February 10, 2023

Kids completed this 500 piece puzzle

 Good Afternoon,

Well it worked.  As I mentioned last week, we had a plan to help each other work through some social interaction problems that had been popping up. We started the week with a whole group discussion and used Frog and Toad to help us come up with ideas without pointing at each other.  This led to a great discussion.  The students identified strategies on how to proactively change the feeling that some of them were having. I checked in with them throughout the day each day this week. I hope you have heard about the week and your child feels good about how it all went. The focus has been about what we will/would do rather than what we wouldn't do. The key now is to see them continuing this independently.  That will  be the focus moving forward. Please let me know if you have any questions or if your child feels differently than the description above.

In first grade math, we kicked off a unit on geometry.  We are currently comparing shapes and using words like congruent, vertices, and all 2-d shape names. The students continue to work on counting on by 10 from a non 10 number. In 2nd grade math, the students have been working on telling time, elapsed time and money work.

In science, the students were asked the question; Can you communicate with light or sound without using your voices? They worked in teams to develop a plan to answer yes or no questions.  They then gathered materials to build and try out their ideas. The session wrapped up with the kids answering a series of yes or no questions using the techniques they developed to communicate. 

Valentines is a very important tradition with the kids.  They get so excited to pass out stuff each year. We will do something at 2:00 on Tuesday and allow kids to pass out valentines to their classmates. Below is the list of student names (18):

Zip, Olive, Milo, Isla, Hadley, Olivia, Lena, Braelynn, Hayden, Cooper, Lydia, Margaret, Warren, Rowan, Miles, Jacob, Patrick, Jayden

NOTES:

*We will be headed to the Mountain on Wednesday.  Please make sure your child has everything they need.

*On Wednesday, February 15, the Harwood Girls and Boys Basketball Teams will be having their senior night at the Barre Auditorium. They have not had a home game all year and we would love the community to come out and support them.  Admission is free! The girls play at 5:30 and the boys at 7:00.  I hope to see you all at the game. 

Peace,

Mr. Young

 

February 5, 2023

 Good Evening,

  Just a quick post tonight.  I am sorry I didn't get to one on Friday.  The kid will be headed to the mountain again this week.  Please make sure they have what they need to stay warm and enjoy the afternoon.

  Here are some pictures from last week.  Ask your child about the week gone  by.

January 29, 2023

 Good Morning,

  I am sorry I am only getting to this now.  Friday flew by and yesterday I just enjoyed the beautiful day.  It is hard to believe that we are already at the end of January.  The January through February time is such a fun teaching block and it's amazing how much we can get done during this block. With that said, let's get to the week in review.

The students were able to celebrate the success of collecting over 1,000 We Rock tickets (as a whole school). This earned them a chance to participate in a mini winter carnival celebration on Tuesday morning. It is always great to see the kids gathering as one and enjoying time with each other.

The kids continued their persuasive writing pieces this week.  The focus was on using pictures (from the text) to help describe a favorite part of a book.  Our discussion focused on how sometimes the pictures tell parts that the words might not mention.

This week's science focus was on sound waves and how light helps us see things.  On Thursday, the students learned about sound waves and vibrations.  We read a book about the topic and discussed how sound is a form of energy. We conducted an investigation where we put a tray of salt in front of a speaker and then blasted the base. The kids then wrote about what happened. Their observations were great but their reactions to the sound waves were even better.  Friday's investigation had the kids looking at items in a cereal box with a small hole in it.  They were trying to answer the question; How does light help us see things?" They then put a flashlight in each box and looked at the times.  This allowed them to better explain their thoughts about the guiding question.

NOTES:

*Thank you to all who sent in the cereal boxes for science.  We are now done with that investigation and don't need anymore boxes.

*We will ski and board this Wednesday. Remember there will not be homework bags sent home on this day. I also didn't send them on Friday.  I thought the kids could use the weekend to enjoy the snow and the outdoors.

*I have been working on some social dynamics with the class.  It's typical things that come up but I wanted to address it.  This past week I met with all of the 2nd grade girls and we ate lunch together and talked about recess and lunch issues that have come up.  If you have any questions, just let me know.

*As a reminder, look at last week's post if you want to sign your child up for baseball/softball.  All of the information is there.

I hope you all have a great Sunday.

Peace,

Mr. Young

January 19, 2022

 Good Evening,

I hope you all have had a great week. Hopefully everyone had a chance to look at their child's report card. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out. 

This week we continued our persuasive writing unit.  The students have been writing letters to the class about their favorite book character and/or their favorite part of a story. The students are being asked to write a form of a hook to get the reader interested, then state their opinion, support with at least three supportive facts, and then restate their ending to close it out. The students are really getting into these writing pieces.

We spent [art of last week and this week (due to snow day last Friday) reading and learning about Martin Luther King Jr. We talked about why we honor his birthday, who he was, and what he did.  I started with the story Martin's Big Words by Doreen Rappaport. If you have never read this book, I encourage you to listen to this reading of the story.  The students broke into groups and each group read a book about M.L.K. Jr.. The groups then wrote down 4 facts they learned about him and words to describe him.  We then gathered as a class and shared our findings.  This information was recorded on chart paper and the kids could use the information to draw pictures and write about him. Their work is displayed on the bulletin board near the hallway exit door (by our room).  

In math, the 1st graders have been working on skip counting by 10s. 5s. and 1s. They have also been working with dimes, nickels and pennies. The students have been playing a trading game and trying to get to a dollar.  If they did, they got their picture with a BIG $1 bill.  I didn't get a chance to check in with Mr. Hubbard this week but I can assure you they did do math!

Little League is a very popular springtime opportunity that many of our students choose to be involved with. Please check out the information below and sign up today!

NOTES:

*We will be skiing and boarding this week.  Please make sure your child has a bag that can hold everything.  When you pick them up all the stuff, they don't need, will all be neatly in that big bag in the library. PLEASE LABEL ALL OF YOUR CHILD'S ITEMS.

*Just a reminder, of you want to have your child present about a family tradition or celebration, please sign up here. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1CumLcFj2HOcgOKKo437YaVyBG-FgjuqC7WxeNkwyg7c/edit?usp=sharing

*I didn't send home the homework bags on Friday.  I figured many if not all would be finally enjoying the winter season that so many know and love. As a reminder, I also don;t send them home on ski days.

That is all for now.  I hope you all have a great Sunday. Also, I am writing this as I watch football tonight. Please be kind of there is an error or two with editing. 

Peace, 

Mr. Young

January 6, 2022

 Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a great holiday break.  It is report card season.  Prior to break and this week, I have been conducting a variety of tests with each kid in each subject.  The nature of 1st and 2nd grade tests tend to be a lot of 1:1 interviews. So that has been our primary focus this week. We will return to our regular schedule next week.  

As you know we have been doing celebrations and traditions this year. The goal is to learn about them, see how some may celebrate and some may not, and to learn how celebrations and traditions can look different from family to family.  With this in mind, I want to offer a chance for students and families to talk about a family specific celebration and/or tradition.  This could look like a presentation from your child, a video you all or your child makes at home (I have a tool that could be used for recording), or any other mean in which your child wants to deliver the information.  If you are interested, please use this Google Sheet to sign up for a date. For those who want to present in person, if you sign up for a Wednesday time, it will be at 1:15.  If you sign up for a Thursday or Friday slot, it will be at 10:15.  

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

Peace,

Tommy

December 16, 2022

Well it's our first snow day of this school year.  I know the kids were excited with the possibility of a lot of snow. I hope you all saw that I sent home the stuff for your child to make their secret pal card.  They also have an envelope that has the schedule for the week and who their secret pal is. Please make sure your child has their item for each day.  

This week the students continued working on their final narrative writing piece.  The students will spend 3-5 writing times creating a story and demonstrating all of the skills they have learned within their writing itself. I am so impressed with what I have seen so far and I know the kids are happy with their work too. I will send home copies of their work in January with the report cards.

On Wednesday, the students continued working on their gifts for you.  They are excited to be creating a gift for you and it will truly represent their artistic abilities.  We will finish them and wrap them next Wednesday.  

The Final Week: 

This coming week we will look at the celebrations and traditions of Hanukkah and Christmas.  These are the two holidays that the members of our classroom celebrate.  On Tuesday, Zip and Olive will help us talk about Hanukkah and share some of the traditions they have around the celebration. On Wednesday, everyone will share their family's traditions around Christmas. 

Speaking of Hanukkah, Zip's family had this to share.  It sounds like a great way to learn about the holiday. all are welcome and that there is no Hannukah experience required. There will be traditional food which is fried-potato-fritter-kind-of-things (latkes), and donuts. It is important that people RSVP though so that there is enough of the above-mentioned yummy food. Please see the information on the picture below.

NOTES:

*I will not be sending the homework bags home after Tuesday evening.

*Snow is here.  Please make sure your child has everything they need for recess time. 

This will be the last post until after the New Year.  I hope you all have a wonderful and joyous Christmas, Hannukah, and/or New Year. May your hearts be filled with the joy of family and your minds full of positive reflections form the year gone by.

Peace,
Mr. Young

December 9, 2022

Good Afternoon,

Well colds, flu and all other illnesses are amongst us.  The students are being real troopers as we deal with our symptoms.  I know I have a head cold and sleeping has not been ideal.  I both appreciate your efforts to keep kids home when they are sick and push them to come when they can. I used a small block of time this morning to catch kids up on work they missed.

This week's 1st grade math class had a variety of things going on. We have been working on telling time and writing digital notation.  We started this in November and kids are doing a great job with half hour and hour times. We have also been focusing on solving subtraction word problems where they are asked to compare one quantity to another and then find the difference. The main lessons this week focused on students comparing equations and determining if they were equal or not. The 2nd graders have been working on geometry and shapes of pattern blocks. They then estimated how high of towers they could build with those shapes and tested their estimations.  The students then used their data to determine why some shapes worked better than others.

This week's science lesson had us focusing on the stars again. They learned how they can use the North Star to find directional points.  We practiced using directional points as we found items in the classroom. The kids then learned how to use the Big Dipper to find the North Star. I have been encouraging them to get out and check out the moon phases as well as finding stars in the sky.

This was our final week of our narrative unit (writing).  Next week the kids will start to write their final piece that will challenge them to demonstrate all of the skills and techniques they learned during the unit.  I will use this piece of writing to determine most of the report card grade for this unit.  Each kid sat with an adult this week and looked at their current writing goals, edited a new piece of writing, and then were given two new goals to focus on.

Secret Pal:  This particular group is really excited for their traditions and celebrations that come with this time of year.  Everyone in the class has talked about what they celebrate during some of our Morning Meetings.  The kids have seen us, as a staff, doing Secret Pals these past few weeks.  They have asked if we can do it too.  Here is how it will work.  If you want your child to participate, they must be signed up here by 12/15.  I will assign them a Secret Pal on Friday and send home a note with the information and schedule.

To Participate Your Child Will Need To Bring the Following on Each Day

*12/19  They will make a Happy New Year's Card for their Secret Pal.  I will send home the paper they can use on 12/16

*12/20 They will need to bring a healthy snack for their Secret Pal. A simple item or two, no drinks are necessary.  We have mill and water.

*12/21  They will bring in a gift for their Secret Pal with a value of less than $5 (This can be bought or handmade).  If this is a difficulty for anyone, please let me know and I will gladly cover that expense. 

NOTES:

*The weather looks like it will turn more toward a wintry mix next week.  Please make sure your child has boots, a hat, gloves/mittens, and a coat. Also, label everything and make sure they have inside shoes too.  I appreciate your help with this. 

*Please let me know if you are not going to be here during the last week of school this month.  I want to plan for your child accordingly and not have stuff lingering when we come back from break.

Peace,

Mr. Young