Monarchs and More!

Hello Friends!

We have had an amazing couple of weeks in our class. It felt really good to have a shortened week last week, they seemed to really appreciate the extra break and shortened workload.

We have been practicing our work at literacy time, doing some free writing as well as practicing read-to-self time and learning how to pick out "good fit" books to read. We have been building a class puzzle, talking about who they are using the words "I am". We are going to put the puzzle together and put together all of our parts to create the "We Are". I am so excited to see how it turns out! We are also starting to fill out our "Big 4" poster to think about what our school-wide expectations mean to our class and how we interpret them.

Also, in regards to our class culture, we have talked a lot about our personal responsibilities to ourselves as well as to others around us. For instance, it is my number one job to keep the children in my class safe. It is also all of our jobs to keep each other safe.

A quick related story: My wife has started a new job as the afterschool pre-k CC person at Doty school in Worcester and the other night we were talking about our day and she asked, "What is this thing about line-up?" It's funny, because I had never thought about it. After thinking about it for a bit, I thought about what line-up means. To mean it includes the skills of body space, safety and awareness, patience, negotiation, compromise, following expectations about volume, and so much more. In a sense, it encompasses many of the skills we are trying to help our kids learn throughout the day. I am trying to impress upon the kids that by demonstrating these skills and showing that we can help our friends follow them as well, many fun and exciting doors will open in our classroom.

Thanks to our friends in and out of school, we have the privilege to raise 3 monarch butterflies. All three are in chrysalises and should be hatching in the coming weeks. I can't wait to see their faces when the metamorphosis is complete! We will release them outside after they hatch. I'll try to take pictures to capture the event!

Watching the Metamorphosis!

It was great to see all of you at Curriculum Night. I hope you all got the details and answer to questions you may have been looking for. If not, feel free to get in touch and I'll help clear up your questions as best I can.

We have started a classroom library sign-out. The kids are allowed to sign out two books from our class library. They developed a great system. The reason for it is because there were some kiddos who were having a tough time picking out "good fit" books to read at literacy and were instead choosing books that were not. We talked about how it is important for them to read good-fit books while at school and that home may be a better place for the books that they may not be ready for yet. They, of course, are allowed to sign out good fit books to bring home as well. I'll be in touch to send a reminder if the books stay out for too long (1 week or so).

Phew. That's it for now.

See you at the fair!

~B

The First Week!

It has been so wonderful getting to know all of your children this week. They all came in ready to work and ready to embark on a great journey together. I am so looking forward to seeing all of them grow in their own special ways.

This week we are getting to know our new friends, our learning space and the daily routines. They are quick bunch, I'll give them that! We set up the room together, did some cleaning, opened up all of our ordered materials and put them away, organized our class library and made table groups for work times.

We read two great books together, Wolf Watch and The Giant Jam Sandwich.

 

While the stories are totally different, we talked a lot about how not only is it the jobs of the adults in the building to keep kids safe, it is their job to keep one another safe as well. In the book Wolf Watch, we talked about how the wolves in a wolf pack helps each other in this kind of way. We also talked about how when there is a problem, it is the job of the group to help solve it. The solution can be straightforward or creative, as we found out when looking at how the characters in The Giant Jam Sandwich solved their problem.

We did a little practicing of read-to-self time at literacy and will continue our work expanding into writing next week with some guided prompts. We will be doing more work on our literacy schedule and options in the days and weeks ahead.

ALLERGIES: In order to be sensitive to the dietary needs of the kids in our class, I am asking for families to not send in baked goods for birthdays and other "treat days". Fruits are best but please avoid mango, apple and pineapple. If you have questions, please be in touch.

I think that's it for now. It has really been a pleasure to be back at school, surrounded by the creativity, kindness and earnestness of young children. I look forward to getting to know your children more and more and I look forward to seeing you all soon!

Best,

Ben

Last Thoughts for the Year

Hello Friends,

I hope you have enjoyed the year as much as I have. I have enjoyed getting to know all of you and your wonderful children over these past months and years. I was driving though Stockbridge some summer years ago and the elementary school had a sign out front with what I felt to be appropriate words for their students instructions for the summer:

Play Outside

Read

Repeat

I will be around all summer so I sure I will bump into many of you. If you want to get in touch you can reach me at:

bweiss@u32.org

223-3677 (H)

Have a wonderful summer!

Warmly,

Ben

Plays, PLPs and Pattern Blocks

Hey Friends,

I hope have all been enjoying this amazing weather. I know the kids have! We have been trying to extend the times we have outside, soaking in the sun...

We have begun our PLPs (Personal Learning Projects) in earnest and the kids are really into their topics of choice. We are working on the research and writing components and will be moving into the visual components We will be making posters as well as using clay to make models, should the kids want to. In the past I have had the class over to my house to harvest clay but I think that will have to wait until the fall for a new batch for classroom use.

We also have made our groups for the plays, gotten our scripts and have started practicing. The kids are so earnest and working so hard on reading their lines, thinking about their scenery and where they'll be on stage. Our performances will be on FRIDAY, JUNE 8th at 10:30 and 2:00. Families usually try to make the 2:00 because we do a little cast party afterwards. Details will continue to come out, but feel free to get in touch if you need any further details.

In first grade math, we have been using pattern blocks to explore the concept of fractions. We have been using the shapes of equilateral hexagons, trapezoids, rhombuses and triangles. We have been stressing the idea that when you are breaking a whole into equal parts that this represents a numeral, that it can be drawn as a picture or it can be shown on a number line. This is a complicated concept and the kids are doing a great job with it thus far.

In science, we are beginning our exploration of land forms and how they are created eroded. We will be starting with volcanoes as being one of the major landscape creators and moving to the idea of erosion using water as the catalyst. I can't wait to show the pictures when we get to put our erosion table to the test!

Thanks to our amazing 4-Winds volunteers! We had an amazing exploration of owl pellets last week that the kids really got a lot out of. Also, we'll be doing some work on the Rumney garden this week as well. There is so much going on!

I hope all is well with you all and please be sure to be in touch with questions, comments or concerns!

See you all soon,

B

Break and Next Year

Hello Friends,

We have had a great week filled with lots of fun and work. The most important part is that everyone makes it through this heavily charged day feeling happy.

It has been such a wonderful experience, as always, talking to you all about your children at conferences. They are all so special to us here at school and we deeply appreciate the trust you put in us as their daily care-givers.

Below, please read the letter Christine and I have written regarding the grade configurations in the first and second grade for the 2018-2019 school year. If you have further questions, please be in touch.

Have a wonderful, recharging break!

Ben and Tammy

Dear Families.

Over the past couple years, our ½ team has been doing a lot of thinking about what is best for young children at the primary level.  This conversation parallels the ongoing changes in our SU on a curricular level in regards to new academic and social standards and proficiency based learning.

In order to give kids the learning that best fits them, we have decided together to group the kids by grade level, meaning we’ll have a first grade classroom and a second grade classroom. The primary way that we will address their needs is that we will loop our classes so kids will have the same teacher for two years. This allows for consistency for kids and teachers alike. We have been talking about their span of development academically, socially and emotionally over these two years. The difference in needs from a beginning-of-the-year first grader and a beginning-of-the-year second grader are vastly different. It’s our belief that the main goal of first graders is to learn how to learn whereas the goal of a second grader is to start applying that learning throughout their day.

Tentative Map

2018- 2019: Christine - Grade 1 Ben - Grade 2

2019- 2020: Ben - Grade 1 Christine - Grade 2

2020- 2021: Christine - Grade 1 Ben - Grade 2

2021- 2022: Ben - Grade 1 Christine - Grade 2

We acknowledge that there are benefits to having these age groups together, however, we feel that by focusing on one age group at a time we will better meet students’ developmental needs and abilities. In this model there will still be plenty of opportunities to work together as a primary team: (Recess, Lunch, Primary Sing, Word Study, possibly for Reading Groups) so that kids still get to see their first and second grade friends.

The social and academic needs of your children are always the focus of our decision making process.  We believe that this change will help your children learn and grow to their fullest. Thank you for your continued support in our ½ program.  

Sincerely,

Ben Weiss

Christine Babcock

Parent Conferences, Pie Breakfast, Stilts and More!

Hello Everyone!

We hope you had a great weekend. We heard stories of family, food and fun, which is always so great to hear about. We have been very busy in our room.

 

A friend sanding away

Last week we got to make our first trip to the sugarbush and do some sap collecting. The group rescued the buckets, which were almost filled to the brim. Brian was also boiling and drawing off so the kids got to do a little tasting as well!

A shout out to the PTO for doing the pie breakfast over the past weekend. The pies were delicious and I know the proceeds go towards a very worthwhile cause. I know the PTO is looking for some help with the Spring Fair as well. Please consider getting in touch with April Davis or Jill Drury if you are interested in helping out.

The miter saw is a great tool. Thanks to Chip Hedler for lending it to us.

The kids all got a chance to do some work with the tools in class to help build some stilts for our PE program. Thanks to Talitha Klassen-Landis for spearheading this great project! We practiced using a couple of miter saws, some drills, screwing screws, and sanding. They could always take a break and do some practice stilt walking when they finished their job or just got tired and needed a break. I was so pleased with how responsibly and efficiently they used the tools. I know the other students in the school are going to appreciate their hard work.

Mrs. Joslyn was psyched for one of our friends while they learned to use the stilts!

Thanks to those of you who have signed up for conferences. This is one of my favorite times, and one that I wish I had more of during the year. If you need the link to the conference sign up, find it here:

http://grades.wcsuonline.org/rumney/conference/

I look forward to seeing you all!

We needed treads for the bottoms of the stilts.

We also have been working on our literacy choices. We continue to meet regularly and talk about the books that they are reading in their book groups. Some kids have begun to work on some projects that they are interested in. Some topics include: the US Army, bow weapons, Norwich University, and castle defenses and siege engines.

We watched a great video the other morning about inclusion and what that means. Despite it being a commercial by Canadian Tire, the point it makes was not lost on the kids in class. They really had a great discussion about it. Here is the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFuwUiHo-WI

Safely learning to use tools. 

 I think that's about it, folks. Please be in touch if we need to know anything at school. We are always open for comments, questions or concerns.

Best,

Ben and Tammy

Science, Daylight Savings and Snow!

Hello Friends,

Some great math thinking!

We had a great week back getting our feet under us and are now working on getting all the way back on track. The kids have made a good transition from break as well as through Daylight Savings. Make sure they are getting lots of sleep (as best as you can!). I know that making kids sleep when their bodies aren't into it can be a challenge...

In science we have continued our scientific investigations and the they are doing a great job. We have been talking a lot about fair tests and making sure that only one thing is being tested in their investigations. For example, when doing a ball and ramp rolling experiment, you can

Here we are exploring a science question as a group

change the ball or the ramp, not both. They are using their results to explore a further wonder on their own. They are working on observing accurately as well as recording their results.

The kids have gotten back to their work in literacy. They are continued their work on their independent writing as well as meeting with me and other teaches for reading and practicing their sight words. They are now able to consistently do 80 uninterrupted minutes of literacy, which shows their progress in being able to manage their time and stay focused on their tasks.

We'll be wrapping up our convince me writing pieces next week as well. The kids have worked hard on these. We'll do a quick "show what you know" to see if they can create a convincing, logical  argument and use age appropriate grammar/spelling.

We were treated to a special song from one of our friends!

Many of you have gotten in touch with me regarding the weather on Tuesday. As I am not the one who makes these sorts of decisions, please pass along your concerns to Principal Toth or Superintendent Kimball.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Ben and Tammy


Reminders:

April 6th         Parent Conferences (I'll post times and dates next week)

From the PTO: Please join us for the Rumney ALL YOU CAN EAT Pie Breakfast on Saturday, March 31st, from 9-11. We are still in need of pie DONATIONS (make it or bake it!). We aim to have 150 pies and currently only have half of what we need. Email RumneyPTO@U32.org for more information or to sign up. Thank you!