January 13th Update

Hello families! Happy New Year to you all! We are off to a wonderful start in 2012! We enjoyed the spring like weather and the first snow fall, incorporated a current events segment to starting off our days, and began new units of study in all curricular areas.

Here's what you can ask your child about:

* Starting unit 3 in Treasures and our new pod "Reading Around the World" incentive

* Reading "Author: True Story" (our Treasures story of the week - an autobiography) on the Smartboard

* Practicing the grammar skill of the week - action verbs

* Reinforcing the reading comprehension skill of the week - author's purpose (to inform, to entertain, to persuade)

* Writing a persuasive paragraph about our favorite author or book in our writing journals

* Working in a homework packet with the spelling rule of the week - r controlled vowels (ir, ur, er)

* Using biography leveled readers about Laura Ingalls Wilder, E.B.White and Sequoya for guided reading groups

* Watching a movie ("Our Friend, Martin") about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with the whole pod

* Reviewing math skills in our "Kicking off 2012 with a Winter Math Warm-up"

* Beginning unit 5 in Everyday Math (Place Value with BIG Numbers)

* Practicing multiplication facts on iPod touches

* Discussing kid-friendly current events - 18 feet of snow in Cordova, Alaska, the 28th Snow & Ice Festival in Harbin, China, annual weigh-in of Australia's largest python (Atomic Betty), the California teen who set a record for climbing the seven summits, the 75th anniversary of a famous bridge

Important Dates and Events:

* No school on Monday, Jan. 16th

Please remember that the best way to contact me is via email (vrajashekar@op97.org). Thank you for your support and partnership. Have a great weekend!