TEACHER: Mrs. Darlene Manchester Date: December 21, 2009
Teacher's Aide: Mrs. Emily Hoffman
A PEEK AT THE WEEK
During this 3 day school week, the children will complete holiday crafts
and activities aimed at honoring the December celebrations of Christmas and
Kwanzaa. As a result, we will not begin a new Reading Street story until
after vacation and there will be no assigned homework until school reopens on
January 4th, 2010. Also planned for this week, the children will
focus attention on our latest "Forces in Motion" science unit through hands-
on experiments that test the properties of gravity and resistance. Using a
variety of objects and matchbox cars they will determine which objects travel
best and furthest down ramps of varying heights. As for literacy activities,
this week the children are scheduled to revisit the importance of "verbs" in
sentences and will participate in a special charades game and creative
writing assignment to reinforce this concept.
In math this week, the children will finally have the opportunity to
practice reading and entering numbers into a calculator; and roll and record
sums on a line graph using 2 dice, in order to provide experience with
addition, probability, and graphing outcomes. As December comes to an close,
the children will disassemble our classroom calendar based on given clues;
graph monthly weather results; and solve a patterning math story(exemplar)
using 1-3 strategies to explain their thinking.
WINTER CELEBRATION
On Wednesday afternoon Room 20 will spend time celebrating the return of
winter through completion of a special gingerbread craft activity, small
group board games, and a simple snack of popcorn and juice. Mrs. Beth
Roderick, our Room Mom, has generously purchased all materials needed for the
craft, and the P.T.O. is picking up the cost of the bagged popcorn. We thank
everyone involved for making this celebration so special.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS
On behalf of Mrs. Hoffman, I would like to wish all of the families of
Room 20 a happy and restful holiday season. Continue to look for math
opportunities in everyday situations, and read with your chldren whenever
possible. It will be their greatest gift. Enjoy your family time together!
'Til Next Year,
Mrs. Manchester