I am finding it hard to believe that in 12 days, it will be Christmas Eve. The holidays have come upon us so fast! I am sure the children are excited for winter break, family get-togethers, and maybe even some presents. 🎁 If you are leaving town early, please  let me know ahead of time. It will help me plan for our exciting week ahead. 

During this festive week, I usually do not get to immerse myself with a theme across all subject areas. I would typically switch students with another teacher mid-day, which limited some options. Since we are self-contained, though, I thought I would make things interesting this week. We will be learning about some holiday icons and songs this week as we spin our way through the days. We will be focusing on reading comprehension, writing, math review, problem-solving, and team building. Although it sounds like a lot of work, I hope the students will have a lot of fun! Make sure you ask your fourth-grader what our theme of the day was each night!

To look a little further ahead, I wanted to let you know that all the students who do math with me will start fractions after the winter break. I am excited to do some whole-group teaching, and then I will let them continue with their self-paced learning. We will be starting a new novel in language arts, Because of Winn Dixie. And in writing, we will be starting a narrative project that I know will be exciting to read. 

I hope everyone has a great couple of weeks off after this week. Don't work too hard, make memories, and know I will be missing your wonderful children. 

Upcoming Dates to Know:
December 16 - Girls' STEM Club
December 17 - Winter Party hosted by Mrs. Hetman (ELF theme)
December 20 - 31 - Winter Break
​January 3 - School resumes
January 6 - Girls' STEM Club

I am looking back at my notes from last week, and I am in awe over everything we got accomplished! I always over-plan when I think I might have a sub in the room; I don't want to leave the class without anything to do. I planned a lot because I wasn't sure if I had jury duty. As a result, our children got a lot done! I am, as always, so impressed by them!

In language arts, we took a few days to focus on pronouns. The class did great identifying them, using them in a paragraph, and even hopping on them in the hallway! ​😄 

In science, we are using a unit called "Animals Through Time" through Mystery Science. The class has explored a watery cave and discovered fossilized footprints, ash, and skeletal remains deep inside a cave full of water. As we learn about how the planet has changed, we hypothesize how those remains got there. And what exactly they are! They love the mystery!

We took a break from that one day to hear from a geologist in Oregon. Ph.D. student Smitty Thompson zoomed in with hundreds of classes across the United States to share her passions on glaciers, rocks, and climate change. Although it wasn't quite what we expected, we still learned a lot! The @SkypeScientist program has been truly a fun find for the class!  

We also had a great time during our Mystery Location call on Thursday! We worked in two teams to answer their questions about our location and ask our questions about theirs. After about thirty minutes, we discovered that we were on Zoom with a fourth-grade class from Massachusetts. We all enjoyed it, and we want to try it with another school next semester.