Post date: Dec 13, 2019 10:20:05 PM

Cultural Heritage: This note was sent home Fri. Dec. 6

Our studies are bringing us outside our city and state to our country and beyond. We are learning about the people, land, and things that make up America. We’re also learning that we are a land of many 1^st peoples and immigrants. As we continue our in-depth social studies unit about cultures from around the world. Much of the unit will involve your child learning about his/her heritage as well as the heritage and other cultures represented by students in this class. To help us out, please write a statement about the main cultures and or countries that your child has in his/her heritage. We’ll be learning about them throughout December. If you have anything that could be shared by you or your child, please let me know about that as well. A more detailed letter will be sent soon explaining plans for the end of the unit.

Child’s Name:_________________________Main culture(s)/country/countries in your child's heritage:

Class Celebration: As a culmination to our studies of the cultural heritages of students in our class, we will have a holiday celebration Thursday morning of next week, Dec 19. We’ll be celebrating cultures around the world with games, crafts, food, or other activities. If you would like to volunteer to help us celebrate, please email me .

Cold Weather: Thank you for remembering to dress your child for being outside at recess with snowpants, coat, boots, hat, and mittens/gloves.

Special Announcement-Holiday Concert: Mark your calendars! The holiday concert is Wed. December 18th at 8:30 am and 12:30 pm. Preludes start at 7:55 am and 11:55 pm. The order of grade appearance is yet to be determined. Remember to arrive early as the gym becomes packed with families early and quickly.

• Congdon Park Shuttle: The Shuttle will be running from Glensheen Parking Lot starting at: 7:30, 7:45, and 8:00. returning right after the program (around 9:45). It also runs 11:30, 11:45, and 12:00 returning right after the program (around 1:45).
• CONGDON PARK FOUNDATION fundraiser: Information went home on the HOLIDAY RAFFLE to win two front row reserved seats and a parking space for the Holiday Concert. ...10 winners chosen. Please send raffle tickets and money back to school by Dec 16th (at the start of school) if you want to be in this raffle drawing. If you need more info go to the Congdon Park web page. All fproceeds go directly to fund the Congdon Park Foundation Mission through granting requests of teachers.

Volunteering: Thank you for those who have volunteered. We still have many opportunities and special projects happening where I could use volunteers. If it works in your schedule, it will work in ours. Please email me if you would like to volunteer for a day or even set a regular day or time to come in (weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, etc.). Good times are between 9:00 and 10:45 and 12:00-1:30.

Reading Comprehension: We are finding text evidence, defining characters, setting, and plot (problem/solution) and looking at sequence. We’re also comparing related texts. This week’s theme is about how plant change as they grow.Reading Vocabulary(oral): bloom, sprout, grasped, assist, spied

Writing: We are doing informative writing (non-fiction) as we write about identifying people, places, and things in our city, state and also our country. Grammar: nouns(naming words), both common and proper as well as plural nouns (regular & irregular), and the difference with verbs( present tense). We may also do more with contractions with not.

Phonics/Spelling: Long “i silent “e”: like, spike, bike, ride, hide, mine, came, make, water, should Challenge: north, south, east, west, heritage, culture Sight Words: green, grow, pretty, should, together, water, ate, brown, good, Oral Vocabulary: neighbors, neighborhood, city, state, country, symbol, continent,

Social Studies: Our theme is learning about where we are in our world and what our heritage is. That helps define our culture and customs. We’ll have opportunities to share this with the class this week, next and into the future. Please see the sheet Tuesday. We’ve gone beyond Duluth to other cities in our state and also Identify what is unique about our state. We’re going to learn more about our country, its symbols, immigration and where people came from other countries. We’ll also learn about the continents. Soc. Studies Vocab. (oral): North, South, East, West, compass, Minnesota, United States of America, symbols, Statue of Liberty, county, countries, continent, immigrate, heritage

Mathematics: Students are learning how to solve story problems and write our own both addition and subtraction. This includes with money. We are practicing showing a proof, equation, answer, and label (PEAL). We're learning how to identify if we’re searching for the unknown partner or the unknown total. We'll be wrapping up our Unit 3 and assessing next week.

Art Adventures: We have had two this week. The theme is "Sources of Strength" Students study 2 very different styles of art from different cultures/countries and discuss how they compare and contrast. They then connect to their own lives and create a similarly themed work. We have created "Strength Pillows" and "beaded" honor shirts. We'll continue with another fun presentation and activity next week.

Other: SNACKS. Thank you for packing a snack that can go in your child's mailbox.

Other School News: Please go to the Congdon Home page: www.isd709.org/congdon-elementary/index for more details about what is happening at our school or Facebook: www.facebook.com/cpsduluth/