I LOVE the Christmas season. I can't help it, it is in my blood. Christmas is my mother's favorite time of the year so it was always a BIG deal in my home growing up. And I am not talking about a big deal as in tons of extravegent gifts and such. I am talking about continued family traditions and lots of time spent together.
I shared about some of my favorite traditions with your students this week. I'm sure they sound silly, or even ridiculous to some, but I cannot imagine life any other way - and I wouldn't want to either.
To highlight a few.... my two sisters and I always shared one bed on Christmas Eve (in our matching pajamas that we still open on Christmas Eve night.) One full size bed. And we did this every. single. year. until the Christmas before my older sister got married. I was 21 at that point. My older sister would have been 26, and Mrs. Letterman would have just turned 18. It was a tight squeeze -but it was tradition and it is one that I actually really miss.
We still go out to eat every year on Christmas Eve together as a family. It started years ago on a snowy Christmas Eve night. We had a very hard time finding something to eat after our church service that evening but we had a wonderful evening driving around town, so every year we still hunt for someplace to enjoy dinner together, as a family of 16 now.
Under my parent's tree you will find wrapped presents with very non-traditional names. To confuse any possible peeking children, my mother never puts our names on the presents. Instead, each person is assigned a reindeer name {You know... Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen...) You do not find out which reindeer you are until Christmas morning. She has had to get creative over the years with the additions of spouses and now grandchildren.
Our list of traditions could go on for days. Seriously.
I would LOVE to hear about some of YOUR family traditions. Please feel free to comment below. I am always looking for some new things to add to our holiday fun!
THIS WEEK...
In writing we continued to work on our nonfiction writing. We identified nonfiction text features and learned specifically about their purposes. We wrote some amazing nonfiction teaching books. Next week students will write and publish their absolute best nonfiction book, which will be entered into Mastery Connect.
In math we have been working really hard learning about operations and algebraic thinking. We worked with some missing addend equations, deterimined if equations were true or false, and even starting adding three addends to solve story problems.
Weekly News
I am sending home a math page (front and back) that is an excellent review for our next math test. This math unit is extremely short, so as hard as it is to believe, our next math test is Friday, December 16th! Homework can be turned in for a DO JO point anytime between now and FRIDAY morning.
WINTER PARTY
Don’t forget! Our Winter Party will be at 11:30 on Wednesday, December 21st. We will be eating pizza in our classroom for our party. Each child is asked to bring $2 by Friday, December 16th to help cover the cost of the pizza.
UGLY CHRISTMAS SWEATER DAY
Break out your festive holiday attire! We will be having a school-wide ugly holiday sweater day on Monday, December 19th!
HELPER SCHEDULE
Mon.– Jax
Tues.– Jaxon
Wed.– Landon
Thurs.– Lauren
Fri.– Chyanne