Important Dates & Reminders

• December 4: Literacy Night / Book Fair 5:30-6:00pm
• December 23-January 5: Winter Break / No school 

What are we learning?

Language Arts

• In December, we will be in our third Language Arts unit called Government at Work. During this unit, students will read fiction and nonfiction texts about the United States’ government and its history. 
  • Phonics: Students will learn the ways to spell long u (u, ew, ue, and u with a “magic” e); students will also learn r-controlled vowels (ar, er, ir, ur).
  • Reading: Students will learn to identify the main topic and important details of a text; students will consider different points of view in a text; and students will continue to use text evidence to support their ideas.
  • Writing:  Students will write a short essay teaching others about a government topic, such as voting, laws, or government workers.

Math

• We will begin a unit on measurement. In this unit, students will learn the following:
  • How to use measuring tools, like rulers, scales, and measuring cups
  • How to measure length to the nearest inch; how to measure weight to the nearest pound; and how to measure liquid volume to the nearest cup.

Science

• We will continue our unit Wondering about Weather. In this unit, students will be 
  • identifying and describing different types of storms 
  • learning about precipitation, droughts, and floods 
  • observing and recording daily weather conditions
  • observing and describing seasonal weather patterns 

Social Studies

• We will be studying three groups of indigenous Americans, the Powhatan of the Eastern Woodlands, the Lakota of the Plains, and the Pueblo of the Southwest. 
  • Students will study each group’s relationship with their environment and how their lives are impacted by climate and resources. We will compare and contrast the three groups and learn about their contributions to America, both past and present.  

Questions to ask your child at home.

• Phonics: Here are spelling words we will be practicing this month
  • Long u words: music, menu, January, few, resume, cue, use, cute, huge, cube
  • R-controlled vowel words:  car, star, march, smart, hard, farm, large, shark, garden, yard, her, never, winter, bird, girl, shirt, third, hurt, nurse, burn
• Reading: 
  • What have you been reading and learning about the United States government? 
  • Teach me about a government topic. (Students will be reading about smoke jumpers, Betsy Ross, government workers, United States symbols, and General George Washington.)
• Math: 
  • Can you estimate the length of (object less than a foot) in inches?
  • Can you estimate the weight of (object) in pounds?
  • Can you estimate how many cups of (liquid) there are?