March 15, 2026

Good Afternoon. I am sorry this is only coming out on Sunday, as I had a few things going on this week (outside of school) and spent the weekend in Boston. Each year my brother and I (and now more family and friends) head to Boston for the Dropkick Murphys' concert on St. Patty's weekend. It is such a fun time and experience.

I wanted to start with next week's volunteer schedule and field trip opportunity that is happening this week.

We will not have math class or Daily 5 on Tuesday of this week. So Tuesday's volunteers (Ryan and Helen) will not have to come in for those slots. On Friday, we don't have school that day. So those volunteers are off this week too.

The class will be going to a sugar house (in Moretown) on Tuesday. This is part of our science unit on the states of matter and connecting the sugaring process to it. If you would like to attend the trip (and are a volunteer that has had their background check done/weekly volunteer) you are welcome to tag along. Just let me know by Monday evening. We will have plenty of room on the bus and will leave school at 8:40.  Please arrive by 8:30 and you are welcome to just come in when your child arrives for school. Kids will need to dress for the weather and they need boots. They will not need a bagged lunch as we will be back in time for that.

As I mentioned last week, I will be out of school the afternoon of March 23rd through April 3rd. The weekly parent volunteers should plan on coming in during this time. The class will be following its regular schedule.

PARENT CONFERENCES:  The parent conferences will occur on Thursday, March 19 & Friday, March 20. As always, please make sure that you are on time as the schedule is quite full and I won't be able to extend conference times. Below is the schedule for next week. If you don't see your name, please sign up. 

Thursday: 2:40 Stella, 3:00 (open), 3:20 Luna, 3:40 River, 4:20 Hewitt, 4:40 Emma, 5:00 Ellie, 5:20 Olen, 6:00 Vinny, 6:20 Keegan, 6:40 Elsie

Friday: 7:40 Paxton, 8:00 Elowyn, 8:20 Olive, 8:40 Beau

These conferences are in person.  Your child is encouraged to attend part of the conference.

This past week the students were engaged with a variety of read alouds that I would categorize as "fun books." I chose these books (some new to me) because they seemed highly engaging and offered a nice variety. The books were as follows:

Mel Fell, Tops and Bottoms, I Don't Want to be a Frog, I Want My Hat Back, and Alexander and the Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. Click on the links if you want to listen to these stories with your child. See if you like the same ones that your child did!

Our writing instruction had us reading two different books. First we read The Three Little Pigs by James Marshall and then we read The True Story of the Three Little Pigs (told by A. Wolf) by Jon Scieszka. After reading each story, we brainstormed the pigs' arguments and the wolf's arguments. The students then had to choose a side, the wolf or the pigs and write an opinion piece about if the wolf was mean or not. The students included a hook, their opinion, support for their opinion and a closing. They each did some self editing too. These pieces are hung up in our classroom library. Make sure to check them out when you come in this week.

This week's science focus had us looking at solids and can an item be a solid if it is squishy. The students experimented with this concept as they explored some items from our classroom. They then had to record their observations and share out what they found. 

The class also wrote their next pen-pal letter. This started with an outline, then the students wrote their draft and edited with an adult. To change it up, the class worked with Eric Mongeon and recorded themselves reading their letter to their pen-pal. These can be heard by clicking this link. Then next time we connect with them, we will actually have each student do a video call with their pen pal and then write a summary of what they talked about. This allows me to tie in some of our communication goals in our curriculum.

NOTES:

• I want to give a special thank you to the PTA for their support with my field trip requests. They will be funding the sugar house field trip this week and for our trip in June to visit our pen-pals.
• It looks like we will be skiing this week, please make sure your child has all of their needed items.
• Remember that there is no school on Friday.

I hope you all have a great week,

Peace,

Mr. Young

March 5, 2026

I hope those of you that had some time off were able to enjoy it and were able to spend time doing things that made you smile or allowed you to feel rested. The students have been excited to share details of their break.  Instead of having the students write to you in their Weekly News (this week), I am having them write to me about their winter break. So, you will not see them in your child's bag over the weekend.

This week 1st grade math had the students looking at 3 dimensional shapes, their names, and characteristics. We specifically focused on cubes, cones, spheres, rectangular prisms, cylinders, pyramids, and triangular prisms and the characteristics of these shapes. We will wrap up our geometry unit at the end of next week.  The 2nd graders continued to focus on money, making traders and making change. They are really engaged with the hands on learning that comes with this focus.

We started a new science unit focusing on the 3 States of Matter. I will spend 10 lessons teaching the science concepts and then 5 lessons connecting it to the sugaring process. We may try and go to a sugar house as a field trip. If this comes to fruition, I may be looking for some drivers.  More to come on that.

I wanted to  let all of you know that I will miss the last week of March and the 1st few days of April. A few weeks back, I was contacted by Project Harmony and asked if I would go to Serbia to focus on some educational and basketball discussions/learning. After meeting with Kaiya and Dr. Mike, I was given the green light to take advantage of this opportunity. Zach Smithwood will be the substitute for the whole time. He knows the class well and will be able to execute very detailed lesson plans. I just wanted to give everyone the heads up.

Health Class Started This Semester

  NOTES

 *You children may tell you differently, but they will need a coat/fleece for any outdoor time until the temperature goes above 40 degrees.  Boots are a must until all of the snow and mud is gone. If kids don;t have them, they will go outside but will have to stay in areas that prevent mud from covering their sneakers. 

*Please send in a pair of sneakers for you children to wear each day. They can leave them here.  I sent them all home over break.

*Thank you all who were able to take time to vote on the school budget this year.  However you voted, I am appreciative to all of those who took the time to vote!

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

Peace,

Tommy

February 20, 2026

 Good Morning,

This week was all about the circus. From our morning greetings, our read-a-louds, to our daily schedule, everything revolved around the culmination of our circus unit. Please take a look at the video and the slideshow from our work.  The slide show is from the "open house" last night.

I hope you all have a great break. Please remember to vote on the school budget and that we have winter sports program the 1st day back.  

Peace,

Tommy

February 13, 2026

"Children have an amazing way of becoming exactly who we tell them they are, as our words often become their inner voice and shape their identity. By consistently speaking strength, kindness, and capability into them, we help them believe they can face challenges." This quote reminded me of the approach needed for the last two weeks of February. I find these two weeks to always be the most challenging time for students and their ability to focus and be their "best."  Needless to say, we have spent some time discussing how to make good choices, how to fight distractions, and how to help each other. I love reminding them of all they can do.

It’s been a busy and productive week of growth in our math classrooms! Here is a look at what our 1st and 2nd graders have been tackling:

1st Grade: Our 1st graders spent the week diving deep into the world of 2-D shapes, mastering their names and specific attributes. Through hands-on exploration, students learned how to compose larger shapes using smaller ones and put their spatial reasoning to the test with a shape puzzle game.

2nd Grade: In 2nd grade, the focus shifted to the practical world of currency. Students practiced making coin trades and calculating the difference between various monetary amounts. Understanding the value of money—and realizing there are multiple ways to create the same total using different coins and bills—is a vital life skill. These lessons are helping our students comprehend the cost of items and the mechanics of making change, ensuring they are well-prepared for real-world transactions.

The circus excitement continues to roll on as we deepened our focus on the whimsical world of clowns! Drawing inspiration from last week's presentation, the students put the finishing touches on their clown portraits, and the results are truly fantastic. Beyond the art, the class has been busy documenting their discoveries in their circus journals. By applying the same observation and recording techniques used in their science units, the students are keeping their technical writing skills "in tune" while exploring a creative theme. It is wonderful to see them having so much fun with this unit, and we are all eagerly counting down to our culminating work with the talented Troy Wunderle!

Last week's read a louds focused on the series of books titled "What If You Had Animal . . .." The "What If You Had..." book series, written by Sandra Markle and illustrated by Howard McWilliam, is a brilliant blend of whimsical imagination and rigorous biological science. Each book poses a playful "what if" scenario—such as having a shark’s teeth, a polar bear’s fur, or an elephant’s nose—and explores how those specialized animal traits would function on a human body. They are incredibly instructional because they break down the concept of biological adaptations into digestible, fascinating facts, showing exactly how an animal uses its unique features to survive in the wild.

The students took big strides in their persuasive writing unit this week as they tackled a topic close to their hearts: "Do kids need more recess time?" The classroom was full of passionate arguments as students focused on crafting solid endings that leave a lasting impression on their readers. Our 2nd graders leveled up their writing by practicing "twin sentences," a technique used to elaborate on their thinking and provide deeper detail for their arguments. To wrap up their pieces, everyone practiced the vital habit of self-editing, with a specific eagle-eye focus on consistent capital letters and correct ending punctuation.

NOTES:

*There are no Weekly News entries for this week so the journals are not in their bags. We will pick up with these again after the break.

*On Thursday, February 19th the school will be performing in a circus. This is a culminating event from our work with Troy. The event will start at 6:00. We will have a 1st and 2nd grade open house from 5:15-5:45 that evening. This will be a chance to stop by the classroom and see some of the work that your child was involved in during the circus unit.  I hope you will all have a chance to stop in and take a look. This will end promptly at 5:45, so that we can all get to the gym and set up for our performance. Please plan accordingly.

That is all for now.  I hope you all have a great weekend.  Happy Valentine's Day!

Peace,

Mr. Young

February 6, 2026

They say time flies when you’re having fun, and this first week of February was a whirlwind. I’m so proud of how the students balanced the whimsy of our circus activities with the grit required to wrap up their math units and sharpen their persuasive arguments. The smiles I see at the door each morning are the result of some truly impressive hard work and a lot of fun.

Our circus unit took a hilarious and heartwarming turn this week as we explored the art of the clown! We were so lucky to host Olive parents Collen and Bobby Kintz, who treated the class to an incredible, hour-long presentation. From discovering the "smallest mask in the world" to learning the different personalities and types of clowns, the students were absolutely spellbound. They spent over an hour teaching us the history, the makeup, and the heart behind the character. The kids were leaning in the entire time! We are so grateful to the Kintz family for sharing their time and expertise with us.

If you want to see the magic for yourself (or if your child hasn’t stopped talking about it), you can watch the full presentation here.

This past week both first and second grade math students finished up their Unit 4 work and took the end of the unit assessments. The first graders are now moving on to a geometry unit that the students explore geometry by identifying, describing, and comparing 2-D and 3-D shapes. The unit focuses on composing shapes to create new figures, understanding part-whole relationships, and splitting shapes into equal parts (halves, thirds, fourths). The 2nd graders are now moving on to focus on place value concepts. The students will focus on building deep place value understanding up to 1,000, using manipulatives like base ten pieces to organize numbers into hundreds, tens, and ones. Key skills include adding/subtracting multiples of 10 and 100, money calculations (nickels, dimes, quarters), and identifying patterns in sequences.

Developing Young Persuaders: Writing a good argument is one thing, but making a reader care is another! This week, our writers focused on the craft of engagement. Students revisited their previous persuasive pieces to add compelling hooks. We discussed the goal of sparking curiosity and "pulling" the reader into their work. This is a sophisticated writing skill, and the progress has been impressive. Looking ahead, we will be polishing these pieces further by drafting powerful concluding statements.

Move over, Halloween! The excitement for Valentine's Day is officially here. We will spend time passing out Valentines on Friday, February 13th (just before our Language Arts rotations). Participation is optional, but if your child would like to bring cards, please ensure they have one for everyone on the list below:

Our Classmates: Paxton, Luna, River, Beau, Vincent, Olive, Ellie, Stella, Keegan, Elowyn, Hewitt, Olen, Elsie, Emma, and Jayden.

 *Note: We do have one student that has a gluten allergy (if the Valentine's have a treat attached to them).

NOTES:

*We will have the Winter Sports Program again on Wednesday. This will be the last Wednesday in February. The program will start back up in March. 

*Your child has a new Weekly News Entry in their homework bag. Please take a moment to read over it with them. 

*SNEAKERS, SHOES, FOOTWEAR.  Please make sure your child has something besides boots to wear.

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

Peace,

Tommy 

January 30, 2026

 I hope you have all had a great week. There is a thought (in education) that momentum is an important factor when teaching kids. January's weather and holidays have certainly put that thought to the test. I am looking forward to moving on to February and hopefully what will lead to three solid weeks of learning before our winter break.

Step right up! Our classroom has officially transformed into a center of wonder as we begin our immersive unit on the circus. This curriculum, which I developed over the summer, serves as the foundation for our upcoming Artist in Residence program with Troy Wunderle. We kicked off the unit by exploring the historical and cultural significance of the circus "coming to town," using a blend of engaging read-alouds and informational media to build a shared knowledge base. To document their journey, students are maintaining "Circus Journals" to capture new facts and personal reflections. This week, we tapped into our artistic side by analyzing vintage circus posters and designing our own advertisements for our February performance. The energy in the room is electric—further amplified by having Mr. Hubbard’s class join us for these collaborative lessons—and we can’t wait to share the students' hard work with you during our open house on performance night! If you would like to learn more about Troy, check out his website here.

This week, our math classes focused on building a strong visual and conceptual understanding of number relationships. The first graders dove into the world of relative magnitude, using 0–100 number lines to visualize how numbers relate to one another; they practiced identifying that numbers to the right represent "more," while those to the left represent "fewer," helping them grasp the physical distance between values like 20 and 80. Simultaneously, they sharpened their skip-counting skills by 5s and 10s to navigate these larger scales with ease. Meanwhile, the second graders expanded their fractional thinking by exploring the concepts of halves and wholes. They moved beyond simple identification to analyze relative size, determining whether specific numbers were "more than" or "less than" half of a given total, which strengthens their foundational number sense for more complex operations ahead.

This week's read a loud's focused on the author Audrey Wood. We did get to the stories Piggies and the Napping House. Unfortunately we lost two of our read a loud times to weather and one to the time constraints with the winter program. If you would like to listen to the other books (that we didn't get to) please check out the list below and the links.  These books are also available in our classroom library. 

Quick As A Cricket

Silly Sally

Little Penguin's Tale

This week's writing focus led us to our 2nd lesson in our persuasive writing unit.  All of the January events (mentioned at the start) had caused us to miss a chunk of writing time. It was great to get back into it.  The kids picked up with their favorite toy discussion and chipped away at trying to convince me why. We will use these as anchor pieces as we elaborate and expand our learning and work.  

NOTES:

*Your child does have their Weekly News Journal in their homework bag. Please take a look at it and talk with your child about their entry. 

*We will have the winter sports program this Wednesday. Please make sure your child has all of their gear. This group has been exceptional at getting ready and helping each other. It might be my most efficient group ever!

*The kindergarten class is collecting paper towel and toilet paper tubes. Please send them in if you gather any over the next two weeks.  

That is all for now.  I hope you all have a great weekend. Please stay warm and enjoy the snow.  

Peace, 

Mr. Young

January 16, 2025

It has been a busy week full of learning and community moments. The students have had a full week and many have persevered through illnesses and feeling a bit tired. I think the long weekend is coming at the perfect time. 

Winter Sports & Important Dates

The students had a wonderful second week of the Winter Sports Program. This group is becoming incredibly efficient at getting ready, and it is heartwarming to see so many students helping others with their boots—such kindness!

Please keep in mind that there is no school this coming Monday and Tuesday. Our first day back will be a ski day, so please ensure your child arrives with appropriate warm clothing and all required gear. Additionally, if you haven’t yet sent a photo of your child with their collection or three favorite things, please email that to me at your earliest convenience.

Curriculum Highlights

• Reading: We enjoyed a week of "Bears! Bears! Bears!" Our read-alouds included favorites like Bear Snores On, Bear Says Thanks, and The Berenstain Bears' New Pup. It was a treat to have so many student bear stuffies joining us for stories each day.

• Writing: The class dove into persuasive writing. Using a collection of stuffed animals, students voted for the "best" one, formed teams, and wrote pieces explaining their choice to convince others.

• Science: We welcomed Luke for his final visit of the unit. Students experimented with animal pelts, water, and various seeds to see how they travel through the environment. While students are currently finishing their final unit assessments and posters, we are happy to share that Luke will return in the spring to work with us on erosion.

• Math: Our 1st graders practiced doubles and near-doubles facts, explored number lines, and created their own story problems. Meanwhile, our 2nd graders completed their end-of-unit assessment and practiced skip-counting by threes.

Community Moments

On Monday, we hosted a visitor from the Barre Vocational Center who is exploring a career in teaching. She spent the day observing our community and even joined us for read-aloud time.

We also want to celebrate our Student of the Week! He is a 7-year-old 2nd grader who loves the color orange, watermelon, and the Fly Guy series. He enjoys traveling to Florida to play in the sand and dreams of being a Formula 1 racer one day. We are so proud of him!

NOTE:

As part of our upcoming classroom activities, I am still looking for a few more photos of the students with their special collections or three favorite things.

If you haven’t had a chance to send one in yet, please email a digital photo to me at your earliest convenience. The kids really enjoy sharing these personal items with their peers, and we want to make sure everyone is included!

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I hope you all have a restful long weekend. Thank you for your ongoing partnership.

Peace,

Mr. Young

PS:  With a short week upcoming, there will be no blog post next week.