Dear Families

  The week has flown by and I'm sure the rest of the month will too!  Today we celebrated filling the classroom "Catcoin" container with a reading party.  The kids were so excited and engaged!  The rest of our day was filled with Geography quizzes and Genius Hour presentations, so we did not get to SeeSaw. 

Our World Geography studies started after Thanksgiving Break and kids are off to a great start!  They're learning the location of major cities, countries, and bodies of water through various activities (including the weekly quizzes) and are reading non-fiction texts about the continents. (Reminder that Geography quizzes happen each Friday.  Students have some time to practice at school, but should also be studying at home.) We use this work to not only learn about topics related to our world, but also to teach non-fiction reading strategies to students.  This non-fiction reading work will continue as we learn a bit about immigration and into the new year when we learn more about specific cultures and countries.  

With our focus on non-fiction reading and world geography, we are not currently working on a writing piece.  Students will be regularly writing in response to reading however, and will be completing quick writes daily.  In January, we will begin research on a country, which will lead to an informative writing piece. 

A reminder that students have a "Country 4-Door Share" this month too.  Additionally, we hope to do a book swap similar to what we did last year before the December break.  We are also planning (actually the students will do the planning...) on celebrating winter holidays around the world the Thursday before break.  Keep your eyes out for more information next week.  

As students complete their Genius Hour projects, I am trying to post the video to SeeSaw.  For some reason, this is tricky and time consuming for me, so please be patient.  I'm finding the best way to share their presentation video is a YouTube link.  The last round of Genius Hour presentations will happen on Monday 12/18.  I sure hope you're hearing about this from your children!  (some students will need parent support in delivering final projects....)  If you would like to come in for your child's presentation, you are certainly welcome to.  2nd cycle of Genius Hour projects are already in action or will start in January.  

I hope to see most of you at the holiday fair tomorrow!  Thank you all for your support!