Thanksgiving Thought

"The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts. No Americans have been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving."-- H. U. Westermayer

Phonics Fun!

If you are keeping up with our phonics progress through kidmail, then you know that we have covered many letter patterns. Next week we'll learn our second long e pattern. Before we get into that, I want to make sure you're up to date with what we have covered. Students should be able to sound out words with the following patterns (an example is after each one): a_e cake, al walk, -ck back, e_e Pete, i_e kite, gi giraffe, ge page, o_e code, ce race, ci cite, cy cycle, sh ship, th this or thin, u_e mule, wh whale, s as /z/ boys. The students have learned so much! We have over 40 more to learn!

Bazillions of Books

Maybe a bazillion is NOT a number, but one this IS for sure: There will be lots of great books at the book fair next week. They are even setting up a bargain table! Who doesn't love a bargain? This may even be the time to get some Christmas gifts. A book makes the perfect Christmas gift.
The book fair will be open during selected hours from November 9 until noon on November 13. Our class will be allowed to visit and purchase books during our library time on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Subtraction Skills

Our students have some super subtraction skills! We have been working on subtraction for a week now and the students seem to be really comfortable subtracting. Remember, at school we use the "elevator strategy". We start at the smallest number and count UP to the larger number. As we count, we put up one finger for each number. The number of fingers up when we get to the larger number is the answer! Easy! I tell the students if you can count and if you have fingers, you can subtract! If you have any questions about this strategy do NOT hesitate to ask.

Pumpkin Party

Our pumpkin-turkey won FIRST place at the annual Bank of Cleveland painted pumpkin contest! We are all very excited. Because we entered a pumpkin, we were invited to come to an after-hours party at the bank. They will take our picture at 5:00 with our pumpkin. I hope to see lots of my school-friends there!

Awesome Autumn Activities

What are you going to do with your child during fall break? Here are some ideas:
Go on a nature walk.
Do leaf rubbings.
Sort fall leaves and guess the sorting rule.
Count leaves.
Visit the library and check out some books or movies.
Carve or paint a pumpkin.
Make a festive snack. (ex. orange gelatin treats in the shape of pumpkins)
Graph the temperature.
Rake leaves and jump in them (then shower!)
Write a spooky Halloween story.
Be creative!

Events Everyday!

Next week is a busy week. We have "stuff" happening each day!

Monday
Chick-fil-a Spirit Night: Eat dinner at Chick-fil-a. Tell them you are with Arnold. They will give money to our PTO!

Tuesday
Fall Pictures: Come to school looking beautiful (as usual).

Wednesday
Fire Prevention Program: We will be visited by the Cleveland city firefighters. They will tell us what to do with lighters, candles, and such. They will also help us make a plan in case of fires.

Thursday
Parent/Teacher Conferences: If we have a meeting scheduled for this week, I will send a reminder.

Friday
Mrs. Evans will spend her last day with us. It is time for her to go to her next student-teaching placement. It has been so nice to have her in the classroom. She is a great teacher! We will miss her a lot!