Weeks of November 28th & December 5th

Word Wall Words (reading words): be, do, came, over, have, when. These will be introduced on Tuesday and we will continue to review and do activities with them throughout the next 2 weeks. Please practice them at home each night using the word ring your child will create in class. Students should be able to recognize and read the words by next Friday, 12/9.

Spelling Sorts: The spelling pattern is listed on the colored sheet. When studying the spelling pattern with your child, please focus on the sound we are working on or the rule, rather than just memorization. Your child will be tested on some of those words as well as similar words with the same pattern or sound.Spelling test: Friday, 12/9

Homework:Monday, 11/28 Review new spelling sort (cut sort and only glue headings like we do in school, then practice sorting and spelling sort words all week). Test: Friday, 12/9

Tuesday, 11/29 ** Return Tradition’s Topic Sheet tomorrow!**Word Wall Activities- sheet due Friday, 12/9

Wednesday, 11/30 Worksheet

Thursday, 12/1 Worksheet------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Monday, 12/5 Practice spelling sort

Tuesday, 12/6 Worksheet

Wednesday, 12/7 Worksheet

Thursday, 12/8 Worksheet**Word Wall practice-Due tomorrow****Spelling test- Tomorrow**

Notes and Reminders:▪ We will have a Traditions Celebration on Tuesday, December 20th at 9:00.

Snow date Wednesday, December 21st at 9:00. Parents are invited to join us for this celebration. Please review the information sent home on Monday, 11/28 (blue packet).

▪ A special thanks to Mrs. Fanning and Mrs. Ciechanowski for coming in for Dive into Art. The students enjoyed learning about and making North American Totem Poles.

▪ Please look out for information on XtraMath. I will be introducing students to the program soon.

Overview of the next 2 Weeks:In Reader’s Workshop, we will read several new stories. We will enjoy big

books as well as leveled books. As we read these stories students will work on comprehension skills with an emphasis on: reading “tricky words,” by using different strategies, identifying the 4 story elements, and retelling a story (using words like first, then, next, finally). We will also look at how to read and write words with s-blends (examples: sl, sm, sp, sk, sw, sc, sn, st).

In writing, we are continuing to work on our small moment stories. We will use our anchor chart which include the criteria for a small moment story; told in the “I” voice, true about you, has a beginning, middle and end and happens in a place (setting). We will also review some of the mechanics of writing, writing complete sentences that begin with a capital letter and end with punctuation.

In Math, students will finish Unit 3. Then they will review the skills and concepts taught in Unit 3 and complete a written assessment. The assessment will be sent home for you to sign and return.

Next we will begin Chapter 4 “Subtraction Strategies”. In this chapter, we will answer the question How do you solve subtraction problems? First, students will review count back by 1,2,3 to subtract. Then students will learn to think addition as a strategy for learning and recalling subtraction facts. To use this strategy, the students must understand the inverse relationship between addition and subtraction. They must also begin to master their addition facts within 20.

In social studies, we will begin our unit on Holiday Customs around the world. Over the next several weeks we will look at how different cultures and countries celebrate the holidays. Students will learn about Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and look at how Christmas is celebrated in many countries including Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Ireland, Mexico and here in the United States. The students will learn a lot about children around the world! Students will create a Book Creator slide in class for the December 20th Traditions Celebration. Mrs. Spoerl, our technology teacher, will be in to assist the class with Book Creator.

I know this is a very special and busy time of year. If you have family activities, guests, celebrations, etc, and you don’t have time for the homework, it’s no problem…just let me know.