1D Newsletter
December 17, 2015
Dear 1D Families,
We had many special events going on in 1D this week. Eli's grandmother came in to share about
Teddy Herms' travels in New Zealand and Australia. We enjoyed a presentation and a special gift!
The children also enjoyed listening to our mystery reader, Mrs. Scheidler, who shared some great
Christmas books!
This week we continued our Christmas Around the World theme with Mexico. We learned that in
Mexico, people celebrate with Las Posadas, which is a parade that reenacts Mary and Joseph's
journey to Bethlehem. Las Posadas lasts 9 days and concludes with a large meal. Another Mexican
Christmas tradition is decorating with poinsettia flowers. We read The Legend of the Poinsettia by
Tomie de Paola, which tells the tale of a young girl's gift to baby Jesus.
In reading we read a few more versions of the gingerbread story including The Gingerbread Cowboy
and The Gingerbread Pirates. As we read different versions, we compare and contrast the
gingerbread characters. The children had fun creating their own book on how to catch a gingerbread!
We worked on several writing projects this week. The students wrote a “reindeer application,” which
was a persuasive piece on why Santa should choose them to be a reindeer. We also wrote a piece for
our 8th grade buddies explaining why they are like angels to us.
For math this week we began Chapter 6. We learned about a counting chart, which we also referred
to as a number grid. We looked at the number grid to see what kinds of patterns are displayed.
Students saw that as you read from left to right, each number increases by 1. They also noticed that
as you look down a column the numbers increase by 10. We will continue to use the number grid for
counting and problem solving throughout this chapter. The new center games we learned this week
were Addition Top It and Puddle Hopping. For Addition Top It, students drew two cards and used
the number grid to add them. In Puddle Hopping, students moved along a game board and used the
number grid to tell 10 more and 10 less than the number they landed on.
Our religion lessons this week focused on Christmas. We discussed the events of Jesus' birthday,
and we also shared ways that we can show God's love during Christmas. The children worked very
hard at all of our rehearsals this week for the Nativity Play. We look forward to performing for you
this evening!
As we approach our Christmas break, I'd like to take the opportunity to thank each of you for a
wonderful year thus far. Each day, I feel privileged to not only help your children learn but to get to
know them as unique individuals! The work that I do wouldn't be possible without your support as
parents and the great staff we have here at IHM. Thank you for all that you have done and continue
to do for your children and for our class! I wish each of you a peaceful and restful Christmas, and I
hope that you are able to cherish wonderful times with your loved ones!
Peacefully,
Miss DeLaney
Ask your child about our learning...
Language Arts


What was your favorite gingerbread story?
Why should Santa choose you as one of his reindeer?
Religion
 Who are the members of the Holy Family?
 How can you share God's love at Christmas?
Math


Name this number...You find
me, when you start at 35 and
count by 10s. I am more than
65 but less than 85. What
number am I?
What pattern do you notice
when you count by 10s? (The
left digit goes up by one and
the right digit stays the
same.)
Dates to Remember
 Thurs. 12/17: Nativity Play 6:30-7:30 (students arrive to their homeroom at 6 p.m.)
 Fri. 12/18: Grand Guest Day: Bring a Christmas book to read with your guest.