On to Christmas week at school! I spent a little time on Friday setting up a Christmas table in our room. It has my mother-in-law's little ceramic tree in its center, and the beginnings of presents for the children around it. One section of it is reserved for the "Secret Santa" presents the children can begin to bring in on Monday. Please have your child's "Secret Santa" gift here by Wednesday morning! Thanks.
We have a visitor on Monday morning--Dr. VanBuren, the cardiologist, is coming to speak to his daughter's first grade about the circulatory system, and the entire first grade has been invited to attend. Dr. VanBuren did this a few years ago, also, when his other daughter was in first grade, and he did a wonderful job of making something SO COMPLEX so easy for 6 - 7 year-olds to understand. We are very fortunate to have him join us. We will be trying to conduct "school as usual" on Monday and Tuesday, so we will attempt to finish up the circulatory system this week. Then, when we return from our "Holiday Break", we will work on the nervous system and the digestive system. That should have us taking the district Science test on the Human Body before the February break. We also need to finish up the mapping unit during January, so we can work on some history and begin learning about how things have changed since the time of the pioneers.
On Tuesday afternoon, we will take a little time with the other first graders to have a celebration for the chapter book we finished a few weeks ago--The Toy Dance Party! We will be watching a 22-minute, Christmas-themed Toy Story special another set of toys that come alive when "their" owners aren't watching. It should be a happy way to celebrate having shared Toy Dance Party together.
As much as possible, Monday and Tuesday will be fairly regular days of school. Of course, Wednesday and Thursday will not. I did promise that we would not be doing 'little readers' this week, but we will still have Reading class. I have a few holiday books which I have transcribed for the children to read together, and we will finish up on the various blended endings and digraphs during our word work time. When we return after vacation, we will be working on how adding "silent e" changes the short vowel sounds to the long vowel sounds, and will head toward work on the "vowel teams". The Math we do for this week before Christmas will be around several different games I have built that allow the children to practice various math skills in various formats, in preparation for our next district computerized testing sessions. Our next NWEA tests occur in January, and I am expecting/hoping to see a jump in the kids' math scores!
Wednesday morning, the fifth grade will be presenting "Elfis", the holiday play they will be performing for the entire school. And in the afternoon, we will have our Christmas party, beginning at 12:00 with our "Secret Santa" game. Then the children will be opening various gifts I have for them, and then we will eat. Right now, I have one parent who is sending in juice boxes, and one parent who is sending in mini cupcakes. I am bringing in a veggie platter and paper products. If you would like to make a contribution to our party "treats", please send a note in with your child's folder to let me know what I can expect to come in on Wednesday. Thank you.
Thursday is a half-day of school, so what we do will largely involve cleaning up for vacation and playing games or reading together. Lunch will be served at 10:30, and dismissal will happen at 11:30 for the day.
I'm excited for vacation, and I know your child is, too. Please keep him or her reading for at least 15 minutes daily, so they don't forget what we have been doing in school. Any reading, writing (perhaps of "thank you" notes), or math you can involve them with would be a good thing. Relax, have fun, and enjoy this time together as much as possible. You will blink, and they will be grown up.
Peace to you, and Happy Holidays to you and all you love!
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