I think it’s safe to say that winter weather is here. As the days begin to get colder and winter approaches, please be sure your child is dressed for the weather. Outdoor recess and winter hikes are always more enjoyable when we’re comfortably warm. If you have any extra gloves or mittens – or run across a great sale – please consider donating a pair to the classroom. It’s always nice to have a small supply for anyone who may forget one day.
December is a busy time of year, and I will do my best to keep you all informed on classroom and school wide events. This week we have our December green challenge assembly on Tuesday, an early release on Wednesday, and we will be shopping at the Holiday Bazaar on Thursday. If your child did not get the Holiday Bazaar envelopes at conferences last month, please ask him/her to see me for them. Also, we are planning to have our second Marketplace in the classroom on December 20th. Students can rent table space to sell small items or crafts to other students. As an added bonus, Ms. Bonicontro and I will be setting up a table of our own this month!
On Monday I will be sharing several new books I ordered from Amazon thanks to a generous donation from the Anderson family. These books will be available in the classroom library for check out. We also received some new titles from the Scholastic Book Fair from Peter, Ella, and Aidan that several students have excitedly begun reading. Last Monday we wrote individual reading goals for the second trimester to help us all take our reading to the next level. Some students selected a certain number of minutes they would read each day (outside of school) for fun. In an effort to support this goal, I will be sending home the Six Flags reading program forms next week. This is an easy way to track reading minutes and earn a free ticket to Six Flags this summer!
Our science research project on Biomes is due this Wednesday. This has mostly been an independent project with only a limited amount of class time to work, so hopefully you have seen some work done at home. If your student is struggling to finish this project by Wednesday, I am happy to offer an extension. I told everyone in class on Friday to email me if they need more time! My goal is to ensure that every student is successful in looking at one biome in depth and creating a comprehensive review of their learning. We are looking forward to their presentations on these projects!
We have completed two entries thus far in our Gratitude Journals, and new spelling sorts and TWAS letters went home on Friday. Final drafts of our Esperanza Rising essay are due on Monday. Please remind your child to submit these essays to Google classroom.
Thank you all for your support at home – we couldn’t do this without ALL of you. Parenting, like teaching, gives us the greatest joys – and sometimes – the greatest challenges in life. We are so thankful to have such an amazing and dedicated group of parents to work with.