Friday, September 18, 2020

 Happy Friday Everyone,

  Today marks the end of our current 1:4 model and we will now move to a 2:3 model.  I have to say, I am glad that I will get two straight days with each group and only 1 day of online meetings (Wednesdays).  The Tuesday group will now be Mondays and Tuesdays in school and the Thursday group will now be Thursdays and Fridays.  Wednesdays will consist of a live Morning Meeting, A live literacy block, and two asynchronous activities from me.  There will be Integrated Arts check-ins offered on Wednesday afternoons too.

  It will be important that you help your child or their child care provider stay on top of the asynchronous activities, for the days he/she is not in school.  On another please make sure your child is on time for each meeting.  When you have 15 or so 6&7 year olds on a Zoom call, it is best to get them going and get them off the call as soon as possible.  Having to catch a "late arriving student" is not only difficult but really kills the momentum of the lesson and my ability to keep all focused. Please be respectful of everyone as you do your part.  

  Today the students head the story Henry Holton Takes the Ice by Sandra Bradley.  "Henry Holton’s whole family is hockey mad. Everyone, that is, except Henry. When he holds a hockey stick, Henry becomes a menace to the game—and an embarrassment to his sports-minded family. It’s not until he sees his first ice dancing performance that Henry realizes there’s something he can do on the ice that doesn’t involve boarding and body checking. Henry is ready to hang up his gear and try on some figure skates, but first he has to convince his hockey-obsessed family to let him follow his own path."

This week the students were treated to a very tine donut after a recent survey showed that my whole class loves donuts.  I use surveys as part of Morning Meeting to teach the Data and Analysis of the curriculum.  It's also a great way to learn new information about the students in our class.  

Students Showing Off Their Donuts

 Learn About Our Class

 This week the students finished their All About Me  posters.  I used these to create a short video introduction about each student.  Please go to my Google Classroom page and access the videos through there.  Once you are in Google Classroom, go the the classwork tab and then find the section that is titled This Year's Students.  

 Weekly News Journals

Today we started our Weekly News Journals.  This year I will use these to teach the concept of writing good paragraphs.  Each week the students will get to write to their parents or me and write about something from their week.  This is something that will be a slow process especially for 1st graders) and will take a lot of time and teaching to get it to wear I want each piece to be.  I promise you they will get there just be patient and trust the process.  We will use in person time, this week to finish up the 1st entry.  If you missed today's lesson, click here, and you can watch it with your child and get them caught up.  Please make sure the journals come to school with them this week.

That is all for now. I hope you all have a great weekend and enjoy the beauty of fall in Vermont.  I will see or talk with all of you next week.

Peace,

Tommy

Our class out on a walk.  Our umbrellas keep us safely apart.