There is so much energy and activity across our community right now! Between structural changes to how we educate our children, the upcoming PTA Ski & Skate Sale, and our recent parent-teacher conferences, I am deeply grateful for your engagement and support in your child's education. I hope you found our conferences helpful and insightful as we celebrated your child's growth and discussed our goals for the year ahead.

1st Grade Math: Multi-Addend Sums, Fractions & Time

In 1st grade math, I guided my students through finding combinations for sums with two or three addends and introduced basic fractions, including halves, quarters, and wholes. We also began exploring the analog clock, learning how the hour and minute hands work together to tell time to the hour and half-hour. Exploring multi-addend combinations and early fractions builds flexible mental computation and proportional reasoning. Learning to read analog clocks strengthens spatial orientation and connects math directly to real-world daily routines.

2nd Grade Math: Number Strings & 200s Grid

The 2nd grade mathematicians continued their work with multi-step number strings and navigated numbers within the 200s grid. Solving number strings helps students spot numerical patterns and practice efficient mental grouping strategies. Navigating the 200s grid deepens place-value understanding and extends number sense into larger three-digit ranges.

Outdoor Science: Animal Adaptations with Luke Foley

We officially launched our new science unit on Animal Adaptations! Luke Foley from Friends of the Mad River joined us to take our class into the woods as we searched for evidence of animal life, local habitats, and our surrounding environment. Luke will be working with us most Wednesdays and Fridays throughout this unit. Our weekly routine involves being "in the field" on Wednesdays, using classroom time to record our work on Thursdays, and having a Friday follow-up with Luke indoors and outdoors. The kids are thrilled to learn how local animals adapt for winter!

Read-Aloud Spotlight

Our read-aloud time featured four wonderful books that sparked great conversations in our room:

• Goodbye Autumn, Hello Winter: A beautiful seasonal story following two children noticing the subtle shift from fall to winter.

• What Does It Mean to Be Kind?: A thoughtful book illustrating how small, everyday acts of empathy and gentleness make a community stronger.

• What Do You Do with a Tail Like This?: An interactive non-fiction book exploring how animals use their features to adapt to their environments.

• Knuffle Bunny: A heartwarming, humorous tale about a toddler's stuffed bunny getting left at the laundromat and the classic miscommunications that follow.

Global Read Aloud: Harold & Hog Pretend For Real

For this week's Global Read Aloud, I read Harold & Hog Pretend For Real by Dan Santat, a fun crossover with Mo Willems' Elephant & Piggie series where an earnest elephant and carefree pig pretend to be each other. Inspired by this author/illustrator crossover, I had my students select a family member to "cross over" with, drawing each other wearing that person's clothes and speaking in their voice! We will continue refining these fun projects next week.

Notes & Reminders

• PTA Ski & Skate Sale Thank You: I want to extend a huge thank you to all of you for signing up to volunteer for the Ski & Skate Sale! Every single family from our classroom has someone signed up to help. I am deeply appreciative of your service and dedication to our school and students.

• Weekly News Journal: Your child has their Weekly News Journal in their homework bag today. Please review their entry together, read the note inside the cover, initial it, and return the journal on Monday.

• Mountain Film Festival & "We Rock" Celebration: Today, our whole school gathered to watch a selection of short children's films from the Mountain Film Festival! This special event celebrated our school community earning 1,000 "We Rock" tickets for positive behavior.

• FLAT STANLEY UPDATES: The travels of our Flat People continue to pour in. As you can see by the photo (in this post) the east coast continues to fill up. This week we got our first west coast update. It gave me a chance to talk about some geographical terms and the oceans that touch our country. We can;t wait to see what travels we learn about next week.

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

Peace,

Tommy

October 30, 2026

That is a wrap on October! The month flew by, but you can really see the incredible learning coming through in the work the kids have done. The children were great today and stayed so focused for October 30th! Here is a look at our week in review.

Civics Action Project: Playground Clean-Up Campaign
As I mentioned last week, our class officially decided on our group action project! After touring the school building and grounds, the students decided that we should focus on keeping our playground clean. Today, one classroom team composed a letter to Kaiya requesting specific supplies to help with this effort. The rest of the class paired up to create "Keep It Clean" campaign posters that will be hung up around the school and playground to remind everyone to do their part. The kids are really excited about this project, and I love seeing them realize that they can truly be change-makers!


1st Grade Math: "Learn Your Facts"

In 1st grade math, our theme for the week was "Learn Your Facts." We spent the week working on doubles facts and addition facts within 10, with students primarily using a "counting on" strategy to solve unknown facts. Developing fluency with addition combinations within 10 and mastering counting-on strategies builds foundational computational efficiency, helping young learners move past counting individual objects toward flexible mental math strategies.

2nd Grade Math: Telling Time & Number Strings
Our 2nd grade mathematicians focused on telling time to the nearest 5-minute interval and working through number strings. Learning to tell time to 5-minute intervals strengthens real-world analog clock navigation and fractional spatial awareness. Solving number strings encourages students to identify numerical patterns, recognize mathematical properties, and use efficient grouping strategies when computing.

Writing Workshop: Bringing Small Moments to Life

In writing, our instruction focused on how to bring "small moment" personal narrative stories "to life" by using action words and dialogue. We looked at a few mentor texts together to observe how published authors use micro-actions and direct speech to make their scenes active and vivid. We will continue to narrow in on this concept throughout the remaining part of the unit.

Halloween Read-Aloud Spotlight
Our read-aloud time featured four fun Halloween-themed stories:

Creepy Pair of Underwear!: Jasper Rabbit tries to prove he is big and brave by wearing glowing green underwear, only to discover they are a little too creepy until he finds an unexpected, clever use for them.

The Hallo-Wiener: Oscar the dachshund gets teased by other dogs for his hot-dog costume, but he bravely saves the day at Halloween when his friends run into trouble.

Crankenstein: A hilarious story about a grumpy monster who gets cranky over long lines, melted ice cream, and Halloween rain until he meets a fellow Crankenstein.

Stumpkin: A quiet, stemless pumpkin sitting on a city stoop wishes deeply to become a glowing jack-o'-lantern, ultimately finding his perfect home on Halloween night.

Global Read Aloud: Don't Trust Fish
This week's Global Read Aloud title was Don't Trust Fish by Dan Santat. Written and illustrated in his signature humorous style, the story explores playful animal rivalries and unexpected perspectives. Inspired by the book, our students picked a known animal duo (such as Cat and Dog) and created a poster of one of the animals using Dan Santat's illustrative style to make a funny version. In the corner of the poster, students included a tiny drawing of the second animal secretly making or painting the poster, mimicking the hilarious twist from the mentor text!

Buddy Pumpkin Carving & Flat Classmate Travels
On Wednesday, we teamed up with our 5th & 6th grade buddy classroom (Mrs. Smith's class) to carve pumpkins together. These pumpkins will be placed on Loop Road to light up the street for tomorrow's community festivities!

We also received a few more "Flat Classmate" travel notes and pictures this week—we are now up to 8 total entries, and I have to say the "Flat Kids" have even enjoyed eating some lobster on their travels!

Notes & Reminders
*Weekly News Journal: Your child has their Weekly News Journal in their homework bag today. Please review their entry together, read the note inside the cover, initial it, and send the journal back in their bag on Monday.

*No School Tuesday: There is no school next Tuesday, November 3rd (Election Day).

*New Outdoor Science Unit: Next week we will start a new science unit that focuses on Animal Adaptations, and guest educator Luke Foley will be joining us. We will be outside every Wednesday for this unit, so please dress your child accordingly with warm layers!

Have a great weekend!

Peace,

                                                                  Mr. Young

October 23, 2026

We had another wonderful week in 1st and 2nd grade! It was especially nice to have such pleasant autumn weather for our outdoor recess times this week, giving the kids plenty of fresh air and active time together. Here is a look at what our class worked on this past week.

1st Grade Math: Addition Within 10, Counting On, & Doubles

In 1st grade math, students focused on addition facts within 10, practicing the strategy of counting on from the largest number when solving unknown equations. We used dominoes to visually support this strategy, and today the kids were introduced to doubles facts and played a game to practice them. Learning to count on from the larger number and recognizing doubles facts are essential stepping stones for math development, as they help children transition from basic counting by ones to flexible mental math strategies.

2nd Grade Math: Friendly Numbers, Doubles, & Plus 10 / Minus 1

Our 2nd graders solved equations by combining doubles facts with "plus 10" and "minus 1" strategies, introduced through the concept of a "friendly number" (like 10). Utilizing friendly numbers and derived-fact strategies deepens students' understanding of number relationships and place value. These mental models allow children to break complex multi-digit calculations down into simpler, more efficient steps.

Writing Workshop: Stretching Words & Word Wall Tools

In writing workshop, our lessons focused on phonics, spelling, and stretching out words aloud to hear and record each individual sound on paper. We also reviewed how to use our classroom Word Wall as an independent resource when spelling high-frequency words. These foundational habits empower young writers to express their thoughts on paper with growing independence and confidence.

Global Read Aloud & Writing: After the Fall

For this week's Global Read Aloud, we read After the Fall (How Humpty Dumpty Got Back Up Again) by Dan Santat. This inspiring story follows Humpty Dumpty after his famous fall as he struggles with a newfound fear of heights, ultimately finding the courage to face his anxiety and transform into something extraordinary. The book highlights the vital importance of resilience, perseverance, and having the willingness to pick yourself up and try again after a setback. After our reading, the children wrote personal pieces about a time they experienced a "fall" and chose to pick themselves back up—these meaningful stories are coming home today in their homework bags!

Civics Unit: Change-Makers & Classroom Action Project

In our civics unit, we had a special guest speaker on Thursday! Jen Peterson visited our class to share how everyday people can become powerful change-makers. Almost 17 years ago, Jen collaborated with Kaiya to bring the Everybody Wins! literacy mentoring program to our school. Inspired by her story, our students identified a classroom "action project" that we will be working on together as a group to make a positive impact in our school.

Flat Stanley Travels Update

We received exciting updates from Flat Ellie and Flat Sariah this week! Both completed journeys to various towns in Massachusetts, with adventures that included a thrilling go-kart ride, relaxing time at the beach, and plenty of delicious food!

Halloween & Seasonal Schedule Note

Teachers across the nation are celebrating a rare milestone this year: Halloween falls on a Saturday! (It practically brings tears of joy to my eyes as I write this!). As a reminder, our school does not hold Halloween parties or wear costumes. Next week, I will be reading several seasonal read-alouds and will provide a small treat during Friday work time, but Friday will remain a regular instructional day. Additionally, on Wednesday afternoon, we will join our 5th & 6th grade buddy classroom to carve pumpkins, which serves as our school's contribution to the local community's Saturday festivities.

Notes:

*Weekly News Journal: Your child has their Weekly News Journal in their homework bag today. Please review their entry together, read the note inside the cover, initial it, and return the journal in their bag on Monday.

*Backpack Clean-Out: With the changing season, now is a great time to go through your child's backpack and clean out unnecessary items. They will soon need plenty of extra space for winter hats, gloves, and boots!

That is all for this week. I do hope you all have a great weekend.

Peace,

Mr. Young

October 16, 2026

As the leaves fall, the days seem to follow—I can't believe we are already halfway through October! Our students continue to bring steady focus and great effort into the classroom every day. Their work habits are strong, and it is wonderful to see them navigating our daily academic routines with such independence and care.

Writing Workshop: Small Moment Personal Narratives


In writing, students started their second 'small moment' personal narrative story. We are really homing in on capturing a tiny moment and 'exploding' it with vivid details on our pages. I introduced a few graphic organizers to help students with their writing preparation and to help generate ideas to focus on.

As part of their pre-writing routine, students are learning to tap across blank pages and tell their story aloud before writing a single word. This pre-writing process helps young authors map out a clear beginning, middle, and end while ensuring they know enough about their event to write in detail rather than rushing through the action.

Ask your child: "What small moment story are you exploding on your pages in writing right now?"

1st Grade Math: Dominoes, Fact Families, and Number Bonds

First graders focused on dominoes, fact families, and number bonds through a variety of hands-on math games. Working with dominoes, number bonds,and fact families reinforces how numbers can be composed and decomposed in multiple ways. This deepens part-whole visual understanding and builds a strong foundation for mental addition and subtraction fluency.

2nd Grade Math: Linear Measurement, 200s Chart, and Bundling
Second graders worked on linear measurements, navigating the 200s chart, and bundling numbers for multi-digit addition. Working with linear measurements and 200s charts helps students visualize number distance and place value relationships across larger numbers. Bundling numbers into tens and hundreds provides a concrete strategy for multi-digit mental math and addition efficiency.

Literature & Art Project: Leaf Characters
For our literature project, we re-read Fletcher and the Falling Leaves, a sweet story about a young fox who worries when his favorite tree loses its leaves in autumn, only to be surprised by its magical winter transformation. Afterward, students went outside to find their own perfect fall leaf, brought it back to the classroom, and transformed it into a magical leaf person, character, or animal. They finished the project by writing about their leaf creation. I have to say they turned out so cute! You can check them out on the bulletin board right outside our classroom door.

Social Studies & Civics: Everyday Change-Makers

In social studies, students watched a message from Kid President about young people solving problems by coming up with creative solutions of their own. We also read The Smallest Girl in the Smallest Grade to see how an everyday student can speak up and solve a big problem at school, reinforcing the idea that you don't have to be famous to make a difference. Today, students read about everyday people whose decisions made them historical change-makers.

Ask your child: "Who was the historical change-maker you researched today during our online read-alouds?"

Read-Aloud Spotlight
• I Say Ooh, You Say Aah: An interactive story that naturally encourages group participation as students respond to silly visual rules and cues throughout the read.

• Dog vs. Strawberry: A funny tale exploring a dog's curious and determined encounter with an unfamiliar garden strawberry.

• Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!: An interactive classic where the pigeon tries to persuade the audience to let him drive, prompting enthusiastic group participation as the class sets firm boundaries.

Flat Stanley Travels Update
Flat Stella and Flat Olive have returned from their exciting travels in Miami, Florida, and Needham, Massachusetts! Flat Olive enjoyed her time visiting her uncle and his 4th-grade class It appears she may have even eaten part of a student's lunch! Meanwhile, Flat Stella enjoyed some time in the weight room, spent time at the track with horses, and enjoyed a sunny day at the beach. We are so excited to see where our Flat Stanleys travel next!

Notes & Reminders
• Weekly News Journal: Your child brought home their Weekly News Journal in their homework bag today. Please read the note inside the cover, review your child's writing, initial it, and send the journal back in their bag on Monday.

• Clothing Reminder: As autumn temperatures drop and wet weather sets in, please make sure your child brings a jacket, sweatshirt, or a raincoat to school every day so they stay warm and dry during outdoor recess and fresh-air breaks.

• PTA Ski & Skate Sale: The annual PTA Ski and Skate Sale is an important upcoming event that helps fund so many wonderful projects, initiatives, and events for our students. I would love to see every family from our classroom sign up to help in some form. I am doing my usual Friday night shift—a tradition I've held for many years and look forward to every November! You can

sign up for a volunteer shift that works for you by clicking this sign-up link

That is all for now. I hope everyone has a great weekend.

Peace,

Mr. Young

October 9, 2026

I hope everyone had a great week. It is amazing how fast time goes by! Here is a look at what our class worked on this past week.

1st Grade Math: Dominoes, Fact Families, and Comparisons
In 1st grade math, our focus was on dominoes, fact families, and comparing numbers using greater than (>), less than (<), and equal to (=) signs. Understanding fact families helps children see how addition and subtraction are directly connected rather than separate skills. Practicing with comparison signs and visual domino models builds strong number sense and prepares students for more complex math reasoning down the road.

2nd Grade Math: Base Ten Concepts and 3-Digit Numbers
Our 2nd graders focused on base ten concepts, learning what each digit represents in a 3-digit number and solving base ten math riddles. Mastering place value with hundreds, tens, and ones is essential for building a solid foundation for multi-digit addition and subtraction. Working through math riddles also gives students a fun way to practice flexible problem-solving and mental math.

Writing Workshop: Small Moment Personal Narratives
In writing workshop, we officially started our personal narrative unit on "small moment" stories. I am teaching the students how to zoom in on a single, specific event rather than trying to write about a huge topic. We use the visual of a watermelon to contrast a big general topic—like "my vacation"—with a tiny watermelon seed story, such as "splashing in the pool with my cousin."

Before writing, students physically touch each page of their blank booklet and tell their story out loud, planning out a clear beginning, middle, and end. This habit helps them sequence their ideas and ensures they stretch their story across the whole book. Focusing on that tiny seed moment allows them to capture real details, actions, and feelings from a specific memory.

Ask your child: "What watermelon seed story are you telling across your pages in writing workshop right now?"

Global Read Aloud: The Adventures of Beekle
Our classroom has joined classrooms around the world for the Global Read Aloud, a six-week program where we are exploring books by author and illustrator Dan Santat. This week, we read his Caldecott Medal-winning book, The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend. The story follows an imaginary friend who leaves his island to find his real-world friend.

After reading, the kids created their own imaginary friends and wrote short stories about the adventures they would share. Their artwork and writing are now displayed on the bulletin board outside our classroom! Moving forward, Mr. Mongeon and I will collaborate each week to read the next book and lead a connected project.

Civics: Exploring Community Helpers
In civics, we focused on community helpers and read the book Whose Hands Are These?. To give the students a firsthand look at how helpers support communities, Nurse Aubrey joined our class via video call from Moretown School to talk about her role in keeping students healthy and safe.

NOTES:
*Since we had Friday off, I did not send home Weekly News Journals this weekend.

*Please try and make sure your child reads, is read to, or jointly reads a book each night. It is amazing how these minutes of reading add up and the success kids have because of it.

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

Peace,
Mr. Young

October 2, 2026

I hope you are all enjoying the wonderful start of October! The autumn colors across our community have been absolutely spectacular this week. Inside our classroom, we are officially in full swing with our academic learning, and our students are continuing to show incredible focus and growth. There is a beautiful magic happening in our classroom right now. It is incredible to watch them put their absolute best foot forward every morning, stepping into each day with growing confidence, eager minds, and a wonderful sense of community.

1st Grade Math: Complements of 10, Story Problems & Graphing

Our 1st grade math students focused on finding complements of 10, solving story problems, and playing an interactive graphing game where they collected and interpreted their own data. Developing fluency with complements of 10 and solving story problems lays the groundwork for algebraic thinking and flexible mental computation. Interpreting self-collected graphing data connects abstract mathematical concepts to real-world contexts while building foundational statistics skills.

2nd Grade Math: Open Number Lines & 100 Charts

Our 2nd graders focused on utilizing open number lines and 100 charts as tools for both addition and subtraction. Using open number lines and 100 charts provides students with powerful visual models to understand distance between numbers, place value, and jump strategies. These flexible mental models deepen numerical fluency and prepare students for complex multi-digit computation.

Writing & Upcoming Narrative Unit

In writing, students continued crafting structured paragraphs and applying their editing checklists to refine their work. It has been wonderful to see their self-monitoring editing habits develop. Next week, we are excited to kick off our new personal narrative writing unit, where students will learn to tell engaging true stories from their own lives!

Open House & Flat Stanley Adventures

It was great to see all of you at this year's Open House! I hope your child was a wonderful tour guide, as I always love seeing the genuine excitement they have when showing you what they do every day. 

We also launched our Flat Stanley projects this week! The children wrote personal notes to their selected recipients, carefully addressed their envelopes, and mailed them on Wednesday. We are thrilled to track each Flat Stanley's travels on our classroom map. As each Flat Stanley returns, I will send home a new form so your child can select a new destination!

Civics & Our Class Charter

As part of our social studies civics unit, our students collaboratively created a Class Charter—a shared poster that describes how everyone wants to feel when they come to school each day. Grounded in our classroom expectations, the core words our students chose are feeling valued, safe, calm, accepted, and practicing acts of kindness. This living document helps hold all of us accountable to our actions and words, ensuring our classroom remains a warm and supportive community.

Read-Aloud Spotlight

• Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn: A gentle, beautifully illustrated journey of a young girl walking through the woods and town to greet the subtle signs of changing seasons.

• Fall Mixed Up: A silly, imaginative rhyming story where autumn traditions and nature get hilariously jumbled, encouraging children to spot the funny mistakes.

• The Biggest Apple Ever: Clayton and Desmond work together in a spirit of true cooperation to harvest apples and bake the largest apple pie ever for their school contest.

• The Circles All Around Us: A heartwarming story showing how simple acts of kindness, inclusion, and empathy expand our personal circles to connect us with the wider world.

Classroom Volunteers:

The classroom volunteer schedules will start next week. Below is the schedule: Each session will start promptly at the listed time. I appreciate that so many have the ability to do this. If you see an opening that you would like, please let me know.

Notes & Reminders

• Weekly News Journal: Your child has brought home their Weekly News Journal in their homework bag. Please take a look at their entry together, read their writing, and initial the inside cover. I hope this provides a meaningful way to connect about an event from your child's week at school! Please return it in their bag on Monday.

• Cooler Weather Gear: As the autumn weather cools down, please ensure your child brings a warm jacket or sweatshirt to school every day for outdoor recess and fresh-air breaks.

That is all for now. I hope everyone has a great weekend.

Peace,

Mr. Young