Week of December 7, 2015
______________‘s
Reading Log & Newsletter
Today I read with…
Comments…
Monday:
Tuesday:
Wednesday:
Thursday:
Friday:
Saturday:
Sunday:
I learned about ______________________________
Something really interesting I learned was:
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
______
IMPORTANT DATES and REMINDERS:
The Food Drive will continue
through the week! Our
class goal is to collect over
100 items, so keep them
coming!
We will have a Winter
Celebration on the
afternoon of December
18th. More details to come!
Scholastic Book orders are
due on December 10th.
Orders are guaranteed to
be in by December 18th!
Our second KinderKoncerzt
is Wednesday. We depart
at 9:00 and return around
10:30.
Wednesday, December 9th
is an Early Release Day.
***FLIP OVER 
Week of December 7, 2015
What did we learn last week?
Math: Our Math work this week focused on patterns with plane and solid shapes. Students learned that we can
sort shapes by color, shape, size, and how they move. We stretched our thinking with some fun and challenging
matrix work – the kids did a fantastic job and really stepped up to the challenge. We wrapped up the chapter by
reviewing what we have learned and taking our chapter assessment.
Word Study: Everyone received new sorts and began learning about them. We also checked in on our personal
word wall words and updated the words each student will work on. Our study of blends continued. We are
creating lists of the most common digraphs and blends and working on using them in our reading and writing.
Reader’s Workshop: We launched our nonfiction reading unit and it is a big hit so far! We began the unit
learning about how important it is to study the cover and pictures in nonfiction books. The kids did a great job
looking closely at the pictures in our mentor text to see what they could learn. We also learned that nonfiction
readers stop and think about what they have read to notice what they have learned and to see if they need to
reread for understanding. Chatting about our books is another important skill that we are working on. We
added a chart to the room and to our literacy binders to help us improve our nonfiction retelling skills.
Writer’s Workshop: Nonfiction writing has begun! The classroom has been a flurry of activity during Writer’s
Workshop as students plan and act out the steps in their “How To” books. We learned that it is very important
to tell your reader each and every step they need if you want to teach them something accurately. The kids are
working on writing the exact actions their readers need. I hope you had a chance to help your child complete a
list of things they are experts on – this will greatly help your child be productive during writing time because
they will already have ideas ready to go!
Social Studies/Science: We have been studying families of long ago and comparing how they lived to how we
live now. The kids have been doing an amazing job of thinking deeply about why things are so different as well
as noticing how some things don’t really change. Our Arts Our Elementary resident artist, Squidge Davis,
connected our work with clay to life over time. We were lucky to have Dr. Stadnicki, who happens to be
Simon’s dad, come in and do a great demonstration about handwashing. The kids learned about germs and how
they are passed on to others as well as how they enter our bodies. This lesson reinforced proper handwashing
and helped the kids really understand the importance of it.
Dr. Stadnicki’s germ lesson!