Update December 18th

Our Family & Friends celebrated my daughter, Arya's 3rd birthday this weekend at The Maker Farm in Westford.  We had a fabulous time!

*This Thursday, Winter Party!  Looking forward to celebrating with the class.  Thank you to everyone that is volunteering or donating items!

*Friday P.M.- All school holiday sing-a-long.

No School December 25-January 1st.  We will return to school on Tuesday, January 2nd.

*Last week, we spent most of the week indoors due to the temperature.  Just for reference, we do not send kids out to recess if the temperature/wind chill is below 20 degrees.  I hope we can get out and enjoy some fresh air this week! If you would like your child to leave their snow clothes at school each day during the week, please discuss this with your child and let them know it's okay to do so!  It can be a lot of work for them to carry snow clothes in big bags back and forth to school each day.  I'm happy to have kiddos leave their snow clothes at school and make sure they go home every Friday.  If this is something you want your child to do, just let them know.  Otherwise I'll continue to have them bring them back and forth.

*Thank you for sending water bottles in each day!  It's really helpful for the kids to have water bottles at their tables throughout the day for our frequent water breaks!

*Last week, we finished up Unit 4 in Math.  This week, we will catch up with math journal pages we've missed, play games to increase our fact fluency and combinations of 10.  I will also meet with students individually to quickly assess their fact fluency to better group them in math groups for our math rounds.

*There will be a spelling list this week but no spelling the week we get back from vacation.

*In Science, we will continue to talk about instruments or natural objects that make light.  Students will work to write their own light book during Science this week.

*We will continue learning about holidays this week.  Our focus this week will be on:

*Las Posadas

*Kwanzaa

*Diwali
*Hanukkah

*Christmas

*I want to wish you and your families a happy winter break.  Thank you for all you to do to support your child at school.  They are all excelling and showing great growth.  Thank you!

Update December 11th

*This Tuesday, we will have school store for first grade in the morning.

*We will begin to learn about Fall/Winter holidays this week and next.  The holidays we will focus on throughout the next two weeks are:

Diwali

Hanukkah

Las Posadas

Kwanzaa

Christmas
*If there is a winter holiday your family celebrates that's not on this list please let me know.  I would love to add a holiday your family celebrates to our list to learn about!

*In Math, we will finish Unit 4 of Everyday Math.  Our focus this week will be on combinations of 10, adding 3 numbers together and 10 more/10 less.

*In Writing, we will continue to talk about adding ending punctuation, adding fancy words and details to our stories.

*In Science,  we will begin a new unit called "Light and Sound." This week, we will observe how light can help you see.  We will play a game called "spotlight," observe different types of light and write a story about light.

*As our weather turns to snow in the forecast, please remember that students need proper attire to play in the field at recess.  Please consider sending in snow attire in a reusable shopping bag with your child's name on it.    Reusable shopping bags stand up on their own and do not break which is helpful in our crowded coat room.  In order to play in the field, students need:  boots, snowpants, a winter coat and gloves.

*We will welcome our first Mystery Reader and Parent Volunteers to our classroom this week!  Thank you for helping out!  Volunteer time will be a combination of clerical work and working with the kids!

*Progress Reports will be available for parents to view in iPortal starting at 4pm on Friday, December 15th. 

Looking Ahead:

*Thursday, December 21st 2:00 Winter Party

We will have our holiday party this day.  I will send an email early this week with volunteer and donation information for this party.

Monday, December 25-Monday, January 1st- No School

We will return to school on Tuesday, January 2nd.

Update December 3rd

*This Thursday, December 7th is a 12:20pm Early Release.  We will have snack in the morning.

*In Math, we will work on double facts (2+2, 4+4,) explore with shapes and practice combinations of 10.

*In writing, we will work on adding fancy words and interesting endings to our stories.

*Thank you for sending in donations for the class to create businesses.  We will finish up making goods and hope to sell to our classmates (using my school coins) on Thursday.

*We will begin collecting new hats, mittens and scarves for children that need them this week and next week.  The Kindergartners will sort and count the number of items we receive!

*Thank you for all of your donations for the Turkey Trot to benefit our school!  We raised over $5000 (wow!) We will celebrate with a school wide dance party in the Spring.

*I will begin planning our Winter Party soon and will be in touch with parents that have requested to volunteer or donate items.  If you're interested in planning the party, please let me know!  The Winter Party is scheduled for Thursday, December 21st at 2:00pm.

Looking Ahead:
No School December 25-January 1st.  We will be back in school January 2nd.