Dear Parents,

Our Town Square unit begins today. This is an economics unit that asks these essential questions:

1. Can we have everything we want, and do we obtain our wants and needs the same way?
2. Do all people use the same goods and services?
3. Can all people be producers and consumers?

Listed below is our integrated language arts (ILA) content:

Week #1 Dec. 3	On Market Street	Ww	on, by
Week #2 Dec. 10	Store	Nn	a, one
Week #3 Dec. 17	People Working	Uu	with, two
Week #4 Jan. 2	Squirrel's Store	Hh	had, has

We will focus on the following ILA outcomes:

• Use the big book titles to make and support a prediction (a smart guess)
• Provide text information to confirm or adjust the prediction
• Connect the story to personal views and experiences
• Identify and describe the main character in the story
• Tell what characters do in the story; sort characters (people, animals, or things)
• Identify the letters Ww, Nn, Uu, and Hh, as well as their sounds in context; write the letters in Zaner-Bloser formation
• Identify and read sight words in context: on, by, a, one, with, two, had, and has
• Use a writer’s checklist as a guide to writing and a self-assessment tool (before, during, and after writing)
• Record story ideas by stretch spelling; read what we write as we go along
• Write stories that make reference to a character and setting (place and/or time)

Our Songs for this unit include:

• Theme Song: When I'm Grown Up
• Movement Song: The Penny Game
• Old Favorite: I've Been Working on the Railroad

Our Math outcomes will expand to include:

• Number and Numeration
  • Count objects using one-to-one correspondence.
  • Count orally by 1s and 10s.
  • Count up to 20 objects.
  • Recognize teen numbers.
  • Represent teen numbers as “10 and some more”.
  • Compare numbers 11-20.
  • Read numbers
  • Count by 1s through at least 50 using different starting points.
  • Read and display numbers on a calculator.
• Operations and Computation
  • Add and subtract using a collection of objects.
  • Distinguish between addition and subtraction.
  • Use a number line to explore addition and subtraction concepts and strategies.
  • Model and solve addition number stories using manipulatives.
  • Make up addition number stories.
  • Recognize “joining” situations as addition.
  • Develop and use strategies to find the sum of two dice rolls.
• Data and Chance
  • Construct a class bar graph.
  • Discuss information presented in a bar graph and answer questions.
  • Create a graph of dice rolls.
  • Compare the probability of various outcomes from rolling two dice.
• Geometry
  • Make circles, squares, rectangles, and triangles using bodies and rope.
  • Identify and describe attributes of shapes.
  • Compare shapes.
  • Explore variations of size and angle measures of shapes.
  • Realize that shapes remain the same even if their position is changed.
• Patterns, Functions and Algebra
  • Begin to recognize patterns of 10 when counting.
  • Use the Pattern Block Template to record patterns.
  • Learn about the + symbol.
  • Create and describe patterns with pattern blocks.
  • Continue pattern block patterns.

Our Thematic Unit Block (social studies) outcomes are:

• Needs are what people require in order to live. Wants are the things they would like to have.
• Goods and services enable people to meet their needs and attain their wants.
• People are producers; they work to make goods and provide services used by themselves and others.
• People are consumers; they obtain goods and services by making them, buying them, trading for them, and receiving them as gifts.
• Since people can’t have everything they want, they have to make choices.
• People spend money to acquire goods and services, save money for a future purpose, and donate money to help others.

Interactive Websites that support the Town Square curriculum include:

• Coins for Candy: http://www.beaconlearningcenter.com/WebLessons/CoinsForCandy/money001.htm
• Freddie’s Fast Food: http://www.little-g.com/shockwave/food.html
• Bear Market: http://www.little-g.com/shockwave/market.html
• Match Coins: http://www.mhschool.com/math/2003/student/activity/courses/grk/ch11a
• Money Practice: http://www.coe.uh.edu/archive/math/math_lessons/mathles3/tutor.htm
• Spending Spree: http://www.primarygames.com/Spending%20Spree/start.htm
• United States Mint Pocket Change Games: http://www.usmint.gov/kids/index.cfm?fileContents=games
• Counting Money: http://www.hbschool.com/activity/counting_money/ (challenge)

Our Winter Wonderland Party will be held Thursday, December 20th from 9:15-11:30. Several parent and/or grandparent volunteers are needed to make our Winter Wonderland Party a success. Your Room Parent will be contacting you soon regarding your involvement in the Winter Wonderland Party. Please remember that donated baked goods must be commercially produced and packaged, according to HCPS directives. Consider sending a light lunch with your child on this day, as we will be enjoying refreshments throughout our morning schedule.

Please review the following reminders and requests:

• Practice shoe-tying. Your efforts are greatly appreciated. Encourage your child to become a shoe-tying helper! In the meantime, please tie double knots in shoelaces.
• Practice buttoning and zipping coats. Cool weather is here and it is very helpful if your child can put on and fasten his/her coat independently. Remind your child that a coat worn to school must be worn for outdoor play and must be worn on the ride home. In anticipation of colder weather ahead, hats and gloves are recommended.
• Please save empty paper towel tubes and send to school as they become available.

You can contribute to your child’s early school success by checking homework, reading theme-related books together, working on related projects and crafts at home, playing board games, listening attentively as your child talks about school activities, and involving him or her in experiences that reinforce our Town Square lessons. Please send photos of your child participating in theme-related activities for inclusion in the Town Square Photo Album.

Does your career or hobby relate to our current theme? Consider sharing what you know with us by visiting our classroom as a guest speaker or planning a theme-related lesson or hands-on project. We’d love to have you join us.

Please visit mrshess.org regularly with your child. Remember to submit your child’s lost teeth so that they will be included in the Tooth Graph.

With the approach of the holiday season, classroom behavior tends to become more disruptive. Please encourage your child to maintain good classroom behavior by being a good listener and following directions the first time they are given. We thank you for your continued support.

Sincerely,