Hello parents!  This is American Education Week!  Monday is Grandparents day and Tuesday will be the official visitation day for K, 2nd, and 4th grades.  You are also welcome to visit our classroom on Wednesday, but please know that our student intern, Ms. Dencler, will be teaching some of the lessons on that day. 

In ILA whole group this week, we are focusing on making connections.  We will read our anthology story called Lemonade for Sale.  In small groups, we will continue our work with making connections as the red gators read Muggie Maggie  and the green gators read The Invisible Island.  

In SPELLING and WORD WORK, we will learn 12 new words with the or, our, or ore pattern.  For Monday nights' homework your child can choose to do Spelling City games (www.spellingcity.com *under the moon click on "find a list" and type in Ritzel and the lists will pop up) or write to sort their words.  We will assess our spelling on Friday. 

In ILA WRITING, we will begin our first block of Writer's Workshop.  This year we have about 4 blocks of 3-5 weeks for Writer's Workshop, where your child will have the opportunity to choose different types of writing.  On Monday, your child will learn more about this time and their responsibilities during during w.w.

In EVERYDAY MATH, we will continue unit 4.  We are working on addition and subtraction.  I will be showing your child many ways to add and subtract two and three digit numbers.  They should be able to explain each strategy, but will be encouraged to choose and use one strategy that works well for them. 

In SCIENCE, we are in our Earth in Space unit.  Did you see the Oreo moons that came home on Friday?  Your child is certainly learning a lot about the moon!  In this unit, we will work on activities to answer four guiding questions:

   1-How does the Sun cause changes on and in the Earth?

   2-How are the Sun and Moon  alike and different?

   3-How does a scientist classify the soil and rocks of the Earth's surface?

   4-How does our Earth's surface change shape?

Snack for the week - Lindsey

Star of the Week- Saxon

Our Holiday party date is now definite!  You are invited to join us on December 19th from 2-3 for a holiday party. 

Ritzel's Lending Library  I am opening up my lending library!  Last year I began to allow my students to take books home from our classroom library and there has been a lot of interest in that again this year.  Your child has been instructed to always sign the book out and put the book into a gallon sized ziploc labeled "Ritzel's Lending Library".  They should return the book to school as soon as they are finished reading it. 

Calling all Mystery Readers...  Are you or a relative of your child interested in reading to our class??? If so, please send me a note or e-mail. 

It was a big week for Mystery Readers as we had both Noel's mom and Laura's mom in to read to the class.  Thanks so much for being a special reader for our class! 

Have a great week!  I know we will in room 16!  Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns. 

Holly Ritzel/ holly.ritzel@hcps.org