Dear Fish Families:

Thank you for all of the cookie decorating donations coming in. The fish class is lucky to have such supportive parents!

Here is a glimpse of our week:

Writers' Workshop:  We are wrapping up our "writing like scientists" unit. The children picked a piece to publish and we talked about how writers find the big idea before giving their book a title. We will be writing our covers and editing next week.

Readers' Workshop:  Your readers learned that readers re-read books using a storytellers voice. This is how young readers work to develop fluency and expression. 

Literacy: We have learned how to properly form all uppercase letters during our handwriting time. We will begin lowercase letter formation after our December vacation. Using our gingerbread stories, the children are working on sequencing stories. They know that the beginning of the story takes place during the first couple of pages and the end is the last couple. The middle is everything else in between. This is helping them develop re-telling skills.

Math:  We have been working on teen numbers this week. The children know that a teen number is 2 digits starting with a 1 in the tens place. They were surprised to learn that some teen numbers (10,11, and 12) don't have "teen" in their names. That is why we sometimes call teens tricky teens. With the introduction to teen numbers, the children are now using ten frames. We are doing quick looks where the children quickly see a group of dots and need to name the number. They are being given 2-3 quick glances at this point in the year to help them become more comfortable with these larger numbers and groups of dots. I introduced the children to the calculator as a math tool. They enjoyed exploring with the solar panel and reading the numbers on the display screen. They also can find the clear key. 

Visual Arts:  The children have been busy creating gingerkids and gingerbread houses this week. They are really enjoying this unit!  Our winter quilt is up and looks beautiful.

Book of the Week:  The Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett

Song of the Week: "10 Little Gingerkids" 


Up Coming Events:

• Early Release-12/17
• Monday, 12/22 at 2:05 Gingerbread decorating party (families welcome)
• Tuesday, 12/23 Wear your pjs to school day!
• Winter Break- 12/24-1/2
• Word of Week- am
• Handwriting- Uppercase letter review
• Phonics- sh

Happy Weekend,

Kristen