What a Wonderful Winter Week!

It seems that, just as we knew it would, the snow has finally made its way to our area! The children are thrilled to be playing in it at recess every day. Thank you so much for remembering to send your child to school daily with the necessary items to fully enjoy his or her recess!

Again, we have had a busy week here in Room Five! We started the week off on Monday with a Hands on Nature lesson, presented by Mrs. Frazier and Mrs. Twarog. We learned about beavers and muskrats, and the adaptations these animals need to survive and thrive in the environment. The children enjoyed the puppet show, helping to dress me up like a beaver, viewing a slide show of beavers and muskrats in their natural habitat, building their own beaver lodges out of play dough, sticks, and rocks, and we even took a walk to the stream behind the school to see if we noticed any beaver activity! In just one hour-long lesson, we all learned a great deal of information about these interesting animals. Thank you Lee and Kitty!



















On Wednesday, we had a special guest visit us to teach us about Santa Lucia Day, a holiday celebrated on December 13th in Sweden. Eva's Mormor (grandmother), Mrs. Manning, grew up in Sweden, and she brought in many beautiful items and costumes to teach us about this holiday, a day when the oldest daughter of the family wears a crown and delivers special cookies and breads to her town. We also learned about how Christmas is celebrated in Sweden and we learned that reindeer are common in that country. People have farms with reindeer and gather milk from them, just like cow farms here in Vermont! We also learned some Swedish words and enjoyed a traditional Swedish cookie. Thank you to Mrs. Frazier and Mrs. Manning for sharing your knowledge with us!

I have been completing our December assessments this week with each student. I am very pleased with the great progress everyone is making! Each child is making strides in many areas...I ask the kids all the time if they are sneaking off to first grade and learning without me, because they are such smarty pants!!! I look forward to continued growth as we move into the second half of the school year and more challenging content!

H.C.S. is participating in a food drive to benefit the Hinesburg Food Shelf. From now until the holiday break, we are collecting non-perishable food items in our classroom to contribute to the school-wide drive. There is also a coin drive to benefit Maxx Broderick, an H.C.S. student who was paralyzed in a car accident earlier this year. If you would like to send your child to school with some coins to help with Maxx's many expenses, please do so. There is a daily collection that takes place. Thank you in advance for your generous support of both of these worthwhile causes!

Reminders:

• Tuesday, December 15th is a Half Day of School. Students will be dismissed at 11:30.
  
• Thursday, December 17th: 2nd H1N1 clinic. Children will receive the second dose of the H1N1 vaccine. If your child was absent for the first clinic, they will be able to get their first dose on this day. Please contact Nurse Shelley if this is the case, or if your child was vaccinated by your pediatrician. Please send the yellow vaccine records back to school if possible for this clinic. If you are unable to locate it, the clinic will provide you with another one. Please remember that children should wear layers of clothing, with a t-shirt underneath for a quick shot! Thank you!
• Thursday, December 17th 12:30-1:00: Kindergarten Holiday Concert. The kindergarten classes will perform a variety of holiday songs. Reception to follow in each classroom. We hope to see you there!
• If you are able to, please remember to sign up to send in a treat for our holiday party on December 23rd. Please visit the link labeled "Holiday Party" in the blog entry from Friday, December 4th. Thank you!