Announcements:
November 23-27: Happy Thanksgiving Break!
Saturday,De. 5: Holiday Shop at Addison
Friday,Dec. 11: First Grade Winter Literacy Day
Thurs. Dec. 17: Holiday Party 1:15-2:00
Friday,Dec. 18: End of Second Quarter
Dec. 21- Jan 4: No School/Winter Holidays
Dear 209 Families:
Thanks to all of you who donated to the Food Drive. Some of you have also
been very generous, sending things in for the classroom. We appreciate your
keeping us stocked and for volunteering to help in many ways.
Students have had fun learning about plane and solid/3-D shapes using
marshmallows and toothpicks. After Thanksgiving, we will make a class
powerpoint on shapes found around us in our world and explore using geoboards
and rubber bands. I hope your students are also enjoying making the Shape
Creature and writing about it. In science, students investigated magnets by
making their own "magnetic-powered" sock puppets this past week. Your 6 and 7
year olds have also been doing a lot of information processing lately about
the first Thanksgiving. They have learned about some of the problems Pilgrims
encountered on the Mayflower and during that first winter in our land. They
each determined that there were hard things about the situation and thought
about what it would be like, evaluating the pros and cons of coming over to
America. Our class will be moving on to learn more about Thomas Jefferson -
our second American Hero. Your children will be making connections and
comparing and contrasting his life,character traits, and accomplishments with
Ben Franklin's.
The December homework calendar will go home on Monday, Nov. 30. Please have
students practice math facts (subraction and addition) to 12 along with
homework. I will not be sending home the extra math sheets, but I will expect
students to be working on math fact accuracy and speed. Some of the children
are already fine with this skill, but many of them are still struggling. If
you need flashcards for practicing facts, please let me know. Also, students
will be expected to count 50 cents in various ways, using different
combinations of quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies. The next two
weeks of school will include several types of assessments for the second
quarter in each subject. A new semester begins January 5 when students return
from Winter Holidays. Report cards are typically not distributed until
conference week, January 25-29. Thanks for helping your children be
successful.
Friday, December 11, is our "Winter Literacy Day." This is a fun curriculum-
filled day. The students rotate for half of the day, so that they are in 6
different first grade classrooms by lunchtime. Each classroom integrates
language arts, and in some cases other subjects, into the activities. The
standards-based learning activities center around a "Polar Express" theme.
The children have permission to wear pajamas to school that day as they
become immersed in learning through fun, hands-on experiences.
Our holiday party is Thursday, December 17, from 1:15-2:00. First grade
classes all exchange books for gifts to classmates. You may send either a
new or a gently-used book, so that you do not have to feel that you need
to "buy" a new one. On Friday, the 18, students will be dismissed for Winter
Break with a whole-school sing-a-long in the cafeteria.
Have a wonderful week with your families. December will be busy, but very
productive as the children continue to learn and grow as readers, writers,
scientists, historians, mathematicians, and great citizens.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Hatcher
