Welcome to Winter Term 2011

January 4th, 2011

Dear Parents,

Welcome back to school! I hope everyone had a happy and healthy winter break filled with rest and relaxation! Winter term is one of my favorite terms of the year. Students are settled into school routines, we all are becoming very comfortable with each other, and the curriculum is very exciting! Here are some curriculum highlights of what your students will be studying during winter term;

Social Studies: Government, Civics and Debate
Science: Micro Worlds
Reading: Biographies, Folktales
Writing: Voice, Scoring Rubrics of Writing Samples
Penmanship: 5th grade students will be using their cursive writing skills on a daily basis throughout the remainder of the school year.

Also this term I am very excited to welcome Tanya Smith to our class. Here is a note from her;

Hi,
My name is Tanya. I'm a new student teacher in Ms. D's class. I'm currently in the UO Teach program at the University of Oregon and anticipate spending half-days in Room 6 through mid-March. I'm thankful to be here and look forward to learning a lot!

Tanya

As always, homework will continue to be sent home on Tuesday each week. It is due the following Tuesday. As much as I like to send all papers home together on Tuesday, I realized the school newsletter is often outdated by Tuesday, so please ask your child for the newsletter each Friday.

This month all students will be required to read a biography chapter book of their choice. Please begin to brainstorm with your student an acceptable biography book, and we will be brainstorming at school also. Students are responsible for creating a puppet representing their famous person by the end of January. More about this homework assignment will come home next Tuesday.

Finally, if you are interested in donating snacks to our classroom we are in need of healthy snacks for winter term. Many thanks to all of you who donated during the fall. Our hungry tummies appreciate you!!! If you have any questions please
don’t hesitate to contact me!

Sincerely,
Ms. DuBois
dubois_d@4j.lane.edu