May 22, 2026

Welcome to the late-May stretch! The countdown to summer is officially on, and you can absolutely feel it in the classroom. The children's energy right now is a bit of a pendulum—swinging between restless excitement and end-of-the-year fatigue.

With the warmer weather, we are experiencing a bit of the "airplane landing" effect. Focus is a little tougher to sustain, physical fidgeting is up, and our group conversations are definitely on the loud side! Because it’s so easy for the kids to get overstimulated right now, we are focusing on keeping our classroom routines tight and supportive.

Here is a look at what we've been working on this week despite all that amazing spring energy...

We had a productive week in writing as our students dove into the fascinating world of Big Cats! To practice our Speaking and Listening Standards—which ask students to recount and describe key details from different types of media—we kicked things off by watching an exciting short video about these incredible predators. From there, the students paired up into dynamic duos to transform their new knowledge into informative writing pieces. To guide their teamwork, we used a graphic organizer to map out the perfect essay structure: crafting a catchy hook, a clear topic sentence, 3–4 detailed facts, and a solid conclusion. I also led a mini-lesson on how to use transition words to smoothly connect their thoughts from sentence to sentence. The kids brought so much enthusiasm to their research, and they will be putting the finishing touches on their masterpieces this coming Monday!

This week, the first graders continued to focus on building a strong understanding of adding and subtracting 10s and 1s from a given number. We brought this concept to life through a variety of hands-on math games, including some crowd-favorites that involved using dimes and pennies! Developing this skill is a massive milestone for first graders. Mastering the ability to mentally add or subtract 10 and 1 is the foundational bedrock of number sense and place value. By linking these abstract numbers to real-world coins like dimes and pennies, students aren't just memorizing facts—they are building a concrete mental map of how our base-ten number system works. This crucial stepping stone gives them the confidence and mental math flexibility they will need as they move on to tackling much larger, multi-digit numbers in the 2nd grade.

This week, second graders focused on applying their knowledge of complements of 10 and 20 to solve problems reaching up to 100 and 1,000. For instance, students used their understanding of basic pairs like $8 + 2 = 10$ to recognize larger numerical patterns, such as $80 + 20 = 100$ and $800 + 200 = 1,000$. This shift is a critical step in second-grade mathematics. It requires students to move beyond basic memorization and instead use algebraic thinking to see how numbers scale. Developing this mental flexibility with larger place values is essential, as it establishes the foundation they will need for complex multi-digit computation and regrouping.

 

Luke Foley joined our science classes twice this week for an in-depth study of river dynamics, erosion, and flooding. On Wednesday, Luke led an introductory discussion before moving students to the gazebo, where they used sand tables to model a river system. This hands-on activity required students to strategically place miniature houses, businesses, bridges, and dams to see how water flow impacts a community. On Thursday, students spent time documenting and analyzing their findings in their science journals, and we wrapped up the week on Friday with a collaborative reflection where students shared their notebook entries. The lesson elevates their understanding of earth science and community systems. Students are expected to understand how natural processes shape the earth's landscape over time. By managing the "mini-community" on the sand tables, they engaged in critical problem-solving regarding human-environmental interaction.

Yesterday, the students were able to each do their own video chat with their pen-pal in Georgia, VT. We will be going to visit them on June 8th. If you are a volunteer who has done the background check with the district, and would like to come along, please let me know. I will take 1 or 2 more adults. You would need to ride the bus, and we would leave around 8:30 and arrive back around 2:00-2:10.

NOTES:

*The students all have their Weekly News Journals in their homework bags. Please read them and send them back on Monday. 

*June 5th will be the last day for all parent volunteers this year.  Thank you so much for all of your help and generosity this year. I am truly lucky to have so many volunteers.

*This past Wednesday was the final day of our school's Inspiration Hour. I know the kids really enjoyed all of the choices this year. I want to give a special shout out and thanks to all of those that led a group.

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

Peace,

Mr. Young

May 15, 2026

 Okay, it was 3:00 and it has finally stopped raining. I was sitting at my desk, looking out the window and trying to compose this blog. I decided to hold an emergency class meeting, and by a vote of 1-0, the motion of throwing some pictures on the blog and heading out for a walk passed! I love efficient meetings. 

Have a good weekend. 

Tommy

May 8, 2026

My mom is like a superhero, strong and bold,
She has a heart that is made of gold.

She packs my lunch and ties my shoe,
I love my mom, and she loves me too!

I want to start this week's blog post with a shout-out to all of the moms and all they do for their kids. We spent some time this week reading two books about mothers and their love for their children. The kids also have a special entry in their Weekly News about you all. Make sure to be on the lookout for a special gift too.  On anther note, one child shared a special story about their mom today. It dictated that I defend the mom "just a little" as I explained how sometimes things happen to women's bodies after they have kids. It was a first for me in my teaching career! Your child can fill you in.  

Our young authors officially crossed the finish line of our persuasive writing unit this week by completing their custom Pokémon cards! This wasn't just a fun art project—the written descriptions served as their final assessment, requiring them to use convincing arguments to prove why their character’s unique powers and traits are the best. The students are incredibly proud of their hard work, and rightfully so!

This week, our first graders took a big step toward algebraic thinking by using symbols to represent specific values (1s, 2s, 5s, and 10s). By assigning a unique shape or icon to these counts, students learned to "decode" a string of symbols into a mathematical equation. For example, rather than just counting by ones, a student might see three stars (worth 5 each) and two circles (worth 1 each) to build the equation:

5 + 5 + 5 + 1 + 1 = 17. 

• This activity is a cornerstone of early numeracy for several reasons:It teaches children to see a "group" (like a 5 or a 10) as a single unit, which is the foundation for our base-ten system.
• Students move beyond "counting all" by ones and begin skip-counting to find totals more quickly.
• Translating a visual symbol into a numerical value prepares them for future variables in higher-level math.

Watching them realize that one "10-symbol" is much faster to work with than ten "1-symbols" is always a wonderful "aha!" moment in the classroom! Have you noticed your student starting to group objects at home, or are they still mostly counting things one by one?

The second graders have been working hard on building fluency with complements of 100 and 20. This means they are learning to instantly recognize which pairs of numbers "snap together" to make a whole—like knowing that if you have 64, you need exactly 36 more to reach 100. Using tools like number lines and hundreds charts, students are moving beyond basic addition to see the relationships between numbers more clearly. Developing this "number sense" is a vital bridge to more complex math.

This week we launched our new science unit on water, erosion, and changing lands. We were thrilled to welcome Luke Foley from Friends of the Mad River, who helped kick off our investigation with a fascinating deep dive into our local environment. We started by pondering a deceptively simple question: Where do the rocks in our riverbed actually come from? This sparked a week of vocabulary building as students learned to distinguish between weathering (the breaking down of rock), erosion (the movement of material), and deposition (the dropping of sediment in a new location).

Today, we took our learning into the field! On Friday, the students headed down to the banks of the Mad River to act as "geology detectives." They scoured the shoreline for real-world evidence of deposits, observing how the flow of water shapes the land we live on. Seeing these concepts in action—rather than just in a textbook—brought the science to life and helped the students appreciate the dynamic, ever-changing nature of our local watershed.

NOTES:

*Your child does have their Weekly News Journal in their homework bag.  Please send it back on Monday.

*I wanted to give a sincere thank you to all of you that contributed to our teacher appreciation events this week. IT was above and beyond!

*A big shout out to the PTA is due! This past week they gave our classroom the funds to add some specific books to our classroom library. The kids will love the new additions.

*We will continue to go out as much as we can for science on Wednesdays and Fridays.  Mud boots are a great choice right now.  Please dress your kid for the weather and some river observations.

*We will have our 2nd inspiration Hour session this week. The kids seemed to really enjoy themselves this past week. The rain forced my golf session (led by Mr. Hubbard) to be indoors. I introduced the kids to my indoor bocce set.  We have some ringers within our group.  It was so much fun!

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

Peace,

Tommy

May 1, 2026

It's hard to believe we hit our last full month of the school year. May always proves to be a blur as we look to finish strong with our teaching and learning, assess year long progress, and fit everything in both in and out of school. My wife and I always feared May (as parents) because of how much gets jammed into one month. I wish you all the best with it!

It was nice to get back into the swing of things and we had quite an eventful week. It started with our science. Before we dive into our erosion unit (our final science unit), I used the week to design a STEM challenge that focused on boat building. The students spent Wednesday testing objects and their buoyancy. They then worked in teams of two to build their own boat that could float and hold some passengers (rocks). Needless to say there was quite a bit of energy and excitement with this project. I also tied in our read a loud titles to this theme. The week's books were all about male and female inventors and scientists.  Make sure to check in with your child about how their boat did. 

In writing we read the book I Want a Dog by Don Agee. This is a humorous picture book about a determined young girl named Daisy who visits the Happydale Animal Shelter to find a dog but is offered a series of absurd, non-dog animals by a tall shelter worker instead. The story highlights her persistence, with witty dialogue and illustrations, before she finally finds the perfect pet. The students then wrote an opinion piece about what pet they would want. This is the final practice piece of this writing unit.  Next week they will complete their final assessment in the opinion writing unit. You may have already heard your child talking about this task. They will each be creating their own Pokemon card and writing about why it is the ultimate Pokemon card. They started their illustrations this week.

In math the 1st graders focused on skip counting by 5s and 10s as well as adding groups of ten to off decade numbers. is crucial for first graders because it builds essential number sense, strengthens place value understanding, and acts as a foundation for mental math. It helps students see patterns, understand regrouping, and move beyond counting on fingers to efficient calculation. The 2nd graders focused on Learning two-step word problems and arrays. Focusing on this in 2nd grade builds critical thinking, logical reasoning, and conceptual understanding of math, moving students beyond rote memorization. These skills are essential for mastering complex problem-solving, improving fluency with larger numbers, and introducing foundational multiplication concepts.

NOTES:

*Our next science unit will have us working with Luke Foley again. As I mentioned our focus will be erosion. We will be outside every Wednesday morning and Friday afternoon.  Please make sure your child dresses for the weather. We will be near the river for parts of this. 

*There are no Weekly News Journals this week.  We used our morning to finish our STEM challenge.  The homework bags will come back home on Monday.

*Our school's Inspiration Hour starts this coming Wednesday. This is a great opportunity as it fosters intrinsic motivation, creativity, and autonomy by allowing the students to research topics they are passionate about. It transforms students from passive consumers of information into active creators, building 21st-century skills like critical thinking, collaboration, and perseverance. Your child knows what activity they are signed up for.

I hope you all have a great weekend. I hope to catch some games at opening day tomorrow.

Peace,

Mr. Young

April 17, 2026

Good Afternoon,

I am going to write a very short post today and then add 7 pictures.  Your child can tell you about the pictures. I do hope you all have a chance to enjoy something next week. I will be traveling to Spain to see my daughter. I am very excited to see her and some sunshine. 

NOTES:

*Sloane will be rejoining our class after the April break. It will be nice to welcome her back into the group and I know the kids are excited to see her.

*There is no Weekly News or Homework bag in your child's bag today. It will start back upon our return.

Peace,

Mr. Young

I hope all of you are well and enjoying the end of winter and the early signs of spring. I was very pleased with the amount of work the students got done last week and was so appreciative of Zack and Eileen as they kept the academic and classroom rigor at a consistent level. The kids seemed to really enjoy their time with Zack. I had an amazing time in Serbia and have memories that will last a lifetime. 

In 2nd grade math lessons, students utilized 20-frames to master the addition of three addends by focusing on the complement of 20. When a student rolled three 6-sided dice—for example, rolling a 6, a 6, and a 5—they systematically placed counters into the grid to see how close the total came to filling both 10-frames entirely. The exercise pushed students to look beyond small pairings and instead visualize the "missing pieces" needed to reach the benchmark of 20.

In 1st grade math, students explored the world of story problems by navigating three distinct types of addition and subtraction situations: result unknown, change unknown, and start unknown. To make these abstract concepts concrete, they utilized number racks (also known as Rekenreks), which allowed them to slide beads across two rows of ten to represent the action in each story.

During our literature project time, the class engaged in a thoughtful reading of the picture book Hey, Little Ant by Phillip and Hannah Hoose. The story presented a rhythmic dialogue between a young boy poised to step on an ant and the ant itself, who pleaded for its life by describing its own family and responsibilities. As the narrative concluded on a cliffhanger, it forced the students to grapple with a difficult ethical dilemma: should the boy squish the ant or let it go? The students then used this question to guide their opinion writing focus for the week. It was great to hear their rationales for their opinions. 

We have wrapped up our study of the three states of matter through the sugaring process. To demonstrate their mastery, the students began synthesizing their observations into comprehensive informative posters. These posters served as the final unit assessment, requiring students to:

• Sequence the Steps: Outline the chronological process of making both maple syrup and maple candy.

• Identify Matter: Label the solids, liquids, and gases present at each stage of production.

• Explain Transitions: Describe the role of temperature in changing the state of the maple product.

Once these projects are completed, they will be proudly displayed on the walls outside the classroom. Many of the kids told me that "this was a fun project."

The class enjoyed a special visit this week from Trooper Alyssa Nozka, who shared insights into her vital role as a helper in our community. Rather than just observing, Trooper Nozka jumped right into the classroom's daily rhythm, reading a story to the group and even assisting the students with their science experiments. To the delight of the class, she brought along several "treasures" for every student to keep as a memento of her visit.

Throughout her time in the classroom, the students stayed busy asking a steady stream of questions, which she answered with warmth and enthusiasm. Trooper Nozka shared that she truly loves connecting with children, especially when she can engage with them directly in their own "work environment." This was just the beginning of their partnership, as she plans to visit the class a few more times throughout the school year.

NOTES:

*As you can see we have had a variety of weather over the past week. Please make sure your child has boots/outside shoes, and sneakers for in the classroom. Until the mud is gone, we try to not have muddy shoes all over our carpet. As for clothing, if it is above 40 degrees, I am good with them wearing a fleece, sweatshirt or a long sleeve shirt. Below 40 degrees, I do expect them to have a jacket. 

*Your child does have their Weekly News journal in their backpack today. Most of the kids wrote their entry in 15 minutes. It was quite impressive. Please take a look and send them back on Monday.

*Homework Bags: Please help your child find their homework bag (if needed) and/or remind them to take care of it each evening. It helps me out tremendously if they have them each day. There will always be a book in them Monday-Thursday and just their Weekly News on Fridays.

That is all for now.  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. One more week until spring break.

Peace,

Tommy