Merry, Merry Christmas from the Thomas' and a Happy Happy New Year!

We will be traveling to Iowa and playing in the snow for Christmas.
When we return, we will be celebrating Connor's 1st birthday...my, oh, my how time flies!!!
I hope everyone has safe travels and enjoys spending time with friends and family and remembering what Christmas is all about! :)

Thank you, thank you, thank you first graders at Blount! We collected 69 pajamas!!!

Our Polar Express party was a hit! The children enjoyed the movie while munching away on homemade sugar cookies and sipped on chocolate milk through a candy cane straw!!!

What a busy week in Room 121....until next year!!!

READING

Our letter this week is "k" as in "kangaroo." We will spend some time talking about kangaroos and koalas and comparing them. Our word wall words are couldn't, wouldn't, shouldn't, and think.

LANGUAGE

We will focus on rule 11 ~ Some words take the place of names. (pronouns)

MATH

We will finish this week with Ch. 9, Tables and Graphs, and test Thursday. Look for a review sheet to come home Wednesday night.

SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES

There are crafts to be made so we will spend this week on more fun topics to conclude our holiday season. (Santa, Elves, North Pole, etc.)

IMPORTANT REMINDERS AND DATES
Tuesday, December 13 ~ Spirit Night at Jason's Deli

Thursday, December 15 ~ Holiday Party from 1:30-2:15

Monday, December 19- Tuesday, January 3 ~ Winter Holidays!

Wednesday, January 4 ~ Students Return

*Please think about picking up some supplies for your child over the holiday break. Most of the children are out of glue sticks, crayons and pencils!

It's Beginning to Look Alot Like Christmas...

I hope everyone enjoyed their week off sleeping in, traveling, shopping, and eating. Oh, did I mention that I did manage to sneak away from the house to do some Black Friday shopping with my two sisters! It has kinda become a tradition in my family that we look forward to doing every year and we scored BIG!!!

READING

This week we will focus on the letter "r" as in "rabbit" and "ea" as in "eagle." We will spend some time learning about rabbits and eagles. Our word wall words for this week are want, wants, eat, three and ran. Remember, these words should be easily recognized alone and in text. What a difference this will make in fluency!

LANGUAGE

We will review question words and I will begin mixing the sentences this week as the children will need to be able to tell the difference between a question sentence and a statement sentence. We will continue to review ABC order along with rules 1 through 9. As always, each Friday for a language daily grade, the children will copy and edit sentences from the week so please be sure to review the sentences in their take home folder each night.

MATH

We will finish up with our chapter on subtraction and move right into graphs. Although, we have been graphing throughout the year, this can be a difficult skill for children to grasp so we may spend more time covering this skill!

SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES

Now that December has quickly arrived, we will spend the next three weeks completing some fun activities on the following topics: gingerbread men, reindeer, Santa Claus, elves, the North Pole and much, much more! Stay tuned...

OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION AND REMINDERS

Nancy's Italian Ice will be available tomorrow for $1.00

Wednesday, Nov. 30~Spirit Night at Nancy's Italian Ice

Thursday, Dec. 1~Signed Papers

Wednesday, Dec. 7~Spirit Night at Applebee's

Friday, Dec. 9~Pajama Day and Polar Express Movie (note to follow)

Tuesday, Dec. 13~Spirit Night at Jason's Deli

Thursday, Dec. 15~School Holiday Party from 1:30-2:15

Friday, Dec. 16~Last day of school before holidays!

Wednesday, Jan. 4~Student's return to school

Have a warm week and enjoy the cooler weather!

FYI~With all the fun planned I have for room 121 over the next three weeks, I would love some help having things donated to help make the activities happen. If you would be interested in sending an item or two, please send me a quick e-mail or note in your child's folder so that I can be sure to let you know what you can send and when you can send it! Thanks so much :)

Happy Happy Thanksgiving!

Thank You for all my hands can hold!

Thank You for all my eyes can see!

Thank You for all my ears can hear!

What are you thankful for?

American Education Week ~ November 13-19

On Wednesday, students are encouraged to come to school dressed in their "future career choice." On Friday, students may wear their favorite team shirt. Also, please allow your child to bring in one of their favorite books for me to read aloud to the class!

READING

This week our letter is "c" as in "cat." The word wall words are a, hasn't, isn't, wasn't, and can. Most of our reading activities will focus on Thanksgiving.

LANGUAGE
Our language rule for this week is rule 10 ~ A sentence that asks something needs a question mark at the end. We will continue to review and talk about rules 1-9.
MATH
We will begin Ch. 8, More Subtraction Concepts. I am truly amazed and how quickly the students grasped subtraction. They are always ready for a challenge, eager to learn, and never slowing down! I love it!!!
SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES

We will finish up scarecrows with our yummy "Scarecrow Munch" and move right into talking about pilgrims, indians, the Mayflower, and all the things we are THANKFUL FOR. What a wonderful season!

FYI

Tuesday, November 15 ~ Spirit Night at Burger King (Chantilly Parkway)

Thursday, November 15 ~ Holiday Market at Blount, 5:30

Progress Reports to go home

November 21-25 ~ Thanksgiving Holidays (No School)

Have a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoy spending time with friends and family!

Love, The Thomas'

Happy Happy Halloween!

We had such a fun Friday investigating our ENORMOUS pumpkin! And a BIG thanks to Mrs. Russell for cooking two delicious pumpkin pies for the children to taste!!!

READING
This week we will focus on the letter "i" as in "insect." We will spend Monday talking about spiders and how it is NOT an insect. Tuesday we will talk about insects/bugs and the children will "Build A Bug." The rest of the week we will talk about ladybugs, caterpillars and many, many more icky, sticky, creepy, crawly insects. Our word wall words for this week are did, in, it, this, and sit. Please make sure your child is able to read these word upon sight for the unannounced word wall checks we will be having this nine weeks.
LANGUAGE
We will learn rule 9 this week~Some words name things. (nouns) We will continue practicing all previous rules learned so far this year. Remember, we will have DOL daily grades on their sentences each Friday.
MATH
We will spend Monday doing some fun Halloween math activities/games and start Ch. 7, More Subtraction Concepts on Tuesday. The children will be introduced to related addition and subtraction facts and counting back on a number line. Please continue Math Facts In A Flash at home through Renaissance.
SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES
We will study lots of interesting facts about spiders and other insects along with starting some fun November themes such as scarecrows, Thanksgiving, Veteran's Day, and Career Day. What a busy, busy month we have ahead of us!

THE BLOUNT BOOK FAIR HAS ARRIVED!

Parents, the book fair is located in the library all this week. The children were allowed to preview the book fair on Friday to see what all they can purchase. They were so excited and eager to shop right then. I loved watching them make connections with some of our classroom books and chapter book read alouds!

The children will only be allowed to go this week if they have money. There are lots of great books and other items such as small toys so please talk with your children about what they can purchase. I will not be with them so they will be shopping on their own. Please remember to send their money labeled so it does not get lost or misplaced. Parents are welcome to come and take their child to the book fair. The best time to do this is right after our lunch which ends around 11:30. However, if you cannot make it then, just come when you can!!!

Have a safe night trick or treating~I cannot wait to hear about the children's costumes!

RED RIBBON WEEK

Monday ~ "We Are Proud to Be Drug Free" Our class will make a red chain and sign it to hand outside our classroom door to show we are DRUG FREE!

Tuesday ~ "Sock It To Drugs and Slip Into Good Character" Children wear crazy socks and slippers.

Wednesday ~ "Hats Off To Not Using Drugs" Children wear their favorite hat.

Thursday ~ "We Are Too Cool To Do Drugs" Children wear their sunglasses.

Friday ~ "Team Up Against Drugs" Children wear their favorite team's jersey.

Is everyone ready to start our second nine weeks of school?

READING

Our letter for this week is "w" as in "wind." We will talk about the four seasons: fall, winter, spring and summer. Our word wall words are we, was, don't, off, and right.

LANGUAGE

Children will be introduced to rule 8 ~ The names of holidays begin with capital letters. Please continue to review rules 1-7 as they will still be expected to correct sentences with the previous taught rules.

MATH

We will finish Ch. 4 and test this week and move right along to more Subtraction Strategies.

SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES

We will wrap up our "pumpkin" unit this week! Thanks to Reagan's mom for donating a pumpkin that we will carve and investigate on Friday! :)

REMINDERS AND IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER

Nancy's Italian Ice will be on sale tomorrow so bring in $1.00!

Library Day is Tuesday ~ don't forget to bring your book!

Report Cards will come home on Thursday ~ remember to sign and return!

Have a happy week ~ Kristin :)

Let's go picking in the PUMPKIN PATCH.

Now we're jiggling the old gate latch.

Gate swings wide and we step inside.

Pumpkins spread like an ocean tide.

You take the one like a fat balloon.

I'll take the one like an orange moon.

Hike to the house in fifty paces.

Then we'll carve out the pumpkin faces.

Just a preview of our day at the Pumpkin Patch. More pictures to come...

READING

This week we will focus on the letter "t" as in "turkey." We will share what we already know about turkeys and learn some new interesting facts! Our word wall words for the week are: at, that, open, old, many.

LANGUAGE

The children will be introduced to rule 7 this week, The names of months begin with capital letters. We will continue reviewing rules 1-6. The children have also been introduced to ABC order in their library lessons so I will reinforce that skill in the classroom each week with different activities.

MATH

We tested last week on Ch.3 and the children are ready to keep moving forward. They are catching on quickly to subtraction! We will begin Ch.4, More Subtraction Concepts. Look for a review sheet to come home the night before the test. "Zero the Hero" will be visiting this week for the fourth time this year and I am always curious to see what he brings, be sure to ask your children about this!

SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES

We will spend the rest of this week and next week talking about PUMPKINS. We will talk about the life cycle of pumpkins, bring in our favorite pumpkin recipes to make a class book, have an art activity, and we may even get to taste something pumpkin flavored! :)

REMINDERS

Spirit Night @ Burger King (Chantilly) this Tuesday, Oct. 18th.

This Thursday, Oct. 20th is our FALL FESTIVAL, 4:30-7:30. I hope to see you there!!!

Signed papers will go home on Thursday, Oct. 20th.

Picture money is due by Friday, Oct. 20.

Spirit Night @ Nancy's Italian Ice is Wednesday, Oct. 26th.

Report cards will go home next Thursday, Oct. 27th.

Box Tops are due Monday, Oct. 31st.

Deadline for the Just Give Campaign is Tuesday, Nov. 1st.

PTA meeting will be Tuesday, Nov. 8th.

There will be NO SCHOOL (HOORAY!) on Friday, Nov. 11th.

Happy Fall Ya'll ~ Kristin :)