December 6th, 2007 Newsletter

Dear Parents,
We began our study of Holidays Around the World this week by learning about Hanukkah, Saint Nick Day, and Saint Lucia Day. During our Hanukkah study, we read several books about Hanukkah, studied a menorah, and then made one of our own. We also learned about the dreidel game and potato pancakes! Yum! On St. Nick Day, “St. Nick” stopped by and left presents in our shoes-we were very glad that no one received sticks instead of goodies in their shoes! ☺ On St. Lucia day, the tradition in my house is for the oldest daughter (me!) to make cinnamon rolls and a hot beverage for the rest of the members of the family. St. Lucia dressed up in a white robe and wore a wreath of candles on her head. The children each made their “wreath” of candles and we enjoyed cinnamon treats!
We have also been busy chasing the Gingerbread Man around our classroom. We have read several different versions of the story and compared and contrasted them using a Venn Diagram (two overlapping circles where we wrote similarities and differences between two stories). We all got a chance to visit the Gingerbread Store and with the play money we were given, were able to “shop” for items to decorate our felt Gingerbread Boys and Girls—they are adorable and will be coming home soon! We had many opportunities to sequence the story and the class favorite was when we used the wooden spoon characters to chase the Gingerbread man around our circle.
We are in need of more AM and PM classroom volunteers! If you are able to give an hour (even ½ hour!!) of your time even once a month, we would love to have you in our classroom to work with a small group! To sign up for a time, just stop in and jot your name down on the calendar located on the Parent Volunteer Table!
Be sure to check out the blog site for new information: http://podcast.msdwt.k12.in.us/weblog
Have a great weekend!

Kristen Poindexter ☺