January 30, 2024

 Good Afternoon,

I have to apologize for the gap between this post and my last. Between report cards, sickness, and basketball each weekend has been filled with something during the month of January. Tomorrow will mark our third trip up to the mountain (for our winter sports program). I have to say that the kids have been incredible with helping each other get ready and with their behavior up at the mountain. We definitely have some expert ski boot bucklers and our whole group can pack up all the stuff they don't need and bring it to the library, eat lunch, get dressed for the mountain, and be ready to go in less than 45 minutes. PURE AWESOMENESS or in the words of Ms. Korb, "spectacular." 

Over the last three weeks we have started our work on persuasive writing. This year I have taken a new approach to teaching the unit. Some of this was out of me being bored and some had to do with finding a way to make super engaging for the students. I am doing most of the teaching through the use of picture books. To date the kids have written about their favorite kind of pizza, a plea for a redesigned bedroom (to you, from them), and deciding whether or not a tiny little ant should be squished or not. I will be sharing their writing pieces during the spring conferences. Make sure to ask your child about their opinions with these tasks. 

Valentines: It's hard to believe but it will be here in a short amount of time. We will hand out valentines but not be having a party on this day. It is most likely going to be a winter sports program day so it will happen in the morning. All I ask is that if a kid is giving out a valentine, they do it for every student in the class. Here is a class roster:

Ava, Zip, Hazel, Olive, Rowen, Nora, Amelie, Landen, Edie, Ashton, Wiley, Finn, Annabelle, Warren, Miles, Jacob, Patrick, Keagan.

We continue to talk about acts of kindness and giving a valentine is truly a small act that can make a kid feel like a champion.

In science, we have been looking at science investigations and conducting lab reports that have us making a hypothesis, conducting an experiment, collecting data, writing observations and then drawing conclusions. Last week the kids were testing what cookies floated or sank in liquid. This Thursday we will be doing an experiment with coffee filters, vinegar and markers 

That is all for now.  I hope you all have a great week.

Peace,

Tommy

January 7, 2023

Happy New Year to all of you. I hope each of you had a restful break and had a chance to enjoy the time with family and friends. It was great to get back into the swing of things and finish up with the assessments that I couldn't finish before break. All of the assessments that I have done allow me to look at the deeper growth that has happened since the fall, allows me to accurately fill in report card information, and allows me to effectively plan for my differentiated instruction that happens on a daily basis.  

This week marks the start of our winter sports program at the Waitsfield School. The plan is the students will all go boarding or skiing on Wednesday. There are a few things that I need you all to be aware of:

1. Your child's skis and snow boards should not be brought into the school on Wednesday. Instead, please make sure they are labeled and placed against the exterior brick wall by the flag pole (outside wall of gym).  

2.  Please make sure that everything your child has is labeled with their name. There is a lot of clothing and gear and my goal is to make sure you don;t have to search around school for these each week.

3.  When kids arrive at school on Wednesday, the kids should bring their gear, in a bag, and leave it in the hallway outside our classroom. I will help them with this. It is great if their bag is labeled too. 

4.  All of their belongings, not needed for the program, will be left in a spot in the library. There will be a sign with our class' name on it. No bags will be brought to the mountain.  

5. Our academic day is shortened and we will eat lunch at 11:00. There will be no writing block or volunteering on the Wednesday's we have the winter program.  

I will not send home the homework bags on the days we have the sports' program either.

That is all for now.  I hope you all have a great week.

Peace,

Mr. Young

December 17, 2023

Good evening all.  I hope you all had a great weekend. This past week (and continuing this week) the kids will be doing a lot of assessments. They are all working on their final small moment stories. The kids all completed a sight word test, and this week we will have a spelling assessment, a math assessment and early literacy assessments.  The good news is they won't be assessed during lunch and recess.  We feel they have a good handle on this 😀. 

A reminder that Secret Pal starts this week. I sent home paper for kids to create their cards.  Each student (participating) also had an envelope with who their secret pal is and a schedule for the week. Please, please make sure to follow through with each day's item as well as sending it in on time. It puts a lot on me if you forget. 

This past Wednesday, I used our project time to talk about resolutions and the idea of New Year's resolutions. I tied this into our focus on kindness.  The class broke into three groups and each group read a book about kindness. They then each identified a kind resolution for school and home and created a mini poster about each one. These will be sent home this week as well as displayed in our room.

NOTES:

*I am out until 9:15 tomorrow morning for an appointment.

*We have enough donations of cider and cookies for Thursday.

This will be the last post before the New Year.  I hope you all have a wonderful end to 2023 and ring in the new year with a sense of happiness and joy that each and everyone of you deserves. 

Peace,

Mr. Young

PS: The girls' varsity basketball game has a home game on Thursday @7:00 pm. Make sure the kids come over and say hello if they come to the game.

December 11, 2023

 Rinse and repeat!  We seem to be in a weather pattern that dumps snow and knocks out the power every week. I know this was the third week in a row we went without power. However inconvenient it may be, the natural beauty of the snow on the trees and the silent calmness that comes with living on a dirt road is always a reward to the senses.  

Last week Libby presented to the class about Hanukkah. She read a book about the celebration and shared a couple of her family's menorahs. The students then made their own paper dreidels and learned to play the game with each other. The lesson ended with each kid receiving a few gold coin chocolates. As always, if anyone else would like to present about their family traditions and celebrations, please let me know.  We have two Wednesdays left before break (1:00-2:20). 

SECRET PAL: Secret Pal will start next week.  So far we have 11 of the students signed up. If you still wish to sign up, please do so by Wednesday.  Here is the link to sign up. A note will be sent home on Friday with who your child has and a schedule of events.

Child's Name	Participating	Not Participating
Ashton Lewis	X
Wiley McCoy	X
Landen Kraman	X
Patrick Treacy	X
Annabelle Parker	X
Edith Leopold	X
Miles Russell	X
Zip Babbott-Klein	X
Warren Peck	x
Olive Bennett	x
Nora Goodman	X

We will have a small Secret Pal Party on 12/21.  I am doing it on Thursday, just in case we have a snow day (we can do it Friday).  I am looking for someone to donate apple cider and for a couple of people to make cookies for the party.  Please email me if you are interested.  

NOTES:

*Please check your child's backpack to make sure they have an emergency snack. I have had several kids asking for a bit more food in the afternoon.

* Speaking of backpacks, the winter season requires a lot of stuff to be brought to and from school. Can you please go through your child's bag and clean out the unnecessary items.

That is all for now.  Have a great week.

Peace,

Mr. Young

December 2, 2023

Good Morning

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving break. I always enjoy the opportunity to be with my immediate family and having my girls home. As my kids get older and older, I realize how much I enjoy any time I get with them. All I can say is, as crazy as times may seem now (with young kids) make sure you enjoy it. The time goes so fast and you only get one shot with them. I will say watching them as young adults has it own rewards too.

Instead of focusing on the academics in this week's blog, I thought I would take a different approach. This year, we as teachers, are focusing in on "gatherings and building relationships" with our classrooms, as a school, and within our district. Our staff meetings and professional development commonly have us reflecting on this.  With this in mind, I wanted to fill you in on .

We have 5 round tables that the kids sit at, in the room.  Each table group has become a team. Each team created a team name, identified a team mascot and then created a logo shield to hang over their table. Each table will keep track of the We Rock cards they earn during the month of December. I talked to them about working as a team and doing their best for their team and for the class. The kids are very excited about this and it's great to see them reminding each other about doing their best. I love when they are working together and helping each other be the best they can be.

This week the students finished the Financial Literacy assessment. Since we finished a day early, I used the time to have the kids make new connections. I had them partner up with someone they don;t usually play games with and asked them to choose a game to play. It was so great to see the interactions and new connections. I felt like it was such a good use of the 20-25 minutes we had available. 

Secret Pal: Another way we build community at school is the staff does a Secret Pal event and we gather to celebrate each other and to spend time together.  I want to do the same for the class. Here is how it will work. If you want your child to participate, they must be signed up here by 12/11. I will assign them a Secret Pal on Friday and send home a note with the information and schedule.

To Participate Your Child Will Need To Bring the Following on Each Day

*12/19 They will make a Happy New Year's Card for their Secret Pal. I will send home the paper they can use on 12/15

*12/20 They will need to bring a healthy snack for their Secret Pal. A simple item or two, no drinks are necessary. We have milk and water.

*12/21 They will bring in a gift for their Secret Pal with a value of less than $5 (This can be bought or handmade). If this is a difficulty for anyone, please let me know and I will gladly cover that expense.

NOTES:

*I decided to not do the December book order. I was worried about getting them in before the break.

*Please, please label all of your child's winter things.  I also ask that you check the zippers of your child's coats. I zip the coats for kids that need the help (after they put on their mittens) and some of them are quite tricky.

*Zip's mom is coming on on Wednesday to talk about Hanukkah on Wednesday.  If anyone else wants to come in and talk about what they celebrate in December, please let me know. We usually do this on Wednesday afternoons at 1:00.

That is all for now.  Have a great week.

Peace,

Tommy

November 20, 2023

 I just wanted to take a moment to wish all of you a happy Thanksgiving. I hope you all have the opportunity to reflect, be with family, and enjoy what you have. Each student should have brought home a large brown piece of paper with a chart and pictures on it.  After reading Our Table by Peter Reynolds, I asked the students to think of things they are grateful for.  We then broke them down by the three categories of school, community, and home. The students then drew pictures of the things they identified.

I am looking forward to the break and time with my family.  However, I am equally as excited to get back with the class and get back to work as we enter the whirlwind of December.

Have a great break!

Peace,

Tommy

November 10, 2023

It was so great to see all of you at our parent conferences this week. I hope you found them fulfilling and they gave all of you a deeper insight on exactly what your child is working on, goals they have, and a general sense of how their year is going so far. If you have any other questions, please feel free to reach out anytime.  Again, thank you for taking the time to meet with me.

As I discussed during our conferences, the students are excited about the culmination of our Financial Literacy unit. So far, no one has chosen to buy a toy or candy and they are all saving their money for the movie night. I had to laugh because on Thursday, two kids decided to buy a toy and they both said they could watch a movie at home. By the end of the day they both asked if they could change their minds. Luckily I have a liberal refund policy! The movie night will be Thursday. I will let you know (via email), by Wednesday, if your kid didn't save enough money to buy a ticket. If you don't hear from me, they are good to go.  Here are the details:

• Please arrive at 6:00 pm on Thursday, November 16th.
• Please pick up your child at 8:00 pm. (That same day 😏)
• Students can bring stuffies, a blanket, and wear their pajamas (their request).
• I will have popcorn and some candy.
• Have your child bring a water bottle.  This way drinks wont spill on carpet.
• Any sibling that is kindergarten or older is free to join.  I ma hoping to give all of you a few hours to have a date night.

*NOTE: If there are any food allergies for siblings attending, you must email me those prior to Wednesday.

This week in writing, we started class with the Hokie Pokie. The kids liked the fast movement and the chance to shake their body and even turn themselves around! The purpose of this was for them to describe how they were feeling right after it was done and they had to sit down. I then explained that good writers also do this in their writing. They describe how their characters are feeling.  The students used this strategy along with previous ones to continue to bring their stories to life. 

This week I read the Invisible Boy by Trudy Ludwig. This book is about Brian, a boy who feels invisible at school. He is ignored by the teacher and his classmates, never chosen to be on kickball teams, and is excluded at lunch. When a new student, Justin, comes to school, Justin gets made fun of and Brian reassures him. After this act of kindness, Justin and Brian become friends, and he no longer feels invisible.

This story is very touching because everyone has felt alone and invisible at some point in their lives. The text tells the story of Brian very well and allows the reader to sympathize greatly with him. However, it is the illustrations which draw the reader in completely. They use color to demonstrate how Brian is seen. At the beginning, everything is in color, except for Brian and the objects close to him. Having Brian be the only thing in the picture which is black and white shows how excluded he feels, and how he is treated as though he were invisible. The illustrator uses white space to demonstrate how small Brian feels in this world. However, when Justin is introduced, Brian smiles at him, and part of his face gets a little color in it! As their friendship strengthens, Brian becomes more colorful, demonstrating that he is finally being seen. This use of color to portray his connections with people is very encapsulating because not only is there a textual difference, but the reader can visually see Brian becoming more welcomed. We followed up the reading with a discussion about how we can each work on being inclusive and inviting friends to join us in activities, at recess and lunch.

We talked about Veteran's Day on Wednesday. Both of my brothers are retired Marines and I asked my youngest brother Jimmy to talk to the class about what it means to serve, what a veteran is, and to discuss why the flag is an important symbol to him. Jimmy spoke of being an ambassador (when you serve) and that the he always felt like he needed to represent Vermont and it's people when he served. The students each worked on a sheet about their learning.  There is one part that you can fill out with them.  This is the section about family members that have served. Take time to talk to your child about your family's history. The sheets went home with them yesterday. 

NOTES:

*Please make sure your child has the appropriate outside clothing for the weather.  We go outside for recess in most weather.

*Don't forget to pack your child an extra snack.  Some of them express that they are hungry at different times.

That is all for now.  I hope you all have a great weekend. Again, I want to thank all of you for the thoughtful conversations during conferences.

Peace,

Tommy

Kids playing Don't Make Me Laugh