IMPORTANT
DATES
·
Friday, December 21st: Winter
Vacation begins at 2:20 pm. This is a full school day. Lunch is served.
·
Wednesday, January 2nd, Classes
resume, full school day.
MARBLE
JAR CELEBRATION!
We are very close to filling our Bravery &
Smart Thinking Marble Jar. Children have been able to put marbles in the jar
following smooth transitions, positive group work, and group teamwork. This is
a huge accomplishment that we have been working towards since October. The class
has really worked hard at building a caring community. In celebration of this,
we will have a celebration, likely on Wednesday. We will talk about ideas for
this celebration once we fill the jar. Celebrations in the past have included
pajama days, movies, pizza party, extra choice time or recess…. We will talk as
a class about these options and vote on 2-3 ways to celebrate. We will start
fresh filling a new marble jar after our celebration.
COLD
WEATHER and SLIPPERS
We will go outside for recess every day, unless
it is raining. As the weather gets colder, please be sure to send appropriate
outdoor clothing. This currently includes sweatshirts, jackets, and sometimes
rain boots. In the winter, this will include heavy winter coats, hats, gloves,
scarves, boots and snow pants.
Also, during the chilly boot-weather months,
it is an option to bring slippers (with rubber, non-slip soles) to school. This
will make for easy indoor-outdoor transitions, and give a warm and cozy feeling
to the day. Your child is welcome to bring slippers (labeled with his or her
name) and leave them in the classroom rather than take them home every day. We
will have a place in the classroom to store slippers instead of leaving them in
cubbies overnight.
If your child is missing a jacket or
sweatshirt, please check the school Lost and Found, across the hall from the
Main office.
MATH
Last week, we looked closely at nickels. We
began adding pennies and nickels and practiced counting by 5’s. We will
continue to practice these skills this week. We also wrapped up learning a new
logical thinking game. Out Math Specialist, Ms. Boss, has been teaching small
groups a first grade version of the game Set. This game challenges us to think
critically about shape, color, and numbers.
WORD
WALL WORDS:
Last week’s words:
with
that this she
he
Last week, we will focus on words with CH,
SH, TH, and WH. We talked about how the “h” changes the sound of the letter.
I am attaching a complete list of the Word
Wall Words so far. Please keep this list at home and review these words with
your child.
SCIENCE
During projects this week, we are exploring
what objects reflect light. We are also observing that shadows take the shape
of the objects that block the light. We are showing this by creating silhouettes.
Children have written clues about themselves to help. See if you can find your
child. (All silhouettes will be complete by the end of this week.
CRYSTAL
Recipe
We had so much fun making crystals last week.
Many families were interested in the recipe. I tripled this recipe for
each child to make sure we fully submerged the pipe cleaners.
* 1 cup boiling water
* 3 tablespoons Borax powder (sold in the laundry
detergent aisle of most grocery stores)
* Glass Jar or
other container (with a mouth wide enough to fit your pipe cleaner shape)
* Pipe cleaners
* String
* Pencil (or popsicle stick)
1. Mix 3 tablespoons (one at a time, making sure
each tablespoon is dissolved before adding the next) of borax to 1 cup of
boiling water and stir until dissolved. (Some Borax will settle at the bottom
of the jar, but solution should appear cloudy at first)
2.Bend a pipe cleaner into the desired shape,
then tie a string to the pipe cleaner and tie the other end to the middle of a
pencil.
3. Immerse the pipe cleaner in the borax solution
and then place the pencil across the top of the glass or cup. The pipe cleaner
should be suspended in the middle of the cup without touching the sides or
bottom.
4. Allow the solution to sit overnight. Within 24
hours, a thick layer of "snow" crystals will have formed on the pipe
cleaner.
Variations~ use colored pipe cleaners or add food
coloring to Borax/ water solution
DINO
STOMP
Also, by popular demand, the DINO STOMP link:
or just go to Youtube and search for “Koo Koo
Kangaroo, Dance-A- Long Video, Dinosaur Stomp”.
COMMUNITY
The Devotion Calendars were picked up this
afternoon. They will be sorted and delivered this week. It will be wonderful to see the final product.
Following vacation, we will learn about how much money we raised and what that
money will be able to buy. If you missed the chance to pre-order calendars, you
can still stop in the office and purchase a calendar.
VACATIONS
and APPOINTMENTS
It is very helpful for us to know ahead of
time if your child will be out of school. Please let us know if you will be
taking a trip and missing school or if your child will be coming in late due to
an appointment.
ASK
YOUR CHILD…
These questions can be conversation starters
to discuss the week in school.
·
What is your favorite Gingerbread story? Why
do you like that story the best?
·
What are some things you or the class has
done to earn a marble?
·
How much money would you have with 3 nickels
and 2 pennies?
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