"We Thank God For Giving Us Every Good Thing."

Psalm 136:1

The children will offer thanks to God this week for His many blessings. By now everyone has had a turn to take home the "Thank You Box". We've listened carefully to when saying thank you is necessary. There are reminders in class every day. We're very thankful to see so many parents join us for morning prayers.

The reading selection is Farfallina & Marcel, animal fantasy. Skill: plot; Phonics: Ff /f/; Grammar: Verbs for now and the past; HF Words: see, look; -ed Word Family: bed, fed, led, Ned, red, Ted, wed. I will assess your child's knowledge of HF words and send home the results. Please review.

I hope that you're reading for the Read Aloud. You need to record at least 15 books for your child to receive a certificate for Pizza Hut. Our goal is 100% participation.

We'll work on ten frames and teen numbers. We'll graph who wore mittens to school and who will eat a jelly sandwich at our teddy bear picnic on Friday. Your child may bring his/her teddy bear to school on Thursday for a sleepover. An invitation will follow. We'll put our bears in serial order, graph the colors, and use a Venn diagram to compare them with our buddies' bears.

We'll begin reading our first chapter book Mr. Popper's Penguins and learn a lot about these winged birds who do not fly.

We're still missing a few Gingerbread Babies. Be sure to stop by and see the display in the hall. They certainly did a lot of traveling!

Homework: Days of the week word search - in the folder. Due: Friday.

More Good News!

I received a $700.00 Field Trip Grant from Target. The class will visit the Planetarium at the Newark Museum in March. I am thrilled and the children are excited. We're off to the stars!
Wanted: Any parents/grandparents/neighbors who would like to "show and tell" their hobby. We'd love to have you. Please contact me. Hobby sharing is scheduled for the week of January 23rd. We'll be sharing our hobbies with each other as well as with our buddies
Reminders
Will you sign up for "Visibility Weekend" at Mass on January 29th?
Items for the White Elephant Sale are welcome. Drop them off in the classroom.
Might you consider being a "Birthday Bash" sponsor next month?
Scholastic book order due by Friday (check or online order)
Time lines due by Thursday, January 26th - Everyone needs to do it!
Star Bands of Service due Monday, January 30th
Save the date: Thursday, January 26th at 2:35 in the classroom for Winter Poems Recitations.
Half and Half Day is also Thursday, January 26th. Info will follow.
Enjoy the rest of the week!

"I Have A Dream..."

Dr. Marin Luther King, Jr.

We'll discuss civil rights as we read about Ruby Bridges, Rosa Parks, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We'll make "Hands of Friendship" showing Peace, Love, and Friends.

Thank you to those of you whose children participated in the Hearts of Kindness Advent Project. I hope that you are working on the Community Service star bands. Please have your child wear his/her star band on Monday, January 30th.

Our reading selection is See How We Grow, a biography of twin sisters. Skill: cause and effect; Phonics: Dd /d/ and Kk /k/; Grammar: verbs that add -s: HF Words: see, look; -et Word Family: bet, get, jet, let, met, pet, set, vet, and wet. Be sure to write the words on index cards for practice and review. I hope that you go over the Phonics Story that is sent home every week as well as the Family Times booklet.

Sixteen children participated in the December Read Aloud, for a total of 237 books read, a drop from November. Good news though - We've read 1,035 books to date. I hope that more of you will participate this month. You should record at least 15 books in order to receive a Pizza Hut coupon.

The Gingerbread Babies are returning from their visit to another state. Only nine have returned so far. They've traveled to California, Maine, Rhode Island, North Dakota, Illinois and NY. We have one lost baby from West 57th Street. Is it yours?

We're working on symmetry and equal parts. We enjoyed "half" of a gingerbread cookie. We used tally marks to see if it would snow this month. Don' t you just love snow days!

Our bag of water (that has been hanging since September) has just about evaporated. We'll be growing a baby duck in water next.

We're learning a lot about bears and comparing real ones to fantasy ones. We'll have a teddy bear sleepover next week. Be on the lookout for an invitation.

Our buddies helped us discover what objects could sink/float in water. This week we'll experiment with things that can be absorbed by water. (We know for sure that paper towels clean up wet spills!)

Homework: Writing prompt: It is important to... Have your child complete the sentence and write another one to support the statement. Writing should be done in pencil, slowly, carefully, and neatly. First/last name on the back. Due: Thursday. The paper is in your child's folder.

Reminders

* We'd love to see your child at one of the masses on Sunday, January 29th, the kickoff to our Catholic Schools Week.

* Please send in your Jingle Bell Jog Pledges.

* Save the Date: Thursday, January 26th, Winter Poems at 2:35 in the classroom. Info will follow.

* Have a good week!