Here is an article about other school’s efforts to make lunches with less waste. This is part of making Woodland Hill the best!

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/27/business/energy-environment/education-officials-and-retailers-push-for-environmentally-friendly-school-lunches.html

We have been preparing ourselves for next Friday’s trip to the AMNH. The museum web site is very thorough, filled with information and activities about the exhibits. Please visit the website with your child over the next few days. In particular focus on The Spitzer Hall of Human Origins, The Hall of Biodiversity and The Rose Planetarium. We will be touring these halls and seeing Journey to the Stars in the planetarium The museum website is www.amnh.org .

*Be sure to send in your child’s permission slip as well as five dollars for the evening throughway pizza stop. The kids seem rightfully excited about this upcoming trip.

The children listened to an NPR report about the book The Phantom Tollbooth this week. The program featured an interview with author Norton Juster. The book is fifty years old and was chosen as a must read by the NPR’s Backseat Book Club for the month of November. The book for December is called Breadcrumbs, by Anne Ursu. To find out more about the Backseat Book Club go to www.npr.org .We are almost finished with the book. In the chapter, This Way to Infinity, the Mathmagician introduced the topic of the order of operations. We followed up on that in some of our math lessons this week.

The students have also been working with compasses in geometry, bisecting lines, laying out almost perfect squares and drawing rhombi. Some of the compasses that the students have appear to be of such a poor quality that doing even the simplest work is taxing. You might check in with them about their drawing instruments and consider an upgrade. Now there’s a gift idea.

The class has also been working on Junior Great Books. The students are listening to the stories, re- reading the text to find particular information, discussing questions and writing responses to those questions. The structured and sustained analysis of the stories is proving rewarding.

Homework is as follows:

Spelling Lesson #11 is a Review List. The first two pages are due on Monday 12/5. Please devote some extra time to study this list because it is a review list and the test will be on Thursday not Friday.

The Total math pages are due on Wednesday 12/7.

Grade Four: pages 28,53,63,97,117

Grade Five: pages 22, 24, 93, 102, 160

Grade Six: pages 18,63,96,97,177

Check out the AMNH website.

Have a good weekend.

Sincerely,

Andrew and Michele

It was our first full week of school in what seems like a very long time and the children came back from Thanksgiving Break raring to go. We have all new works and puzzles out in Practical Life, including holiday favorites such as Christmas tree decorating, “lighting” a menorah, and the dreidel game.

We were treated to a visit and story with August’s grandparents Gigi and Pi-Pop from Alabama on Tuesday. On Wednesday we learned to make ham and cheese sandwiches for food prep (sans ham for our vegetarian friends!). We’ve been studying time and learning to tell the differences between a second (which is like a hiccup), a minute and an hour. To demonstrate the length of a minute, the children have been timing themselves to see how many stamps they can make before a minute sand-timer runs out.

Many children are in the process of completing their pin-pricked maps of Australia. Some have chosen to do further research on the Great Barrier Reef independently. This morning we discovered the wonder of Ayers Rock in Uluru National Park in the Australian Outback. We talked about the Aboriginal cave paintings that have been found in the caves of the rocks in Uluru and will make our own representations of Ayers Rock next week.

This morning we had our first all-Primary rehearsal for the Holiday Show, which will be held in two weeks on Friday, December 16th at 10am. As is tradition, we will gather for refreshments in our classroom following the show. We ask that each child bring something for the Gathering; I will compile a list and send it with next week’s newsletter. Some parents have also been asking, and we have no formal activities planned following the festivities that morning. You are welcome to take your child with you from the class party.

Scholastic order forms for December were sent home in your child’s folder today. If you are interested in ordering, please send orders in by next WEDNESDAY so that we get the books in time for Holidays.

Have a great weekend!

Smiles
Valerie

Dear Parents,

I hope that everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving break. I can’t believe that we’re already heading into the second week of December. The time sure does fly.

In math, we have started our unit on fractions, which is what everyone will be working on for homework for this week, and possibly also next week.

In our writer’s workshop, we have started our work on writing narratives, which is always an enjoyable unit. Next week, we will be working on how to write a lead for our narratives. I hope to have this unit finished by the time we go into our December break.

This afternoon, we enjoyed a preview of Annie Jr., which is this semester’s musical here at WHMS. Many of the students in our classroom have a role in this play. I witnessed a lot of talent up there on the stage today, and I can’t wait to see the play in its entirety tonight at 7pm. It will also be showing at 2pm tomorrow as well. Please come and support our drama club! Tickets are available at the door.

We are gearing up for our big trip into NYC next week. Hopefully, you have all received my email that detailed our trip. Please let me know if you did not receive it. I know that several of you received it already multiple times (sorry about that, there was a computer glitch). Please make sure to send in your $5.00 for your child’s dinner by next Wednesday. Thank you.

Here is this week’s homework:

Total Math: Due Thursday.
Grade 4: 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120
Grade 5: 92, 95, 96, 99, 107, 108
Grade 6: 87, 88, 89, 95, 96, 97

Spelling: Students took their spelling words home with them today. They should study their words.

Junior Great Books: Please read by Tuesday.
Grade 4: All Summer in a Day
Grade 5: The Hundred Dollar Bill
Grade 6: Gaston

Book Project: Please bring in the book that you would like to do your book project on. You might need to go to the library if you don’t have a copy of it.

Autobiography: Almost everyone is off to a great start. I’ve edited and handed back chapter 1. Revisions are due on Thursday, December 8th, unless otherwise noted on your child’s paper.

Senior Project: The outlines look fantastic! Students should begin researching chapter one. A rough draft is due on Tuesday, December 20 (the day before holiday break).

Have a great weekend,
Cindy