The Adventures in Mrs. Ripp's Class

Special Notes –

*  Report cards go home this afternoon, please sign the envelope and send it back in for next trimester.  If you have any questions please let me know.

* Hard to believe break is only a week away, we have a great Skype call planned with Chris Grabenstein on Thursday.  He is the author of “Escape From Mr. Lemoncello’s Library” and is very excited to speak to the students. 

*  Friday will also be a fun day with our buddy party in the morning, pizza lunch, and a culminating winter party at the end of the day. 

* Winter party will take place Friday, December 21^st at 2 PM – more details to come.

*  All the students did well at the in school spelling bee, congratulations to Rose who moves onto the district bee. 

*  The only homework over break will be finishing their realistic short story, as well as reading.  I am hoping to load up all of the kids with books and we will set reading goals before the break.  Please help me encourage your child to meet their goals.

* I am getting to the 30 week mark in my pregnancy, which means I will be going to more appointments.  I will try to schedule these as much outside of the day as possible.

*  My maternity sub position will hopefully be posted soon, I will keep you all updated as to who the lucky person will be.  I plan on working until my due date of February 23^rd and then returning April 14^th.  It will be hard for me to stay away.

*  We were sad to hear that one of our former para’s passed away.  Cindy Leary worked here for the past 2 years and will be missed.

* Thea is actively pointing at every single toy she sees and asking Santa to get it for her, particular anything pink and sparkly.  We love the holidays and cannot wait to see her face on Christmas. 

* I have some dates for you to put on your calendars: Pizza lunch on Friday, December 20^th, Winter Party Friday, December 20^th 2 PM, and winter break is from December 21st through January 1st.

Math – We are almost done with unit 5, my favorite unit, and will have the test after break.  We will also celebrate the end of the unit with a pizza lunch on Friday.  Please send in $3 with your child to cover lunch.  The next unit is about collecting and processing data.

Science – We have been working with our models and maps and know will create models of the erosion of the Grand Canyon.  I am thinking up ideas for a culminating project that will engage the students, hopefully inspiration will hit soon.

Social Studies – We started presenting the explorer projects, I love the wide variety of them and how many students have become experts on their chosen topic.  I am assessing the presentation as well as a peer to give them two different views; the students also create d the rubric they are being assessed with.

Reading – We have been busy with our nonfiction unit and figuring out cause and effect, as well as continuing our work with main idea.  We also did an impromptu lesson on Nelson Mandela and summarized his life.  Next week we will focus on finding as many great book as possible for the winter break, so if your child has any extra books at home that belongs to the classroom, please send them in.

Writing – The realistic short story unit is a short one due to the Yahara River Writers Contest deadline of January 3^rd.  I will, of course, be available to the students for help with editing, revising etc over break as long as they email me.