Friday, December 8th
Spirit Week
Monday
Pajama Day
Tuesday
Sports Team Day
Wednesday
Backwards Day
Thursday
Twin Day
Friday
Workout Day
Capes for Kids
Your children are going to do a charity project next Wednesday, December
14th from 1-2:30. I am hoping that I can get some parent volunteers to help with it.
Please let me know if you are able to help with this project. Nisha Gandhi, one of
our room mothers, sent you a link to the website link for Capes for Kids. If you are
going to show your child the website, please preview it first because there are
some sensitive topics discussed on the website. The website says the following:
Many children play “Superhero” because the messages that Superheroes
“save the day” is everywhere, but Enchanted Makeovers believes it’s not
about calling on “superman” or “supergirl” to swoop in.
It's about calling on our own strength, from within, that we never knew we
had. It’s about the power of our mind, tapping into our imaginations.
It's about putting on our daily armor and believing in ourselves.
Here is a video from the Today Show about this project:
http://www.today.com/video/hope-to-it-capes-make-kids-in-shelters-feel-likesuperheroes-718658115715
Next Week at a Glance:
Reading
Writing
Next week we will continue practicing our reading
skills and strategies with our reading unit called
Nature in Balance.
This week we focused on Irregular Plural Nouns.
We will read continue to read an informational text
called Living Green by Ron Ottaviano. We will
discuss how the information we learn can help us
answer our essential questions:
Some nouns have irregular plurals that don’t
follow the pattern of adding -s.
Example:
Singular
Plural
man
men
child
children


What are the responsibilities of the
individual and society to the health of the
environment?
What are the consequences of being
unconcerned with nature’s balance?
Students will be able to do the following:

I can explain a story by referring to details
and examples in the text.

I can make conclusions about an author’s
meaning by thinking about the details and
examples in the text.

I can make an inference by using clues in
the text and what I know in my head.
Read Aloud: Frindle by Andrew Clements. This
fictional story is about a boy who creates a new
word. The whole 4th grade will be going to see the
Frindle play in March.
In a few cases, the plural noun and singular noun
are the same.
Example:
Singular
Plural
deer
deer
sheep
sheep
Next week we will focus on Possessive Nouns.
1. A possessive noun is a noun that shows who
or what has something.
2. Both singular and plural nouns can be made
possessive.
3. To make a plural noun that ends in –s
possessive, add an apostrophe.
4. To make a plural noun that does not end in
–s possessive, add an apostrophe and –s.
Example:
Singular
Janet
class
Singular Possessive
Janet’s
class’
Example:
Plural
women
sheep
Plural Possessive
women’s
sheep’s
Spelling
The spelling next week is Week 15: Words with a
Final Long e Sound. Students received 2 pages to
complete to practice these words. There is no
menu for December. As always, the lists are
posted on my Winkelman Website.
Students will get the spelling list on Friday and
will be tested on the following Friday.
Social Studies
This week, the students worked hard and learned
the names of the states, locations, abbreviations,
and capitals for the Northeast Region of the
United States. Next week we will start reading
about the landforms of this region.
Math (Core Plus)
We will start Unit 6: Fractions Concepts and
Operations



Big Idea 1 – Fractions with Like
Denominators
Big Idea 2 – Mixed Numbers with Like
Denominators
Big Idea 3 – Multiply Fractions and Whole
Numbers
Next week we will learn:
 Understand Fractions
 Fractions that Add to One
 Add and Subtract Fractions with Like
Denominators
 Mixed Numbers and Fractions Greater Than
1
 Add and Subtract Mixed Numbers with Like
Denominator
Social Emotional Learning
This week, in Second Step: Skills for Social and
Academic Success, we continued Unit 2: Emotion
Management. Our lesson was called Managing
Anxiety. Students learned to:


Identify situations that cause anxiety.
Apply what they’ve learned about calming
down to anxiety-provoking scenarios,
including academic challenges.
Next week, in Second Step: Skills for Social and
Academic Success, we will continue Unit 2:
Emotion Management. Our lesson is called
Avoiding Jumping to Conclusions. Students will
learn to:



Identify emotion-management strategies.
Demonstrate assertiveness skills
Identify and demonstrate positive selftalk statements
Upcoming Events
 Tuesday, December 13 – Winkelman Holiday Store Preview
 Wednesday, December 14 – Winkelman Holiday Store – Student can purchase gifts, so
please send money if you want
 Wednesday, December 14 – Capes for Kids – Charity Project
Thank you for your support at home! Please call, email, or send a note with any
questions. Please visit my school website because it will be a helpful resource for
you.
Mrs. Shames