One more week!

Week of December 19-23

In the spirit of community and to have some fun the week before Winter Break, the school will be having some themed days.  Each day will have a different theme and at some point during the day or throughout the day, we will read books and do activities that go with that theme. 

• Monday (12-19): Holiday traditions/Read In
• We will learn about Hanukkah/Kwanzaa
• Read in Day! Bring in blankets, small pillows, and even your favorite stuffed animal for a day filled with reading. 
• Tuesday (12-20): Gingerbread Man Day. 
• We will be making gingerbread play dough 
• Sign Up Here: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0945a5a62da1f58-first
• Wednesday (12-21): Grinch Day 
• Wear Grinch shirts or green
• Thursday (12-22): Holiday party @ 10:30-11:15 am 
• Wear festive attire- green, red, gold, silver, etc
• Board game day in the afternoon= bring in your favorite non-electronic game (board games, puzzles, and card game) to play with friends. 
• Holiday Party Sign Up Genius 
• Friday (12-23): Pajama Day!
• Movie Day
• Whole school sing along at 9:30am

Curriculum

Reading:
We are continuing to practice fluency when we read.  This week, students learned to use the punctuation to help guide how the read a book.  Next week, we will discuss reading at the appropriate rate (not too fast or too slow).  The students have also been learning about consonant blends (words that begin with st, sl, tr, dr, bl, br, etc) and how to read them and use them to help with their writing.  We will continue working on consonant blends next week.

Book Baggies:
Please remind students to return their book baggies on Friday along with bookmarks and tracking sheets.  That way, if needed, I can change their levels and we can keep track of the books they are taking home.

Writing:
Thank you for sending in all of the ingredients to help us write our How to Make Hot Cocoa books.  The students learned the importance of being descriptive when they write in order to make their hot cocoa turn out well.  They wrote and revised their plans for their How to book this week.  Next week, we will finish the book by publishing it.

Math:
In math this week, we learned about bar graphs; how to make them and how to read them.  We also learned what doubles facts are and practiced solving doubles facts.  Finally, we reviewed combinations of 10.  Knowing these combinations of 10 will help the students as we move in to solving harder addition and subtraction facts.  I would like to wrap up Unit 4 next week before students go on the winter break.  We will finish by learning how to add 3 numbers and how to add and subtract 10 to any number.  We will take the Unit 4 test on Thursday of next week (December 22).

Unit 4 Skills
o I can measure length using paper clips and pencils
o I can make a bar graph to answer a question
o I can solve addition doubles
o I can add combinations of 10
o I can solve number stories about adding three numbers
o I can find 10 more and 10 less than a number

Unit 4 IXL Skills - Students may use IXL to help them practice these skills.
Unit 4 Study Guide

Science
This week, we learned about Magnets!  Students learned some new vocabulary words (attract and repel) and that magnets attract to four types of metals (iron, steel, cobalt and nickel).  They also learned that magnets have poles.  Next week, we will learn about water and the three forms water can take on (ice, liquid water, and steam).

MakerSpace/Play
We are learning a lot about how to problem solve and work together during play!

December Homework
Here is a link to the December Play Based Homework! 

Important Dates

December 22: LEAD Time and Holiday Celebration - 10:30-11:15 (use this link to sign up to help: Holiday Party Sign Up)
December 23: Last day of school before winter break
December 24-January 8: Winter Break
January 9: School Resumes