Hello families, This week we have been learning about the Christmas traditions in Germany. The kids have worked through the week to learn more about adventskranz and how they're used during the holiday season, when Christmas trees are put up and why, and traditional ornaments that were used in Germany. Each child got to make their own angel ornament that represents the Christkindl, Our classroom elf, Ms.Snowflake, also delivered each student their own pickle ornament. Please ask your child about the stories behind each of these. Along with our German holiday explorations we have been working hard on our Second Great Lesson. Each grade level has a different Timeline of Life of their own that they are recreating. We have also identified 6 major points on the timeline and are diving deeper into them. The first one was bacteria; each student made their own poster of bacteria including facts they have learned. The second step was studying more about Trilobites. Each child will get to make their own trilobite to take home; this will take a week or to since I only have one small mold. The third point we worked on this week was invertebrates and vertebrates. This vocabulary can be tricky to grasp but the kids did a great job! Ask them to explain to you the difference between the two and then to identify Alaskan vertebrates. They should be able to tell you at least a few! Next week we will move into amphibians, dinosaurs, and mammals to wrap up our studies of this lesson. Our winter benchmarks were completed this week and I was so pleased to see the amazing growth in reading and math across the board. The kids work hard every day and it shows in their assessments and daily work. I am so proud of them for being responsible and focused Montessorians. Starting Monday our cultural focus will shift to Mexico. We will be making pinatas and pointsettas as part of our exploration of their cultural traditions. Please make sure to discuss your family traditions with your child and begin planning a dish that they will bring to class to share on the 22nd. They will be expected to explain what they have brought. A huge thank you to everyone who has sent in supplies for our angel ornaments (salt and flour) and the gingerbread houses. I appreciate your support and the kids would not be able to do as many projects as we do without it! We will be assembling Blessing Bags as a primary team on December 16th. Each class is providing specific items and we will work as a team in stations to assemble the bags. They will then be delivered to a local shelter to help those in need. I am covering the supplies that I have signed our class up for but I wanted you to be aware of this project in the event that your child goes home talking about it. Our goal is to make 200 bags. Important Dates: December 16th- Primary Team Blessing Bags activity December 19th- Mrs.Homan is out for the morning, 9am-noon. December 22nd- Class Holiday Party- Please send in a family dish. December 23rd-January 8th - Winter Break! January 9th- First day back to school. Beginning of the 3rd quarter! Have a great weekend! Christine Homan Our grammar cabinet was knocked over by accident. It has been quite the process putting it back together but also a good lesson on being careful in our environment.A few of the kids have been drawn to the sign language cards recently. It has been so much fun watching them explore the cards and put words and even short sentences together.A third grade student working on the checkerboard. This is a material that is used for multiplication. It is one of my favorite materials in our classroom!
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