1. Next Week’s Themes Gingerbread Man Christmas Santa The Grinch Holidays Around the World My 5 Senses at Christmas time Stories this week Pete the Cat Saves Christmas Twas the Night Before Christmas The Biggest Christmas Tree My Dad and I December Progress Reports This past week your child was assessed in the following areas: writing name, Letter recognition, sounds, sight words, number recognition 1-20, writing numbers 1-20, counting, and writing when given a topic. This progress report will come home today. Your child will be reassessed prior to report cards going home so please practice areas noted on the progress report. Writer’s Workshop This past week during Writer’s Workshop we had the opportunity to write an informational piece on reindeer. This writing piece will be included in the December writer’s workshop papers coming home next week. Many children wrote about reindeer growing new antlers every year and how they use their hooves and noses to dig in the ground for food. Others wrote about how reindeer like to eat moss. In addition, we wrote a letter to Santa and our elf, Chippey, about what we want for Christmas and why Santa might want to bring these gifts to us. Lastly, we focused on zooming in on small moments just like photographers zoom in when they take a picture. Math We have been continuing to practice our numbers 1-20. We have been continuing to count to 100 by 1’s, 5’s and 10’s. We will continue to measure and describe objects using non-standard units of measurement such as unifix cubes and compare and contrast the weight and length of different objects. You can help your child understand this concept even more by asking him/her if he/she thinks certain objects around your house are lighter or heavier/taller or shorter, etc. Your child could also use a nonstandard unit of measurement such as Cheerios to measure objects around the house. Thank you for completing the Holiday pattern trees with your child! Not only did they decorate our room with Holiday spirit but they also gave us the opportunity to practice patterns each morning. Upcoming Dates December 17 th Make Gingerbread Houses and Gingerbread Man Scavenger Hunt December 18 th Holidays Around the World (Visit different kindergarten rooms) December 19 th Grinch Day….Wear green and a holiday hat **All kindergarteners will receive a Santa hat from their teacher this day! (Shh..This is a surprise!) December 20 th Christmas Party 9:15/Book Exchange in the afternoon December 21 st Polar Express Day Wear Pajamas to school for Pajama Day!! No newsletter will be coming home next week. December 24 th ~ January 1 st No School January 2 nd School Resumes Letter of the Week This week we focused on letters Ll and Vv. We will not be focusing on any specific letters next week. Book Exchange Reminder Just a reminder to send in a wrapped book by Monday, December 17th. (Boys bring in book labeled “boy.” Girls bring in book labeled “girl.”) The book exchange will take place next Thursday afternoon. There are a handful of children who have not sent in a book yet. Word Wall Words This week we added the word “have” to our word wall. So far we have the following words: a, I, the, my, see, like, to, go, and, is, here, for, have Please practice these words at home with your child.