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!