Happy New Year!

I hope that everyone has had a wonderful holiday break, and is able to shovel out of our latest snow storm!  As the break is coming to a close in a couple days, my mind has begun to think of school and what is ahead.  I am excited to get back into the routine of the school day, and even more excited to see all of the learning that will be occurring in the second part of this school year!

As January starts up we will be starting to study the weather.  This will include talking about how and why weather occurs, types of weather, and measuring weather.  I am also hoping that we will have the opportunity to do some different types of experiments that go along with weather and the states of matter.  Also, in January we will continue to study holidays, with Martin Luther King Jr. Day.  

In math we will be continuing to focus on our addition and subtraction facts.  One of our 2nd-3rd trimester goals in math is to know our addition and subtraction facts to 10 fluently.  This means that students will be required to complete a number of facts in a particular amount of time.

In reading we will continue to work through the different reading strategies and comprehension strategies to make us better readers!  By the end of the 2nd trimester students will be required to be at a DRA 14.  Please remember that practicing their reading at home for a bit of time is one of the most important things in solidifying student's reading skills that they have learned during the day.


Thank you again for all of your support this school year!  Below are some important upcoming dates in January!

January 2nd - Back to school
January 6th - First early release day (continues every Monday till March 3rd)
January 20th- Martin Luther King Jr. Day - No school
January 24th - Mid trimester reports come home (may change depending on snow days)

Christmas Around the World

This week we had a chance to experience Christmas Around the world on Learning Ln.  This was a wonderful experience for students to learn about how different people around the world celebrate Christmas in their cultures.  At each country students wrote the name of the country they were visiting, glued the flag into our book, and found that country on the map of the world.  Then they did some type of activity that went along with tradition of that country.  Below is a list of the countries we studied and the activity they did at that country!

Japan - Mrs. Sturk came in and shared about her culture, she also wrote each student's name in Japanese.  Her daughters were kind enough to share with students how to make origami boxes and sumo wrestlers.

Holland - In my room students learned about Holland's traditions.  They then made a paper wooden shoe.  This went along with how children in Holland put out wooden shoes for Santa to put treats in them.

Sweden - In Ms. Johnson's room students learned about Sweden.  In this country to believe in gnomes, and the boys made gnome hats.  The girls made St. Lucia wreaths.  

England - In Mrs. Flanagin class students learned about England.  This is where the Christmas card originated so, students created their own Christmas cards. Also, Mrs. Flanagin was kind enough to make each student Christmas poppers!

Germany - In Mrs. Scorza's room students learned about Germany.  Here they learned about the Christmas tree tradition.  They created Christmas tree ornaments. 

China - In Mrs. Shank's room students learned about China.  Here students learned about the Chinese New Year!  They created New Year's calendars and paper dragons.

Mexico - In Mrs. Shea's room students learned about Mexico.  In this country they had the opportunity to make a pinata.

Count Down to Christmas!

5 Days Till Christmas Break!

This week is full of excitement and fun!  As we count down to break, we will be working on lots of holiday crafts, learning, and activities.  Since Thanksgiving we have been learning about the different holidays celebrated in December.  Here are some of the events that we will be doing this week!

Monday:  Gingerbread baby retell activity. Passport application and making for our Christmas around the world!

Tuesday-Thursday: Gingerbread poem activity and Christmas around the world, starting to visit different countries.

Friday: Christmas celebration - PJ and stuffy day- don't forget to bring them!  We will be having hot chocolate, decorating cookies, and watching the Polar Express.  

Report Card - 1st Trimester

Dear Families,

  Friday report cards came home.  If you have signed up for infinite campus report cards the portal is now open.  However, there were a few problems with the portal.  These issues should be worked out by later this morning.  If you have any questions or concerns about your child's scores please feel free to e-mail me or call the school.  I am very proud of all the work that students have accomplished this trimester.  Also, thank you for the time and effort that you have put into your child's education at home!

                                                      Sincerely,
                                                         Mrs. Saunders

Mr. Jingles the Elf

We have had a visitor in learning lane! One of Santa's elves has come to our hall to check in on us from now until Christmas.  We are having a lot of fun seeing as to where he will show up each day!  The pictures below show us how he first came to learning lane!

Turkey in a trash can!

For Thanksgiving Mr. Dickerson made all the teachers a turkey cooked in a trash can!  Students were able to go outside and see how this works.  Also, they had lots of good questions about how this works, and what need to be done!

Mr. Dickerson answering questions

Quilt Activity

We have been learning about how life was long ago.  One of the fun activities that Mrs. Scorza and I like to do is creating a friendship quilt.  Mrs. Scorza and I bring in some of our quilts from home to talk about how they are created.  Then we share about how long ago they had to have quilting bees to create these beautiful, greatly needed creations.  Then we work on our own piece of the quilt.  Below are some pictures of us working on our friendship quilt.

Arranging our pieces

Friendship Star

Hmm, how should it go?

Our beautiful quilt