I hope that everyone enjoys their Thanksgiving holidays! One of the students said today that they were shocked that it was already Thanksgiving. They said that it felt as if we just had Halloween last week. Time is certainly flying by! Just a few more weeks, and we'll have Winter break. Wow!!

The kids have been talking about their science fair projects. I'm so excited---I can't wait to see the results of their hard work. Hopefully, all science fair projects have been completed, and no one will have to spend too much time over break working on the project. All projects are due in class on Tuesday, December 1. If you would rather bring it in on Monday when we return, that would be fine, also. Remember that this is a required assignment. The actual due date for the projects is December 2. Any project received after this date cannot be included in the school science fair.

We will have a weekly homework assignment when we return after Thanksgiving break. Each student will bring home his or her Storytown textbook and will need to read several stories and complete assignments over the material that they read. Please budget your time to avoid having to do the entire assignment in one night. Students will also be tested on a fluency passage. Don't forget to practice reading the passage orally each night. First grade students are expected to read at least 80 words per minute on a "cold read". Since this is a practiced read, most students will probably read over 150 wpm.

Because I am a co-director of the science fair, I will not be in class on Wednesday, December 2, or Thursday, December 3. I will be involved with checking in all science fair projects and assisting with judging on Thursday. Students will continue working on their Storytown unit while I'm out and will continue working on fact families and base ten problems in math. I'm sure that they will be fine while I'm out, but I like to tell the students ahead of time whenever possible.

Hallie will be our new Player of the Week. She took home the sharing sack, and I'm sure that she'll have lots of exciting things to share with us when we return from our Thanksgiving holidays.

We will combine November and December Kelso Kid and Tatum Techie students. Kamryn will represent our class as Kelso Kid for these two months, and Matthew has been selected as Tatum Techie. Congratulations to you both! You will receive an invitation for your parents at a later date. The assembly to honor you will be held on December 15.

Again, have a fantastic holiday with your families. I plan on getting a lot of rest and maybe even put up our Christmas tree! The Alabama/Auburn game is Friday, and the weather's getting colder. I'll be reading by the fire and drinking hot chocolate. Oh, boy! I can hardly wait!!! Time to put up the computer and get started on MY vacation!!

Marsha Watt