This week we finished our little unit on bears. The children learned a poem and a song about bears (in this week's white bags) and wrote little books about bears with their Reading Buddies. They also did Corduroy bear math, bear art, did bear actions to the "Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear" poem, wrote in their journals about their favourite animal, and we read lots of books together about bears. The children practiced working "as quietly as hibernating bears" at their little tables which was terrific! For each little book the children read, they received a piece of a bear puzzle to put in the honey pot - when it is full they can take it home to show mom and dad. Well done readers! I am seeing such an improvement in the children's reading and writing abilities which is wonderful. Keep up the great work! If your child would like to practice at home, Starfall.com is an excellent supplementary website, and the Learn to Write app is also excellent and fun for kids. Writing in a journal about their favourite things or activities, making booklets, lists, and so on are also great ideas that the children love doing.

There will be a big surprise in the classroom tomorrow when the children come into room 166 - Alfie the Elf is somewhere is the room! He has come from the North Pole and will stay with us until the holidays start. I decorated the classroom and bulletin board with lots of new holiday and winter-themed items and we will integrate these with our curriculum for the next three weeks.

I have also changed the Home Centre into a Post Office where the children can write Christmas/Holiday Cards to their friends and family, Santa, and Alfie the Elf. It's an exciting time of year!

Thank you to Addison's mom for the Christmas wrapping paper which we will use to decorate large letters. Thank you as well to Dana's mom and Jack and Jackie's caregiver Dalinda for doing the white bags and snuggle books this week. Thank you to Isobel's mom, Liam's mom, and Lexa's mom for being Mystery Reader, and to Caroline's mom and Emma and Jonas' mom for Christmas/Holiday cards for our Writing Centreand Post Office!

The Holiday Scholastic Order is due tomorrow. Books make wonderful gifts! The orders should be delivered within 1-2 weeks at the latest.

At our December 17 Sharing Assembly we will be performing three poems/songs to celebrate the upcoming holiday. We hope to see you then!

Kind regards,

Beverley