Thursday, December 21st, 2017

Dear Families,

As we embark on our winter break and prepare for a few weeks off, we hope all of you have the opportunity to spend some wonderful family time together! Enjoy this time to “recharge” and cherish time with your students! We look forward to seeing students back in 2018 with a renewed energy to learn and grow!

Here is what we’ve been working on in each of our content areas:

Reading: 

This week we finished our first module of books under the theme of “finding courage”. Recently, we read two shorter stories during shared reading. The first, called Operation Clean Sweep, was a historical fiction short story that took place during women’s suffrage. The other, a nonfiction short story, detailed the life of Cesar Chavez and his life-long fight for the rights of workers. Both stories prompted some great discussions focused on the issues of injustice and inequality.

Writing: 

Students recently produced a written opinion response based on the following prompt: Should NFL and other sport teams use the names/images of Native American tribes? After reading several articles which presented support for both sides, students had to support their own opinion with text support in a well-written, cohesive response.

Math:
Our work in unit 4 and its focus on multi-digit multiplication continued. Students should now feel confident in utilizing a variety of strategies to multiply. They are getting quite proficient in being able to decide which strategy is most efficient based on the content of the particular problem.

Social Studies:

We continued to learn about the meaning of the Pledge of Allegiance, as well as how patriotism is shown in our country. After winter break, we will learn about the particular liberties we are fortunate to enjoy in the United States, and contrast these liberties with countries whose citizens suffer without such rights. 

Science:

Our recent learning in science focused on what people can do to protect the Earth’s systems. We studied the different ways individuals, engineers, communities, and governments can protect Earth's systems. In fact, last week we had a fun science investigation where we “mined” for chocolate chips in cookies! The chips represented coal and the cookies represented land in the geosphere that was being damaged by mining. Be sure to ask your student about this fun activity!

Important upcoming dates to remember:

**Thursday, Dec. 21: Last day of school before winter break, winter parties @ 2:00

**Monday, Jan. 8: School resumes

**Monday, Jan.15: No School, Martin Luther King Day


Band Classroom Performance:
Please click on the link below to see our classroom's band students perform!  What a great way to send us off into Winter Break!
Classroom Band Performance

Thank you and have a wonderful Winter Break!

Enzie Pangilinan