It's December

Welcome to the holiday season. We have many interesting events planned to learn about the holidays. We are finishing learning about the Native Americans that lived in our area by researching a topic the children want to learn about and writing a research report. We will be learning about the different holidays celebrated in December and end it with a holiday activity day like we did for NH Day. 

In math, we are learning about patterns. The children are learning different ways to label a pattern and they are looking at shapes, repeating patterns, and number patterns that have different rules to add or subtract by. That can prove to be a bit challenging.

In reading, we are continuing to read a story together. The children have been doing comprehension questions on Canvas. These activities help them navigate their way around Canvas so that when they have a remote day, they know what to do. We have been exploring many different concepts such as the author's purpose, character traits, inferring hidden meanings, comparing and contrasting characters, vocabulary, and many other skills. 

                                                                   

The school is holding a canned food drive through next week. If you are able to donate any nonperishable food items to our drive, the community will benefit greatly. There is also a challenge to see what class can bring in the most items. 

As you know, Covid has changed the way we are doing things in school. We are wearing masks full-time for now. Popcorn has been postponed until cases decline. We are staying in our cohorts for recess and lunch and we are not working with partners and doing centers in the classroom the way we usually do. I know this is unfortunate but I appreciate the resilience the kids have and their flexibility. We will let you know when some of these changes can be relaxed.

Report cards will be going out soon. Grades close on Friday and report cards will be sent home on the 17th. For more info about grading, you can look at the grading section on the pages on the left-hand side. 

Food Drive

 

We are holding a food drive for the local food pantry. If you are able to support this, please have your child bring in non perishable food items this week. 

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Kids Create the Schedule Day

In our class, I really try to help the kids understand that we work together as a team. Our success and achievements can be the result of team efforts.  When we go to our UA's, lunches, etc... I want the kids to demonstrate respect to those classrooms and people we walk past. We have been keeping track of compliments we've received from adults who have seen us in the halls or at things outside of the classroom. Yesterday, we received our 20th compliment!  That was our goal. When we reach 20 compliments, the kids were allowed to choose a class reward. They voted for "Kids Create the Schedule Day!" Therefore tomorrow, the kids are running the show. Together, we looked at the things we typically did on Fridays and made a list. They added some extra things like indoor recess and team-building game time, but they created a schedule together that kept in line with our academic day while incorporating a bit of lightheartedness to our activities. They knew that we still needed math and reading times. They planned what we would do, to keep that balance between academics and needing to keep our Friday routines while finding some additional time to just have some fun. I'm very proud of their attitude and consideration to not just those they see in the school, but to themselves, our class, and their responsibilities. 

Other Happenings...

Thank you to those who scheduled a conference with me. I enjoyed meeting you and learning more about your child. If you haven't met with me and would like to please email me or call the school. 

We are completing our unit in science about the environment and the role people play in taking care of the planet. We will be working on a Thanksgiving unit to learn about the tribes and crops that are in and around N.H. 

In math, we are working on factors, factor pairs, and multiples. All these things tie into multiplication and division. It is really important that the children know their multiplication facts. We are working on this in class, but any additional support you can give at home to help them would be very beneficial.

We have been reading a story called There's a Boy in the Girls Bathroom. It's about a boy who has no friends because he pushes everyone away. One day a new kid comes and he and this boy form a weird alliance and are starting to become friends. You can ask your child to summarize what's happening and ask questions along the way. This will help their recall, and depending on the questions asked, it helps build a deeper understanding and forms connections along the way.

We are going to be practicing for our class spelling bee. I'll be sending home a list of some words to help children practice and get used to spelling some challenging words. We will have our spelling bee in class this week. The winner of this one goes onto the grade level spelling bee, and then on from there. For more practice, you can download a spelling app from Scripps-  http://spellingbee.com/word-club

I am going to add a page on the left called Cool Class Websites. These websites are websites the children use in class that boosts skills and will help them practice. The children normally access these sites through Canvas on their Chromebooks, but that's not so easy to do at home. Hopefully, this will allow children to easily access learning websites that we utilize in class. Look for it in the upcoming weeks. 

Your child went home with a drawing they made in class as part of a PTO fundraiser. If you choose to order anything, the deadline is Monday. You can only order online and the info for the website and your child's art code are listed on the bottom of the form.

Lastly,