A big THANK YOU to the parents, especially our wonderful room parent Kristen Porter, for organizing our Holiday Party. We decorated cookies, made jingle bell necklaces, created holiday decorations, listened to stories, and played games.

Everyone had so much fun. We are ready for the holidays!

Please enjoy our party photos

Happy Holidays

Mrs. Toa

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

What a great first half of the year we have had. I have enjoyed seeing the amazing growth in each and every child. I am really looking forward to the second half of the year where the children have their routines flowing nicely and just take off learning at full speed!

SPELLING. When we return after the break, we will be studying long vowel wounds with the help of a “bossy e”! More information to follow.

MATH. Keep practicing basic math facts over the break. Try making up games to practice basic addition.

READING. Keep reading to and with your child over the break. A book is always a great gift!

When we return we will be studying author, Marc Brown. He wrote and illustrated the popular children’s series, Arthur.

WRITING. In January we will begin a new unit called The Craft of Revision. The children will be re-reading stories they have written and adding more details, and dialogue.

SCIENCE. We have been learning about liquids. Some liquids are transparent, some are translucent, and some are viscous!

FINALLY… Farewell to Eric Kim. Eric is returning to Korea after the Winter Holiday. We wish him the best of luck in his new home and school.

Have a safe and relaxing vacation…enjoy some sun or snow, read a good book, and tell someone special, “I love you!”

Regards

Sarah Toa

DATES COMING UP

January 5 Classes resume

January 9 End of quarter

January 16 Report cards

January 26 Chinese New Year

By Laura Dixon

I was at the plane. Some food came.

I was going to Shanghai. I was excited.

I am at shanghai city with my whole family. I feel happy.

By Brandon Sun

yesterday I played pokemon. It was fun.

I tried to kill that pokemon but it was too strong.

and I fell down.

Today we went to visit the grade one classes at Li Ming School. It always amazes me no matter how organized we are, things don’t seem to go as planned, but the trip was a great success of cultures coming together to create friendships.

As we were singing our holiday songs the bell sounded for recess. Many children came out into the courtyard to listen to our singing. With the help of music teacher, Mrs. Tucker, we sang songs, then talked, and smiled, and laughed. The atmosphere was one of friendship and excitement. As the recess ended we went to the classes and handed out our treat bags to each child. The children responded with smiles and “Xie xie’s”. Every year I find this trip to be an eye opener for our children to remember not only how fortunate they are, but at a time of giving how we can be friends with people just by giving with kindness, and speaking with smiles.

Thank you to all the parents that came to help-Jasper’s Mom, Sean’s Mom, Timmy’s mom, and Ben’s Mom.

By Eric Kim

Yesterday I was doing writing work shop. Then I finish three stories.

I was about to write another story but the time was too late!

Ms. Toa said ” Did you finish one story?” I said yes. I think writing is fun.

By Timmy Porter

In last week centers everyone make a mouse collage. It was wierd because everyone was going to that center

It was really fun. Everyone made a different one.

You even got to make a story to go with it.

Dear Parents

Our winter concert was amazing. Thank you to all the parents that were able to come and Thank you to Mrs. Tucker and Ms. Valenti for the amazing music and art. This performance has come from weeks of preparation. It takes a lot of confidence to get up on the stage and perform-I am so proud of our children.

SPELLING. We are continuing our study of word endings. Next week we will have holiday words to learn. Our ‘snap’ words this week are were and one.

MATH. This week I introduced Fact Power to the children. Fact power is the instant recall of sums of 1-digit numbers without stopping to figure them out. Having fact power is like being a good reader. Reading is easier and more  enjoyable if you recognize many words immediately without having to figure them out, The same is true with number facts. Over the next few weeks and months we will be learning some “shortcuts”, playing number games and PRACTICING! My goal is for first grade children, over time, to develop fact power!

READING Our centers are a fun combination of holiday activities. A great website is www.northpole.com I will continue to meet reading groups and I will send books home daily, except for Thursday.

WRITING. We are ready to publish! The children have selected writing that is difficult to read, from the beginning of the year, and a more recent piece. The recent piece is easy to read because we now use spaces, correct spelling, sound out difficult words, write neatly, and add punctuation. These will be displayed outside our classroom

SCIENCE. This week I introduced solids. The children came up with a  list of words to describe solid objects-ask them what the words transparent, opaque, flexible, and rigid mean! We also sorted solid objects and used our knowledge of the properties of solids to construct a tower (See Ken’s paper cup tower). Next week we will look at liquids. (See science slide show in the left-side bar)

FINALLY… We have a busy week coming up…a field trip on Monday,   our winter party on Thursday, and half day on Friday. Maintain regular routines at home, continue to get your child to bed on time, and encourage homework routines. If you are leaving early for the vacation, please let me know.

Enjoy the photos of us packing the Needs and Wants Bags for Li Min Grade One School Children.

Have a great weekend…make healthy choices, read a good book, and tell someone special, “I love you!”

Regards

Sarah Toa

DATES COMING UP

December 15   Field Trip to Li Min School

December 18   Grade One winter party 1:30-3pm

December 19   Start of winter holiday. Half Day

January 5   Classes resume

Just a reminder; Our winter concert is on Thursday and begins at 10:30. Bring your camera!

Today I introduced the children to a new website called Northpole.com. The children had fun playing games, making Santa Disco Dance, and writing letters to Santa. They can also track Santa on Christmas Eve. Just select the website link to take you there: choose from the FREE things to do list at the left side and have fun!!

FIELD TRIP. To end our Social Studies unit, Needs and Wants we will be going on a field trip to our Local Chinese School, Li Ming School, on Monday, December 15. We have discussed how our wants may be different from other peoples’ wants. We will be visiting the grade one classes (Two classes totaling 100 students!) and giving each child a bag of things that we think they may want. If you would like to join us, please let me know by filling out the form that is coming home soon.

FAREWELL I am sad to announce that Trevor Chow is leaving. He is moving to Hong Kong and had to take a place in his new school immediately. We will certainly miss Trevor in our class community, and wish him all the best.

CLOTHING Please make sure your child is warmly dressed for outdoor play, and that coats, jackets and sweaters are clearly labeled with your child’s name.

SPELLING. Next week we continue our study of word endings. The children will be focusing on -ed. The tricky part is that –ed can make three different sounds, listen as you say landed (landĕd) , looked (lookt) and filled (filld)…can you hear the difference? Our snap words are all and out.

MATH. We will be reviewing and assessing unit four next week. We will begin unit five titled Place Value, Number Stories, and Basic Facts.

READING. Centers next week will focus on the Holiday Season. This is an exciting time of year for children, please continue to follow routines at home, including completing homework each evening and reading with and to your child. Our guided reading groups will continue right up until the holiday.

WRITING. Our writing is amazing. I am so impressed at how far each child has come this year. We are preparing to edit and publish ANOTHER piece of writing next week! Also, I am adding a weekly Authors post on my blog. This week we feature Wen-Hsin and Trevor. Keep an eye out for your child’s writing!

SCIENCE. We are beginning a new unit called Solids and Liquids. We will observe the properties of many solids and liquids, comparing how different solids and liquids are alike, and how they are different. We look forward to lots of fun and learning as we explore a world full of  solids and liquids.

FINALLY…Santa’s workshop is coming up next week. This is a place for our students to purchase gifts for his/her family. A large variety of items are brought in for kids to purchase at very reasonable prices.  Please fill out the form that is coming home today and send money in the envelopes attached with it by Tuesday. We will be visiting the workshop on Tuesday December 9.

Have a great weekend…make healthy choices, read a good book, and tell someone special, “I love you!”

Regards

Sarah Toa

DATES COMING UP

December 8-12   Santa’s Workshop

December 8-12   Clothing Drive: donate your used clothes, blankets, and shoes to Li Min School Community

December 11   Holiday concert

December 15   Field Trip to Li Min School

December 18   Grade One winter party

December 19   Start of winter holiday. Half Day

January 5   Classes resume