I can hardly believe it is already December and we are almost half way through the year! We will be busy for the next few weeks wrapping up the first half of the year and celebrating our accomplishments. I really am so proud of each student, they never cease to amaze me! Here is a look at what is ahead!
THIS MONTH
Reading/Language Arts-We have started talking about inferencing and have added this to our list of comprehension strategies. We will continue to work on inferencing. Inferencing involves using our schema and clues from the text to determine meanings of unknown words, make predictions, draw conclusions, and analyze characters. We will also focus on the relationship between cause and effect as well as comparing and contrasting texts. We will be reading several Laura Numeroff books to help us determine the relationship between cause and effect.
Phonics-We started working on inflectional endings this week and will continue with inflectional endings next week as well. Then we will move into consonant digraphs (sh, ch, wh, th)
Writing-We have been working on writing narrative stories and have talked about the importance of narrative stories having characters, a setting, a problem, and a solution. Next week we will start our gingerbread narrative stories. The class has really enjoyed the gingerbread stories we have read so far this week! We will also talk about using commas in a series as well as using pronouns in our writing.
Math-We are going to revisit our addition and subtraction strategies and review word problems as well as graphing. We will focus on interpreting graphs. The students have been using IXL everyday in the classroom for skills practice, and they are becomming experts on the computer! Remember you can use IXL at home as some extra practice as well. The website is: www.ixl.com/signin/mountainview
Science-I know the students had a great time at our in house field trip all about sound! Our next unit will be about magnets. We will use the terms attract and repel when talking about magnets and will also experiment with different types of magnets. Our next in house field trip is the week of December 12 and it will be all about magnets!
Social Studies-We will be starting a unit about Lewis and Clark. We will discuss their travels as well as the role Sacagawea played in their journey.
IMPORTANT DATES
Wednesday, December 21-Class holiday party! Our party is from 12:00-1:00 and all parents are welcome! Thank you all so much for everything you have already sent in to decorate our gingerbread houses. Our party would not be a success without all of you! I also want to thank our room mom for organzing the party and getting everything together. The students are already asking about the gingerbread houses and I know they are going to have a great time!
Thursday, December 22-Last day of school before the winter break.
December 23-January 9-Winter Holidays, No School
Tuesday, January 10-First day back for students!
HOMEWORK
The December homework came home with your child today. Here is an electronic copy if you need it.
Thank you all so much for a terrific first half of the year! You and your children make my job so enjoyable and rewarding! I am really looking forward to our adventures together as a class come January. I wish everybody a happy holiday and safe travels over our winter break.
Mrs. Sheffield :)
