Dec. 1, 2009 Dear Parents, I hope your Thanksgiving holiday was relaxing and enjoyable. We all have so very much to be thankful for. I am very thankful for the opportunity to share a part of the life of each child in my classroom. They are a great group of children! I am also thankful for the parent volunteers who are able to assist in the classroom and support our community. I am thankful to work in a community where education is valued and reinforced in the home. The children’s Oral Reports were wonderful! We discovered some great facts and lots of history. This project overlapped with the literature we have been reading in class and helps us understand that our families were all pilgrims at one time or another. We understand why America is called the “Melting Pot.” We had many children in our classroom whose parents immigrated to America. This was such a great example of text to our world! We also learned that Albuquerque has made great changes over the years and it was a very different place to live for some of our ancestors or even our parents who have lived here all their lives. Thank you for all of your support on this project. One of the main focus’s of this project for me is to model for children that we should accept others differences. Whether they are from other countries, of different religions, having different skin tones or languages, different family make-ups or whether we are rich or poor; we need to get to know people as individuals and not judge by appearance or lifestyle. I know these children are young but prejudice and misconceptions are learned early in our lives. The Social Studies curriculum for third grade includes learning about a community and learning about the history of Albuquerque. I will be teaching about N.M. traditions, arts, culture, folk tales, stories, history, land forms etc…We will be creating a time line of Albuquerque history from 1350 until present day. If you have any information about the history of Albuquerque you could share with me such as books, I would love it. The children will also be making pottery, weaving, tinsmithing and cooking many traditional foods. Our field trips also coincide with the curriculum. We are almost finished with our unit on multiplication and will then be moving on to Place Value in Whole Numbers and Decimals. The Family Letter from Everyday math will be sent home next week. We will be having timed tests on our multiplication facts as we now understand the concept of multiplication. It’s now time to buy those flashcards! I am planning many big events for the months of December and January. On Dec. 16 we will have a Traditional New Mexican Luncheon. The children will make posole, tamales, tortillas and bizcochitos. They will prepare the food from scratch and eat a hearty lunch. I will need some parent help with cooking and clean up. So if you can join us, please let me know. Does anyone have experience making tamales from scratch? Tortillas? Biscochitos? On Dec. 14 we will take a field trip to Popejoy to see Mariachi Christmas. This will give the children the experience of watching Mariachi dancers in full swing! The first place on our Albuquerque Timeline is Petroglyph National Monument . On Jan.15 we will go to Petroglyph and the Coronado Monument (dating back from 1200-1500). On the 8th we will take a trip to Old Town (1706) and the Albuquerque Museum to view more artifacts. I have also scheduled a field trip to the Acoma Pueblo on Jan 22. These places are packed with history! We will be starting Book Clubs this week. I will have four different clubs going (trying to focus on the level of the reader). When we have completed the book the children will eat lunch as a group in the classroom, chatting informally about the books they have read. The rules for the club are as follows: 1. The clubs are voluntary. 2. You must read the book at home and it should be counted as part of your nightly reading. 3. You must have the book finished by the book club date. If it is not finished you cannot attend that book club meeting. 4. Anyone is able to join at any time. My goal is to introduce higher quality literature to the students. During our book club discussions I will entwine the reading strategies we are learning in class. I am also asking the children to keep track of the vocabulary words they did not know as they read. Please send in wallet size school picture of your child by Dec 4 . It’s a secret what this is for, so don’t ask any questions! Have a great holiday season, ALSO…I am sending home a ballot for you to vote for the “Boxville” project. This will require each parent to get a refrigerator box and help your child decorate it as their business. This project will take place at the end of January.