WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS!
We began our week of centers with an introduction to the story of the Nativity as we finish our 
studies of the Festivals of Light. The children worked in their theme notebooks, completed handwriting centers as well as a cloze story about the Nativity with Mrs. Waller. Holiday listening centers continue with follow-up activities for each book that is completed.The children listened to This is the Stable, and completed comprehension questions to test their understanding of the story. The students also created their own versions of "'Twas The Night BeforeChristmas". This was a fun activity! We always enjoy reading the stories created by this talented class! Look for them to come home soon. The students have also been studying their spelling words. They have written their words on a snowflake and used these words to write sentences.
Miss Fate introduced subtraction this week in a guided center. To begin with this concept, Miss Fate had the students use markers and pens to cross out the items being taken away. To follow
up, Mrs. Waller read the story Elevator Magic by Stuart J. Murphy. The students used 10 beads on pipe cleaners and manipulated them as the character in the story traveled from the 10th all 
the way to the 1st floor. It was truly a Magic Elevator Ride. They had a blast. Mrs. Waller also used the pipe cleaners and beads to briefly introduce the concept of place value, which is a difficult concept for many students. We will dig deeper into place value when we return from break. Subtraction is going well, we have gotten off to a great start! We continue to use the Abacus to manipulate equations and offer the children a different tool to enhance their learning. It is so fun to watch as their brains work in overdrive to figure out the 
answers! Thursday we pulled the big number line out again so the children could use their bodies to find the answers to various subtraction problems. It was the SHARKS against HOT LAVA! In the end, HOT LAVA won by three points. Your children were such good sports and worked well together during this game!
up, Mrs. Waller read the story Elevator Magic by Stuart J. Murphy. The students used 10 beads on pipe cleaners and manipulated them as the character in the story traveled from the 10th all 
the way to the 1st floor. It was truly a Magic Elevator Ride. They had a blast. Mrs. Waller also used the pipe cleaners and beads to briefly introduce the concept of place value, which is a difficult concept for many students. We will dig deeper into place value when we return from break. Subtraction is going well, we have gotten off to a great start! We continue to use the Abacus to manipulate equations and offer the children a different tool to enhance their learning. It is so fun to watch as their brains work in overdrive to figure out the 
answers! Thursday we pulled the big number line out again so the children could use their bodies to find the answers to various subtraction problems. It was the SHARKS against HOT LAVA! In the end, HOT LAVA won by three points. Your children were such good sports and worked well together during this game!
Miss Fate has been guiding the children as they have created many art pieces this week. You will see them coming home! One craft, which we completed in TNT, included having the students design and assemble their own gingerbread house. They are 
adorable and would be great displayed in your home this holiday season. The students compiled their Christmas lists on Santa's beard, this was great fun. Keep your eyes peeled, there may even be a really cute gift coming home for you! Quotes of the week: Gibbs saying,"Rule number 7 in life....Life can't always be fair!"
A conversation between Ava, Grant & Devin arguing about what color Santa's eyes really are....they are blue! ....no they are green!....Grant says, " I know Santa has green eyes!! I have seen them!! Santa knows everybody!!"
Christmas List of the week by an anonymous writer:
1)I-Pad
2)I-Phone
3)Laptop Computer
4)Laser Lemon Yellow Crayola Marker
We played a game called four corners today with the children... ask them how to play they loved it! As a special treat Miss Fate took the children up to the computer lab for an extra 45 minutes of free choice computer games as a surprise!!
The children did great on their spelling tests!! They all spelled the word "because" right...Yes!! Our cute song worked!!!
Hands-On Science was such fun this week as the children explored the magic of water! Their hands-on experiment included the following materials: 1 water dropper, 1 small bowl of water, 
wax paper, paper towels and one penny. First, we asked the students if a drop of water would stay on top of a penny. Most students responded, "NO". For those that thought "YES", we then had them predict how many water droplets they could get to stay on top of a penny. Most children guessed around 4 or 5! It was amazing! Because of the the cohesion of the water droplets, a surface tension is created and forms a "skin" around the water bubble as more and more droplets are added. We had someone get 65 water droplets on top of one penny! You should try this at home! Check out these MEN AT WORK!
wax paper, paper towels and one penny. First, we asked the students if a drop of water would stay on top of a penny. Most students responded, "NO". For those that thought "YES", we then had them predict how many water droplets they could get to stay on top of a penny. Most children guessed around 4 or 5! It was amazing! Because of the the cohesion of the water droplets, a surface tension is created and forms a "skin" around the water bubble as more and more droplets are added. We had someone get 65 water droplets on top of one penny! You should try this at home! Check out these MEN AT WORK!
Thanks to you for helping your children prepare as they displayed their many talents this year at our talent show. We had ballet dancers, a hockey player, a tennis player, a drummer boy, an artist, singers, piano players, joke tellers, sword fighters, a tap dancer, and two kazoo players. The teachers even gave a short performance as they sang "Jingle Bell Rock"! We had such a good time and the students enjoyed sharing a part of themselves with their classmates!
Thank you also for the great Christmas party! We realize the time it takes out of your day. The kids loved it. Their smiling faces were proof!I
We also took some time to prepare a CLASS TOP TEN Christmas List of things the children love that you might want to get them for home! It includes:
1. The Melissa and Doug Abacus (Mrs. Waller just bought one for her daughter at Brookside Toy and Science, in case you want to know!)
2. Laser Lemon (Yellow) and Emerald Green markers by Crayola
3. 101 Hopelessly Hilarious Jokes by Lisa Eisenberg and Katy Hall
4. 101 Back to School Jokes by Lisa Eisenberg and Katy Hall
5. A dry erase board with dry erase markers
6. Lego's
7. Miss Fate's black chair from Home Depot (make sure it spins!)
8. Books
9. Mad Libs
10. Kid Pix Deluxe a computer art program
Reminders & Info.
-No spelling packet over break, no test the week we get back!
-Books in a bag will not go home this week, we will resume after break!
-Thank you for the generous shampoo shoebox donations our kids loved helping stuff the boxes!
-If you have any books at home that were supposed to go in your books in a bag. Please send them back to school after break. We had many bags with only four books in them instead of five books.
-Our new theme will be Hooray for the U.S.A!!!
*What a great first semester we have had. This is Mrs. Waller's first year teaching first graders and she never realized what a difference they would make in her holiday season! The spirit they bring to the room everyday is unreal. Once again, thank you for sharing your children with us. They can't wait for SANTA to come! ENJOY!
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR! SEE YOU IN 2011!
Love, Miss Fate and Mrs. Waller
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