One more week to go!!! We are almost to winter break and everyone is excited. We have tons to do before our well-deserved break. We will be working hard Monday through Thursday and then take some time to celebrate together on Friday. Here is a look at our week ahead:
* Thank you to Christina G. for being our MVP last week. We can't wait to learn more about Bridget this week! There will be no MVP the week we return from break. We will begin again the week of January 14th.
* There will be 3 reading logs that go home with your child over break. One for this week and 2 for the weeks of winter break. All reading logs and the historical fiction book reports are due when we return from break on January 7th.
* There will be no Weekly Folders this week! If there are any immediate concerns, I will contact you during the week to discuss these.
* Friday we will watch a movie during class, as we celebrate filling up our marble jar again. The children will be able to bring in any G-rated DVD's they have from home. We will vote in class to see which movie we will watch. The kids are welcome to bring blankets from home to lay on or cuddle up with, as well as a snack that is "healthy-ish". I told the kids that it doesn't necessarily need to be fruit, veges, etc, however, it can't be straight sugar! :o) Cookies, popcorn, or any other treats are fine. Please make sure that they are tree nut and peanut free!
* The kids will make their big decision about their tribe in social studies this week. We will be using the notes taken from each others' websites to respond to a writing prompt about where your child will move his/her tribe. Feel free to browse through our websites. They are located in the banner on the top of our blog (titled "NA Websites").
* We will do a bit more work with electrical circuits during the beginning of the week. The kids will work to create a circuit with one power source, 2 wires, and a light bulb. We will then experiment with lightbulb holders and using a circuit to create motion and sound.
* We will continue to work with fiction texts this week in reading. The kids will begin to analyze plot and theme. We will be talking about the different forms of conflict in stories and learn how to determine the main message of the text.
* The kids have been busy creating their own products and using some advertising techniques to market their creative merchandise. After presenting these to the class, the kids will create a persuasive essay and put their techniques to work for a debate topic.
* We have A LOT of multiplication ahead of us this week in math! We will practice multiplying two digit by one digit and two digit by two digit problems. The kids will work with both the traditional method of multiplying and the partial products method. I encourage the kids to learn and use both methods and then allow them to use the method they are most comfortable with. I cannot stress enough how important it is for the kids to practice their facts at home!!!! If time permits, we will move on to lessons about big numbers (place value up to the billions), and powers of 10.
* I hope you all have a wonderful winter break and for those celebrating, a happy holiday! I look forward to hearing about the times with family and friends when we return in 2013! Here's to a happy and healthy new year!
--Mrs Galazka :o)
