Room 103 Newsletter December 14, 2009
Dear Families,
I want to share with all of you how proud I am of the children’s behavior lately. They’re pulling
together, getting lots of good work done, and behaving with respect and kindness. Good job,
103sters!
We’ll be going on a couple of field trips shortly after Winter Break. On Tuesday, Jan. 19, we’ll
travel by bus to the Rio Grande Nature Center. The bus will not cost us anything, as we are able to
piggyback on with Ms. Erwin’s class (thanks, Mary!). We will need $1 per child to visit the Nature
Center, however. Our second field trip will be to Popejoy Hall on the UNM campus to see the play
“Ferdinand the Bull.” We’ll attend a 10:15 a.m. performance on Tues., 2/23. I have 24 seats
reserved, so if no new children join our class we’ll have tickets for 6 adults besides myself. We’ll
need several adults to attend each field trip with us. Please let me know if you can walk with us and
join us for the play; we so appreciate your presence! I’ll need to distribute tickets to Ferdinand on a
first come, first served basis, so please send in $2 as soon as possible to reserve a ticket. (If new
children join the class, the last person or two to sign up may not be able to attend.)
The children will be making a special holiday gift for their families this week; if possible please
send $2 to cover the cost of gift materials. If sending field trip and gift money is a hardship for your
family, however, don’t worry about it for a minute. Just drop me a note and we will make sure your
child is covered.
A reminder: If you would like your child to do the Sunshine math pages, send me a note in the
agenda and I’ll get them out to you each Tuesday. They’re great “challenge” pages, and I’m
delighted to send them to children who enjoy doing them.
What’s up in Room 103? We’re reading and writing about winter holidays in New Mexico this
week. Centers are: 1) Social Studies listening ctr. – listen to Tomie De Paola’s The Legend of the
Poinsettia, make a paper poinsettia, and draw Christmas traditions of the U.S. and Mexico; 2) Science
– watch BrainPop Jr.’s “The Moon,” record a moon fact, and sequence day and night activity pictures;
3) Language Arts - practice the ACE reading strategy by listening to and rereading a Weekly Reader
article on holiday lights in different winter celebrations, writing about the article, and drawing your
favorite winter holiday; 4) Math - creating a complements-of-10 bead string and using it to
determine, then record, complements of 10.
Homework folders are due on the first day back from the winter break. Children are always
welcome to turn orange folders in early if they have completed their homework. I know that many of
you have lots planned over the holiday. I won’t send oodles of work home for the holiday, but I
would like kids to do the usual homework and to be sure and read, as well. All of the A-Z booklets
and the word cards can stay at home; no need to return them in the orange folders. I encourage you
to have the children reread the A-Z books frequently; even (especially!) if they are easy to read they
provide excellent fluency practice when children read them over and over. From now on I’ll also
send home any unfinished reading workbook pages that the children didn’t get to during the week.
On the subject of homework, it’s wonderful if parents can review with children the checked
homework and classwork that I send home in the orange folders. Seeing what they did well and
correcting errors are both very valuable for children. We adults can help them learn to monitor
themselves by first praising successes, then helping children identify and correct the errors.
Thank you to Suzanne S. for putting together the class holiday party, and to Mary and Janell for
their help.
Have a safe, happy, fun-filled holiday, and I look forward to seeing you in 2010!
Kak
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- -- -
Name of child ______________________________________________________
Enclosed/attached is:
__ $1 for the RGNC field trip
__ $2 for the family holiday gift
__ $2 admission for the following adult to attend “Ferdinand” ___________________
(name of adult)
PLEASE RETURN FORM AND MONEY BY FRIDAY, 12/18, AS I NEED TO SEND IN THE MONEY FOR THE
PLAY RIGHT AWAY—THANKS!
