Sept. 4-Sept. 7th

Holiday-

Monday is a holiday!  Enjoy your 3 day weekend.  I'll see you all on Tuesday. 

Academy Days!
Academies are starting soon!  Your child will soon get to make their selection for fall Academies.  If you want to help there are two sign-ups below!  One is to volunteer and the other is to donate items.  My personal academy is in need of pool noodles for Quidditch.  Last year I learned we need softer items than brooms handles to avoid collisions!

Parent Volunteer Signup for Caraway Academy

Caraway Academy Donations/Signup Genius

Academics

Reading
We will continue to work on setting up reading workshop and reading response journals.  This week we will be looking at character development.  We will read picture books such as "The Girl Who Never Brushed Her Hair" and write responses about her character development.  This will prepare students for when they begin reading groups and must respond independently. 

Writing
We will continue to work on personal narratives this week.  We will work first on strong hooks and then move onto completing our drafts.  Next week we will be moving into editing and revising. 

Spelling
Students should be practicing nightly.  The test will be on Friday this week.  Students are responsible for knowing all words (and the spelling pattern) they will only have 10 words on the test. 

Social Studies
Due to beginning of the year testing and important library orientation (they were so excited to get books!) we are being in social studies.  The test that was planned for last Friday will now be this coming Friday.  We will finish studying regions and I will make sure they are prepared. They will also be able to get into their google classroom at home next week to study.  

Reminders
We won't have a set library day, but your child can do independent checkout as needed.  They should be finishing books and checking out new ones as they need to this year. We will go to the library for checkout days, but these are not the only days your child can go. 

School begins at 7:40 am! Tuesday folders will come home every Tuesday! Please unload and return on Wednesday.

Thursday (8/30): Parent Orientation Night! 1st-2nd Grade 6:30-7:00 p.m. PTA meeting 7:00-7:30 p.m. Please attend and sign up for a PTA membership for $7.50. 4th Grade Orientation is at 7:30.

Monday (9/3): No School- Labor Day

Friday (9/7):  Picture day

August 27-31

Parent Orientation
This coming week we have Parent Orientation Night on Thursday!  I'm so excited to see you all!
From 6:30-7:00 is the k-2 Orientation and I plan to be in my daughter's class.  Then there is a PTA meeting in the cafeteria.  I suggest you all go.  The PTA does a huge amount for our school and your child.  Also, joining the PTA and getting involved with other parents is a great way to become part of the school community.  PTA is always looking for parents who can help them with all the events going on each year.
At 7:30-8:00 I will see you in our class, room 213, for our Orientation.  It is 20 minutes long and then we will switch with Mrs. Marshall's class to give her parents an opportunity to meet their child's ELA and social studies teacher.

Academics

Writing 
We are continuing to set-up our reading workshop model.  We will be working on procedures still and what we do during writing time. We will be also begin working on personal narratives.  We will be focused on picking a small moment and beginning to write a rough draft. We will also be focusing on some basic grammar skills such as subject predicate in sentences and punctuation at the end of sentences.

Reading
We are still working on setting up reading workshop. This week we will be talking about summaries and writing summaries using the somebody, wanted, but, so, then method.  We will also be working on some vocabulary that we will be using throughout the year, and on a quiz at the end of the week to check out comprehension.

Spelling
Your child should be coming home with a spelling list today and it should be written into their agenda.  The spelling system we use is called Words Their Way.  It is a way to learn patterns that can be applied to other words.  We study a group of words that follow a pattern and give the students 20 words that go with the pattern or patterns.  We will discuss the patterns and sort the words in class to help us learn the patters.  At home the students should sort and write the words to study patterns. Spelling homework should be 5-10 minutes a night and there is a test every 2 weeks.

For math and science please check Mrs. Marshall's website.

August 20-24

We had a fantastic first two days, and I'm looking forward to a great year with your children!

Reading-
This week our focus will be on picking good books, why reading is important, and procedures during reading workshop. We will be laying the groundwork for our reading all year this week.

Writing-
We will be getting our first writing samples and talking about why people write.  We will also be talking about writing a small moment and picking a writing topic that is meaningful. We will work on building writers who enjoy their writing time.

Spelling/Vocabulary-
 We will be starting spelling practice on the 27th. Your child will bring home a spelling list then and you can ask any questions at Parent Orientation.

On August 30th we will have our Parent Orientation.  We will go over all the expectations for the year at that time. I look forward to seeing you all there.

Next week your child will be bringing home their agenda to show you each night.  It will have what we focused on, upcoming events and homework in it.  This will be filled in each day by your child. Please check it and initial.

Welcome Back

Supply Drop Off Wednesday, August 15th

New Students 8:30-9:00
Returning Students 9:00-10:00

I'm so excited to greet all of you at Supply Drop Off! This Wednesday morning you can come meet me, see your child's classroom and put up your supplies.  If you pre-ordered supplies they will be in the cafeteria for pick-up. 

First Day of School Thursday, August 16th

I cannot wait to start the first day of school.  Even after teaching for over 10 years, I still get nervous and excited to meet all of my new students!  Students can enter the building at 7:15.  I will meet them in the hallway and when the first bell rings we will enter the room together.  Please be sure that your child knows how they are going home, what they will do for lunch, have a water bottle and a snack.

Parent Orientation Thursday, August 30th
6:30-8:00

At Parent Orientation I will be answering and going over all the need to knows for this school year.  We will cover schedule, grades, report cards, academics, reward systems, school information and many other things at that time.  If you have a question that you want to be sure I answer then send it to me- others may have the same question, too!