December 2

Parents,

Welcome back!  I hope you had a delightful holiday weekend filled with love, laughter, and tasty treats.  It was nice to hear the kids sharing stories from the weekend back and forth as they came filing in this morning.  Only three weeks until Christmas/Winter break!  The next few weeks promise to be filled with busy times, but lots of fun as well.

Congratulations to our two new November top readers in the classroom: Katelyn and Thea.  For this upcoming month, the new top reader may have to pass 4,000 pages to take the lead!  The girls were excited to take the coveted “Anytime AR pass” prize. J  If your student has not returned November’s reading sheet, they still can.  I will still offer the pizza certificates and stickers on our class chart.  Keep them rolling in!  New December sheets were sent home last week.  They will be collected on December 19 (the last full day rather than December 20 half day) so the totals can be tallied and prizes awarded without hindering the PTO gathering or the holiday parties.  Since it is a shorter month, the goal remained at 250 pages.

We will have FF requirements this week and next, but will not have FF the week of December 16.

We are beginning a new Social Studies unit this week.  It will study various holiday celebrations, traditions, and originations from different countries around the world.  Your student will need your help completing a “passport application” for homework tonight.  Please weigh and measure your child tonight as specified on the application and return it to school tomorrow so your child can “travel” with us to each of the countries for the unit. 

In conjunction with this unit, we will travel to the Western Heritage Museum and the Rose Theater for our field trip.  Our trip is scheduled for December 13.  Due to limited seating, you will not be able to attend the morning portion at the Rose, but parent volunteers will soon be accepted to attend in the afternoon at the Western Heritage museum.  The cost for the kids will be covered, but parents wishing to attend must pay admittance at the museum.  Permission notices will come home later this week with more information.

Thank you to the parents who have offered their sewing services on Thursday and Friday this week!  We appreciate you!  You are in for a great time.  We are still seeking volunteers to help with a sewing project December 5-6 from 2:00-3:00.  You can volunteer one or both days as your schedule allows.  Please email me soon if you are interested!

There will be a substitute on Wednesday and Friday morning this week.

Our winter reading benchmark testing will be next Tuesday, December 10.  Please help your child to reach his/her highest potential for this series of tests by ensuring a set bedtime schedule and providing a healthy breakfast at home or here at school for them.  There will be a substitute here that day as well, as I will be pulling kids individually to test. 

DWP Bingo (for all students who have not had an office referral or a detention second quarter) will be played December 19.  Continue to praise your child for making positive choices that support our DWP program.  The majority of the students have seen a decrease in behavioral explosions and have worked to decrease missing homework items.  Social self control is our biggest target at this time. 

Please remember December 20 is both our holiday party as well as an early release day.  See the badgerbeat for more information if you would like to participate in our classroom party. 

Happy December birthday to Makenna!

·         LA- lesson 12- Focus on word inflections, author’s purpose for writing, and abbreviations

·         Math- chapter 6- mental addition strategies for adding two digit numbers.  No time tests this week.  We’ll be completing a portfolio assessment update on basic facts.

·         Science- plants- We’ll finish up this chapter this week and will test on Friday.

·         Social Studies- Holidays Around the World- We’ll visit Germany and Israel this week.

·         Writing- writing personal narratives using bold beginnings that grab the reader’s attention.

Have a great week all!  Cheers!