Sunday, January 26, 2014

Newsletter for the Week of January 27 - 31, 2014


Newsletter for the Week of January 27-31_ 2014 -

Unit 4, Week 1 - Dear Mr. Blueberry / What is Science?

     This week our Focus Stories will help us to answer the question: What kinds of things do scientists study? Our first story this week will be Dear Mr. Blueberry, by Simon James.  This book falls under the genre of Fantasy.   Over a school vacation, the main character, Emily, decides she simply must write to her teacher when she discovers a blue whale living in her pond. Her teacher, Mr. Blueberry, answers that she must be mistaken, because whales live in the ocean, not in ponds. Throughout the summer, Emily and Mr. Blueberry exchange letters, until Emily has a happy surprise to share with her teacher. In the process, Emily learns a lot about whales, and Mr. Blueberry leans even more about imagination, faith, and love.
     Our second Focus Story this week will be What is Science?, written by Rebecca Kai Dotlich and illustrated by Sachiko Yoshikawa.  This book is a poem, written to introduce young readers to the wonderful world of science.  Stars and planets, rocks and soil, hurricanes and airplanes—science is all of these things and so much more. It’s also about curiosity: asking questions and exploring possible answers.
     Our Target Skills this week will include: blending phonemes, identifying medial sounds, pausing for punctuation, classifying and categorizing, identifying key details in a story, identifying the main idea of a story, and summarizing.  We will also be focusing on the letter Ii, and its corresponding phoneme, /i/--both the long and short vowel sounds.  

Letter: Ii

High-Frequency Words: is, of, many, how, so , where  (Please continue to practice ALL of our high-frequency words at home!)

Oral Vocabulary (Dear Mr. Blueberry): information, perhaps, pleased, pond, spurt, travel

Selection Vocabulary (What is Science?): fossils, geodes, geysers, glaciers


Thank you to www.amazon.com for the cover images and summary information! 

Sunday, January 19, 2014

Newsletter for the Week of January 20 - 24, 2014


Newsletter for the Week of January 20-24_ 2014 -

Sunday, January 12, 2014

Newsletter for the Week of January 13 - 17, 2014


Newsletter for the Week of January 13 - 17_ 2014 -

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Sumner County Schools Closed on Wednesday, January 8, 2014!

Sumner County Schools will be closed Wednesday, January 8, 2014 due to icy road conditions remaining throughout the county.

Monday, January 6, 2014

Sumner County Schools Closed on Tuesday, January 7, 2014!

Sumner County Schools will be closed Tuesday, January 7, 2014 due to severe cold weather and icy road conditions remaining throughout the county.

Sunday, January 5, 2014

Sumner County Schools Closed on Monday, January 6, 2014!

Sumner County Schools will be closed Monday, January 6, 2014 due to severe cold weather and the potential for icy precipitation in the forecast.

Unit 3, Week 5 - How Many Stars in the Sky? / What a Beautiful Sky!

     This week our Focus Stories will help us to answer the question: What can we see in the sky? Our first story this week falls into the genre of realistic fiction.  It is entitled, How Many Stars in the Sky?, and is written by Lenny Hort and illustrated by James E. Ransome.  In this story, a little boy has trouble sleeping one night when his mother is away. He tries to relax by counting stars, but the more of them he sees, the more determined he is to count every single one. The boy soon discovers that his father cannot sleep, either. Together, the two of them set off on an unforgettable all-night journey of discovery.
     Our second story is an informational text.  It is What a Beautiful Sky! by Yanitzia Canetti.  This book addresses the various things that we can see in the sky through photographs, from the many types of clouds, to birds, planes, rainbows, and fireworks.  
     Our Target Skills this week will be blending phonemes, identifying medial sounds, word building, sequence of events, analyzing/evaluating, and pausing for punctuation.  We will be reviewing our High-Frequency Words from this unit (come, me, with, my, you, what, are, now)--there will be no new words this week.  We will also be reviewing our Focus Letters from this unit (a, b, n, and f).  When we focus on the letter Aa this week, we will be working with its long vowel sound.

Letter: Review a, b, n, and f

High-Frequency Words: Review--come, me, with, my, you, what, are, now

Oral Vocabulary (How Many Stars in the Sky?): dazzling, distance, gazing, leaned, planet, and tunnel

Selection Vocabulary (What a Beautiful Sky!): beautiful, fireball, misty, thinner


Thank you to www.amazon.com for the cover image and summary of How Many Stars in the Sky?.

January 2014 Calendar


January 2014 Calendar -

January 2014 Menu


ElemJanuary2014 -

Winter Party Day 2013















Making Shapes

Square

Triangle

Rectangle

Pentagon

Color Word Recognition - Fruit Loop Rainbows for 'F' Week