Christmas time is almost here!

Christmas time and winter break is almost here!  We've had fun learning about different winter holiday's and traditions such as Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and Christmas.  While they have their differences, we have learned that all of them include spending time with families, gift giving, lights, food and love.  I hope you all enjoy whatever holiday and traditions you celebrate with your families this month.

Dates to remember:

*Holiday book exchange books due on Tuesday, December 19th.

*The actual book exchange will be on Wednesday, December 20th, due to a 

friend being absent on the 21st  

*Winter party on Thursday, December 21st beginning at 2:20 p.m.

*Kindergarten cozy day (pj's, blankets, pillows) on Thursday, December 21st

*Winter break December 22-January 3rd.  School resumes on January 4th

*December reading logs due on January 4th.  Please keep reading and recording over break to earn that Pizza Hut gift card

A look at our learning...

Fundations: we have now learned the names and sounds for all lowercase letters.  Please hold your child accountable when writing and make sure they are forming their letters correctly.  We will now be using our knowledge of letters and sounds to help us "tap out" words when trying to read and spell.  Ask your child to show you how to "tap out" simple 3 letter words such as cat, sit, mop, etc.  Check the handout in the Friday Folder for more information.

Shared Reading: our new word wall word was said.  This one is tricky because it is not spelled the way it sounds, but it is a word we use often in reading and writing so it is important to know. We read the big book Who, Who, Who? that featured this word.  We also read the poems Santa (sung to the tune of BINGO) and Up on the Housetop to get us in the holiday spirit! 

There will not be a new word wall word introduced next week.

There will not be a spelling test next week.

Please make sure you practice the current word wall words over break to help your child be successful when they return to school in January. 

5-10 minutes a day is perfect!

Daily 5: reading groups have been in full force the last couple of weeks.  Ask your child about the books they are reading during their reading group time.  I pull small reading groups each day during Daily 5.  If your child isn't in that particular reading group, they are working at centers around the room as we have been all year. 

Math: this week we have been fluent, flexible thinkers during math.  One day we had to figure out ways to make hexagons with pattern blocks without just using a hexagon.  We discovered that there are many ways to make shapes with other shapes.  We also applied this same strategies with numbers.  Each child was given one number, 5-9, and 2 different colored snap cubes.  Their challenge was to find as many ways possible to make their given number.  For example:  to make 5 you can have 5 red and 0 green or 4 red and 1 green, etc.  They brought this work home on Thursday.  

Writing Workshop: we are getting better and better at adding more detail to our stories.  I am making it each kiddos goal to try and tell at least 3 things/details in their stories.  Ex:  We put up the Christmas tree.  It has gold lights.  There are presents.  We are also getting better at putting spaces between our words.  Ask your child to tell you about the cool spaceman sticks they get to use to help them with word spaces!

Jack brought us candy canes from Santa today!