I hope the kiddoes had a great time at the 2012 Pajamarama!  Thank you for all of the very thoughtful and generous gifts. I am overwhelmed!  Tonight I'll be drinking fancy tea from a fancy new mug and noshing on homemade goodies from a fancy plate in a beautifully scented room.  I was stunned by the very generous gift cards. I can hardly wait for the after Christmas sales!  Thank you very, very much!
     It was a very hard week to be a teacher and several times I welled up just looking at their innocent faces.  I really do have the best job in the world.  Mark Twain said he enjoyed being with children because it is an honor to spend time with those who have so recently dwelt in heaven.  I think he had that right. Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy, peaceful 2013!

Pajamarama tomorrow!

I hope everyone likes their wreath! I think the kids had fun making them.

Tonight's math homework is a review of arrays with multiplication facts.  Tomorrow the kids will bring home the Topic 3 test.  They can make corrections and return them for extra points. While we move forward in the curriculum to multiplication and division, I will also spiral back to addition and subtraction problem solving so there will be opportunities for continued practice.

Don't forget about the Pajamarama on Friday!  Comfy clothes or pajamas, breakfast in the classroom, games from home, winter crafty activities and fun stuff, a movie in the afternoon.  Anyone who'd like to add to the occasion is welcome to send in party favor type treats for the class.

Today was surprisingly ok!  The kids were pretty subdued for the first half hour or so, but things were back to normal in no time.  Teachers had meetings before and after school to discuss and review procedures for the worst case. I pray we will never ever need to use them.

There is no spelling homework this week! I will assign math tomorrow and Wednesday.  We'll review multiplication concepts when we get back from the break and have a test on Friday, Jan 4th.  We will also be working on a how-to writing piece, taking it from plan to draft, with revising and "publication".  But that's not until next year!
 

By now everyone will have heard about the sickening tragedy at the elementary school in Connecticut.  I hope that parents will have an opportunity to discuss it in the best way for their child.  I am really at a loss about what I can say if children raise the issue next week.  It was very hard to look at our class of happy, sweet, trusting children and know that we all live in a world where such monstrosity is possible.

My heart and most sincere prayers go out to those families.

Today we began working with repeated addition as an introduction to multiplication. I think we are off to a good start.  The reading selection for the week is very interesting! While we read about all kinds of cool bird nests, we are practicing main idea and supporting detail, using text feature to support comprehension, and using context to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words.

Look for news about the party in Friday's mail.  

     Well, we finally got the topic 3 math test done today AND we had a full class for the first time in almost 2 weeks!  Maybe the virus we've been sharing has left the building.  I sure hope so!
     The kids had some fun with a science activity this afternoon. I hope they showed you the material we worked with and could explain what the investigation was about. Basically, it is corn starch and water, but it forms a colloid which has some of the properties of liquid and some of a solid. The students were asked to choose whether it should be called a liquid or a solid and explain why.
     Tomorrow we're going to read an expository piece  about amazing bird nests.  The skill for the week is using main ideas and supporting details to support comprehension.  The question for the week is about how animals and plants adapt to survive.
     We've begun a cool holiday project for Christmas, and some pretty sweet menorahs will arrive home tomorrow.  

Today we practiced spl, str, thr, and squ words from this week's spelling list.  Author's purpose and using predicting to set a purpose for reading will be the focuses of reading comprehension.  We will practice using singular possessive nouns and antonyms. Our question for the week is about finding fair solutions.

In Math, we worked on the last lesson of the topic: drawing a picture to represent a problem, writing a number sentence and solving 3-digit addition and subtraction.  Tomorrow we'll begin reviewing all 10 lessons in the topic on subtraction.

Kids brought home a weekly ELA quiz to be signed.

Tonight's homework is to complete the Practice side of the 3-10 worksheet, read, log, and do a page in the spelling and vocab packet.

Wow, it's December already!  I was in the classroom this weekend to decorate and organize a bit. I hope the kids will like the new look.  We are just about finished with the math topic on subtraction so I'm planning on giving the test late in the week. Our next topic will introduce multiplication, but timed tests will continue with addition and subtraction for all of the 2nd marking period.

If anyone feels energetic and wants to send in latkes, I will be happy to  bring the applesauce for a Hanukkah celebration on Friday.  Just let me know?  I'm afraid jelly doughnuts aren't on the approved foods list. :(

Our winter celebration will be on the last day of school before the break.  It will be a pajama/breakfast party to start the day. with winter crafts and a movie in the afternoon. Kids can bring games and toys from home to share with classmates. No electronics. I'll send home a request for party items as the day draws closer.