Newsletter+for+Week+of+Nov.+30th,+2009

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 Newsletter for Week of Nov. 30th, 2009  toc

**Week in Review** Thank you so much for attending our conferences on Tuesday. It was great to see everyone. If you have any future questions or concerns please feel free to e-mail me for the most timely response. If you feel we need to talk about a specific concern, let me know when it is a good time to call. The children have grown so much in this short period of time. It is very exciting to see. I am so glad that we were all able to spend time with our family and friends throughout these days celebrating Thanksgiving. It just seems to go so fast and then we begin the very busy days approaching Christmas, the birthday of Jesus. In Advent we will be waiting and preparing for Jesus. Each day throughout Advent we will be lighting our Advent wreath and reading verses from the Bible. Throughout the entire school we will be sharing specific stories that remind us of the Catholic traditions of this very special season. The Advent wreath is very symbolic. It is in the shape of a circle to remind us that God's love has no end. The four candles represent the four weeks (Sundays) that remain until the celebration of Jesus' birth. The pink (rose) candle is lit the third week known as Gaudete Sunday, which reminds us that our journey through the Advent season is now half completed and we are approaching Christmas. The lit candles are to remind us of Jesus being the light of the world bringing us out of the darkness on these long winter days. The green boughs are to represent new life and our everlasting faith. We will be learning a new prayer throughout Advent. Come, Lord Jesus! We are waiting for you. Happy Advent! When we return from Thanksgiving break we will begin, //Go Away, Otto!,// which is a story about a little brother who is not doing what he is supposed too. It is a very enjoyable story and it will encourage a conversation about bigger brothers and sisters and how we get along within our families. We will be increasing our vocabulary as well as continuing to work with contractions and the short vowel "o". We will also continue to work on the "naming part" and the "action part" of a sentence.
 * Reading**

Vocabulary for __Go Away, Otto!__
**children...mother...black...come...people...block...family...picture...Fluff...father...your...plan loves...clean...pillows...sorry...visit** = Math = We will be having a very short Math test on Monday focusing on subtraction. When we return we will begin Chapter 7 in which we will focus on addition and subtraction and how they work hand in hand through related facts. Over the Thanksgiving vacation the children will need to ask guests a question and work on a tally graph. It is also a great time to practice the math facts which will never go away, but can be forgotten. All the facts do not need to be practiced daily. Focus on a small pack each week. It is the repetition that promotes memorization. Learning the **doubles** of 1+1... 2+2...3+3...4+4...5+5...6+6 are a great place to start, even while riding in the car or going for a walk. **Doubles + 1** work similarly 1+2...2+3...4+5...5+6...6+7.

Vocabulary for Understanding Addition and Subtraction Concepts
**related facts for addition.....related facts for subtraction.....fact families.....sum.....rule.....strategies.....number line doubles.....doubles + 1.....difference** =**Spelling **= We will be back to our regular spelling units after Thanksgiving. Our first unit will be using the consonant clusters we learned in Reading. We are now adding a challenge word each week that corresponds to the season or curriculum.

**Unit 13: Consonant Clusters dr, gr, tr** **drip .....trap..... drop .....drum..... trip .....grin..... all .....from..... do .....branch..... truck ****.... drink..... great .....drag..... train ..... Advent  **  What Christmas carol is a favorite of parents? Silent Night. What do snowmen eat for breakfast? Frosted flakes.  <span style="color: #ff00ff; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px;"> **<span style="color: #008080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 24px; line-height: 35px;"> Important Dates **
 * Riddles of the Week**

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: left;">Dec. 7th........Class Mass Dec. 8th........Immaculate Conception - Holy Day of Obligation Dec. 9th........"The Savior That God Sent" 9:30 a.m. in Church - First Grade pageant Dec. 17th......Christmas Program, HHS (practice at HHS earlier in the day) Dec. 23rd......Last day of school in 2009 Dec. 24th-Jan, 3rd....Christmas vacation <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">

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