What’s Coming Up…

Monday is Polar Express Day! Students should wear their pajamas to school. They may bring their slippers to change into. We will be drinking hot chocolate and stirring it with candy canes.
Wednesday is a READ-IN. Students will need 8-12 books and an extra healthy snack.
Friday is the last day of school before Winter Break. Have a wonderful relaxing break with your family.  Please keep READING and filling out the Reading Log minutes for December. The calendar is due in January when the students return to school.

 Curriculum Update:

Language Arts: We introduced the new reading strategy which is determining important details. We read the non-fiction story “Fun With Fish” to find important facts about fish. We also read and illustrated our own book about fish facts. Another strategy we practiced was rhyming words with the book “Down By the Bay”. We had a great time finding rhymes and making up some of our own! The next story we will read is “Greedy Gray Octopus”. We will make character puppets and do a Reader’s Theatre retell of the story.

 

Phonics: We finished learning all the short vowel sounds and the students were assessed on them.  After break we will begin learning the long vowel patterns.

 

Grammar: We learned about adjectives (describing words) and made a fish booklet called "One Fish, Two Fish". We also learned about contractions.  When you come across a contraction while reading, please discuss with your child the words that make up this special kind of words.

We continue to practice the rules for using capital letters at the beginning of sentences and at the beginning of proper nouns.

 

Word Wall Words: how, want, girl, ride, put, good, eat, off, said, away

 

Writing: We continue learning about elements of narrative writing, including beginning, middle, and ending.

Math: We have completed Unit 3 which is on number patterns, odd and even numbers, telling time to hour and half hour (analog and digital), and adding and subtracting using tools (number line, hundreds chart, etc.). Problem solving continues to be a focus.  We will begin unit 4 which is about Measurement.

 

Science: To go along with our fish and water stories, we are studying fish and whales and finding out that a whale is not a fish.

Social Studies: We completed our unit on Bullying and Disrespectful behavior. Ask your child if they can tell you what a bystander and upstander are?  They should be able to tell you what they should do if someone is treating them or a peer disrespectfully.  We are currently working on our “Holidays Around the World” unit.  They are working hard to celebrate the differences of others.  The holiday reports are great so far.  We are learning so much about our classmates and the special traditions they have in their family.

Happy Holidays to you and your family!  I hope you enjoy the time off together.