October 3, 2016

Good Afternoon,

  Holy October Batman!  I can't believe we are already switching the classroom calendar to October and talking about all of the events that occur during this month.  I hope each of you had a wonderful weekend.  I had a nice but rather quick visit in Mane.  The car ride home on Saturday evening sure seemed LONG!

  Today we focused on writing with detail.  I started by having the kids look at some sea shells that I had collected over the summer.  I asked them to use magnifying glasses and to describe what they saw.  Words like curvy, spirally, rough, and shiny were quickly exclaimed.  I then tied this into how writers take small moments and use a "magnifying glass" to go in to detail with their writing.  We created a poster (for them to use throughout the writing unit) of things that kids can think about when attempting to explode their moment with details.  The students then worked with partners and on their own to try this technique out.

  Matt Cox came in to read a book to the class today.  The name of the book was Matt's Mitt by Hillary Knight.  This tall tale tells the story of a fantastic ballplayer.  Matt has a mitt that can catch balls even if his hand isn’t inside of it.  It was a great read as we enter the 1st week of the baseball playoffs.  This was one of Matt's favorite childhood books.  We have read a loud time on Mondays through Wednesday from 12:15 to 12:30 and from 8:15-8:30 on Thursdays and Fridays.  If anyone would ever like to come in and read one of their favorite stories, please reach out and I will schedule it.  The kids really enjoyed today's experience.

  We had several kids complaining about how tired they were today.  I know Monday's can be tough but please check in with your child about how they are feeling.  Mondays and Tuesdays are our biggest academic days (the least amount of specials classes) and having the kids at their best and rested is optimal.

Notes:
*If you are reading the blog via email videos won't always appear.  I am inserting a video about the blog, below.  Please make sure to check it out at the blog site, if need be.



*We will be having artist in residency with Palo Coleman tomorrow.  We will work with him from 12:15-1:15.

*A representative from Sue Minter's campaign (her husband, David Goodman) will be visiting our class from 1:15-1:45 tomorrow.  Secretary Minter would love to join our class but her schedule doesn't allow it at this time.  Mr. Goodman will fill us in about Sue's reasons for wanting to be governor and what she will do for the kids of Vermont.  Phill Scott is arranging a time to come in during the month of October.

*Remember, no school on Friday.

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

Peace,
Tommy