November 30

We read the story Helping Hands at 4-A and discussed ways the students worked together in their small school community.
In math, we practiced using more position words to tell order. (Alannah)
In writing workshop, we discussed how we should keep our readers in mind and how we can add more details to our writing to answer their questions. (Hailey)
We sorted some of our needs and wants on our own!

Note:
*I've already started receiving emails about Traveling Teddy! I hope you find this to be a fun family activity! We will start talking about him in class in a few weeks.
*Next week we will begin talking about holidays around the world. If you would like to send in a decoration symbolic of a holiday you celebrate please feel free! (ex: Hanukkah menorah, Kwanza kinara, holiday celebrated in China, Egypt, ...) If you have an extra string of lights, feel free to send some in so we can add some twinkle to our room!

November 29

We discussed some tips that will help us figure out when a g & c make a soft sound in a word.
We put the events in order from the story The Farmer in the Hat. (Jeffrey)
We went to the Tech Lab this morning! (Bella)
In math, we talked about using position words to help tell order! (Lia)
We reviewed how we can plan our teaching books by using our fingers when telling our information, sketching and writing our words. (Joshua)
We read the story Pigeon Needs a Bath and identified some of our needs and wants!

Note:
Tomorrow is picture retake day!

November 28

Today we reviewed c and g's soft sounds!
We read the story The Farmer in the Hat and discussed the cause and effect events in the story.
We continued practicing ordinal numbers in math.
In writing workshop, we talked about ways we can get ready to write teaching books on a topic.
We went to an assembly about bullying.
We ended the day reading Pigeon Wants a Puppy and reviewed the meaning of a need and a want.

November 27

This week we will read stories, sing songs, and discuss how a school is like a community.
Our spelling words have a long a sound and a silent e at the end! (Hailey)
In math, we started our new math unit on ordinal numbers. (Sandy)
In writing workshop, we wrote our first information story. (Phin)
We read the story Pigeon Drives a Bus to help us identify his needs and wants!

Note:
*Click on the November's Weekly Newsletters tab above to see more about this week!

November 20

Today was a great day!
We did a lot of different Thanksgiving activities!
We also read Thanksgiving stories and sang Thanksgiving songs.
I look forward to seeing some of you this afternoon and tomorrow at our conference!
I hope you and your families have a great Thanksgiving break.

November 17

This morning we had our Thanksgiving gathering! (Mamdouh)
It was such a great time celebrating together. Thank you to all that helped and/or contributed in any way!
We talked about Traveling Teddy and how we will map the places he goes! (Alannah)
I am giving you Traveling Teddy at our conference! The kids are really excited about them!
We talked about our new math chapter on ordinal numbers and position words. (Corey)
In writing workshop, we wrote our last narrative story! (Zoe)
We went to the Gobble Bowl during specials.
Have a great weekend!

Notes:
*No homework next week!
*Normal school day on Monday 11/20 but no school for students the rest of the week.
*I will see some of you at our parent-teacher conference on Monday and Tuesday!

November 16

This morning we read the story At Home and discussed how we knew it was a literary non-fiction story.
We also read about the first Thanksgiving and put 4 events from the first Thanksgiving in the right order.
In math, we took our Chapter 5 test on shapes and patterns.
In writing workshop, we made covers for our stories and celebrated our writing!
We practiced our Thanksgiving songs for our fall gathering tomorrow!
It was a good day!

Reminders:
*I will see some of you tonight at our conference!
*Please wear yellow tomorrow and bring your food item for our fall gathering!

November 15

Today we created more words with the th and sh diagraphs.
We also built "all" words.
We read the story "Annie Helps Out" and discussed the sequence of the story.
We took a Chapter 5 pre-test to help us get ready for our math test tomorrow. (Andrew) Please check it tonight for homework.
In writing workshop, we worked on revising and editing our favorite story with our writing partners. (Jonathan)
We read about pilgrims in our Scholastic News. (Callie)
We ended the day making little turkeys!

Reminders/Notes:
*I will see some of you tomorrow at our conference. Please check the date/time of our conference.
*Friday is the last day of our can food collection.
*Please wear yellow to our fall gathering and bring your food item that was highlighted on your form by Friday!

November 14

We read the story A Big Fish for Max and put the events in the right sequence! (Huck)

We talked about the "all" sound in words! (Bennett)

In math we made patterns with solid shapes. (Ozzy)

We read about the Wampanoag tribe in our Scholastic News.

Then we told about something we are thankful for this season!

Notes:

*Return your turkey "feathers" when they are completed! The kids are having fun seeing how our turkey is growing when they are returned!

*Thanks for the can donations and fall gathering snacks already being brought this week!
*Please wear yellow on Friday to our fall gathering!

November 13

This week we will read stories, sing songs, and discuss what families do together.

Our spelling words this week have sh and th diagraphs! (Cheyenne)

We read the story No Turkey for Thanksgiving and discussed the sequence of events in the story. (Sandy)

We also went to Tech Lab. (Alannah)

In math, we made patterns with solid shapes. (Sky)

We looked at the story No Turkey for Thanksgiving for any "tricks" the author used to make her story more entertaining!

We ended the day with Mr. Mendell doing another STEM activity!

Notes:

*Click on November's Weekly Newsletters tab above to see more about this week!

*If you have not returned the fall gathering slip, please do asap.

*Please check your calendars for our scheduled conference date/time. I will see some of you this Thursday!

November 10

This morning we took our short u spelling test. (Andrew)
We watched a story about a military family! (Bennett)
In math, we talked about shapes we can see around us. (Jonathan)
In writing workshop, we read the story Night of the Veggie Monster to see if there were other neat things we can try in our stories. (Ozzy)
We ended the day in Hoot singing with our friends.
Have a great weekend!

Notes:
*School pictures are going home today! Check folders!
*I placed Scholastic book orders for those that ordered. I will let you know when they have arrived!
*Tomorrow is the 11th annual Wellness Fair.  The event is from 10 to 1 at Strath Haven high school in the gym.   Everyone is invited, and the event is free.
*If you have not returned the bottom portion of the fall gathering note, please do at your earliest convenience.

November 9

We reviewed rhyming and blending sounds together to make words that rhyme. (Mamdouh)
We read about Veteran's Day in our Scholastic News. (Zoe)
In math, we talked about building with solid shapes! (Lia)
We looked at the story Night of the Veggie Monster to see how the author used verbs to tell us how the characters were feeling in his story. (Corey)
We ended the day discussing how we could honor our veterans.
It was a good day!

November 8

We reviewed how to read words that end with final blends. (Bella)
We read the story Animal Park and talked about the cause and effect in the story. (Sky)
In math, we made pictures and models with different shapes. (Huck)
In writing workshop, we looked at some of the special things the author of the story Night of the Veggie Monster did to make his book special. (Callie)
We watched a video about elections and discussed why we have elections in the United States.

Notes:
*Scholastic book orders are due this Friday if you are ordering books!
*If you ordered a student directory, they are going home today!
*Please return the bottom portion of the Fall gathering note at your earliest convenience.

*I am sending a turkey "feather" for you to decorate! Check folders for it today! Below is a picture of a turkey similar to the one I'd like to have in our class!

November 6

This week we will read stories, sing songs, and discuss what we can learn about wild animals by watching them!
Our spelling words this week have a short u sound and blends! (Bella)
We went to the Tech Lab this morning! (Jeffrey)
We read a story about a fox family. Then we discussed the cause and effect in the story! (Phin)
In math, we talked about the different ways 3D solid shapes can move. (Hailey)
In writing workshop, we checked the sentences in our stories for capitals, spaces between words, and ending marks. (Joshua)
Mrs. DeSanctis ended the day talking to our class about feelings.

Notes:
*Click on the November's Weekly Newsletters tab above to see more about this week!
*There are 2 books in WEB folders for tonight and tomorrow night's homework!
*There is a lot going home today in folders. Please pay special attention to the note about our Fall Gathering. I have highlighted an item for each family to send in. Thanks in advance for your help! 

November 3

We took our short e spelling test!

We watched the story Stellaluna and identified the main idea of the story!

We also labeled the parts of a bat on a diagram!

In math, we talked about solid shapes.

We reviewed how we can spell unfamiliar words in writing workshop!

We sang with our friends in Hoot!

Have a great weekend!

Reminder: Next Tuesday, no school!

November 2

Today we read a new Scholastic News about flying foxes! (Jonathan)

We learned many new facts about this type of bat!

We made our own bat in math by folding our paper evenly! (Callie)

We discussed how we could act out or imagine the stories we are writing in writing workshop.

We did a nocturnal and diurnal animal sort! (Corey)

It was a good day!

November 1

We discussed how to read words with initial consonant blends. (Sandy)
We read the story Get the Egg about 2 kids who find a nest full of bird eggs. (Bennett)
Then we did a story sort!
In math, we compared how shapes are alike and different. (Lia)
In writing workshop, we wrote about the story Pigsty.
We went on a nocturnal hunt in our room and discussed how they use their senses in the night! (Alannah)

Notes:
*If you ordered Scholastic books last month, your child received them today so please check backpacks!
*Today someone had a bathroom accident in our room. I tried to see who it was without any embarrassment but couldn't figure it out. Please talk to your child about any restroom concerns they have. If I'm instructing I ask students to wait UNLESS it's an emergency. Other than that they are free to go. Some of the kids ask to go many times and it seems like some wait to the very last minute to ask. If they have frequent restroom problems, a visit to the doctor may be helpful. Thanks so much for your help with this matter.