January 6-10, 2013

Dear Families and Friends,

I hope you all enjoyed your two week break with your loved ones. I sure did! Thank you, again, for all of the sweet gifts and cards. We really are a wonderful community here at Kathy Caraway. 
2014 has arrived, and now it's time to dig into the second semester - woo hoo!! Let's make it another good one! The children and I are off to a great start as we worked at getting back into the groove of things today. It's amazing how quickly our bodies want to sleep in later, isn't it? :) 

Math:
This week in math we will be learning about analog and digital clocks. We will practice telling time to the hour and half hour. This unit is one week. We will continue to practice this skill daily as the year goes on!

Reading Workshop:  In reading workshop we will begin reading Fairy Tales.  This is such a fun unit for the students, and it’s one of my favorites too!  We will learn that there are specific elements in the story that set Fairy Tales apart from other stories.  We will read several different Fairy Tales, such as Cinderella, The Princess and the Pea, and Rapunzel.  While the students are listening to these Fairy Tales, they will be asked to think about the characters in the story, the setting, the plot and the problem and solution. 

Writing Workshop:  We will begin to learn how to write a creative story during our Writer's Workshop time this week.  We have written personal narratives, all about texts, how to texts, and letters.  This will be the first time that we will use our creative imaginations to write a story!  We will learn to incorporate characters, setting, plot and problem and solution in our stories. 

Social Studies:  This week, we will begin talking about Landforms and Bodies of Water.  We will learn about mountain, hill, valley, plains, and island.  We will then make a Landforms Dictionary.  After that, we will learn about rivers, streams, lakes, and oceans.  We will make a Bodies of Water flipbook. 

Habit #6:  Synergize.  I value other people’s strengths and learn from them.  I seek out other people’s ideas because I know that by teaming with others, we can create better solutions than anyone of us can alone.

Reminders:

*Please remember to send a healthy snack every day.  Snack time is @ 9:30am.

*Make sure your child wears tennis shoes every Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.

*Library is Thursday.

*THERE WILL BE NO HOMEWORK THIS WEEK.

Dates to remember:

January 7:  2^nd Semester Begins

January 20:  No School

January 22:  International Festival

January 30:  Science Fair

February 4:  1^st Grade PE Program

February 5:  Early Release Day

March 1:  Family Dinner Night

March 3-4:  Turkey Trot

March 10-14:  Spring Break

March 19:  Early Release Day and Family Skate Night