December 2-December 20
We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We are thankful for our school, our students, and their supportive families.
Report cards will be sent home Friday, December 6th. Please sign and return the envelope as soon as possible.
RAH and Book Talks are due this Tuesday, December 3rd. We are looking forward to this second round of presentations. Please continue to have your child practice at home. It makes a big difference! Also, the signed November RAH is due that same day; however, if your child has met the 400 reading minutes they can turn in his/her RAH sheet before the due date. Here is a link to the Book Talk Organizer in case you need another one. There will be no Book Talk for the month of December. The third book talk will be due on Friday, January 31st.
The next set of spelling and vocabulary words is taken from our Social Science Unit (see section below). The test will be on Friday, December 13th.
Looking forward, there will be many multi-digit multiplication problems and new algorithms introduced in Unit 4. At this point in the year, it would be ideal for all students to have automaticity with their multiplication facts. While we provide some time in class for our Reflex Math program, it is not always possible to do a complete session. Please consider implementing this effective and engaging program as part of your child's weekly homework routine. The "green circle" should be filled at least 3 times a week in order for the program to be most effective.
Language Arts
For the past few weeks, we have been practicing constructing sentences and paragraphs which are concise and clear. Our goal is to master these building blocks of writing so that we may apply it to our next challenge: writing good realistic fiction. For the next three weeks, we will be working on developing our realistic fiction; specifically, we are creating believable characters by imparting to them struggles and motivations. We hope to end these three weeks by developing a plot with a story arc.RAH and Book Talks are due this Tuesday, December 3rd. We are looking forward to this second round of presentations. Please continue to have your child practice at home. It makes a big difference! Also, the signed November RAH is due that same day; however, if your child has met the 400 reading minutes they can turn in his/her RAH sheet before the due date. Here is a link to the Book Talk Organizer in case you need another one. There will be no Book Talk for the month of December. The third book talk will be due on Friday, January 31st.
The next set of spelling and vocabulary words is taken from our Social Science Unit (see section below). The test will be on Friday, December 13th.
Math
For the next few weeks in Unit 3, we are focusing on comparing fractions. We will also be learning about decimals (to the hundredths) by comparing them, exploring their relationships with fractions, and applying them to measurements such as meters, centimeters, and millimeters.Looking forward, there will be many multi-digit multiplication problems and new algorithms introduced in Unit 4. At this point in the year, it would be ideal for all students to have automaticity with their multiplication facts. While we provide some time in class for our Reflex Math program, it is not always possible to do a complete session. Please consider implementing this effective and engaging program as part of your child's weekly homework routine. The "green circle" should be filled at least 3 times a week in order for the program to be most effective.
Social Science
We will start out Colonial America unit by studying the three early English settlements. This will especially be enlightening for the students since we just had our own Thanksgiving season. During this unit, we will be studying the three Colonial regions: New England, Middle, and Southern Colony. Within each region of study, students will be comparing and contrasting the following characteristics: reasons for settlement, geography, natural resources, economy, and way of life.
Social Emotional Learning
For the past few weeks in SEL, we have been working on cultivating a spirit of thankfulness. The students worked on various projects to help them reflect on the people and things for which they are thankful. Even though we are moving on to our next project, we hope that this will be a lifelong lesson.
We are moving on to Lesson 7 in Second Steps. Lesson 7 teaches students how to have a conversation with others. Students will also practice receiving and giving compliments to each other. Please click on this SEL link if you are interested in more resources.
Important Dates:
We are moving on to Lesson 7 in Second Steps. Lesson 7 teaches students how to have a conversation with others. Students will also practice receiving and giving compliments to each other. Please click on this SEL link if you are interested in more resources.
Important Dates:
- Tuesday, December 3: Book Talks and RAH due
- Thursday, December 5: PTO Meeting, 7:00 PM in the teacher's lounge
- Saturday, December 7: PTO Craft Fair
- Thursday, December 12: Board of Education Meeting, 7:30 PM, Gill Administration Building
- Friday, December 20: Last Day of School in 2019
- 11:00 AM: House Meeting
- 1:15 PM: Holiday Sing-A-Long
- 2:00 PM: PTO Sponsors Grade Level Kindness Projects
