Welcome Back!

I hope that everyone enjoyed their Winter Break.  Today the kiddos had a chance to share in our Morning Meeting circle 2 things that they did over break or presents that they got - it sounds like everyone had a wonderful time!  We had an amazing day and everyone seemed to be transitioning easily back into our school routines.

I just wanted to share with you a few things that will be happening this week.

Homework

We will not be having homework this week due to a short week, but make sure to read about what you can do to help support your child in the math section with a quiz on Friday and our spelling words this week in the reading section.

Math

Today we finished up our 2-D geometry unit.  Tomorrow we will be reviewing and on Friday we will have a short quiz.  Your child is bringing home the quadrilateral flap poster that we have been working on during this unit.  I am sending this home for you to be able to use to study at home if you would like to review with your child over the next few days.  In addition to quadrilaterals, your child will be expected to know what a polygon is (a shape that is close with straight sides).  

Your child needs to know the following for the test

• Polygons and be able to determine if different shapes are polygons or not
• Parallel lines
• Parallelograms
• Give names for different shapes

We have also been working on solving 2-digit word problems and on the quiz on Friday there will be a few word problems.

Reading

We are working on getting back in the routine of reading stations this week.  This week's stations include a 30 minute reading block, a reading response (from a list of choices), word study, and a writing station.  This week's word study (spelling words) are all question words: who, what, when, where, why and how.  We talked today that many times that questions words are called the 5 W's but really should be called the 5 Wh's and a bonus H word. :)  We will not have an official spelling test this week like we have had previously but will be having each student generate a list of questions about a topic to help them prepare for our informational research/writing unit.  

Writing

Today the kiddos had a chance to write about their Winter Break.  Tomorrow we will be writing about our New Year's Resolutions.  We will be starting our Informational Research and Writing unit on Friday.

Weather

Brrrrr!  It's cold outside.  We talked about the importance of making sure that we are wearing winter coats, gloves/mittens & hats to school.  We did not go outside for recess today because the wind chill was below 10 but whenever it is warmer than 10 we want the kiddos to be able to get outside and play - so send in everything that they have! :)  Snow is supposed to be coming in tonight through early morning tomorrow - drive safely!

Book It Reading Logs

Please send in completed Book It Reading Logs by tomorrow.  Several kiddos tried turning them in today but they were not complete.  I have sent home January's log with your child today. 

Box Top Competition

We will be having a Box Top Competition in January.  The classroom that submits the most Box Tops will get a special surprise treat.  A collection form went home with your child before break, but you can also send in loose Box Tops.  I am looking forward to LOTS of Box Tops coming in! :)

Have a wonderful evening!