Happy New Year!

We are back and ready to start 2019 strong! Thank you so much for reading with your children over the break; it's amazing how much momentum kids can lose over two weeks when they have gotten out of the routine of reading and counting. Today was the 83rd day of school which means that the middle of the school year is in a couple of weeks! I will start middle of year assessments next week, and we will have our mid-year conferences in February.

Our theme for this January is house and home. We will look at how topography affects the kinds of structures that are used for shelter. Please continue to work on homework, and I will send home a penmanship packet next week. Please review this with your child.

Below are a few snapshots taken before the break- we sure did have a good time!

Upcoming Dates:

• 1/17 trip to library 
• 1/21 MLK Day - no school
• 1/30 100th day of school- class trip to Dollar Tree 

Field Trip Time Change and Report Cards

I apologize for the change, but I was just told that we will need to leave school AT 7:45, so I would plan on being here by at least 7:30 😧 on Tuesday (12/4).

Also, I sent home report cards today; there was some confusion with formatting, so you will notice that there are no grades for specials. However, I didn't want to keep holding back the report cards from you any longer, so you will receive a separate report card with the specials grades when we get them.

Field Trips Next Week

Next Tuesday (12/4) our class will join the lower school for a trip to Marbles Children's Museum in Durham. We plan on leaving promptly at 8:00, so we encourage you to have your child at school by 7:45. The only thing kids will need to bring is a bagged lunch, even if you ordered lunch for them that day.  If you would like to join us please let me know!

Library books are due tomorrow, so if you haven't renewed or returned them, today is the day to do so. If you renew, we will return the books when we go back to the library on Thursday (12/6).

Our class Christmas party will be on Friday, December 14th. We will start with an unveiling of our class book "Christmas Is" at 1:00. This is also the time you can receive the copies of the class book that you ordered.

In the know- November

It's hard to believe Thanksgiving is the week after next! We have a ton of work to get done this month, and not much time to do it; however, everyone has already made significant headway this year. This is such a wonderful class, we have been able to get a lot accomplished and we want to keep that momentum going! Our themes this month are: Native Americans, Pilgrims and barn & forest animals. This month we will be looking at the story of Thanksgiving to tell the things that the same and different between two texts on the same topic. We will also work on both recognizing and using adjectives in our own writing. In math we are using a number line and a hundred chard to explain how to find 10 more or 10 less than a 2 digit number. We will also use strategies to add a 2-digit number to a 1-digit number within 10.

Important Dates: 
11/8- library trip
11/12- school closed
11/20- 11:00 dismissal
11/21-11/23- Thanksgiving break
12/4- Primary and Lower School trip to Marbles Children's Museum (volunteers needed!)
12/6- library trip
12/19- 11:00 dismissal and beginning of Christmas break

A huge thank you goes out to Donna Cumby for planning and executing our Halloween party and Tammy Banas for helping! I know the kids had a ball!

Halloween Party!

We have a lot going on over the next few weeks! This Thursday is a half day, and we will start dismissing at 11:00. Friday there is no school because many of us will be presenting at this year's NCAIS conference at Greensboro Day School. I'm trying to figure out how to share my presentation with you, but PowerPoint and Google Blogger do not play well together! However, if I find a way to do this I will share it with you soon. Halloween is next week, and we are encouraging students to come to school in their costumes (no masks or weapons please). That morning we will go to the library for their harvest celebration, and we will have our class party from 1:30-2:20. We are looking for volunteers to help with this, so if you are interested please email me. A huge thank you to Donna Cumby for planning this fun event for us! Also, library books are due on Thursday, so I would renew them so that there won't be any fines when we return them next week!

Reminders:

• Thursday dismissal is at 11:00
• No school Friday
• Renew library books before Thursday
• email Jon about helping with the Halloween party

Library and Children's Museum Trip

be sure to check your child's backpack this evening because we sent home lots of things today!

1. We are working on our class book "Christmas Is" this week. If you would like to purchase a copy please return completed form ASAP. If you don't want a book please check the appropriate box on the form and return it. 
2. We will take our monthly trip to the library on Thursday. Please make sure your library accounts are current so that your child can check out some books. We will also return our books Thursday when we go. I have gotten back all the books except 2, I will contact you separately if we need those books back from you. 
3. Our class has been invited to join the 3rd and 4th graders on a math field trip to the Children's Museum in GSO. I'm sorry for the late notice about this! We will be off campus from roughly 9:30-12:30. Please send a lunch with your child on Friday because we will not be back on campus in time for school lunch. If you ordered lunch for Friday it will be held for you. 

Library Book Reminder

Please remember to renew your child's library books online at www.highpointpubliclibrary.com or by phone (336) 883-9317. Books are due 9/27, but we will not return to the library until 10/4. I already renewed the books for Dane, Arianna & AJ that were on my card. Also, please be sure you renew your library card if you have not done so already so that we can check out new books next week.

Thanks!