Families:
This is a wonderful and busy time of year for all families. We're all excited about the upcoming holiday break and so I wanted to just give you an overview of my thoughts (which are always too long).
With respect to religion
I am a Christian and I share that fact with my students. We do not discuss the core beliefs of Christianity. My position is that the Christmas season is a season of caring and I am modeling that with random acts of kindness. I will be giving your kids small winter themed gifts because I care about them.
We will be doing a Holiday's around the world unit that will include a lot of reading about Christmas, how it is celebrated in several countries. I have selected countries that represent my student's heritage if not their religion and others to highlight the spirit of kindness. We are also learning about other holidays that are not at this time of year to cover a variety of religions. I am writing some of the material myself, so please forgive me for any inaccuracies. They are unintentional. Again my intent is inclusiveness.j
About Santa and elf on the shelf
That is your family's decision. I think love and kindness is a magic all its own. I will not encourage or discourage belief. I will intercede when I think a student is going to ruin the mystery for another.
We will be doing some ELF writing ... and this is not the secular elf who works for Santa. It is an acronym for Empower, Like myself and Focus on Strengths. I think this is a great reflection for kids and will be a nice lead in for setting goals and resolutions in the new year.
Our current Math unit is geometry. We'll start with 2-D plane figures and area and move on to 3-D solid figures in the new year. All kids are great at geometry, but have difficulty with the vocabulary. I plan to get a reference sheet to families before the break, any review in the car games would be appreciated.
In reading we are continuing to think deeper about fictional texts and have started a new readaloud "The Boy in the Girls' Bathroom" which is proving to be much more engaging that our last. There's lots of great vocabulary and description.
In science we have moved from rocks to natural resources and water.
Please, please, please hold your kids accountable for their reading over the long break. They have grown so much since the beginning of the year and it breaks this teacher's heart when they backslide. Reading for children is a muscle and it needs to be used!
