Week+13

= =  Newsletter for Week of Dec. 2nd, 2013

Our play, "The Savior that God Sent," is now underway as each child has now received their part for the play and costume suggestions. We have been practicing in our classroom this week, but next week we begin practicing in church and putting the entire play together. The following week we will begin adding movement and expression to our parts, along with our simple props and songs.
 * Week in Review ** [[image:ship13.jpg width="250" height="184" align="left"]]An amazing assortment of timelines were presented by the children this week. We were all so interested in hearing about our classmates and their individual history. Thank you so much for encouraging your child to complete their [[image:TL2.jpg width="185" height="134" align="right"]]assignment, for trying their best, and for giving them the opportunity to learn about their own history. We need to thank each of you as well for all you do for us at Lumen Christi Catholic School and for being so involved in your child's school. So many schools would do anything to have a parent involvement population like Lumen Christi. Thank you so very much for supporting our all school food drive for the children and families at Notre Dame Middle School. We will be able to deliver a very Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving to many that have far less than we do.
 * Reading ** [[image:books.gif width="85" height="100" align="left"]]  When we return from our Thanksgiving break, our main story will be Smile, Mike! [[image:vivian.jpg width="247" height="179" align="right"]]Within this selection, we will discussing the long i vowel sound and practice working with the word chunks of -ide, -ike, and -ine. The repeating pattern will also be i_e. We will be growing our vocabulary with many new words also using the same vowel pattern. We will be once again working on story structure, making predictions, and increasing our fluency and incorporating expression into our reading. This story has the format of a play and it will be perfect, as it will emphasize the concept into our "Savior that God Sent" production. We will also be practicing our verbs once again and this week we will concentrate on present-tense verbs. We heard wonderful stories during our Read and Treat. The children enjoyed them and the wonderful snack selected just for us.
 * Vocabulary for Smile, Mike! ** relief...support...connections...typical...possessions ...call...funny...how...more...there...so...finetime...mine  ...Spike...ride...like...hide...healthful food...energy

** Religion **
= =  Within our book, we are now beginning Unit 4 - The Church. We begin so appropriately by saying "yes" to God just as Mary. If we are open to God's invitation we will be welcomed into the kingdom of God. We are all encouraged to participate in our annual food drive and to help those who have far less than we do. There is no better way to say "yes" to God than to show our love for all of God's children. We will have an Advent wreath in our classroom accompanied by a daily prayer service with an interesting treasure. The treasure will reveal a Bible passage that we will read and in turn uncovers a special message from God. We are also trying to "Prepare ye the Way for the Lord" by working on specific goals of sharing the warmth of the season with others and seeing acts of kindness among the children during the Advent season.

= Math = The children continue to improve on their math facts daily as we return to our routine of Mad Minutes, even after our vacation. The children are so excited to reach yet another goal.. Outside of the Mad Minutes I can see a huge improvement in the children just knowing their math facts rather than even relying on strategies for everything. Our new Math unit will consist of learning about greater than (>) less than (<) and equals as we compare numbers, place value and the use of tens sticks and ones units, 10 more, 10 less, expanded form, as well as the constant use of story problems and review of past skills. ** Math Vocabulary ** place value...expanded form...tens place...ones place...is greater than...is less than...is equal to...compare   tens stick...ones unit...strategies...10 more...10 less ** Riddles of the Week **  Why does Santa have three gardens? Because he likes to hoe hoe hoe. What burns longer, a red candle or a green candle? Neither, candles always burn shorter!

Important Dates
 Dec. 2-13th.....Hat, Mitten, and Glove [|Advent Collection] [|LC Connection] [|Chess Club Sign-Up] Dec. 2nd...................Classes resume Dec. 4th....................[|Mad Scientist] sign-up Dec. 5th....................St. Nick Eve. (Dec. 6th-Feast of St. Nicholas) Dec. 5th....................Special Bus Routes p.m. Dec. 6th....................First Friday, out of uniform Dec. 6th....................[|TCBY Give-Back] Dec. 11th..................[|Papa Murphy's Give-Back] Dec. 13th...................Construction of our candy houses for Language Arts Dec. 13th...................Feast of St. Lucy, patron saint of our parish school Dec. 17th...................The Savior That God Sent (First Grade play) 9:30 a.m. Dec. 19th....................LC Christmas Program - Mequon church 7-8:30 p.m. Dec. 20th....................Cousin's Sub Day, Christmas Party Dec. 21st-Jan. 5th......Christmas Vacation Jan. 6th.......................Classes resume Jan. 20th.....................End of 2nd quarter Jan. 20th.....................Map Testing Jan. 26th-31st.............Catholic Schools Week Feb. 5th.......................Next Class Mass