Friday, December 20th

Dear Parents,

I can't believe it is already winter break. This year is flying by so quickly!

First, I would like to say thank you so much for all the wonderful gifts. I feel so blessed to be able to spend each day with your children and so loved by all your thoughtfulness. Thank you.

Literacy:

We have been working on writing opinion paragraphs with and without text support. The kids will finish these when we get back from break.  In reading we have been working on some test taking skills and also active reading strategies for deeper comprehension. The kids are coming along nicely with their skills. I will do mid year reading testing when we return and share the results with you in February conferences.

Math:

We are close to finishing our third unit- Time, Measurement and Graphing. We will do that the week we return from break and have a test on the unit most likely on the Friday we get back. Students' multiplication and division facts are really coming along. They are becoming more and more fluent. I'm so proud of them. Keep practicing those every day!

Social Studies:

We are in the middle of a unit on the Regions of the United States. We have had an overview of the five regions (West, Midwest, Southwest, Southeast and Northeast). When we return, the kids will break into smaller groups to become experts on one of the regions. 

Thank you again for supporting you kids every day, and also thank you for the thoughtful gifts you sent in. I am truly blessed.

Happy holidays and have a safe and restful break. See you all in 2014!! 

(First day back is Tuesday, January 7)

Sincerely,

Mrs. Aisha Galt

Monday, December 9th

Monday, December 9

Dear Parents,

I hope you had a good weekend. The forecast is calling for warmer weather for the rest of the week, so we may get to go outside for recess. Thank you for making sure your child comes to school prepared for cold and snowy weather.  Students are not allowed to play in the snow unless they are wearing boots.

Math Update

Last week, we explored ways to measure things using the customary and metric systems of measurement using inches, centimeters, cups, pints, quarts, gallons, liters, milliliters, pounds, ounces, grams, and kilograms.  You can help your child become familiar with these units of measure by working with measurement together.  For example, you might estimate and measure the length of something in inches and centimeters.  You might use a measuring cup to explore how the cup can be used to fill pints, quarts, or gallons of liquid.

This week , we are learning about time.  This topic is directly connected to home and community and involves skills your child will use often in everyday situations.  Students are reading time to the hour, half-hour, quarter-hour, five minutes, and minutes, as well as describing the time before the hour and after the hour.  Students will also be using clocks to solve problems about elapsed time and learning how to add and subtract time on a number line.

Please help your child read time and find elapsed time.  Ask your child to estimate how long it takes to do activities such as eating a meal, traveling to the store, or doing homework.  Have your child look at the clock when starting an activity and then again at the end of the activity.  Ask how long the activity took.

Thank you for supporting your child with our current math unit.

We would love to see you at our Winter Party, which runs from 1:30 to 2:30 on Friday, December 20^th.  Thank you to our wonderful room parents and to all of you for making this party a success.  

If you have any questions or comments, please call or write to me.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Aisha Galt