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Upper Elementary Monthly Letter
December 2019
Dear Parents -
December, like November, was a shorter month due to the holiday break. Also like last month, December was still quite productive for the students in room 4.
H
anukkah was on the students' minds so we did much holiday related work. We watched Hanukkah videos, sang Hanukkah songs, worked on Hanukkah math, solved Hanukkah themed puzzles, learned Hanukkah related spelling words, and created Hanukkah crafts.
In addition to continuing our regular math studies, students learned about odds and probability using dreidels. They also created math problems and found ways to illustrate an assigned number as they filled the candles on their
h
anukkiot. I still cannot emphasize enough how important it is to help your child by reviewing the times tables (up to 12) with them. Using driving time is a great opportunity to help them strengthen and solidify their knowledge of multiplication facts.
The class continued daily journal writing or writing challenges, worked on weekly language arts packets, completed assignments in their phonics workbooks, selected independent reading books from the class library, and had weekly spelling homework along with spelling tests. It is important to remember that spelling work is the majority of homework in this class, along with reading for approximately 30 minutes each night. Spelling packets go home on Mondays and students are expected to complete a spelling task sheet each night, turn in the completed sheet the next day, and then fill out and turn in their reading log each Friday.
Students learned about and put into practice note-taking skills when they listened to the story, The Day the Crayons Quit. This is an amusing tale of a box of crayons that each write a letter to the little boy who owns them telling him of their concerns and problems. For example, "blue" expresses frustration at being worn down and now only a stub of a crayon because
it is used so much while "pink" is sad because it is hardly used at all, and "yellow" and "orange" are having a disagreement about which one is the actual color of the sun. As I read the book aloud, the students took notes about the complaints (or excitement, as in "green's" case) of each crayon and they then used their notes to answer questions about the story.
Check the bulletin board in the upstairs hallway for some cute and clever stories written by the students about what life might be like if they were stuck in a snow globe. Alongside the stories are "life in a snow globe" illustrations.
Social studies keeps us busy learning about the U. S. states and where each is located on the map of our country. Now that we have returned from break, the students will soon be assigned a state report to complete, with most of the work being done in class.
In science, we are focusing our efforts on the cardboard arcade that we are building. While it may sound like all fun and games, the students are actually learning much about planning and engineering, as well as about simple machines and energy. On Wednesday afternoons the class excitedly works with Mr. U. (Rebecca's dad) who most recently taught the students about coding. Specifically, the class was introduced to SCRATCH, a coding program created by students at MIT.
In Jewish studies,
The class delved deeper into Hanukkah, using the Holiday Journal books. We learned about ancient and contemporary
heroes and heroines. Some interesting questions were presented, such as how you can be heroic. The students enjoyed making a painted hanukkiah
at the party!
5th graders joined middle school on a special social studies-related project in art. They designed, carved, and painted ceramic reliefs using an ancient Egyptian style. They are quite wonderful.
I hope everyone enjoyed their holidays, however you celebrated them, and even more so, I hope everyone enjoyed some time spent with family and friends. It was wonderful to have nearly everyone back in class, feeling well and rested. As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to me by email (
lsnyder@weizmann.net
) or by calling the office and leaving a message for me.
Kol Tuv,
Mrs. Snyder
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