Mrs. Tally – December 2, 2013

Dear Families,

Greetings to you!  I trust you had a wonderful Thanksgiving celebrating with friends and family God’s abundant blessings!!   Thanks for all your help in making our blessing afternoon very special. We couldn’t have done it without you, and the children loved it!!!  The program was so fun also!!!

We are entering a wonderful season of the year, JESUS’ BIRTHDAY!!! We have many activities planned in honor of God’s greatest gift.

TOGETHER WE CAN –  This our last week to bring in our contributions for the food drive. It will be benefiting the Pinedale community. Please bring your items to our classroom and we will have a big red bucket to put them in. It is a great opportunity for our children to share with those in need!! We are having a contest between the classes as well,, so let’s work hard for those in need first and maybe even a prize for us at the end. 

LANGUAGE ARTS – We will be working on Leveled Readers during these next two weeks and some will be reading a short chapter book. We continue to stress the who, what, why, when and where of our stories as well as using phonetic skills to blend unfamiliar words.

MATH – We are working on Chapter 4, Money, with counting coins up to $1.00. It would be helpful for you to throw some change out on a table and have your child count it.  We start counting with the coin that has the highest value. They also are now encountering multi step story problems.They will not take a test on this chapter. During the coming months, there will be lots of work with counting money. We also continue to do Math drills at school on a daily basis.  Please make these drills a part of your daily homework routine as well.  It is very obvious who practices at home.  Remember, it is a 4 minute drill and if done faithfully, it helps your student master the facts quickly.  Second Graders should have passed addition facts to 20 by the end of the semester.

SOCIAL SCIENCE –  We will be learning about Christmas Traditions in other countries of the world. 

BIBLE –  Our study this week will be the angel appearing to Mary and how afraid she was because she was so young and not married, learning that God picked her from all the other women to be Jesus’ mother.  She was favored in God’s eyes.We will also start our writing and illustrating “The Story of Christmas.”

SHOW AND TELL – This week will be Team A. Your child may bring something to share two times during the week.

 SECRET ANGEL –  On Friday, we will read the  story “The Last Straw.”  It is about doing acts of kindness and sharing special secret surprises with those we love.We will then draw names and from Dec.8th until Dec. 11th, they will be a secret angel to a special friend.  Your child can draw a picture, write an encouraging note, bring a small sweet treat, pencil, sticker, eraser or any small token that says “I am thinking about you and praying for you.” The children should try to bring something every day.  Then, on Dec.11th, when we have our Birthday Party for Jesus, they will bring a gift (no more than $7.00), for their secret friend and reveal the person they have been blessing. Above all, keep it a secret. They are very excited about this activity.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS – Our class will have a special  gift exchange and celebration honoring Jesus’ birthday on Thursday, Dec.11th . That is the day the children will reveal who they have been blessing. Please do not put on the tag who the gift is for, just who it is from, which will be  your child’s name. There will be a sign-up outside our door for the items needed for our celebration. All are welcome to attend.

CHRISTMAS PROGRAM – Everyone is invited to a “Candlelight Christmas” on Wednesday, December 11th, at the FCS Gym. It will be a wonderful evening of praise to our newborn King!!! The program will be from 5:30 PM – 6:30 PM 

SKATING PARTY – Our school will be going skating on Friday, December 12th at Cal Skate of Clovis.  Please return the form by Friday Dec. 5th indicating your transportation plans for that day .These are due by Friday, Dec. 6th.  This will give me time to set up carpools, if needed. Thank you! The schedule for skating is as follows:

All skating fees for the students are pre-paid through our class account. Parents and siblings that skate will need to pay the $6.00 for each skating session at the door.  Non-skating parents who would just like to come and watch kids skate will need to pay an entrance fee of $3.00 at the door.  Parents that wish to be a spectator at one session and skate at the other session need to pay $9.50.

Roller blades may been worn but they must have flush bolts, (no sharp exposed bolts/screws).  If your skates have a heel brake it must be in good condition, no screw showing.  Roller blades will be inspected by Cal Skate employees and if they do not meet the standards, you will need to use roller skates.Children are free to leave directly from Cal-Skate for Christmas vacation if that works best for you.  School is dismissed at 12:00 PM. 

PEACH BLOSSOM -Please check the handout that comes home on Dec 1st, which includes the requirements  for participating in Fresno State’s Peach Blossom Festival. This is a FCS requirement for all 1st-6th classes. Although this is not due until we come back from Christmas vacation, I strongly suggest you try and choose your poem before January. Your child should begin learning it with parental guidance. We will practice at school as well, after Christmas vacation. This is always a great experience for the children. You need to pick your poem and bring me a copy by Jan. 10th. Thanks for your help!

 Spelling – Lesson 17 – Dec. 2-6 

saw

draw

pause

lawn

ought

paws

taught

bought

straw

thought

because

caught

brought

August

sure

goes