It's December!

December is here.. Complete with our first real snowfall of the school year! Please make sure to send your children with a pair of shoes to change into once they’ve arrived at school. (Gym shoes if its Monday or Thursday!!) It might also be helpful to keep a spare pair of socks and/or gloves in your child's backpack so the children are comfortable and warm during these upcoming cold days of winter.

Our miniature holiday around the world unit is coming up soon. As Hanukkah has already begun, we read several fun stories about the 'Festival of Lights' including The Chanukkah Guest and Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins by Eric Kimmel. They are such cute stories that incorporate some of the foundation of the holiday. We also started opening the windows of a Christmas Countdown calendar. The children will soon learn that this is a tradition we pull from Germany! (If you do NOT want your child to have the small piece of chocolate from the window on their day, please let me know! Since I hadn’t let you know until today, we have been sending them home in a little zip-loc bag). It will be fun connecting our learning about Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and Christmas to the learning we’ve had several weeks back about the Eid holiday with Mrs. Patel. The children have already begun making comparisons!

Spelling

Being a review week in our reading series, we did not have a formal spelling list. The
children really enjoyed, however, choosing their own words! I was impressed with the
authentic high frequency words they found in their own writing that they decided they
wanted to practice. They also chose some interesting and challenging high interest words! 
I noticed that the children were very motivated to practice these words that they chose
for themselves. I can’t wait to grade the tests today and see how they did!

Next week we will focus on words with the long /e/ sound, spelled e, ee, ea, ey, and y.

Reading

This was our final week of Unit 2, and we took our Unit Assessment. The children participated in independent reading centers as well as their guided reading groups throughout the week. Next week starts Unit 3!

Math

The children worked on “start, change, end” story problems this week. They began by identifying the unit in the story problem. Then, they decided if it was a “change to less” problem, or a “change to more” (addition vs. subtraction.) The children analyzed the thermometer and discussed the differences they noticed between the Fahrenheit and
Celsius measurements.  We determined the appropriate temperatures for freezing – 32ºF, boiling -212ºF, internal body temperature – 98.6ºF, and a comfortable room temperature – 72ºF. (Feel free to review these with your children!) We reinforced the start, change,
end, concept looking at the changes in temperature on a variety of thermometers.

Social Studies

The children’s Landmark Challenge Projects are due on Tuesday. Feel free to bring them in tomorrow. It will be so much fun to watch the children share what they’ve learned about
these historical, symbolic structures in our country with their classmates!

The class carefully read the words of the Pledge of Allegiance this week. We broke it
down into simpler terms, so we would better understand it. The children learned that
every time we say it, we are making a promise to our country- as well as the people who
live in it- to be loyal. We are thankful to be living in a strong country based on freedom
and fairness.

After learning about our city and state government, the children learned about our country’s government this week! We now know that Congress, made up of the Senate and the House of Representatives, helps the President make laws for the country, and is a part of the Legislative Branch. We discovered that the President is the leader of our country, and that he is a part of the Executive Branch of government. Last the children learned that the Supreme Court is the highest court in the country and is a part of the Judicial Branch. We know that the Constitution is a set of laws that everyone in our country lives by, and these rules have been in existence for over 200 years! Ask the children to tell you the three branches of government (drawing a tree might help!) as well as the building in Washington that is associated with each one (US Capitol, White House, and Supreme Court!)

My class is so, so smart!! They amaze me with what theycan show me they've learned!

Holiday Book Exchange

Our next mini-unit will be a study of holidays around the world. As we prepare for our upcoming holiday season, I thought it would be fun for us to have a small gift exchange in our class! Have your child choose a book from home that they have already enjoyed reading.  Help them wrap it up and bring it to school on Friday, December 17^th! We will place all of these old favorites in a bag, and have the children “grab” a new one! 

Coming Soon:

December 13-17: It’s our week to say the Pledge of Allegiance!

December 14 : 3^rd Grade Musical

December 17: Holiday Book Exchange... and Winter Break begins at the end of the school day!