December 3

December 3, 2008

Dear Families,
Hello and Happy December! I hope you all had a safe and enjoyable Thanksgiving. We are right back at it this week. Here are some of the things that we’re doing:

Reading - Students will start their first official reading groups this week. All groups will be reading a book that is somehow related to the theme of survival. Each reading group will meet with me anywhere from 2- 5 times a week. The children will be clear about the expectations and assignments for their group. Children will be expected to come to group with their assignments complete and contribute to our discussions. Groups will start Thursday. Please ask your child about the book they are reading.

**Exciting new reading news** - This week, our class will also start reading with 1st graders on the Journey team. They will be our “Reading Buddies” for the remainder of the school year! We will be meeting with them each Friday at 12:30 to read together. This is a wonderful experience for both the older students and the younger as the older students get to be reading mentors to the 1st graders (and it is great fluency practice!) It is always a delight to see the students work together and help each other.

Math - Students completed the assessment for our 2nd major unit in math- Data. Additionally, they are working on finishing up their data projects and getting a good start on multiplication facts. The next unit we will be focusing on is multiplication. Facts practice HW will be coming home in addition to/as part of the nightly math HW. Please help your child memorize his or her times tables.

Writing - Students are working on creating a solid ending for their memoirs and going over the editing checklist. I am hoping that students will finish up their writing pieces by the end of next week.

Science - Students did a wonderful job on their “Body Projects!” All students have presented their hard work, completed a self-assessment, and received my assessment. All projects (and the assessment sheets) should be brought home by now. Additionally, students took a Human Body assessment this week. For the remainder of the month, we will be learning about the SCIENTIFIC METHOD. We will learn about the steps and have a few opportunities to practice following the scientific method.

Mapping - Many students have passed Map 3 - State Capitals. If not, they still have 2 more chances.

A few more things:
 This Saturday - December 6th- is the annual PTO Holiday Fair.
If you have signed up to help out and are unclear about anything, PLEASE contact me. If not, we hope to see you there!! 
 If you have a few extra plastic bags, we would love to have them for the Pie Sale. We’ll need them to put pies in for our customers. Please send them in by Friday.
 If you know that your child will be absent, please contact Cheryl in THE OFFICE. I also appreciate knowing, but she needs to hear it from you. Thank You.


Cara