The next few weeks....

It's hard to believe that it's almost December! The past few weeks have really flown by, and I want to thank both students and parents for making my transition to the classroom go so smoothly.

December will be a busy month. Here are some of the highlights and focuses for the month:

English

Reading: We will continue to focus on reading strategies to use before, during and after we read a text. We have almost finished our read aloud, "Fish in a Tree" and students will be engaged in a final, culminating task to show their understanding of the text.

Our class' RAZ Kids account is also up and running. In the new year, students will be asked to login at home and read at least one text per week. In addition, students must complete the comprehension test at the end. I will track student progress through the app. To access:

Website: https://www.raz-kids.com -->Kids Login
User Name: kscarfone
Students enter their password and enter the "Book Room" to select a text. 

Writing: Our writing focus has been narrative writing. Students have been learning to add details and adjectives (vivid word choices) to their writing to make it more interesting, while ensuring they include proper sequencing (first, next, then, finally), punctuation and spelling in their final written pieces.

Oral Communication: Students have been refining their oral communication skills through regular class discussions and through their participation in our "Highlight of the Night" and "Genius Hour" presentations. These activities will build student confidence and comfort in front of an audience.

Math: In math, we will continue to develop our problem-solving skills with various real-world measurement tasks. We have been focusing on mass, length and money, and we will slowly move into learning  more about telling time, perimeter and area. 

Science: We have started a new inquiry into Strong and Stable structures. Students seem excited to experiment and build various structures. 

Religion: During the month of December we will be performing random acts of kindness to help us prepare for Christmas. Advent is a season of preparation leading up to the “big day” on December 25th. Through acts of kindness towards one another, for ourselves, and for the environment, we will be preparing our souls for Christ’s arrival. Our acts of kindness will leave us feeling happy, content that we helped others, ourselves, and our environment. We will be excited and energetically charged for the celebration of Christmas, instead of exhausted and stressed. Throughout the month we will also be reflecting on our experiences. Through our reflection we will see the true power of our random acts of kindness.

We are also keeping very busy with various field trips, collaborative craft projects, baking and other activities that will prepare us for the Christmas season and open our hearts to welcome Jesus' arrival.

Wishing you nothing but a wonderful, joyous December!

The Life Skills team