October 24-28, 2016

Kathy Caraway Elementary is celebrating Red Ribbon Week

Monday: We are Red-y for Red Ribbon Week! (Come decked in RED!)

Tuesday: We have the POWER make Good Choices!!! (Wear Super Hero Shirts) 

Wednesday: Hats off for being Healthy!(Wear hats to school)

Thursday: It’s Crazy to do Drugs!(Wear crazy socks)

Friday: Wake up healthy and strong! (wear pajamas to school)

Caraway Academies
We enjoyed Academies again last week! Hopefully you were able to order a Caraway Academy t-shirt to help support future Academies!  We have 3 weeks left in our Fall Academy session.  I know the kiddos are having so much!

Reminders

Monday: Reading Homework Bags will come home

Tuesday: Library Books are Due by 8am.

               Tuesday folders will come home. Please unload, review work and return        

                          Wednesday. 

Wednesday: Early Release at 12:00pm.  Skate Night

Thursday: 

Friday: Reading Homework Bags are Due

              Caraway Academy 7:45am-8:30am

This week in Reading Workshop...

We will begin learning about Expository Texts.  We will explore the differences between Fiction and Nonfiction texts.  Then we will examine nonfiction text features such as photographs as pictures, diagrams, headings and table of contents.  We will begin reading nonfiction texts in our small groups.  We will discuss nonfiction texts and the purpose for reading them, to learn. This week we will focus our learning on Bats.

This week in Writing Workshop...

We will wrap up our unit on Small Moments.  We have been hard at work thinking of ideas, writing stories, making them fancy then publishing them! Author's Chair on Friday we extra special because we had quite a few of our "published authors" share their stories.  This week we will begin thinking about writing comments on things we know a lot about.  We will generate a list of things we know about then choose one to write more about.  We will also focus some of our time on writing what we know about Bats before we read to find out more. 

This week in Math...

We will continue thinking about measurement as we move into telling time.  Students will be able to tell time to the hour by identifying the short hand as the hour hand and the long hand as the minute hand on an analog clock.  We will relate digital clocks to analog clocks and tell time with both.  

This week in Social Studies...

This is the last week for our Coins for Coats Drive.  It has been amazing to see the children hard at work counting the coins as they are collected.  We've raised over $200.00 so far!  One of our focuses is Selfless Giving.  We discuss how giving to others makes us feel like we've made a difference in our community.  We wrote letters last week to see if our parents can help us find some more coins at home!  

We will also learn about our community symbols as we study the US Symbols.  We will discuss their meaning and why symbols like the Liberty Bell are important to our nation's history.  We will also study our state's symbols such as the Texas Flag and the Alamo.  We will learn about our state's history and why we should be proud to be Texans.

Have a great week! 

DATES TO REMEMBER:

Oct. 24-28:  Red Ribbon Week

Oct. 26:  Early Release Day.  Dismissal @ 12:00

                Skate Night @ 6:30 -Playland Skate Center

Nov. 4:  Harvest Festival @ 4:00-7:00 pm

Nov. 11:  Veteran’s Day Program @ 8:00 am

Nov. 16:  Thanksgiving Luncheon @ 11:30 -send in your sign up sheet if interested

Nov. 21-25:  Thanksgiving Break- No School

Nov. 30:  Skate Night @ 6:00-8:00 pm

Dec. 1: 1^st Grade Field Trip to Austin Nature Center (more info to come)

   Family Art Night @ 6:00-7:30 pm

Dec. 5-9:  Book Fair

Dec. 8:  International Festival @ 6:00-8:00pm

Dec. 15:  Winter Parties/Last Day of 1^st Semester

Dec. 16-Jan 2:  Winter Break

Jan. 3:  1^st Day of 2^nd Semester

October 11-14, 2014

Our first Sprit Assembly was last Monday.  We practiced singing our school song that was written by Mr. Touchet.  We sang Happy Birthday to all of our friends who have October birthdays.  Then we reviewed our 3 Owl Agreements. Be Safe. Be Respectful. Be Responsible.  We will have assemblies at the beginning of each month.

     Last Friday we went to our very first Caraway Academy.    The boys and girls came back to our classroom ready to share all that they learned at their Academy! We will have Academies for the next 5 weeks on Friday mornings.  I hope your child came home and told you all about it!

Reminders: 

Thursday: Science Night at 6:00pm
Friday: Caraway Academy 7:45am-8:30am

This week in Reading Workshop...

We will begin learning how making predictions can help us when we are reading.  A strong reader is able to use connections they have made to activate prior knowledge about something.  Then from that, they are able to make a prediction about what they think will happen next in the story.  A strong reader knows that making predictions will help them to stop and think about the story, therefore increasing comprehension.  A strong reader also knows that not all predictions are correct, and that’s ok!

This week in Writer's Workshop...

We will begin to think about experiences we've had that take place within a small time frame.  A birthday party, taking the dog for a walk or going to the park are a few "Small Moments" that we will be writing about this week.  We will continue to use the writing process (sketch a picture, write words to match, make our story fancy) as we narrow our topics down and describe our experiences with detailed words. 

This week in Math...

We will be wrapping up our unit on Addition Strategies.  It is important that first graders begin to practice their math facts and solve them quickly without counting on their fingers.  We will continue to practice addition strategies and basic problem solving throughout the year.  As always, the objective for learning strategies is to become a more confident problem solver!

This week in Social Studies...

We will begin our Coins for Coats Project.  For this Project Based Learning (PBL) opportunity we are partnering with Mrs. Letendre and the Student Council to raise money for a district wide philanthropy project.  More information will be coming soon!

Have a great week! 

       

DATES TO REMEMBER:

Oct. 13:  Science Night @ 6:00-8:00 pm

Oct. 22:  Harvest Festival @ 4:00-7:00 pm

Oct. 26:  Early Release Day.  Dismissal @ 12:00

Nov. 11:  Veteran’s Day Program @ 8:00 am

Nov. 21-25:  Thanksgiving Break- No School

Nov. 30:  Skate Night @ 6:00-8:00 pm

Dec. 1: 1^st Grade Field Trip to Austin Nature Center (more info to come)

   Family Art Night @ 6:00-7:30 pm

Dec. 5-9:  Book Fair

Dec. 8:  International Festival @ 6:00-8:00pm

Dec. 15:  Winter Parties/Last Day of 1^st Semester

Dec. 16-Jan 2:  Winter Break

Jan. 3:  1^st Day of 2^nd Semester

October 3-7, 2016

Wow! It's already October! On Monday we will have our first Spirit Assembly.  It will begin promptly at 7:40am (for K-2).  We will drop our backpacks off in the room and head down to the cafeteria.  This is going to be a great time for our school community as we share good news and celebrate our accomplishments! 

     On Friday we will begin Caraway Academy.  This will also begin promptly at 7:40am.  We will drop our backpacks off and head to the classrooms where our academies are located.  There will be a note that will come home in the Tuesday folder for more information about Caraway Academy! We are all very excited to share our passions with students and help them develop their passions!

    This is going to be an amazing week at Caraway Elementary!

Reminders: 

Monday: K-2 Spirit Assembly 7:40am-8:00am

Tuesday: Tuesday folders come home.  Please sign them and return them on Wednesday.

Wednesday: We do not have Library this week.

Thursday: 

Friday: Caraway Academy 7:40am-8:30am

*Snack:  Please send a healthy snack with your child every day.

*PE:  We have PE on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  Please make sure your kiddo is wearing tennis shoes (for sure) on these days.

*A conference sign-up sheet went out on Sunday evening. If you have not signed up for a conference please do so as the slots are filling up.  Email me if you have any questions.

This week in Writing Workshop...

We will be reminded about all we have learned as writers so far this year.  We will review the steps of the writing process as we lead up to our Celebration on Friday.  Writers begin a story by sketching an idea, matching their words to their picture, then rereading our story to make sure it makes sense.  We also know that a writer's work is never done.  When we finish a story we can add to our picture, add to our words to make them fancy (revising and editing).  We will celebrate by sharing our stories at our very first Author's Chair Celebration!

This week in Reading Workshop...

We will be thinking about how good readers make connections.  When we read a book we can think about how readers make a connection to something they know (text to self), something they've read (text to text) and/or something they've experienced (text to world).  "That reminds me of..." 

This week in Social Studies...

We will be exploring how the leaders in our community are good citizens.  We will discuss responsibilities of our community leaders from our school to our country.  We will also begin exploring our national symbols.  We will learn about the American Flag, what it represents and why it is so special to us.

This week in Math...

We will continue our unit on addition.  We have learned to count on (5..6,7,8) when we add. We will learn that basic facts have things in common.  For example 5+4 = 9 so, when you turn it around 4+5 = 9 you know two facts just by thinking about what the problem has in common.  We call these facts Turnaround Facts.  Research shows that students who learn strategies to acquire basic fact knowledge will become better problem solvers! At home you can use concrete objects to add together such as beans or pieces of fruit or vegetables! "I see on your plate you have 5 peas and 3 carrots.  How many veggies do you have!" Try it at dinner some time this week.

Growth Mindset: 

We've been talking about our Fantastic Elastic Brains! We know that if we make a mistake it can help our brains grow! This week we will learn a little more about how our brains grow when we read The Fantastic Elastic Brain. 

Have a great week!

       

DATES TO REMEMBER:

Oct. 3:  K-2 Spirit Assembly @ 7:40

Oct. 7:  Caraway Academies @ 7:40

Oct. 5:  Bike and Walk to School Day

Oct. 10:  Columbus Day- No School

            Parent/Teacher Conferences

Oct. 13:  Science Night @ 6:00-8:00 pm

Oct. 22:  Harvest Festival @ 4:00-7:00 pm

Oct. 26:  Early Release Day.  Dismissal @ 12:00

Nov. 11:  Veteran’s Day Program @ 8:00 am

Nov. 21-25:  Thanksgiving Break- No School

Nov. 30:  Skate Night @ 6:00-8:00 pm

Dec. 1:  Family Art Night @ 6:00-7:30 pm

Dec. 5-9:  Book Fair

Dec. 8:  International Festival @ 6:00-8:00pm

Dec. 15:  Winter Parties/Last Day of 1^st Semester

Dec. 16-Jan 2:  Winter Break

Jan. 3:  1^st Day of 2^nd Semester