Welcome back, Families!
I hope everyone had a wonderful winter break. We have a lot of fun things planned for this second semester, but we will be learning a great deal as well. Please help support your child by ensuring they read, finish any work or corrections, practice math facts, write, and study spelling. Here is what our four day week looks like...
A few reminders:
- Please make sure your child is reading every night. This is very important! They can go to the Caraway Library site to check out books or read online if they have nothing that they want to read at home.
- Please encourage your child to respond to the writing prompts I hand out (and post on this blog) every week. These are ungraded and not mandatory, but it does show me the student is taking initiative and responsibility for their own learning. Students will have to respond to a prompt on the Writing STAAR Test, and learning to respond to a variety of different prompts is good practice.
- Students who do not finish all of their work in class must take it as homework to complete.
- If a student makes below a 70% on an assignment, he/she make make corrections to the assignment and turn it back in for up to a 70%. Please remember to check your child's Tuesday folder for any assignments that can be corrected. I am happy to work with students who need extra help during owl time. Students may make these corrections at home or at school. I remind students to quickly make corrections so that they will not be rushing to get things done when grades are due.
- Thank you for continuing to sign your child's agenda every evening. This helps you keep up with what your child is doing and gives you some areas to ask them about their day.
- Email is the best way to contact any of the fourth grade teachers. We are busy teaching during the school day, and planning while the kids are in Specials. If it is an emergency, please contact the front office.
- Please send your child with a reusable water bottle, snack, a coat (the weather is always changing this time of year) and with shoes for PE.
I know this last semester is going to be a great one! :)
Reading -
We will be reviewing reading strategies this week with point of view, theme and plot. Our reading focus will be on trickster tales and traditional literature. We will read Borrequita and the Coyote and use the story to learn about our reading strategies over the course of the week.
Writing-
We will be getting back into personal narratives and spending a lot of time on focusing in on a small moment. We will talk about how to "explode a moment" or describe it in a lot of sensory detail to bring our writing to life.
Spelling-
We will have a new list of words this week. We will be using class time to study, but it is important to also have your student practice as much as they need to to be successful. They have 2 weeks with the words and it is encouraged that they practice regularly.
Social Studies-
We have moved on from the Texas Revolution and are moving into the era of Texas as a Republic. Students will learn about the 9 years that Texas was a country and what led to Texas becoming a state.
Homework:
Read nightly - 20 minutes
Dreambox- 10 minutes a night
Spelling- 5 minutes or as needed
Writing- Ungraded optional prompts:
- If you could teach a Caraway Academy, what would you teach and why?
- Write about your winter break. What was your favorite part?
- Write down three goals you have for yourself for 2019. How can you work to achieve these goals?
Tuesday, January 8
Wednesday, January 23
