Holiday Fun

Aloha Families!  This is our last week before break and we have lots of activities this week!

This week we will be doing lots of activities with Gingerbread.  We will be reading many different  versions of the Gingerbread Man, making gingerbread houses, and even doing a little play called the Gingerbread Baby.

Our spelling words this week are Holiday Words. If your child received 100% on their pre-test this week they do not have any Spelling homework this week.  On Tuesday I will be sending home a fun assignment to create a new suit for Santa.  It is due on Friday, so that students have plenty of time to come up with a fun idea.

On Wednesday the students will be participating in a Holiday sing along in the afternoon.  Ms. Aubrey the music teacher is asking all students to wear something festive like a red, green or white shirt.  Santa hats, or reindeer antlers are also great. Don't forget that Wednesday is a full day of school!

On Friday we will have our Holiday Gift Exchange and will be making our edible Christmas Trees.  After lunch we will be cleaning out our desks and bringing home our work from the semester.

I would like to wish everyone a wonderful Holiday Season and hope you have a joyful, and restful break!

Week of December 3rd

Aloha Families!  This week we will be finishing up our Nocturnal animal reports.  The students will be working on a project to go with the report.  They have their choice of a diorama or poster to show the animal in it's habitat.  If you have a shoe box at home please send it in with your student.  Otherwise they will just work on a poster here at school.

Don't forget this week on Thursday is our school's Tsunami Drill.  Please make sure your child wears shoes for the hike up the hill, and for PE.  You can check the school website for any information you may need.

Last Week Of November

Aloha Families! I hope you had a restful 4 day weekend and a nice Thanksgiving.  November has gone by so quickly and this is our final week of the month.  We will have 3 full weeks until our Winter Break.

This week we will be finishing up out Nocturnal Animal unit and be working our animal reports.  Each student will be choosing a nocturnal animal that they would like to learn more about.   You can help at home by googling your child's animal and reading facts together.  Facts such as habitat, food, enemies, special characteristics or adaptations.  Any other interesting facts that you come across would be helpful as well. This will help them to really understand more about their night creature.

Recently our school gained access to a Math Program called IXL.  This is a program designed for students to gain extra practice in grade level math skills.  If your child needs help or practice in certain math areas such as addition, or subtraction they can practice this specific skill on this site.

 At home your child also has access to the IXL program.  Your child has their own password and can log on anytime.  This is perfect for practicing those math facts and working to improve skills.  Just go the our school website page to login, or click on the picture to take your there.

If you have any questions about the program  please don't hesitate to contact me.

Happy Thanksgiving

Aloha families! I hope you are ready for your big Thanksgiving feast.  This week is a short one, only 3 days. We will be getting out for vacation on Wednesday at 12:45 and return on Monday November 26th.

On Wednesday is our annual Turkey Trot.  We will be outside most of the morning enjoying the activities.  Please make sure your child wears comfortable clothes and their tennis shoes.

This week we will be reviewing skills, so we will have a few worksheets for homework on Monday and Tuesday.  We will not have spelling words this week. Your child should be reading each night for 20 minutes.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving Day and a restful break!

November

Aloha Parents and Families! Can you believe it is already November!! October flew by and I am sure this month will go by even faster.  Some important dates this month include:

November 6th- Election Day-No School

November 12th-Veteran's Day-No School

November 21st-Turkey Trot-Please wear Tennis Shoes

November 22nd and 23rd-Thanksgiving Break

Please mark your calendars

The following are pictures that were taken during this month

We are learning all about Nocturnal Animals, Habitats and Food Chains

Fun Art Projects

Mapping Skills and Receiving Postcards from Friends across the country

Halloween Treats

Thank You!!

This week was very busy and exciting!  On Sunday our Donor's Choose project was funded!!

Thank you so much to all of the families and friends who donated!!  I can't wait to start using this in class.  I'm sure it will be a very popular and sought after item.

On Tuesday we had our Field Trip to the Moli'i Fish Pond on the Kualoa Ranch.  The students learned all about the Ahupua'a and how ancient Hawaiians used this area to help preserve and feed their communities.

 

Beautiful views

 



 We all got to take a boat ride around the pond, which seemed more like a lake!

 

 

These were the gates that keep the fish from going in or out.

 

The students then got to look up close at some jellyfish....

 

They hunted for small fish hiding in the Limu....

 

Learned about some of the plants on the ranch...

 

Hiked through the fruit trees...

 

Observed at the pond...

 

and relaxed after a fun day.

 

I hope the students told you all about it!

 

 

 

 

We Need Your Help

Aloha families!! I hope you are enjoying your Fall Break and are well rested and ready for a new quarter!!  This quarter is an exciting on with all of holidays and activities coming up.  Earlier today I sent out an email informing everyone about a new Donor's Choose project that I had listed this week.

I am requesting a new iPad and a case to protect it, to use in our classroom.  There are so many amazing appplications and ways that we could use it in our class and I know my students would love to use it as a learning tool.  When I listed the project  they gave me a match code-INSPIRE. If you use this code at checkout they will double your donation up to $100 until October 14th.

I just received another email today letting me know that for any Donor's Choose project you can use the code PUMPKIN to have them match your donation until October 15th.  So for our class projects I  believe etiher of these codes will work, but the PUMPKIN code has no set limit. You can donate any amount and they will match it!

Please help me get the word out to anyone who may want to donate to our projects and have them use  these match codes to get our projects funded much faster.

 

Here is the link to our class page.  http://www.donorschoose.org/ms.gandara

 

 

Thank you so much for your help and I look forward to a great 2nd Quarter!!

 

 

 

Wrapping Up

This week marks our last week of 1st quarter.  Things are moving smoothly and we are all ready for a little break before we dive into the 2nd quarter.  Thank you  helping your child find an artifact to bring in  to share about our different cultures.  The kids were so excited to share:)

We will be wrapping up our week with a fun cooking project.  Since September is Hispanic Heritage month and my family hails from Mexico, we will be making salsa on Friday.  We will write out all the ingredients that we will need and then ask for volunteers to bring in the items on Friday.  Check your child's Wednesday envelope for details!