shadows that appeared. We will look more at these results a week from Monday.
All but 2 students were able to publish their final non-fiction writing piece and have finished the illustrations as well. Our next writing focus will be persuasive writing. Each child will be developing their own Pokemon card and a write up for the back of they card.
I hope you all have a wonderful break. I will be teaching 3rd grade math in the Lawrence Massachusetts area during the week.
(left)Students perform their jump rope routines during Thursday's assembly. Each grade has spent a portion of their PE classes learning different techniques and tricks.
Have a great break.
Peace,
Tommy
This week we started our unit on the sun and moon. Our first objective is for the students to gain an understanding that the sun appears to move through the sky. The students each built a sun dial and spent today (every hour) marking shadows that appeared. We will look more at these results a week from Monday.
All but 2 students were able to publish their final non-fiction writing piece and have finished the illustrations as well. Our next writing focus will be persuasive writing. Each child will be developing their own Pokemon card and a write up for the back of they card.I hope you all have a wonderful break. I will be teaching 3rd grade math in the Lawrence Massachusetts area during the week.
Have a great break.
Peace,
Tommy
April 3, 2017
April 3, 2017
Good Afternoon,
This morning the class had math and spelling. After spelling time, we went for our "Power Walk." This is where we walk for 7 and 1/2 minutes on the sidewalk through town. Each time we try to make it a little further than the previous time. After we return we go right into writing. I have found that this walk has made for a more productive writing time. This afternoon the kids worked on their non fiction writings and had a literacy/reading group block.
As you know, I am on the Vermont Standards Board for Professional Educators. Our work encompasses a variety of tasks. One of the obligations is to be part of a program approval team for college programs. This Wednesday and Thursday, I will be away from school as I visit Champlain College and help evaluate their education program.
NOTES:
*We are still collecting plastic bottle caps.
*Please make sure your child is still bringing boots for recess time.
That is all for now. Have a great week,
Tommy
This morning the class had math and spelling. After spelling time, we went for our "Power Walk." This is where we walk for 7 and 1/2 minutes on the sidewalk through town. Each time we try to make it a little further than the previous time. After we return we go right into writing. I have found that this walk has made for a more productive writing time. This afternoon the kids worked on their non fiction writings and had a literacy/reading group block.
As you know, I am on the Vermont Standards Board for Professional Educators. Our work encompasses a variety of tasks. One of the obligations is to be part of a program approval team for college programs. This Wednesday and Thursday, I will be away from school as I visit Champlain College and help evaluate their education program.
NOTES:
*We are still collecting plastic bottle caps.
*Please make sure your child is still bringing boots for recess time.
That is all for now. Have a great week,
Tommy
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