I hope everyone enjoyed the Thanksgiving Break!  Your children came back rested and ready to learn!

Language Arts:  This week our sight words were "no" and "go."  We focused on the vowel A. We talked about both the long and short sound that this letter makes as well as learned about the word families 'at', 'am', 'ap', and 'an'. Students practiced making many new words just by adding a letter or two to the beginning of these word families. We revisited the 4 square method of writing when we recalled facts about alligators.  We created a class book about food using nonsense rhymes.  In writer's workshop, we made paper choices and used the offices and idea page as a resource. Next week we will discuss what writer's workshop should look and feel like and continue to practice the writing workshop procedures.I am excited to see writers in action!

Math: We worked on problem solving and number sense with our math wall. We practiced patterns and numeral writing.  We talked about making smart guesses with estimation.  By using a pan balance we experimented with different objects' weights.  Next week we will learn about the nickel. You might want to practice identifying the name and value of coins at home. Counting backwards in the teen numbers is also tricky. Assessing skills for 2nd quarter is not that far off, be sure to be practicing the 2nd quarter skills at home.
  
Science:  We began to learn about nutrition and healthy habits. A fun (optional) activity we will do next week involves our snack time. We are trying to encourage the students to eat healthier snacks as well as to try a variety of foods. As a team, we have come up with a snack schedule for the week. We are hoping the students will embrace this idea and try to eat a snack from a different food group each day. You should have received a yellow note explaining this activity, but in case you didn't, here is the schedule...

Monday Dec. 5 – Grain Group (bread and cereal)

Tuesday Dec. 6 – Vegetable Group
Wednesday Dec. 7 – Fruit Group
Thursday Dec. 8 – Milk Group (cheese, yogurt)
Friday Dec. 9 – Meat and Bean Group

Check out www.choose my plate.gov to learn more about healthy eating.

Notes:  Friendly reminder!  Please have your children practice zipping and snapping winter coats.  We need to get ready for lunch recess and afternoon recess quickly and independence is KEY!  The coat in a coat winter coats prove to be most challenging...practice, practice, practice!  It's only going to get more difficult when snow pants and boots figure into the equation.
Thank you to Mr. Marron for sharing poetry during guest reader.  Thank you to the students who brought pennies in for Willowbrook Wildlife Center (keep those pennies coming.)  Go to www.willowbrookwildlife.org to see how those pennies are helping nature!


Our treasure box supply is running low.  If you have anything to add, it would be greatly appreciated!