NEWSLETTER

DECEMBER  NEWSLETTER 

      December       12/1 to 12/16   Holiday Food Drive

                             5                      Progress Reports Go Home 

                             10                    Early Release - Dismissal at 12:30

                             22                    School Spirit Day

                           12/24 to 1/5       No School - Holiday Break

KINDERGARTEN

Kindergarten will be very busy this month preparing for the holidays.  We will be talking about the seasons changing and what happens in the winter.  We have been learning about what makes a sentence and will soon start to write our own sentences.  Recently we have learned about blending words together and compound words.  Soon we will learn about syllables.  Thank you all for your support with our classroom care activity for Scholastic.  We surpassed our goal of 100 books in November and are still continuing to bring in our reading logs!  Reading at home is very important and is a great family time activity.

GRADE 1

In 1st grade we have been learning about the special vowel sounds: er, ir, ur, ar, or and ore.  We have also learned about the "schwa sound"  which is a reduced vowel sound in multi syllable words.  It makes short a,e,i and o say the short u in some words.  In math, we have learned about double facts and adding 1 to a number.  We have also been working on ordering numbers, graphing and writing number sentences.  Please continue to read the decodable books at home each night and return the math homework as well.  It is getting colder so please send your child to school in warm coats, hits and mittens.  The playground can get very windy and students are not allowed to go to recess without a jacket.  Thank you for all your support.

GRADE 2

Second grade has switched from learning things in science to our new social studies program.  In this new program, we are learning about our community and living in a neighborhood.  Next we will learn about our earth and its natural resources.  Happy Holidays!

GRADE 3

Now that it is quite chilly outside, pl,ease be sure that your child has a warm jacket, hat and mittens for playing on our windy playground.  It is almost Christmas party planning time.  We will send home party information soon.  Please practice math facts with your child as often as you can.  Multiplication tables take lots of time and concentration, so please encourage your child to work on learning them.

GRADE 4

We enjoyed meeting the parents at conferences.  We had a great turnout.  In Science we are studying weather and in Social Studies we are learning about the regions of the country.  Our next reading unit will concentrate on U. S. History and government.  We  hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

GRADE 5

Annual Breakfast:  Parents be on the lookout for a letter about this event.  Your children should be bringing this home around December 12th.  We will be requesting that your children contribut a breakfast item.  The breakfast will be  on December 23rd.  Keep Reading:  Mrs. Lord is supervising a program through The Scholastic Book Club and encouraging students to read.  If we reach a goal of 100 books, Scholastic will donate books to a needy school in Arizona.  Let's support Mrs. Lord in this endeavor.  We are half way so lets keep reading.  We have until December 19th.

MUSIC

In December in the music room, K-3 will learn about Kwanzaa, Hanukkah and the Mexican Posada as well as Christmas.  If there is a particular song that your child keeps singing, consider sending in a blank CD - I'll be happy to burn a copy of the song for them.  4th graders are really progressing through our recorder program and we will schedule a recorder concert after the December holidays.  5th graders are reviewing the names of the line and space notes on the treble staff.  They each must play the keyboard for their classmates in a game of Name That Tune.  Our 3rd grade guitar classes continue to shine.  The students who take the time to practice at home are developing into great musicians.

NURSE

We will be collecting food at AES for local families at the holidays from December 1st to December 16th.  A notice will be going home with the students.  Please be sure your student wears a winter coat, boots and mittens when the snow flies as well as in cold temperatures.  If a student wears boots to school be sure to pack sneakers, shoes or slippers to change into at school.  it is unhealthy for a child to be in boots all day.  Wishing you and your families a very Merry Christimas and a Happy and Healthy New Year!

O.T. 

Supervised, safe strenuous play increases body awareness, improves balance, increases awareness of position in space and strengthens muscles.  Get outside and have FUN!

ART

The kindergarten has started art classes this quarter and are having a wonderful time.  They are learning how to use art supplies properly while making projects.  They have made turkeys, colored indian corn and drew pictures of their family.  First graders have made pilgrims and turpkey puppets for the holiday.  Second graders worked very hard on making 3-dementional turkeys, indian corn with kernels painted with their finger prints and a Native American childrens decoration.  Third graders completed their seascapes from decorative paper that they made and then made a place setting on a placemat and drew pictures of what they are thankful for.  Forth graders completed their 5 dot action figure scenes and started their work collage turkeys.  Fifth graders have completed making their paper moccasins from the Northeast Woodland tribes and we will begin making teepee's from the Northwest Coast.

READING/TITLE 1

We are moving right along in reading!  We are continuing to work with your children in small groups to reinforce reading skills and strategies introduced in the classroom. We meet weekly with your child's classroom teacher to discuss progress made and what we will work on next.  Your children are doing a great job with their books at night.  Thank you for taking the time to read with them.  They also have words to study each night.  It will help them remember the words if you have them locate them in the book after they read.  We enjoyed meeting parents on Parent/Teacher Conference Night.  Thank you for being partners with us in your child's education!

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