December NEWS form Mrs. Merenda's Class Dear Parents, Winter is fast approaching although we have been very lucky with our mild fall...hope winter weather is as kind. We have just completed one whole trimester. Report cards will be sent home December 11. We are continuing to read orally,CRASH, by Jerry Spinelli, a fictional account of a bully who sees the error of his ways. We are almost finished. Our instructional read is A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck, a Newbery Award winning book. We will continue to write critically in our reading journals, after working in skill packets and discussing reading. Ask your child about the plot and what inferences they have made about Grandma's behavior. The children are also reading their own picks at silent reading time and completing a mini book talk in class. Our WRITING has continued to involve good paragraphs,and expanding an idea with more detail involving our 5 senses. We are writing pen pal letters to children in Tacoma, Washington and also will be corresponding with pen pals in Missouri to learn about other regions of the USA. Spelling will continue with review of Frye words and missplelled words this week and will continue with Unit packet after USA Report. In MATH we are working on Decimals in Unit 4. Remember to continue to study those multiplication facts for automaticity. SCIENCE was a big hit with great insect reports and some very good effort on the Unit test. We are now doing Social Studies and getting used to using and studying from a textbook. Study as we go along referring to yellow highlighted vocabulary and review questions after each section. SOCIAL STUDIES will concentrate on landforms of the USA beginning with the great state of MAINE. A report packet on Symbols of the USA is due Dec. 7. Enjoy the upcoming holidays!!! I'll let you know about our gift swap and goody sign-up soon. Cordially, Claire Merenda