Wow! It seems like a long time ago we were celebrating with our class holiday party! It was so much fun, as was our party with our buddies! Now, it is a NEW YEAR!!! I can't wait to get started!

This week, our big book will be Inside the Barn in the Country, and our predictable chart and class book will be, "_________ wakes me up." Our sight words will be "are" and "come." We have finished all letter sounds, and will review this week. We will continue with our mystery sentence, review sight words, and continue blending letter sounds to make new words. We will be discussing various genres, and then practice writing with different genres in our journals. It is going to be a week to get back into the school routine, and to review what we learned the first semester. We have two more weeks left in this semester, and will spend some time assessing. I will level students that have begun to read, and pre-assess sight words this week.

In Reading, I believe you will see a significant change in our curriculum. In our large and small group activities, emphasis will shift from letter sounds to putting sounds together to read and write. I will encourage students to use what they know about letter sounds to read and write words and stories! It is fun to see them read and write more and more!

In Math, we will introduce a short chapter on "time." Concepts taught are sequencing of events, times of day when certain activities occur, deciding which activity will take more/less time, and then telling time to the hour and half hour. It is a fun chapter where students enjoy putting events in order and thinking how long an event takes to complete.

In Social Studies, we will read Inch and Miles, and talk about the pyramid square of "self-control."

In Science, we are beginning one of my favorite units! We will talk about items that we, plants, and animals need and want. We will talk about what items we really need, not just want. We will then do a radish experiment, and see what radishes need to survive and grow. Finally, we will experiment with earthworms. We will make a terrarium, and observe how earthworms feel, what they eat, how they react to light, their habitat, and how they live in their habitat. It is so much fun to watch the earthworms!

It is going to be a great week--a great beginning to a new year!