Thanksgiving!

Dear parents and students,
As our class has spent the last few weeks studying the Thanksgiving holiday I am reminded how grateful I am to have a class full of lovely teachable children and supportive parents.  Thank you for all that you have done to help your kids and myself with our Thanksgiving celebration.  I am so proud of their hard work and it was a joy watching them grow through the process.

I have put the videos of all their presentations on the Social Studies page of this blog.  Your kiddos should have a study guide with questions for each video that they brought home with them. During the break they should watch each video and be sure they can answer all of the questions.  On Monday they will take a quiz on each video that exactly matches the questions we sent home.  (These are questions written by the students that produced each video, which is why some of them are repeated.  Mr. Fishburn and I approved the quiz written by each group before we sent home the questions.)

Lastly, we are on Lesson 14 for spelling when we return from the break.  Preparing a word list for Monday is the only other homework the kids have over break.

Have a great Thanksgiving!
Mrs. Glackin

Week of November 9th

Religion:
We have been working our way through the questions on Baptism in the catechism last week and this week.  Your kiddos have brought up some great questions and discussion topics.  I'd encourage you to talk with them about their own baptisms and how that grace and forgiveness is still alive in them today.

Math:
We have been working on adding money and counting larger amounts of money.  In the next week or so we will be taking on the challenging concept of fractions.  This is brand new concept for the kids and often takes more than just a couple of weeks for them to get the hang of .  Any practical application with fractions like pies, pizzas, hershey's bars, oranges, etc. will help them develop deeper understanding of the concept.

Writing/Grammar:
We have 2 major writing assignments and a couple of smaller assignments that tie into our Thanksgiving Unit.  I have sent home directions for the 2 major assignments:

• Thanksgiving Tradition Essay - 
• The rough draft has been turned in and now each child will self-edit their writing and then conference with me.  If needed they will do a 2nd rough draft. 
•  Final Due Date - Fri. 11/20
• Magic Treehouse: Thanksgiving on Thursday - Book Review
• This was assigned Monday in class and we have read through ch. 7 so far in the book. There are 10 chapters and we plan to be finished reading the book by Thursday.  Mr. Fishburn and I have about 20 copies of the book that the kids can check out if needed.  
• There will not be a required rough draft due date for this assignment, however, I am more than happy to look over what your child has read before the final turn in date.  
• Final Due Date - Wed. 11/18

Our grammar for the next 2 weeks will be integrated into these writing assignments.  We are really working hard on proofreading marks and combining sentences to make them more interesting.  

Reading/Social Studies:

These 2 subjects will be going hand in hand until Thanksgiving.  Your kiddos have been digging into books are other resources to find information on their Thanksgiving projects.  We have been teaching them how to do research, cite sources, and apply what they have read to a project.  They have been working hard! 

Thanksgiving Events: 

Kelly Ritter and Robyn Soetart have been sending out invitations and emails about volunteer sign ups for the the events leading up to our Feast.  If you see them, please thank them for the time they have put into helping Mr. Fishburn and myself.  Here are the ways you can also be involved: 

1. Come join us for the Feast! Thursday Nov. 19th @11 am (Please RSVP by Mon. 11/16)
2. Volunteer as a helper on Pie Making Day - Wednesday Nov. 18th from 1-3pm. 
3. Donate! We need as many families as possible to donate the following items (please sign up outside the classroom or contact Kelly Ritter if you can donate an item or 2): 

2 turkeys (if you would like to donate a turkey but not cook it let me know)

2.    2 volunteers to cook turkeys (only if needed)

3.    3 Green Bean dishes (each should be able to feed 10-12 people)

4.    3 Stuffings (each should be able to feed 10-12 people)

5.    3 Mashed Potatoes (each should be able to feed 10-12 people)

6.    2 Gravy (each should be able to feed 12-15 people)

7.    2 Sweet Potatoes (each to feed 10-12 people)

8.    3 Corn dishes (each to feed 10-12 people)

9.    6 dozen Rolls/Bread

10.  3 Cranberries (each to feed 10-12 people)

11.  10 $6.00 donations for supplies to make pies

*** The above food items will need to be prepared and cooked   

 Have a great week! 

Week of Nov. 2nd

Thanksgiving Unit: 
For the next 3 weeks both 3rd classes will be combining Reading/Writing/Grammar with Social Studies.  This is a unit developed around the First Thanksgiving that will encompass all of the following skills:
Reading to find information
Doing research
Asking deeper questions
Organizing information
Writing and creating to show information learned
Learning about history
Comparing and contrasting things of the past with current day
Presenting
Working in groups
Citing from texts
Comparing fact vs. fiction
Writing a book review
Discussing how God fits into the first Thanksgiving
AND several other things.

Your child is receiving a calendar of events and due dates from now until Thanksgiving break. This should be kept in their Social Studies Binder.   All assignments will be started in class, but the essay and book review will require work time at home.  I have no problem with you checking over your child's work, but please let them work on their own as much as possible.  This should be a showcase of what they know and are capable of.  I will be conferencing with them each before the due date as well.

The majority of this unit will be worked on at school with t  

Important Dates: 

• Monday November 16th - Daniel Boone Home Field Trip (Leave school at 8:30 and return at 2:30) Please dress in warm clothes and be ready for outside weather.  Please also bring a lunch and good walking shoes, possibly ready for rain and mud.  

• Wednesday November 17th - PIE DAY We will be making pumpkin pies from 1-3pm with the kids.  Kelly Ritter and Robyn Soetart will be organizing volunteers to help with this.  We will need about 4-5 parents to help this day.  

• Thursday November 19th - FEAST DAY  in the Webster Gardens Fellowship Hall 11:00 - 1:00 pm(please note this date has changed to the 19th NOT the 20th).  You will be receiving an invitation soon and we ask that you would RSVP with the names of your family members that will be attending.  This is a day that we will be eating and watching your kiddos present their projects.  Please plan to join us!!