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Hózhó Academy Newsletter
For the Week of March 25th - 29th, 2024
Weekly Updates
Dear Hózhó Families,
New Afterschool Class - Native American Art for 4th- 7th graders on Tuesdays and Thursdays after school (3:30-5:00). Students will learn about Native American history, create birdhouses, listen to storytellers, and other great activities. Click here to sign up.
Art Contest and Show - All students are welcome to participate in the school-wide art contest. Contest submissions must be turned in by April 10th. There will be an art show on May 3rd. See below for more details.
Reminder - If you ordered a RED Veterans shirt, please pick it up in the office no later than Wednesday, March 27th.
The Father-Daughter Dance was a fun-filled event! Thank you to everyone who came out.
Important Dates
April 5th - Early Start 7:45/Early Release 1:15
April 8th - Spring Holiday (No School)
April 10th - Art Contest Submissions Due
April 22nd - Early Start 7:45/Early Release 1:15
May 3rd - Art Show
May 17th - Career Day for K-6
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.
Monday, March 25th - Mr. Roundtree (6th)
Friday, March 29th - Ms. Seowtewa (2nd)
Tuesday, April 2nd - Ms. Iralu (1st)
Literacy Corner by Elise Farrell
How do I know which phonogram to use in a word when multiple phonograms say the same sound?
This is a great question and one that will require multiple literacy corners to cover! Our students spend years, starting in kindergarten, learning the orthography of the English language for this purpose. The English language consists of 42 sounds and many of the sounds can be written with various letters or combinations of letters. For example, the sound /A/ can be written, a, ai, or ay, So when writing a word and coming across a sound with multiple possible phonograms, how do we know which one to write?
My first recommendation may seem too simple and good to be true.... read!! Read, read, and read some more! The more you and your child read, the more your brain picks up the patterns used in the English language, and the easier you can recall the spelling of various vocabulary words. You can learn all the exact rules and specifications for every phonogram, but if you are not reading to exercise your brain and put that knowledge to work, it will serve you little purpose.
That being said, we still want to understand why certain phonograms work the way they do. Why when most phonograms follow a specific orthography there are "rule breakers" or exceptions that take us by surprise. If you have read previous literacy corners, you may recall the pronunciation and the spelling of a word are affected by the following;
The language origins (the language it originally stemmed from)
The language development (sounds that were once pronounced that are now pronounced differently or even not at all)
Specific combination of phonograms and orthography rules
This is why Literacy Essentials utilizes very intentional when teaching an orthography rule.
Today, we are going to take a look at the phonograms c and g. Of all the single-letter phonograms, the vowels (a,e,i,o,u and y) are the ones that say multiple sounds with the exception of c and g.
The letter c says /k/ as in cake or /s/ as in city. The students learn the following rule; C followed by e, i, or y says /s/. Examples include
Dance
City
Cycle
Ceiling
In front of any other letter, c will say /k/ such as
Can
Cop
Clip
Crab
Fac
Accent (notice, the second c does say /s/ because it is followed by the letter e)
It also makes the /k/ sound when nothing comes after it such as the word music. (Note, English words do not end with a c hence we normally use a silent final e, however, this word derives from the Latin musica),
Now lets look at the letter g which can say /g/ or /j/. Take note of the specific wording in the following orthography rule: g followed by e, i, or y may say /j/. Examples include
Gem
Gym
Giant
However, notice the use of the word may. That is because they do not always make the g say /j/, however, whenever a g does say /j/ you will find it followed by e, i, or y.
Another way to put it, every other letter, or if g is at the end of the word, will make g say /g/. For example,
Game
Go
Grass
Bag
Dog
Beg
Big
Now, as wonderful and helpful as it is to have this knowledge and information, spelling will quickly become very tiring if you have to go through every orthography rule as you write all the time. This is fantastic for foundational reading and spelling, hence why the teachers at Hozho Academy teach it with diligence. However, for spelling to become automatic, it needs to be practiced. So read, and ready plenty!
Book of the Week
Miss Rumphius
By Barbra Cooney
Despite a recent two-hour delay, it is safe to say, that spring is on the horizon! What better book to kick off the season than this beautiful children's book celebrating nature and also supporting our student pledge to love the beautiful? In this story, Alice promises to make the world a more beautiful place, and then a seed of an idea is planted and blossoms into a beautiful plan.
Testing Schedule
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