Good Evening,

  We had a great first day of school.  It certainly was one of the hotter 1st days that I can remember.  The students were great and we made sure to give plenty of water breaks and we took a mask break outside near the garden.  It was a bit cooler and shaded.  Thank you for making sure your child had a water bottle.  

  This morning, we were treated to the talented voice of Wanda Sullivan.  Wanda is a former Waitsfield graduate and current Harwood student. She traveled around the outside of the building stopping by each classroom to keep the 1st day tradition of live music by a former Waitsfield student.

  This afternoon we read the book, The School's First Day of School by, Adam Rex.  "It's the first day of school at Frederick Douglass Elementary and everyone's just a little bit nervous, especially the school itself. The school has a rough start, but as the day goes on, he soon recovers when he sees that he's not the only one going through first-day jitters."  If you wish to listen to the story with your child please watch he video below.

  To wrap up the day, I introduced the students to Twitter and we talked about what it is used for.  We talked about handle names and each child came up with their own.  The only requirement is it had to have their first name included.  Some got creative and some stuck with just their 1st name.  Don't worry though the kids will not be creating actual accounts but rather writing or drawing posts to put on the bulletin board outside our classroom.  Check out some of the pictures below.

Notes:

Some of the kids brought home their Ziploc bags today.  There was a green folder inside it.  These forms are from Susan Laskaris (our new admin assitant) and can be returned in the bag and I will get them to her.  Please send the bag back tomorrow.  If your child didn't have a bag, it is because another sibling received it for your family.  

Please send in a reusable grocery bag if you have not done so.  

That is all for now, I hope you have a great evening.  I will post more tomorrow.

Peace,

Tommy

August 24, 2021

 Good Evening,

  For those who were able to attend, thank you for attending the conferences last week.  For those who couldn't, no worries.  I hope you found the video I sent informative enough to describe what we did at conferences.  Please don't forget to send a family picture and a picture of your pet(s) or favorite toy.  Also, don;t forget your reusable grocery bag.  I will collect all of this on the 1st day.

Each year kids add their own
leaves to this tree.

The first day of school is always an exciting time and I am sure there are some nerves and lots of questions in your child's mind.  The 1st two days will be used to learn names, getting to know each other and to develop an atmosphere that feels "fun" for your child.  We are   creating a "Twitter" bulletin board where kids will create their own   handle and create written tweets about their first few days.  I will   make sure to send pictures.

 The best thing you can do for your child, especially for those who   are nervous, is to make sure the following is clear for them:

 *Do they need school snack and/or lunch?

 *Do they have a water bottle, labeled?

 *Do they know their after school plans?

 Your child knowing the answers to these three questions will go a   long way in easing their minds on the 1st day.  

That is all for now. If you haven't subscribed/followed the blog yet, please watch the following video to learn how.

I am looking forward to a great year.

Peace,

Tommy

June 8, 2021

 Good Afternoon,

FINAL WEDNESDAY ASSIGNMENTS:
Below are your final assignments for tomorrow. You only have two things to do but each one requires your best effort and detail.
1. Complete the writing prompt. It must be your best handwriting. As the note says, complete the task and earn a surprise.

2. Use the white card stock I gave you and create a Happy Retirement message for Kathi.

Then take the day for yourselves!

FRIDAY CELEBRATION:

Thank you all for signing up for the breakfast items.  It will be a nice way to celebrate our year and our class.  It will also be great to not fill them up with cake, cookies, and ice cream and then send them home to you.  Again here is what you all offered to bring:

Item	Family Name
Plates	Joseph
Cups	Zeno
Forks, Spoons & Knives	Ben
Fruit 1	Sierra (Bananas and Berries)
Fruit 2	Arlo (Clementines)
Muffins	Koji (blueberry muffins)
OJ (1/2 Gallon)	Brayden
OJ (1/2 Gallon)	georgia
OJ (1/2 Gallon)	Callum
Syrup	Otto
Pan Cake Mix	Mr. Young
Feel Free to Add anything else to the list
Whipped cream	Otto
Napkins	Joseph
Apple Juice (1/2 Gallon)	Zeno

Again, this will be on Friday.

Have a great evening.

Peace,

Mr. Young

June 1, 2021

 Good Evening,

  Tomorrow's work is as follows:

1.  Attendance Question

2.  Morning Meeting & Read A Loud

3.  Zearn

4.  Lexia

5.  The last online specials class schedule is as follows: 

• Please note that students generally need to be logged in to their HUUSD accounts in order to join meetings. Meeting links are in Google classroom .LIBRARY  11:30 - 11:45     Library Meeting linkART 11:45 - Noon        Art Zoom Link: password is zoomart  

We will be collecting everyone's Chromebooks on Friday.  Please send in any charging cords and the Chromebook.  This will save Eric a ton of time and emails.  Since we all like Eric, let's help Eric .  The last Wednesday of the school year will only include an assignment that I send home a week from today.  

End of the Year Celebration:

There have been several inquiries about an end of the year celebration.  Getting through COVID, being in person 4 days a week, when many didn't think we would make it through Thanksgiving, and the fact that the kids did so much this year on all fronts, I would think a celebration is called for.  I think a breakfast would be great and can be pretty healthy.  This way your kids aren't going home filled with 4 different types of cupcakes and ice cream.  So, I will make Pancakes, in class, on the last day.  We will have a celebratory breakfast and engage in some final day activities. I am also including a link if you wish to donate anything to the party.  Please feel free to sign up for whatever you wish to.  Thank you in advance for your generosity. 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1IDxjl1bjdHcapx1NY8th4fxiT0Y01CLw3w-41BoFU3k/edit?usp=sharing

NOTE:  We have 17 students, no allergies, and food must be individually wrapped.  If you are providing fruit, whole fruits would be best (i.e clementines, apples, bananas.  This is strictly to follow COVID protocols.  

Best,

Tommy

May 3, 2021

Good Morning,

I hope you all had a great weekend.  As you saw, your child brought home their veggie starts on Friday.  Each container should have two lettuce plants, 1 cucumber plant, 1 tomato plant, carrots, and a carnation plant.  I will use Friday to finish up our plant study.  Hopefully each student can plant their own garden or add to a family one that you may have already started planning.  

We have been reading Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as our read a loud.  Once we finish the book, the students will get to see the original movie. 

Wednesday's virtual/asynchronous work is as follows.  

8:00  Attendance question online.  

8:45  Morning Meeting

*1 Zearn Lesson

*1 Lexia Lesson

That is all for this week's work.

Have a great week.

Peace,

Tommy

April 27, 2020

 Good Morning,

  I hope you all had a great break and enjoyed the time with your children.  I felt a sense of renewal with the ability to travel to three different states.  I took the opportunity to see my oldest daughter out in Rochester, NY.  It was the first time I had been to her campus since she started.  My wife and I also took my youngest and spent a few days walking around Boston.  I have to say it all felt glorious.  

  While we were on break, our seeds went crazy and we have small plants galore.  The students have spent the last two days making observations of them and recording their findings in their science journals.The students will be taking these home on Friday.  Each child will have lettuce, tomato, cucumber, carrot, and marigold plants.  Hopefully you have a spot where they can plant them and create their own little garden at home or add it to your family garden.

During the plant unit, we have been learning about the different plant parts and their functions.  Before break we set up an experiment to see how a stem works.  When we came back yesterday it clear the function a stem had.  The students noticed that the stem drew the red colored water up from the cup and into the leaves.  Their findings were also recorded in their science notebooks.

Notes:

*4/28/21 Schedule (Virtual Wednesday):  Please have your child answer the attendance question.  We will then have a meeting at 8:45.  We will have a morning meeting and listen to a book.  The asynchronous work will be two things.  A Lexia/Core 5 lesson and a Zearn Lesson.  We will be doing Weekly News in class this week.  I am trying to make these days as easy as I can for you all and still assign relevant work.

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

Peace,

Tommy

April 5, 2021

 

Good Morning,

  I hope you all are well and the signs of spring are helping you feel energized and upbeat.  Today we continued to work in our science notebooks and focused on recording detailed observations.  The students have been working on observing plants and today we went outside to observe trees.  They could use magnifying glasses and their writing/drawing tools to record what they saw.  The students are learning to use labels, write observations, draw diagrams, and how to illustrate a "zoomed in" diagram of a specific part of the plant or tree.  It was nice to get the students outside in the sun and allow them to explore nature to learn.  

 This Wednesday's work will be as follows.  I am lightening the load (for asynchronous work) a little to allow kids to get outside more and enjoy the day.

8:00  Answer Attendance

8:45  Meeting

Asynchronous Work

*Lexai/Core 5

*Zearn

*Weekly News.  Your child should have a picture drawn, a written one paragraph letter to me, and used the editing check sheet to look at their work.  This week's packet will be on light green paper.  Look for it in your child's homework bag.

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

Peace,

Tommy