Week+17

Newsletter for Week of Jan. 13th, 2014 = Week in Review = Our week was very short but it was great to be back with our friends once again and I am hoping the vacation was a wonderful time to celebrate with your family and friends. Upon our return this week we celebrated the Feast of the 3 Kings, the true end to the Christmas season. Mrs. Guillen brought in a special treat from Mexico. Baby Jesus was hidden within the dough and if you were lucky to find Him, you would have special blessings from God. We also enjoyed many other special treats to end this very special season and we thank all the parents you provided them for us. Next week we will finally be back to our regular routine. Mad minutes will begin once again and the children are/were reminded to study their math facts, just in case they have stayed away from them throughout the past 3 weeks. This past week we were just taking simple reviews to get the brain moving again. The children also have their new spelling list which is incorporating the long vowels, **e, o,** and **u**. We are now beginning our new Science unit on Matter. We will be conducting investigations throughout the unit and talking about the properties of solids, liquids, and gases. Check out the [|December Photo Gallery] to see many pictures of the special days gone by.

= Reading = = = Due to the extra cold days this past week, we will continue to work on the long vowels sounds of long o, u, and e and the respective word chunks of -ope, -ose, -ote, -ute, and -ube. The children are hearing so often about how complex the English language is because there are so many things to learn with exceptions. Long o can be made with just an o, oa, ow, o_e and even oe. Long u could be made with just u, u_e, _ew, _ue, and long e has numerous possibilities with e_e. ee, ea, y, and _ie_. Learning all of this is certainly a progression and we are always trying to remember more each week. Our story, "Rose Robot Cleans Up" is certainly a story of cleaning, creativity, and recycling....actually making something from nothing. This is a great story for this week and next. We also enjoyed our Read and Treat this week with wonderful stories and a very unique treat.

Vocabulary for "Rose Robot Cleans Up"
create...inspire...hobby...resourceful...structure ...after...done...find...new...work...old...use...hope...hope...nose...note...rope...cube...cute...recyling...plastic...sort

= **Religion ** = We will start our chapter on service as we love and serve others. We will hear the story of how Jesus washed the feet of his apostles to show us how we must serve other. We are all called to be followers of Jesus as we follow his examples by helping others. We serve others by giving someone a hug if they are lonely, share food with the hungry, cheer someone up if they are sad, and even by saying only kind words to others.

= Math = This week we just reviewed our place value skills in a variety of ways and also progressed into the **value** of the numbers in the ones, tens, and hundreds place. We will begin our next math unit on graphing. We will learn about the difference between concrete and picture graphs. We will learning about a variety of graphs that can display and interpret data. We will begin by graphing our holiday and winter favorites.

sort...picture graph...concrete graph...tally chart...tally mark...bar graph...possible...impossible...more likely...less likely
 * Vocabulary for Graphing **

= = = Riddles of the Week =  Your breath. Because it is two tired.
 * What can you catch, but cannot throw?**
 * Why can't a bike stand up?**

== =Important Dates =

Jan. 14th and 16th.......[|Map testing] Jan. 15th......................January and July Birthday Blessing Mass, 8:30 a.m. Jan. 17th.....................[|Pizza Hut] orders due Jan. 17th.....................Spirit Wear tops only Jan. 20th.....................End of 2nd quarter  Jan. 26th-31st............[|.Catholic Schools Week]   Jan. 27th.....................[|Chess club] begins   Feb. 5th.......................Next Class Mass