Thanksgiving

Friday, November 18

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope that you have a wonderful holiday and break next week.

Social Studies

Speaking of Thanksgiving, we have been learning about the Wampanoag this week and have been making a model Wampanoag village. Next week, we will start to learn about the Pilgrims arriving and what that first interaction was like. Find out how Wampanoag lived in summer and winter from your student (food, homes, clothing, etc).

Easthampton History Project

We will be interviewing senior citizens about the history of Easthampton in the new year. Next week we will be writing letters to seniors to introduce ourselves and ask some preliminary questions about our town’s history. Brainstorm ideas with your child about what you might ask someone about Easthampton’s past.

Math

We are continuing to build an understanding of multiplication and division using different visual models, equations, and story problems. We are also working on fluency with multiplication facts (most x 0 through x 5, x 10). We have been practicing math facts in a variety of ways. A new way that we started this week is on the computer with the program xtramath.org. Please find a letter in your folder about how your child can practice at home if you have a computer. Each child has their own password, so that letter is important to keep. I will also link the website to our website.

Reading

Some students have joined “book clubs” this week. This is an opportunity for students to read a book at their instructional level with other students and discuss it. They will learn reading and comprehension strategies, as well as getting to practice what we are learning in our making meaning lessons. I am hoping that this will help students stick to books, rather than abandoning them. This will also give the students an opportunity to think more about what they are reading and practice discussing books and their thinking.

Public Library

As you probably know, we go over to the public library every other week to learn more about the library, take out books, and listen to a story. Our schedule changed slightly so we will be going again this Tuesday. There are a few students who have outstanding fines. The library requests that these get paid off before students take out books again. The food for fines project is going on until November 28. You can donate non-perishable food items to the library for $2 off your fines.

Thanksgiving Homework

Read! Read! Read! Students will have a special book log to fill out which they will receive on Tuesday. The spelling words you are getting today are for the spelling test on Friday, December 2.

Book Orders

Book orders are due by Monday, November 21 so I can place the orders and ensure that we get them in by the holidays. You can also order online with our class code: QC3WM.

Yours truly,

Jessica Harwood