Good Morning,
I hope all is well and you all enjoyed the extra time with your child(ren). I had a nice time with my family and visiting Boston. I also taught at a math academy, in Lawrence, last week. It was a lot of fun and a very hard working group of 3rd graders.
Today marks the start of a very busy stretch of the school year. From now until the end of the year we will be wrapping up many projects, conducting a variety of 1:1 assessments in both math and language arts, and finishing up both our science and social studies curriculum, I hope that students are in school as much as possible as we hit this crucial and final stage of the year.
Acts of Kindness
Our school has taken on the challenge of focusing on the school's principle of being "kind." The entire staff and student body will be looking for acts of kindness throughout their day. The students are trying to collect enough (award) rocks to earn a school wide celebration. The next celebration will be a boat race. Ask your child about this event.
I hope you all have a great week.
Peace,
Tommy
April 27, 2015
April 10, 2015
April 10, 2015
Good Morning,
I hope everyone has had a great week. Today the students will head over to the Valley Player's to watch our 5th and 6th graders perform their take on Cinderella. Due to this, we didn't have reading groups or Weekly News today. So, your child has no work to do over the weekend.
There are a few events going on over the next week and week after vacation. Please make note of the following:
*We have a new 1st grade student joining our class on Monday. His name is Alex and he is coming from Stowe Elementary.
*I will be out of the classroom on Monday and Friday. I have a meeting at the Agency of Education on Monday. I will join the class for arrival, to welcome the new student, and then take off shortly after. On Friday, I will be headed to Boston with my family. The Red Sox are honoring a few teachers (I am luck to be one of them) from New England (for their work in Math) and are having an on-field ceremony before Friday's game. So, I have decided to use a personal day to take my family down for this event.
*On Wednesday, April 29th, Our class will be headed to the Fayston school. We will be working with their 1st and 2nd graders on a Red Clover project. As you may remember, we recently wrote opinion pieces about which book should win. The Fayston students responded to the same prompt and we will share or responses and then work on a project that will have them working in teams to sell their opinion. We will leave at 11:15 on this day. The students will eat lunch at Fayston. Since it is the same lunch program, students can sign up for hot or cold in the morning. Ms. Korb, Mr. Mongeon, and I will drive the students up. If you would like to join us, please let me know.
I hope you have a great weekend.
Peace,
Tommy
I hope everyone has had a great week. Today the students will head over to the Valley Player's to watch our 5th and 6th graders perform their take on Cinderella. Due to this, we didn't have reading groups or Weekly News today. So, your child has no work to do over the weekend.
There are a few events going on over the next week and week after vacation. Please make note of the following:
*We have a new 1st grade student joining our class on Monday. His name is Alex and he is coming from Stowe Elementary.
*I will be out of the classroom on Monday and Friday. I have a meeting at the Agency of Education on Monday. I will join the class for arrival, to welcome the new student, and then take off shortly after. On Friday, I will be headed to Boston with my family. The Red Sox are honoring a few teachers (I am luck to be one of them) from New England (for their work in Math) and are having an on-field ceremony before Friday's game. So, I have decided to use a personal day to take my family down for this event.
*On Wednesday, April 29th, Our class will be headed to the Fayston school. We will be working with their 1st and 2nd graders on a Red Clover project. As you may remember, we recently wrote opinion pieces about which book should win. The Fayston students responded to the same prompt and we will share or responses and then work on a project that will have them working in teams to sell their opinion. We will leave at 11:15 on this day. The students will eat lunch at Fayston. Since it is the same lunch program, students can sign up for hot or cold in the morning. Ms. Korb, Mr. Mongeon, and I will drive the students up. If you would like to join us, please let me know.
I hope you have a great weekend.
Peace,
Tommy
April 6, 2015
Good Afternoon,
Today the students worked with the concept of sound waves and observing the difference between vibrations going through the air compared to through solid substances. Ask them about the hanger experiment. The students also had reading, writing, and Daily 5. We continued to work on our pen pal letters and students worked with a volunteer to edit their free write stories.
On Thursday, we will be walking to the Valley Players (at 12:45). We will be watching a production of Cinderella performed by our 5th and 6th graders. We will be back before 2:15.
I hope you all have a great week.
Peace,
Tommy
Today the students worked with the concept of sound waves and observing the difference between vibrations going through the air compared to through solid substances. Ask them about the hanger experiment. The students also had reading, writing, and Daily 5. We continued to work on our pen pal letters and students worked with a volunteer to edit their free write stories.
On Thursday, we will be walking to the Valley Players (at 12:45). We will be watching a production of Cinderella performed by our 5th and 6th graders. We will be back before 2:15.
I hope you all have a great week.
Peace,
Tommy
April 3, 2015
April 3, 2015
Good Morning,
We have had a fun week. The students received letters from heir pen pals. They have spent this week working on their 1st drafts of their responses. I am in the planning stages of our annual field trip to meet up with our pen pals. I am looking at the first week of June. After talking with Sally, the TBPS teacher, we have decided to do part of the Stowe Pinnacle hike. We wills tart at the bottom and hike up to the meadow. There we will eat lunch and then return. We will stop by Ben and Jerry's for some ice cream on the way back. I will be looking for chaperones when I finalize a date and time.
I joined the students for art class today. I had heard the class was working on more paper for our narrative illustrations. It was fun to sit in and see they fun they had. Check out the clip below:
I hope you all have a great weekend.
Peace,
Tommy
We have had a fun week. The students received letters from heir pen pals. They have spent this week working on their 1st drafts of their responses. I am in the planning stages of our annual field trip to meet up with our pen pals. I am looking at the first week of June. After talking with Sally, the TBPS teacher, we have decided to do part of the Stowe Pinnacle hike. We wills tart at the bottom and hike up to the meadow. There we will eat lunch and then return. We will stop by Ben and Jerry's for some ice cream on the way back. I will be looking for chaperones when I finalize a date and time.
I joined the students for art class today. I had heard the class was working on more paper for our narrative illustrations. It was fun to sit in and see they fun they had. Check out the clip below:
I hope you all have a great weekend.
Peace,
Tommy
March 31, 2015
March 31, 2015
Good Afternoon,
We continue to explore and discover the concepts of sound in science. Yesterday, the students finished up their lesson on Kazoos and today they used rulers to explore ways of varying pitch.
Yesterday, the students were treated to a preview of Sensical the Musical performed by members of Harwood Union High School. Students saw beloved Seuss characters come to life to tell their stories through song and dance! This is a great opportunity for families to enjoy. The performance will be at Harwood on April 9 - 11. Below is some more information on the performance.
Notes:
*We have our last Winter Sports program this week. Please make sure your children have all of their clothing and equipment.
*There is homework in your child's bag. Please make sure they do it tonight. In honor of the last ski day and April 1st, I will not send anything home tomorrow.
I hope you have a great night.
Peace,
Tommy
We continue to explore and discover the concepts of sound in science. Yesterday, the students finished up their lesson on Kazoos and today they used rulers to explore ways of varying pitch.
Yesterday, the students were treated to a preview of Sensical the Musical performed by members of Harwood Union High School. Students saw beloved Seuss characters come to life to tell their stories through song and dance! This is a great opportunity for families to enjoy. The performance will be at Harwood on April 9 - 11. Below is some more information on the performance.
Shows:
Thursday, April 9 @ 7:30pm
Friday, April 10 @ 7:30pm
Saturday, April 11 @ 1:30pm & 7:30pm
Friday, April 10 @ 7:30pm
Saturday, April 11 @ 1:30pm & 7:30pm
Tickets are available at the door. Adults $10; Students $5
For more information, check out their website at: http://friendsofharwoodmusic.Notes:
*We have our last Winter Sports program this week. Please make sure your children have all of their clothing and equipment.
*There is homework in your child's bag. Please make sure they do it tonight. In honor of the last ski day and April 1st, I will not send anything home tomorrow.
I hope you have a great night.
Peace,
Tommy
March 26, 2015
Yesterday we ventured to Harwood to work on editing our narratives. The students were very excited and a little nervous. I was excited to see the enthusiasm and focus that so many demonstrated. Here is a video of our morning.
Today, the students were asked to write a persuasive piece that asked them to convince me why their choice for the Red Clover Book Award should win. The students were asked to write a letter to me and present their argument. These pieces will be used as an assessment piece and shared at our next district wide Early Release Day.
What is a Red Clover book?
Each year a committee of librarians, teachers, and sponsors reviews all picture books published in the prior year and chooses ten stellar picture books as the Red Clover books for the next school year. The books are considered in their entirety when chosen; both text and illustrations must be considered exemplary. To learn more about the books and the Red Clover program, visit the Vermont Center for the Book.
Each year a committee of librarians, teachers, and sponsors reviews all picture books published in the prior year and chooses ten stellar picture books as the Red Clover books for the next school year. The books are considered in their entirety when chosen; both text and illustrations must be considered exemplary. To learn more about the books and the Red Clover program, visit the Vermont Center for the Book.
A Local Connection to Red Clover
The Red Clover book program was started in Windham County, the brainchild of Eileen Christelow, author of the Five Little Monkeys books, The Great Pig Escape, and many other books. Jessie Haas, another of our beloved children's book authors, best known for her horse books and her picture books of rural farm life, named the program after the state flower of Vermont, the red clover. After one year as a Windham county program, the Red Clover book program went statewide, and today children in grades Kindergarten through 4th grade throughout the state of Vermont read the Red Clover books and vote for their favorite each April.
What is a picture book?
The picture book combines words and pictures to tell a story. Text and images work together to bring a sotry to a new level. Illustrations can extend the meaning of a story or alter a book altogether. So while a picture book is simply word and pictures, when viewed as a whole, it becomes a work of art. (MM Del Rosario, http://hubpages.com/hub/what-is-a-picture-book)
I hope you all have a great weekend!
Peace,
Tommy
March 23, 2015
March 24, 2015
Good Morning,
I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. It was a pleasure to be able to speak with you about your child's progress and how wonderful they are. I hope you found the conferences both meaningful and insightful. If you still have questions, please don't hesitate to contact me.
We will be headed to Harwood on Thursday. We will leave school around 9:50 and return just before 11:30. So far Ken Wilson and Sheila Fiaschetti have offered to drive. I will also drive. If anyone would like to join us, please let us know.
This week we are scheduled to have a ski day on Wednesday. I will be at a district math meeting in the afternoon. If skiing is canceled there will be a sub in for me for the afternoon.
I hope you all have a great week.
Peace,
Tommy
I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. It was a pleasure to be able to speak with you about your child's progress and how wonderful they are. I hope you found the conferences both meaningful and insightful. If you still have questions, please don't hesitate to contact me.
We will be headed to Harwood on Thursday. We will leave school around 9:50 and return just before 11:30. So far Ken Wilson and Sheila Fiaschetti have offered to drive. I will also drive. If anyone would like to join us, please let us know.
This week we are scheduled to have a ski day on Wednesday. I will be at a district math meeting in the afternoon. If skiing is canceled there will be a sub in for me for the afternoon.
I hope you all have a great week.
Peace,
Tommy
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)