Woods Weekly
Week of December 7th-11th
Classroom Happenings
Dear Parents/Guardians,
I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving Break! The kids all came back refreshed and geared up for the next few weeks. It's hard to believe that we only have a couple more weeks until the holiday break! Wow!
Service Project:
Our Student Council is having a supply drive called "The Holiday Food and Household Supply Drive of Awesomeness." It began on Tuesday, December 1st and will continue through Wednesday, December 16th. It will benefit the Valparaiso Schools Back Pack Project and Hilltop Food Pantry. The Valpo Back Pack Project is a mini food pantry housed in all the elementary schools so that the social worker can send home food and household supplies to families in need when necessary.
Items that we will collect are: toilet paper, paper towels, cleaning supplies, toothpaste, detergent, body soap, and shampoo. These are all items that food stamps cannot be used to purchase. Also canned and boxed food will be collected. Thank you for your support!
PTA News:
Sunday, December 13th 12:00 to 4:00 PM Barnes and Noble Fundraiser
Looking for holiday gifts? Please consider shopping at Barnes and Noble on Sunday, December 13th. A portion of all proceeds (including the café!) will go to support Central Elementary. You can shop in person with our school code and shop online. All sales which occur on Sunday, December 13th associated with our school code (Code 11729688) will count towards our total, so please share with your friends and family no matter where they live!
If you are able to come into the local Barnes and Noble, we will have holiday crafts, cookie decorating, and book readings for the children to get in the holiday spirit.
Monday, December 14th at 6:30 PM PTA meeting
The PTA will meet in the cafeteria to discuss spring events. Kids are welcome in the gym.
Kids Holiday Shop
Kids Holiday Shop is coming back to Central by popular demand! Students will have the opportunity to do a little shopping for friends and family. A company that specializes in children's holiday gifts will be used, so all gifts will be reasonably priced ($0.25-$12.00 with most gifts falling within the $1-$4 range.) All classes will have a preview day, so students are able to scout out what is available and see if there is anything that catches their eye. Our class' preview day is Tuesday, December 15th. Our actual shopping day will be Thursday, December 17th. A form will be coming home on Friday, December 11th. If you are interested in volunteering to help out at the Holiday Shop please contact Jenn Campbell at CentralPTA305@gmail.com.
Accelerated Reader:
For the second grading period, AR is going to count for test grades. There will be a grade for reading comprehension accuracy as well as achieving their point goal. Students are well on their way, so I have no doubt that they will be able to achieve their goals.
Book Orders:
The December book order was sent home on Monday. With the holidays just around the corner, this is the perfect time to order. All orders need to be in by Friday, December 11th. This will ensure that they arrive before we leave for break. If you want to order online, please go to: scholastic.com/readingclub and use our class activation code which is NG6FZ. If you decide to fill out the order form, please include a check made out to Scholastic Reading Club. Happy ordering :)
Science
Social Studies
- Europeans in America (Monday)
- The Fur Trade (Thursday)
- The French and Indian War (Friday)
We will be having a quiz on Wednesday that covers information from Chapter 2, sections 1-4. Students will receive a study guide on Tuesday and will have class time to work on it with their table groups. We will go over the answers before the end of class.
Math
- subtraction with unlike denominators
- fractions of time
- improper fractions
- mixed numbers
Reading
We are continuing our novel study of Fish in a Tree. This week, we will be reading and discussing chapters 48-end. We will be working on:
- making connections
- inferring
- comparing and contrasting
- predicting
- Ally, Albert, Keisha, Shay, Jessica, Mr. Daniels, Ally's mom, Travis, and Mrs. Silver
Please review old worksheets to help study. Students have been doing a wonderful job following along, completing their work, and participating in classroom discussions. I know everyone is going to ROCK this test!
Writing
- action verbs
- present, past, and future tenses
- present, past, and future-progressive tenses
- Modal auxiliary verbs (can, may, would, shall, etc.)
After our verb quiz, we will begin working on informational reports. Students will be completing a group project in which they research Christmas celebrations around the world. After they research, groups will create an informational Google Slide presentation to share their information with the rest of the class.
Spelling: r influenced "o"
Students will be tested over all 10 Core Words. Then, I will choose 10 of the Test Words to give them on Friday. For the last word, students have to write the sentence that I say using the spelling word. I take a writing score for their sentence based on spelling, capitalization, and punctuation.
***It is very important that students spend some time each night practicing their spelling words.***
Core Words
corncob
explore
before
corner
ignore
torment
report
boring
orchard
afford
Test Words
hornet
escort
galore
stormy
organ
transport
portrait
adore
fortress
tortoise
transform
florist
chorus
organize
support
Important Dates to Remember:
December 21st-31st: Holiday Break/ No School
January 1st: Holiday Break/ No School
January 14th: End of 2nd grading period
January 15th: No School (Snow Make-Up Day)
January 18th: Martin Luther King Day/ No School
Specials and Lunch/Recess Schedule
Tuesday: Music and Gym
Wednesday: Music and Gym
Thursday: Computers
Friday: Art
Lunch: 12:20-12:50
Recess: 12:50-1:20
Conferences
Contact Information
Email: jwoods@valpo.k12.in.us
Website: http://misskrasclass.weebly.com/
Location: 305 Franklin St, Valparaiso, IN 46383
Phone: 219-531-3030