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Hózhó Academy Newsletter
For the Week of January 29th - February 2nd, 2024
Weekly Updates
Dear Hózhó Families,
Book of the Week - Does your family have a favorite book you would like to see featured in the Book of the Week section? Include a few sentences on why you or a family member loves the book, and we will feature it in the newsletter! Send Book of the Week submissions and literacy questions to efarrell@hozhoacademy.org.
Kindergarten Enrollment - Kindergarten enrollment for the 2024-25 school year starts February 1st. Please share this info with friends or family who may wish to enroll. If you have a sibling to enroll, please visit the website between Feb 1-29, 2024, to complete the Letter of Intent to Enroll documentation. Even though siblings have priority, the spot could go to another student if we do not have enrollment documentation filled out. Enrollment and Lottery Information - Hózhó Academy (hozhoacademy.org)
Clothing Donations - We are accepting new/used children's clothing for ages 2-12 to donate to local foster families. If you want to contribute, please bring them to the front office at Hózhó. Please check that they are clean with no stains or holes. Thank you for helping out our community.
Important Dates
February 19th - President's Day (No School)
March 7th-8th - Parent/Teacher Conferences (No School)
March 11th-15th - Spring Break (No school)
Important Links
Poetry Recitation
Classes take turns reciting poetry during the morning assembly. This experience builds confidence and develops their understanding of the beauty of language and literature.
Friday, February 2nd - Mrs. Malcom - Kindergarten
Tuesday, February 6th - Mrs. Montano - Kindergarten
Friday, February 9th - Ms. Steffke - 4th Grade
Art Class Highlight
Fourth Grade
Fourth grade is learning about late 18th-century and early 19th-century American art. They looked at paintings such as Washington Crossing the Delaware by Emanuel Leutze, Paul Revere by John Singleton Copley, and the Declaration of Independence by John Trumbull. They also looked at American neo-classical architecture. The shining example of this style of architecture is Thomas Jefferson's house, Monticello. After learning about Monticello, the students drew a picture of Monticello and named some of the critical characteristics of classical architecture, such as the column, capitol, tympanum, frieze, and dome.
Kindergarten
This week kindergarten got to make clay sculptures. They had to draw an idea of what they would like to sculpt and then make it. Students sculpted snowmen, hearts, cups, snakes, a bat, etc. They love working with clay! Here are some sculptures they made.
Cottonwood Gulch Expeditions
2024 Trek Dates
GO Trek 1 (ages 8-10): 6/9 - 6/15
GO Trek 2 (ages 10-12): 6/9 - 6/15
Outfit 1 (ages 10-12): 6/22 - 7/8
Outfit 2 (ages 10-12): 7/20 - 8/5
Wild Country Trek 1(ages 13-15): 6/22 - 7/12
Wild Country Trek 2 (ages 13-15): 7/20 - 8/9
Prairie Trek (ages 14-16): 6/27 - 7/31
Turquoise Trail (ages 14-16): 6/27 - 7/31
Quartz Trek (ages 14-16): 6/27 - 7/31
Paleontology Trek (ages 14-18): 6/22 - 7/12
Blue Corn Trek (ages 14-18): 7/20 - 8/9
Southwest Art Trek (ages 14-18): 6/30 - 7/20
Mountain Desert Trek (ages 16-18): 6/24- 8/5
Family Trek (all ages) - 7/13- 7/20
Please contact Olivia Marín at enrollment@cottonwoodgulch.org with questions.
For more information, please contact us at
505-248-0563 or visit our website
Literacy Corner by Elise Farrel
One of the first concepts your children learns about when learning how to spell, is how to break a word into syllables. We briefly touched on syllables in the literacy corner from November 6th. So let's take this opportunity to dive a little deeper.
Consider reviewing the consonants and vowel literacy corner if needed Hózhó Academy Newsletter (smore.com) As well as the literacy corner on how we use syllables Hózhó Academy Newsletter (smore.com)
A syllable is a 'chunk' of a word that includes a syllable sound and its accompanying consonants. Every English syllable must have a written vowel, mainly because they are the open sounds. Without them we would never open our mouths and speak only in consonants and as a result, our language would sound more like a serious of grunts.
Identifying the syllables in a word breaks complicated words into workable pieces. The students worth with each syllable to identify the rules and the subskills being used. A common practice for identifying the syllables in a word is to clap out a word (perhaps you remember doing something similar in school). However, a much more accurate approach, involves placing your hand underneath your chin as you slowly say the word. Each time your jaw drops is the equivalent to one syllable.
There are three types of syllables: basic code, open syllable, and closed syllable.
1. Basic Code: For a syllable to qualify as basic code, it must meet the following criteria
Use only phonograms 1-26 ( the single letter phonograms plus qu)
Each phonogram says its first sound (so the letter A would say /ah/, not /A/ or /aw/)
Vowels are forced to say their first sound by putting a consonant after the vowel, creating a closed syllable (see below for closed syllables)
Examples of syllables that are basic code include fun, cup*cake (cup is basic code, cake is not)
2. Open Syllable: An open syllable ends with a vowel. Because there is no consonant 'forcing' the vowel shut, the vowel will say its name.
* Note: A word that does not follow basic code criteria is considered advanced code. Open syllables will always be advanced code because the vowels say their second sound (or their name.)
Examples of syllables that are open include fa*vor, fi*nal, pi*an*o
* Note: I and Y are considered less consistent vowels as they follow other sets of rules where they may not say their name at the end of a syllable.
3. Closed Syllable: A closed syllable ends with a consonant that usually forces a vowel shut, causing it to say its first name.
* Note: Closed syllables can be either basic code or advanced code
Examples of closed syllables would be fun (basic code) and neph*ew (advanced code because it uses a multilettered phonogram).
So now, when you are attempting to read or write a complex word, break it apart into syllables and see if you can identify what type of syllables make the word!
Book of the Week
Does your family have a favorite book that you would like to see featured in the Book of the Week section? Email it to me with a few sentences on why you or a family member loves the book and we will feature it in a literacy corner!
Send Book of the Week submissions and literacy questions to efarrell@hozhoacademy.org
Hózhó Academy 2023-2024 School Calendar
Hózhó Academy Charter School
Email: office@hozhoacademy.org
Website: https://hozhoacademy.org/
Location: 515 Park Ave, Gallup, NM, USA
Phone: (505) 722-8922
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hozhoacademy
Twitter: @HozhoA
Transportation Department: (505) 458-4923 or email khillock@hozhoacademy.org
Afterschool (After 4 PM): (505) 488-8758