Thursday, May 31, 2012
Monday, May 28, 2012
UPDATES for 5/21-5/25 2012
**We are one week closer to becoming first graders! This week, the students took a look at their trimester portfolios and were so in awe of what they accomplished. Student portfolios for each trimester are in their backpacks. Check them out!! Science portfolios and journals will go home next week. Please keep sending a backpack with your child even on our final day. Thanks!
**Our Annual All School Olympic Day was great! Lots of great skill demonstration and team work. A shout out to Aidan--the fastest runner in the class. He came close to beating Mr. Packer!
**A BIG SHOUT OUT to my entire physically fit class! Most of them also took part in the Irving Pacers at lunch time and insisted on running!!!!
**We planted our outside class garden. The students, along with volunteers T. Naber and I. Henry, planted zucchini, green onions and nasturtiums. Can't wait to see how fast they grow!!
**We have completed our very last unit assessment in our Treasures Reading Series-Unit 10. All assessments are now completed. If you would like to be updated on end of the year DIBELS or other assessments, just email me and we can set up a time.
**BIG REMINDER--PIZZA and PLAY- End of the Family Picnic is Wednesday, May 30th, from 10:30-12:30 pm at Rehm Park. Volunteer sheet is included in your child's homework folder. Set up can begin around 9:45 am. We will be walking over around 10:15 am. There will be a van to transport all ground covers/blankets, t-ball set, sand toys, jump ropes, balls and supplies. Let's cross our fingers for pleasant weather!
**Messy Math Night was lots of fun and pretty messy! A gooey time was had by all!
**First Grade Tour/Question and Answer Hour is Wednesday, May 30th at 1:00 pm. Kindergarten students can write down any questions that may have regarding First Grade and bring them with. Parents--if you have any questions--send them along with your child. Reading Grandma will also be with us. She has requested that maybe some of our students can share their reading with First Grade. She is so proud of them!
** Mr. Packer's older reading students did a play for us called, "The Lone Wolf Blues." It was very funny with great acting. Mateo's brother, Diego, was the wolf!
**Please join me and the other staff members for our annual Volunteer Tea on Wednesday, May 30, 2012 from 2:00-3:00 pm. There is an invitation for you in your child's backpack. All of our volunteers have really been tremendous. It is a part of what makes our program so successful.
**Stay tuned for information on Irving School's Reading and Math Summer Incentive Programs.
**Friday, June 1st is our last day of school. It is also a full day of school. In the morning our class will take part in a LINE SOCCER game against Ms. Ricchio's class which is part of our PBIS celebration. We will have out last ART class with Ms. Linne, lunch recess and lunch as usual. In the afternoon, we will have our last gym class with Mr. Hancock and from 2:00-3:00 pm we will have PARENT and SIBLING HOUR. We will share some treats, sign autograph books, share kindergarten stories and see our end of the year movie. All are welcome to come! I already have tears in my eyes!!!
**The whole of Irving School will kick off the summer with its End of the Year Party on Friday, June 1st from 5-7 pm at Barrie Park. Pizza and Drinks will be served. Come share the friendship and community.
** Please be so kind as to complete the End of the Year Parent Questionnaire. This is very helpful to me in shaping my program for next year.
**Next week---The reading bubble!!!!!
This week:
It was all about worms and gardening! The students continue to study worm life and worm contributions to our environment. The students again took a look at the worms in our compost bin. We used the magnifiers and our microscopes. They were pretty squirmy! The students could see the segments, saddle and head structure. The bristles could not be seen. (too tiny) The students got a kick out of seeing the worms move--in an inching fashion. They observed a grownup worm and a tiny baby worm. On the internet, we looked at a site called Herman the Worm. I have included it in your child's homework packet. Cool! In our class garden plot, we took our drawing of where we were planting items and got to work. Students helped smooth soil, locate the area to plant and put seeds in the ground. All students took turns watering our garden. We labeled plant types on a special marker and stood back to admired our work. Our zucchini is from seed, our green onions are from the cut bottoms of the plant and our nasturtiums are babies we grew from seed. Should be very interesting! Stay tuned.
Reading/Social Studies: The students reviewed letter sounds, vowel sounds, sound blending techniques. Student small groups chose their own literature and activities to go with it. Most groups chose a story elements format. Some groups listened to each other read aloud. Groups used the ipad for activity completion and emailed their work to me. The last 30 minutes of their reading time was spent either in independent reading or playing a reading game. Their favorite games this week were, "Very Silly Sentences," "What's Gnu?" "Spot a Word," "Cookie Jar-Nouns-Verbs-Adjectives-Pronouns," and "Plants on Your Plate."
Math: The students counted to 100, wrote 2-3 and even some 4 digit numbers and counted by 2's, 5's, and 10's. This week I choose a game format and students were able to select the game they wanted to play.
Small groups of students played "What's My Rule?" "Dice Addition," "Place Value on Calculators," "It Takes 2 and It Takes 3 Game."
Writing: The students continue to put into practice all the elements of writing a good sentence. They continue to work on writing thank notes to people who have had an impact on their kindergarten lives. The students wrote thank you notes to Ms. D. and Miss Amanda. We are so grateful for their time and assistance. The students are very proud of Miss Amanda as she will be graduating from Oak Park High School on June 10th. Ms. D. has been super faithful in coming every Tuesday morning to do whatever she can to help out me and our budding readers. Reading Grandma Mary will be here next week and Ms. Applebey we also hoped to see. The students began writing their worm paragraph drafts. Next week, they will write their final copy.
Science: The students observed what they saw on their seed sponges. They noted seeds sprouting and mold growing. Many students thought it was pretty cool that they actually saw a splitting seed with the coat attached. They also noted that the shoots were growing upward and not sticking to the sponge. The seed bags were also producing sprouting seeds. The roots growing downward and the shoots upward. Students concluded that no matter what way you put or plant seeds, the roots grow downward and the shoots grow upward. The students also experimented with watering conditions. They watered 1 plant everyday and 1 plant for only 2 days. At the end of the week, most students noted that the less watered plant was rather droopy. A big discussion centered around how much water a plant needs. It was decided that it depended upon what kind of plant it was. Some students related prior knowledge of what happened when they water a plant too much. (it died) The last experiment the students worked on was pondering the question --how much sunlight do plants need? The students put a healthy plant in a box and then we cut a small window in it. We set it in a sunny window and observed it each afternoon. Each afternoon, the students noted that the plant was sticking out of the window toward the sun. They concluded that the plants always grow toward the light. Next week we will be looking for gardens for our watermelon, cantalope, pumpkin, bean, and pea plants. If you are interested--let me know!
Technology: The students continued to use the apps they liked the most in delivering assignments and for reading, writing and math pleasure.
Literature: "Garden," "What Principals Do When No One is Looking," "Compost Stew," "Here Comes Summer," "Bumble Bees," "Who Made Me Jump," "I Can't Said the Ant," "Plants," "Super Size Bugs," "Rah, Rah Vegetables," "Earthworms," "Herman, the Worm," "Garden Tools," "Ten Little Caterpillars."
**Our Annual All School Olympic Day was great! Lots of great skill demonstration and team work. A shout out to Aidan--the fastest runner in the class. He came close to beating Mr. Packer!
**A BIG SHOUT OUT to my entire physically fit class! Most of them also took part in the Irving Pacers at lunch time and insisted on running!!!!
**We planted our outside class garden. The students, along with volunteers T. Naber and I. Henry, planted zucchini, green onions and nasturtiums. Can't wait to see how fast they grow!!
**We have completed our very last unit assessment in our Treasures Reading Series-Unit 10. All assessments are now completed. If you would like to be updated on end of the year DIBELS or other assessments, just email me and we can set up a time.
**BIG REMINDER--PIZZA and PLAY- End of the Family Picnic is Wednesday, May 30th, from 10:30-12:30 pm at Rehm Park. Volunteer sheet is included in your child's homework folder. Set up can begin around 9:45 am. We will be walking over around 10:15 am. There will be a van to transport all ground covers/blankets, t-ball set, sand toys, jump ropes, balls and supplies. Let's cross our fingers for pleasant weather!
**Messy Math Night was lots of fun and pretty messy! A gooey time was had by all!
**First Grade Tour/Question and Answer Hour is Wednesday, May 30th at 1:00 pm. Kindergarten students can write down any questions that may have regarding First Grade and bring them with. Parents--if you have any questions--send them along with your child. Reading Grandma will also be with us. She has requested that maybe some of our students can share their reading with First Grade. She is so proud of them!
** Mr. Packer's older reading students did a play for us called, "The Lone Wolf Blues." It was very funny with great acting. Mateo's brother, Diego, was the wolf!
**Please join me and the other staff members for our annual Volunteer Tea on Wednesday, May 30, 2012 from 2:00-3:00 pm. There is an invitation for you in your child's backpack. All of our volunteers have really been tremendous. It is a part of what makes our program so successful.
**Stay tuned for information on Irving School's Reading and Math Summer Incentive Programs.
**Friday, June 1st is our last day of school. It is also a full day of school. In the morning our class will take part in a LINE SOCCER game against Ms. Ricchio's class which is part of our PBIS celebration. We will have out last ART class with Ms. Linne, lunch recess and lunch as usual. In the afternoon, we will have our last gym class with Mr. Hancock and from 2:00-3:00 pm we will have PARENT and SIBLING HOUR. We will share some treats, sign autograph books, share kindergarten stories and see our end of the year movie. All are welcome to come! I already have tears in my eyes!!!
**The whole of Irving School will kick off the summer with its End of the Year Party on Friday, June 1st from 5-7 pm at Barrie Park. Pizza and Drinks will be served. Come share the friendship and community.
** Please be so kind as to complete the End of the Year Parent Questionnaire. This is very helpful to me in shaping my program for next year.
**Next week---The reading bubble!!!!!
This week:
It was all about worms and gardening! The students continue to study worm life and worm contributions to our environment. The students again took a look at the worms in our compost bin. We used the magnifiers and our microscopes. They were pretty squirmy! The students could see the segments, saddle and head structure. The bristles could not be seen. (too tiny) The students got a kick out of seeing the worms move--in an inching fashion. They observed a grownup worm and a tiny baby worm. On the internet, we looked at a site called Herman the Worm. I have included it in your child's homework packet. Cool! In our class garden plot, we took our drawing of where we were planting items and got to work. Students helped smooth soil, locate the area to plant and put seeds in the ground. All students took turns watering our garden. We labeled plant types on a special marker and stood back to admired our work. Our zucchini is from seed, our green onions are from the cut bottoms of the plant and our nasturtiums are babies we grew from seed. Should be very interesting! Stay tuned.
Reading/Social Studies: The students reviewed letter sounds, vowel sounds, sound blending techniques. Student small groups chose their own literature and activities to go with it. Most groups chose a story elements format. Some groups listened to each other read aloud. Groups used the ipad for activity completion and emailed their work to me. The last 30 minutes of their reading time was spent either in independent reading or playing a reading game. Their favorite games this week were, "Very Silly Sentences," "What's Gnu?" "Spot a Word," "Cookie Jar-Nouns-Verbs-Adjectives-Pronouns," and "Plants on Your Plate."
Math: The students counted to 100, wrote 2-3 and even some 4 digit numbers and counted by 2's, 5's, and 10's. This week I choose a game format and students were able to select the game they wanted to play.
Small groups of students played "What's My Rule?" "Dice Addition," "Place Value on Calculators," "It Takes 2 and It Takes 3 Game."
Writing: The students continue to put into practice all the elements of writing a good sentence. They continue to work on writing thank notes to people who have had an impact on their kindergarten lives. The students wrote thank you notes to Ms. D. and Miss Amanda. We are so grateful for their time and assistance. The students are very proud of Miss Amanda as she will be graduating from Oak Park High School on June 10th. Ms. D. has been super faithful in coming every Tuesday morning to do whatever she can to help out me and our budding readers. Reading Grandma Mary will be here next week and Ms. Applebey we also hoped to see. The students began writing their worm paragraph drafts. Next week, they will write their final copy.
Science: The students observed what they saw on their seed sponges. They noted seeds sprouting and mold growing. Many students thought it was pretty cool that they actually saw a splitting seed with the coat attached. They also noted that the shoots were growing upward and not sticking to the sponge. The seed bags were also producing sprouting seeds. The roots growing downward and the shoots upward. Students concluded that no matter what way you put or plant seeds, the roots grow downward and the shoots grow upward. The students also experimented with watering conditions. They watered 1 plant everyday and 1 plant for only 2 days. At the end of the week, most students noted that the less watered plant was rather droopy. A big discussion centered around how much water a plant needs. It was decided that it depended upon what kind of plant it was. Some students related prior knowledge of what happened when they water a plant too much. (it died) The last experiment the students worked on was pondering the question --how much sunlight do plants need? The students put a healthy plant in a box and then we cut a small window in it. We set it in a sunny window and observed it each afternoon. Each afternoon, the students noted that the plant was sticking out of the window toward the sun. They concluded that the plants always grow toward the light. Next week we will be looking for gardens for our watermelon, cantalope, pumpkin, bean, and pea plants. If you are interested--let me know!
Technology: The students continued to use the apps they liked the most in delivering assignments and for reading, writing and math pleasure.
Literature: "Garden," "What Principals Do When No One is Looking," "Compost Stew," "Here Comes Summer," "Bumble Bees," "Who Made Me Jump," "I Can't Said the Ant," "Plants," "Super Size Bugs," "Rah, Rah Vegetables," "Earthworms," "Herman, the Worm," "Garden Tools," "Ten Little Caterpillars."
Saturday, May 19, 2012
UPDATES for 5/14-5/18
**Our time in kindergarten is getting shorter and shorter! The students had a wonderful week. They had lovely weather, poetry, nature and the community of classroom friends!
**All assessments are complete and I continue to work on final report cards. We have begun chatting about expectations for first grade. In the final week of school, the students will visit each of the first grade classrooms and meet the students and teachers. When speaking on the subject of first grade with your child, have them write down any questions they might have. We will take all questions to the first grade students themselves for the answers. I know my class is looking forward to the visits.
**Our trip to the conservatory was both pleasant and informative. After a great walk there, the class was divided into 2 groups each lead by a knowledgeable docent. We toured each room and learned about the particular ecosystems of the desert, rain forest and fern rooms. Some of the the highlights were ferns (they have been around since the time of dinosaurs), Spanish moss, George, little mice, Ponderosa lemons, bananas bush (not tree), fish, turtles, a cool bridge, bromiliads, rosemary plant (mmmm), lots of cool cactus plants, the century plant and jelly bean cactus and the scented geranium (go away mosquitos!) The students review the parts of a plant and function of the stems, roots and leaves. It was very cool to observe all the different types of leaf structures. It was our lucky day when a large Ponderosa lemon fell off the tree and we got to take it back to school. Lemonade next week, anyone???? After our tour, the students were able to spend some time sketching their favorite cactus plant in the Desert Room. Their sketches are up in our hallway. Come, take a look. Thanks to our volunteers, G. Garcia, Yaya's Grandma, K. Mikos, M. Chlebek and I. Henry.
**The Irving Arts Fest and Poetry Slam was the bomb!!!! Amazing art, singing, movement, recitations, poetry breaks, Spanish interviews and of course THE POETRY SLAM. What a great night! A big shout out to our own little slammers--Ben, Alex, Mateo (an orginal work!), Yaya and Salome (in French!), Mei-Li and Reuben.
**The Taste of Irving was Friday, May 18th. I was not able to attend, but I can't wait to hear about it from my students. It is always a great event for all.
**Don't forget--Irving Family Math Night-"Messy Math," is Thursday, May 24th from 6:30-8:00 pm.
**Keep sending in your permission slips for Pizza and Play End of the Year Family Picnic at Rehm Park on Wednesday, May 30th from 10:30-12:30 pm. I will be contacting room parents for some assistance.
**Please read the info sheet concerning the All School Olympic Day on Friday, May 25th. Kindergarten will participating from 8:30-10:30 am. Stop by and observe super team effort and fun!
This week:
It continues to be all about seeds, plants and the wonders of nature. The students are not only monitoring the growth of their plant at home but continue to monitor our indoor classroom garden. We have a birch tree, watermelon, corn, lavender, basil, beans, and peas growing so far and added crocus, strawberry and tomato seeds this week. Our potato plants are ready to plant outside. Some students have begun using part of their lunch recess to search for nature finds on our playground. They have brought in tiny baby pine cones, various leaves, interesting twigs, fur and rocks to put under our microscopes. I love listening to their discussions on what they observe as they take a closer look! Our station day activities this week included a creative writing assignment with the sentence starter--If I were a seed......, creating simple addition equations using animal pictures and using pattern blocks to create a flower. This was our last official station day.
Reading/Social Studies: The students continue to demonstrate what they know in Unit 10 I Know A Lot in our Treasures Reading series. This our final unit. I have changed the format for this unit. The students are working in small groups, leveled groups and individually to review all vocabulary pertinent to kindergarten. They are reading story literature with partners and discussing story elements, cause and effect, making connections and drawing conclusions. The students are also working on grammar which includes recognizing nouns, verbs, adjectives and pronouns. Many students have become curious about the use of articles and adverbs. The students are using a variety of games and Ipad apps as reinforcement. The students themselves have been called upon to "be the teacher" in many review situations. The students also continue to review phoneme blending, adding, deleting and substituting phonemes and work on blends, digraphs, vowel teams and silent e. They have come so far!!!! The students listened and responded to a variety of different poems. We had many poetry breaks during our day.
Math: The students continue to review counting beyond 100, counting by 2's, 5's, and 10's, recognizing and writing 2-3 and even 4 digit numbers and place value. The students continue to use the "function machine" to play "What's My Rule?" They continue to work in their math process journals listening for information in story problems to determine the operation and them illustrating the process and writing their number sentences (equation). The students are using a game format to review coins and values, telling time and counting down. Wow!
Writing: The students have been putting into practice all the elements of writing a good sentence. They continue to reflect in their journals about daily topics. They are writing thank you letters to people that have had an impact in helping to shape learning and behavior in kindergarten. This week, the students learned about types of poetry and that poetry can be about how you are feeling or what you know about a certain subject. It can be silly or very serious. Poetry can be very emotional! The students took a fabulous art activity they did with Ms. Linne and wrote a poem about. I found myself getting emotional as I read their poems and looked backed on this past year. Stop by if you haven't already and read them. They are on display in our hallway. Next week--Worm paragraphs!
Science: A companion piece to our Conservatory trip was the Traveling Seeds Experience Box sent over by the Oak Park Conservatory. The students took a hands on look at ways seeds travel or are dispersed depending upon their shapes and sizes. The box contained experiments to show--blowing in the wind, floating on water, popping from pods and how they can be carried by animals. Lots of fun!! The students also continued their study on seeds and how they can sprout without soil. (hydroponics!) They currently are observing seed growth on wet sponges and in plastic bags. Stay tuned! We continue to "feed" our compost. The students continue to bring in fruits and veggies and paper. Some great soil is being made. This week, we began to study in depth the life and times of a worm. This amazing creature is so vital to our earth. Ask your child to tell you a fact or two! The information we are collecting will be the basis for our final paragraph. The students are enjoying watching our wormy friends as they wiggle around the compost. They have viewed the worm's body structure (What--no bones??) and how it moves in the soil (where are the bristles?) The students learned a most compelling fact---What does the worm do that helps make great, vitamin rich soil??? Ask your child!
Technology: The students are finishing up an end of the year project using the apps ITalk and Story Kit. This week they also were able to choose their own format to deliver their reading work to me. Story Kit, Doodle Buddy, ITalk and use of the camera app were the most popular. In math, some students used Doodle Buddy to illustrate the process of their story problem and write about it. Math Bug Lite, Zombies, Top It and Find the Sums were used by small groups, partners and individuals along with the ever popular Labyrinth. In science, students used the Lifecycles app and Enchanted Learning to seek out supplemental information on plants and insects. Small group student work centered around the story, "The Seed Grows," on our Book app.
Literature: "How Seeds Travel," "Hot Rod Hamster," "Hey Little Ant," "Bugs, Bugs, Bugs," "Earthworm," "Earl the Earthworm Digs for His Life," "Roots," "Diary of a Worm," "Counting in the Garden."
Poetry Books---"Hip Hop Speaks to Children," "Anna Banana Jump Rope Rhymes," "Where the Sidewalk Ends," "A Pizza the Size of the Sun," "Random House-Poetry for Children," "One Love," "Langston Hughes-Poetry for Children, "Poems for the Very Young Child."
**All assessments are complete and I continue to work on final report cards. We have begun chatting about expectations for first grade. In the final week of school, the students will visit each of the first grade classrooms and meet the students and teachers. When speaking on the subject of first grade with your child, have them write down any questions they might have. We will take all questions to the first grade students themselves for the answers. I know my class is looking forward to the visits.
**Our trip to the conservatory was both pleasant and informative. After a great walk there, the class was divided into 2 groups each lead by a knowledgeable docent. We toured each room and learned about the particular ecosystems of the desert, rain forest and fern rooms. Some of the the highlights were ferns (they have been around since the time of dinosaurs), Spanish moss, George, little mice, Ponderosa lemons, bananas bush (not tree), fish, turtles, a cool bridge, bromiliads, rosemary plant (mmmm), lots of cool cactus plants, the century plant and jelly bean cactus and the scented geranium (go away mosquitos!) The students review the parts of a plant and function of the stems, roots and leaves. It was very cool to observe all the different types of leaf structures. It was our lucky day when a large Ponderosa lemon fell off the tree and we got to take it back to school. Lemonade next week, anyone???? After our tour, the students were able to spend some time sketching their favorite cactus plant in the Desert Room. Their sketches are up in our hallway. Come, take a look. Thanks to our volunteers, G. Garcia, Yaya's Grandma, K. Mikos, M. Chlebek and I. Henry.
**The Irving Arts Fest and Poetry Slam was the bomb!!!! Amazing art, singing, movement, recitations, poetry breaks, Spanish interviews and of course THE POETRY SLAM. What a great night! A big shout out to our own little slammers--Ben, Alex, Mateo (an orginal work!), Yaya and Salome (in French!), Mei-Li and Reuben.
**The Taste of Irving was Friday, May 18th. I was not able to attend, but I can't wait to hear about it from my students. It is always a great event for all.
**Don't forget--Irving Family Math Night-"Messy Math," is Thursday, May 24th from 6:30-8:00 pm.
**Keep sending in your permission slips for Pizza and Play End of the Year Family Picnic at Rehm Park on Wednesday, May 30th from 10:30-12:30 pm. I will be contacting room parents for some assistance.
**Please read the info sheet concerning the All School Olympic Day on Friday, May 25th. Kindergarten will participating from 8:30-10:30 am. Stop by and observe super team effort and fun!
This week:
It continues to be all about seeds, plants and the wonders of nature. The students are not only monitoring the growth of their plant at home but continue to monitor our indoor classroom garden. We have a birch tree, watermelon, corn, lavender, basil, beans, and peas growing so far and added crocus, strawberry and tomato seeds this week. Our potato plants are ready to plant outside. Some students have begun using part of their lunch recess to search for nature finds on our playground. They have brought in tiny baby pine cones, various leaves, interesting twigs, fur and rocks to put under our microscopes. I love listening to their discussions on what they observe as they take a closer look! Our station day activities this week included a creative writing assignment with the sentence starter--If I were a seed......, creating simple addition equations using animal pictures and using pattern blocks to create a flower. This was our last official station day.
Reading/Social Studies: The students continue to demonstrate what they know in Unit 10 I Know A Lot in our Treasures Reading series. This our final unit. I have changed the format for this unit. The students are working in small groups, leveled groups and individually to review all vocabulary pertinent to kindergarten. They are reading story literature with partners and discussing story elements, cause and effect, making connections and drawing conclusions. The students are also working on grammar which includes recognizing nouns, verbs, adjectives and pronouns. Many students have become curious about the use of articles and adverbs. The students are using a variety of games and Ipad apps as reinforcement. The students themselves have been called upon to "be the teacher" in many review situations. The students also continue to review phoneme blending, adding, deleting and substituting phonemes and work on blends, digraphs, vowel teams and silent e. They have come so far!!!! The students listened and responded to a variety of different poems. We had many poetry breaks during our day.
Math: The students continue to review counting beyond 100, counting by 2's, 5's, and 10's, recognizing and writing 2-3 and even 4 digit numbers and place value. The students continue to use the "function machine" to play "What's My Rule?" They continue to work in their math process journals listening for information in story problems to determine the operation and them illustrating the process and writing their number sentences (equation). The students are using a game format to review coins and values, telling time and counting down. Wow!
Writing: The students have been putting into practice all the elements of writing a good sentence. They continue to reflect in their journals about daily topics. They are writing thank you letters to people that have had an impact in helping to shape learning and behavior in kindergarten. This week, the students learned about types of poetry and that poetry can be about how you are feeling or what you know about a certain subject. It can be silly or very serious. Poetry can be very emotional! The students took a fabulous art activity they did with Ms. Linne and wrote a poem about. I found myself getting emotional as I read their poems and looked backed on this past year. Stop by if you haven't already and read them. They are on display in our hallway. Next week--Worm paragraphs!
Science: A companion piece to our Conservatory trip was the Traveling Seeds Experience Box sent over by the Oak Park Conservatory. The students took a hands on look at ways seeds travel or are dispersed depending upon their shapes and sizes. The box contained experiments to show--blowing in the wind, floating on water, popping from pods and how they can be carried by animals. Lots of fun!! The students also continued their study on seeds and how they can sprout without soil. (hydroponics!) They currently are observing seed growth on wet sponges and in plastic bags. Stay tuned! We continue to "feed" our compost. The students continue to bring in fruits and veggies and paper. Some great soil is being made. This week, we began to study in depth the life and times of a worm. This amazing creature is so vital to our earth. Ask your child to tell you a fact or two! The information we are collecting will be the basis for our final paragraph. The students are enjoying watching our wormy friends as they wiggle around the compost. They have viewed the worm's body structure (What--no bones??) and how it moves in the soil (where are the bristles?) The students learned a most compelling fact---What does the worm do that helps make great, vitamin rich soil??? Ask your child!
Technology: The students are finishing up an end of the year project using the apps ITalk and Story Kit. This week they also were able to choose their own format to deliver their reading work to me. Story Kit, Doodle Buddy, ITalk and use of the camera app were the most popular. In math, some students used Doodle Buddy to illustrate the process of their story problem and write about it. Math Bug Lite, Zombies, Top It and Find the Sums were used by small groups, partners and individuals along with the ever popular Labyrinth. In science, students used the Lifecycles app and Enchanted Learning to seek out supplemental information on plants and insects. Small group student work centered around the story, "The Seed Grows," on our Book app.
Literature: "How Seeds Travel," "Hot Rod Hamster," "Hey Little Ant," "Bugs, Bugs, Bugs," "Earthworm," "Earl the Earthworm Digs for His Life," "Roots," "Diary of a Worm," "Counting in the Garden."
Poetry Books---"Hip Hop Speaks to Children," "Anna Banana Jump Rope Rhymes," "Where the Sidewalk Ends," "A Pizza the Size of the Sun," "Random House-Poetry for Children," "One Love," "Langston Hughes-Poetry for Children, "Poems for the Very Young Child."
Saturday, May 12, 2012
UPDATES for 5/7-5/11 2012
**The weeks are really flying by! We have completed all our in class reading and vocabulary assessments. DIBELS final screening will be begin next week along with our final math assessments. Route to Reading Rotation 8 has concluded. You should have received notification of your child's skill level. This is the last Route to Reading rotation of the school year. The students have worked extremely hard on their phonemic awareness and phonic skills. The students took their Treasures Unit 9 assessment last Monday. I will teach the skills and vocabulary for Unit 10 and students will read the literature, but we will also do a poetry unit to pair with this week's Poetry Slam.
**It was a cool and overcast, but the students enjoyed their Eagle Wing lunch at Barrie Park on Wednesday. Thanks to M. Meagher, C. Bravo, G. Garcia and R. Leveridge for helping to make their lunch special!
**Our Library trip went well. The walk there was very pleasant. At the library, Maze librarian, Ms. Pulliam, gave a tour and showed students where to find age appropriate books and dvds. She shared some stories, songs and movement activities with the students. All students who filled out an application received their library card. All cards were placed in your child's backpack.
**It was super rainy and cool but District 97's Annual FUN RUN went on. A big shout out to Ava and Lottie for their participation in the event. There were lots of puddles and mud, but we made it to the finish line!
**Reminder--Our Field Trip to the Oak Park Conservatory is Thursday, May 17th. I still need a few permission slips. We will eat our lunch early so we can begin our walk at 11:35 am. I have G. Garcia, K. Mikos, I. Henry, M. Chlebek and Yaya's Grandma volunteering to help. Also this week--The Traveling Seeds Experience Box from the Oak Park Conservatory will arrive in our classroom. There will be lots of cool hands on activiites for the students to explore. We get to keep the box for the week.
**It's almost here!!! The Irving Art Fest is Thursday, May 17th from 6:00-8:00 pm. There will be art work from every child in the school displayed along with a Chorus performance, dance lessons, Shakespeare performed and of course THE POETRY SLAM!!! Currently, we have 6 of our own signed up to recite their poems. WOW--2 students have written their own poems!! Don't miss it! I will send some last minute information on Tuesday.
**Taste of Irving is Friday, May 18th from 6-8 pm. See the information sheet on the digital backpack for further info.
**Irving Family Math Night--"Messy Math" will be held on Thursday, May 24th from 6:30-8:00 pm.
**We are continuing our ABC Countdown to the last day of Kindergarten. The boys totally loved being Kings for a day! They decreed an extra recess and playing in our space stations. Look out--Letter Q will be here soon! (for all those girls waiting to be a queen.) Thanks to all our riddle and jokesters on Letter J day. We had many laughs as Alex and Izzy read from their joke books.
**Our last Friendship Club will be next Friday. The students voted on how best to end Friendship Club. The largest vote getter was to go outside and do an activity. Much thanks to Ms. Kwiatt for her explanation of the voting process.
**Future Field Trip--Pizza and Play End of the Year Family Picnic at Rehm Park is Wednesday, May 30th from 10:30-12:30 pm. Please send back blue permission slip ASAP. Thanks!
**Spelling City has been updated.
This week:
It continues to be about seeds and plants. Much has happened this week in the sprouting department! At day 5--Morning Glory, Sunflower and Marigold seeds all sprouted. Students continued their watering and nurturing of their particular plant. Nasturtium planters did not give up hope. At Day 9, they too had sprouting seeds! Students discussed why some seeds sprouted quicker and others took longer. They accessed their prior knowledge from their unit on investigating water. Water has to "climb in" the spaces to soften the seed in order for it to sprout. The nasturtium seed had a very hard outer surface. Some of the other seeds perhaps had surfaces that let the water climb in quicker. The students reflected in their science journals their seeds stages of growth. They were fascinated by each plants root system which they viewed under the magnifiers. They noted leaf shape, shoot or stem type and if any secondary leaves were appearing. They made sketches of their baby plant. They also learned about the care of plant when they took it home. These baby plants, along with a cool card went home on Friday as a present for Mom and as a home study activity. Station Day activities this week included origami tulips, seed sequence and addition story problem writing and illustration.
Reading/Social Studies: The students began Unit 10 I Know a Lot! in the Treasures Reading series. This is our final unit. The students talked about all the things they learned this year. Many students talked about not knowing anything about reading or only knowing a few words or not being able to count to 100 at the beginning of the year or not knowing how to write anything. Most students were very proud of what they now know. Some students still want to know more! I shared the Big Book, "What Do You Know!" The students made predictions about story content. The students were able to respond to the literature by making connections to certain parts of the story in their own lives. The students worked on the sight words with, my, me, where. All the kindergarten sight words have been introduced. The students spent time in pairs creating sentences using their word cards, picture cards and punctuation cards. Each pair of students shared the sentences they made. Target letters Jj, Yy, and Zz were reviewed. Students continued to work on recognizing and using nouns, verbs, adjectives and pronouns. The Big Book story was reread. Students used the illustrations and words to tell what was fantasy and reality. Students took turns using the retelling cards to retell the story in their own words. Our puppet friend, Mr. Happy, assisted using using our elkonin boxes to blend phonemes to make words. The students are blending 3-4-5 and even 6 phonemes! The phoneme qu was reviewed. Students read their decodable and leveled readers and paper stories on their own this week and discussed the stories in small groups. We are working on a special end of the year project. (It's amazing!) Stay tuned. Our workstation time was dedicated to this project!!
Math: The students continue their mass review of everything math! Counting beyond 100, telling time by the hour, recognizing coins and their values and creating their own story problems, illustrating the process and writing the number sentence were just some of the highlights for this week.
Writing: The students continue to reflect in their journals. This week, each student viewed their beginning and midyear journals to see how much their writing has changed. They were amazed and pleased with their progress. The students reviewed steps in creating a paragraph. They have begun in class research on worms which is the topic for their final paragraph.
Science: The students continued their study of seeds. In this weeks experiment, the students took a closer look at the inside of a seed. A pinto bean and pea seed were soaked overnight in water. Each student was given an soaked set of the two seeds and seeds that were not soaked. They used their magnifiers and recorded in their science journal similarities and differences in both groups. All students observed that the soaked seed were bigger then the other seeds. Yes--the water did climb into the seed spaces. The students then split the seed in half to observe the inside. They noticed the outside covering of the seed (coat) came off and on the inside in the corner was the tiny baby plant (embryo). The rest of the inside is call the seed food, where the seed gets its nourishment. Students worked in their science journal to create a diagram of their seed parts. Pretty cool! Next week--sprouting sponges and seed bags--the world of hydroponics! We will also begin to discuss our plantings for our outside garden plot. I will send information to you this week on our outdoor planting schedule.
Technology: The students continue to use a variety of apps for enhancement and enrichment during their reading, math and choice time. Oh---end of the year project!!!!!!!!
Literature: "Eating the Alphabet" in English and in Spanish, "Garden," "How Do Seeds Grow?" "Have You Seen Bugs?" "What Mom's Can't Do," "Curious George Plants a Tree," "Growing Vegetable Soup," "Seeds," "Fancy Nancy's Marvelous Mother's Day Brunch," "Muncha, Muncha, Muncha," "Bennet Cerf's Book of Riddles, "Joke Book."
**It was a cool and overcast, but the students enjoyed their Eagle Wing lunch at Barrie Park on Wednesday. Thanks to M. Meagher, C. Bravo, G. Garcia and R. Leveridge for helping to make their lunch special!
**Our Library trip went well. The walk there was very pleasant. At the library, Maze librarian, Ms. Pulliam, gave a tour and showed students where to find age appropriate books and dvds. She shared some stories, songs and movement activities with the students. All students who filled out an application received their library card. All cards were placed in your child's backpack.
**It was super rainy and cool but District 97's Annual FUN RUN went on. A big shout out to Ava and Lottie for their participation in the event. There were lots of puddles and mud, but we made it to the finish line!
**Reminder--Our Field Trip to the Oak Park Conservatory is Thursday, May 17th. I still need a few permission slips. We will eat our lunch early so we can begin our walk at 11:35 am. I have G. Garcia, K. Mikos, I. Henry, M. Chlebek and Yaya's Grandma volunteering to help. Also this week--The Traveling Seeds Experience Box from the Oak Park Conservatory will arrive in our classroom. There will be lots of cool hands on activiites for the students to explore. We get to keep the box for the week.
**It's almost here!!! The Irving Art Fest is Thursday, May 17th from 6:00-8:00 pm. There will be art work from every child in the school displayed along with a Chorus performance, dance lessons, Shakespeare performed and of course THE POETRY SLAM!!! Currently, we have 6 of our own signed up to recite their poems. WOW--2 students have written their own poems!! Don't miss it! I will send some last minute information on Tuesday.
**Taste of Irving is Friday, May 18th from 6-8 pm. See the information sheet on the digital backpack for further info.
**Irving Family Math Night--"Messy Math" will be held on Thursday, May 24th from 6:30-8:00 pm.
**We are continuing our ABC Countdown to the last day of Kindergarten. The boys totally loved being Kings for a day! They decreed an extra recess and playing in our space stations. Look out--Letter Q will be here soon! (for all those girls waiting to be a queen.) Thanks to all our riddle and jokesters on Letter J day. We had many laughs as Alex and Izzy read from their joke books.
**Our last Friendship Club will be next Friday. The students voted on how best to end Friendship Club. The largest vote getter was to go outside and do an activity. Much thanks to Ms. Kwiatt for her explanation of the voting process.
**Future Field Trip--Pizza and Play End of the Year Family Picnic at Rehm Park is Wednesday, May 30th from 10:30-12:30 pm. Please send back blue permission slip ASAP. Thanks!
**Spelling City has been updated.
This week:
It continues to be about seeds and plants. Much has happened this week in the sprouting department! At day 5--Morning Glory, Sunflower and Marigold seeds all sprouted. Students continued their watering and nurturing of their particular plant. Nasturtium planters did not give up hope. At Day 9, they too had sprouting seeds! Students discussed why some seeds sprouted quicker and others took longer. They accessed their prior knowledge from their unit on investigating water. Water has to "climb in" the spaces to soften the seed in order for it to sprout. The nasturtium seed had a very hard outer surface. Some of the other seeds perhaps had surfaces that let the water climb in quicker. The students reflected in their science journals their seeds stages of growth. They were fascinated by each plants root system which they viewed under the magnifiers. They noted leaf shape, shoot or stem type and if any secondary leaves were appearing. They made sketches of their baby plant. They also learned about the care of plant when they took it home. These baby plants, along with a cool card went home on Friday as a present for Mom and as a home study activity. Station Day activities this week included origami tulips, seed sequence and addition story problem writing and illustration.
Reading/Social Studies: The students began Unit 10 I Know a Lot! in the Treasures Reading series. This is our final unit. The students talked about all the things they learned this year. Many students talked about not knowing anything about reading or only knowing a few words or not being able to count to 100 at the beginning of the year or not knowing how to write anything. Most students were very proud of what they now know. Some students still want to know more! I shared the Big Book, "What Do You Know!" The students made predictions about story content. The students were able to respond to the literature by making connections to certain parts of the story in their own lives. The students worked on the sight words with, my, me, where. All the kindergarten sight words have been introduced. The students spent time in pairs creating sentences using their word cards, picture cards and punctuation cards. Each pair of students shared the sentences they made. Target letters Jj, Yy, and Zz were reviewed. Students continued to work on recognizing and using nouns, verbs, adjectives and pronouns. The Big Book story was reread. Students used the illustrations and words to tell what was fantasy and reality. Students took turns using the retelling cards to retell the story in their own words. Our puppet friend, Mr. Happy, assisted using using our elkonin boxes to blend phonemes to make words. The students are blending 3-4-5 and even 6 phonemes! The phoneme qu was reviewed. Students read their decodable and leveled readers and paper stories on their own this week and discussed the stories in small groups. We are working on a special end of the year project. (It's amazing!) Stay tuned. Our workstation time was dedicated to this project!!
Math: The students continue their mass review of everything math! Counting beyond 100, telling time by the hour, recognizing coins and their values and creating their own story problems, illustrating the process and writing the number sentence were just some of the highlights for this week.
Writing: The students continue to reflect in their journals. This week, each student viewed their beginning and midyear journals to see how much their writing has changed. They were amazed and pleased with their progress. The students reviewed steps in creating a paragraph. They have begun in class research on worms which is the topic for their final paragraph.
Science: The students continued their study of seeds. In this weeks experiment, the students took a closer look at the inside of a seed. A pinto bean and pea seed were soaked overnight in water. Each student was given an soaked set of the two seeds and seeds that were not soaked. They used their magnifiers and recorded in their science journal similarities and differences in both groups. All students observed that the soaked seed were bigger then the other seeds. Yes--the water did climb into the seed spaces. The students then split the seed in half to observe the inside. They noticed the outside covering of the seed (coat) came off and on the inside in the corner was the tiny baby plant (embryo). The rest of the inside is call the seed food, where the seed gets its nourishment. Students worked in their science journal to create a diagram of their seed parts. Pretty cool! Next week--sprouting sponges and seed bags--the world of hydroponics! We will also begin to discuss our plantings for our outside garden plot. I will send information to you this week on our outdoor planting schedule.
Technology: The students continue to use a variety of apps for enhancement and enrichment during their reading, math and choice time. Oh---end of the year project!!!!!!!!
Literature: "Eating the Alphabet" in English and in Spanish, "Garden," "How Do Seeds Grow?" "Have You Seen Bugs?" "What Mom's Can't Do," "Curious George Plants a Tree," "Growing Vegetable Soup," "Seeds," "Fancy Nancy's Marvelous Mother's Day Brunch," "Muncha, Muncha, Muncha," "Bennet Cerf's Book of Riddles, "Joke Book."
Saturday, May 5, 2012
UPDATES for 4/30-5/4 2012
**We have had another busy week! The weather did not cooperate for our EAGLE WING LUNCH to Barrie Park this past week. We are going to try again --WEDNESDAY, MAY 9th. We will use the same procedure. Anyone getting a school lunch will need to order a salad or sandwich. Milk orders will be as usual. C. Bravo, M. Meagher and M. Chlebek will walk with us. Hopefully, this will work!
**Thanks to K.Mikos and R. Leveridge for sharing their job descriptions during Parent Career Day. Ms. Mikos pitch about being able to facilitate change really resonated with some students after we read "Ron's Big Mission" which is the story about astronaut, Ron McNair. Born in a South Carolina town, a young Ron, as an African American, was not aloud to take out books from his neighborhood library. To facilitate change, Ron stood up on the table in the library and would not come down. He wanted to be able to take books out of the library instead of having to stay there to read them. He loved to read. Parents and police were called, but the librarian saw his determination and in the end that rule was changed.
**The students are really enjoying traveling to other classrooms to recite their poems. We have also enjoyed the poetry of others in the building. The traveling will continue until May 17th.
**Our compost center is going well with our "wormy" friends. Students can continue to bring veggies, fruit, newspaper to "feed" our compost. The students are getting a kick out of watching the worms move about.
**Reminder--Our Field Trip to the Maze Branch Library is Thursday, May 10th. I do not have everyone's permission slip. Please send it in ASAP. Thanks! The applications for student cards are being processed. We will begin our walk around 8:30 am. I have T. Dantzler, C. Bravo and R. Leveridge volunteering to walk will us. Thanks for volunteering!
** Please read the information about National Sports and Fitness Week enclosed in the homework packet. Monday is Ball and Jump Rope Day!
**Our Field Trip to the Oak Park Conservatory is Thursday, May 17th. I need all permission slips in ASAP. Thanks! I have G. Garcia, K. Mikos, I. Henry and Yaya's Grandma volunteering to help. Thanks to all of you who have offered your help. I believe I have scheduled all who volunteered to help to one of our 3 walking trips.
** We are continuing on with our ABC Countdown to the last day of Kindergarten. Monday is H--Hat Day! We have had favorite Colored clothes, Dress up day, Eagle colors, Flowers (real and created) and Green dress so far. The students came up with very creative ways to make flowers using the donated and recycled materials. Many students became the "teacher" to others. Wonderful sharing and helping!
**Come run with me at the District 97 FUN RUN on Saturday, May 12th at 8:00 am. at Lindberg Park. See me for the information sheet.
**The Different Together Potluck is Friday, May 11th from 6:30-8 pm. This newest PTO Committee is a social group offering community and support to LGBT Irving families, families with gender-diverse children and friends. Come share a meal and conversation.
**IRVING ART FEST is Thursday, May 17th from 6-8 pm. Sign up to be in the Poetry Slam! There will be lots of activities including the slam, art display, Chorus performance, Dance lessons, Shakespeare performed. WOW! This will be fun! Don't miss it!
**Taste of Irving is Friday, May 18th. Stay tuned for more info.
**FAMILY MATH NIGHT--"Messy Math" will be held on Thursday, May 24th from 6:30-8 pm. Stay tuned for more info.
**Future Field Trip--Pizza and Play End of the Year Family Picnic at Rehm Park is Wednesday, May 30th from 10:30-12:30 pm. Information and permission slips for this event will be sent home this coming week.
This week:
It was all about seeds and planting! The students began their last unit in science--From Seed to Plant. They began their prep by learning about the composting process. Watching and "feeding" that process has been really cool. The students brainstormed what they knew about seeds. Much discussion centered around kinds of seeds and what they produce. Some students students recognized that we even eat some seeds and that not all seeds look alike. The students conducted some experiments (see science heading) and then learned about the particular seeds that they could choose to nurture into a plant. Each student chose a particular flower seed. Our choices were Nasturtium, Marigold, Morning Glory and Sunflower. Each seed has their own distinct shape, growing pattern and leaf structure. Each student is responsible for checking to see if their plant needs water every other day. We are keeping a class chart to see when growth begins and which flower is first to sprout! We are at DAY 4--no growth yet. What will happen over the weekend???? Stay tuned! Station Day activities included Ladybug Math, Flower Part Phoneme completion, Seed Sequence and accompanying story sentences.
Reading/Social Studies: The students have completed week 3, Unit 9 Amazing Creatures in their Treasures Reading series. They will take their unit assessment on Monday. The students began by building background knowledge about animals then and now. The animals of the past were the dinosaurs. What do you know about dinosaurs? Are they real or make believe? Do you know any animals that were around when dinosaurs were alive and are still around today? The students knew that dinosaurs were real animals. Some students mentioned that turtles were also around in the time of dinosaurs and are still here today. I shared the trade book, "If Dinosaurs Came Back." In this fantasy story, if dinosaurs came back, they would perform many duties for humans--function like ladders, buses, cars, saws, lawn mowers etc. The students used the pictures and words to decide if the story was real or make believe. The students continue to review pronouns and adjectives. We used our trade book to locate pronouns and made a list. The students created a word web about what dinosaurs looked like and used adjectives to describe. The students continue to review their sight words-he, she, has, look. They worked with a partner to create sentences using word and picture cards and read them back to one another. The students used their elkonin boxes to work on addition, deletion and sound blending of phonemes. Students are becoming pretty quick at creating new words using this process. They continue with their weekly Word Play activities. Robust Vocabulary words this week included ENORMOUS, GULP, INCREDIBLE, FANTASY, REALITY. In our Vocabulary Story, "Powerful Plant-Eating Dinosaurs," the students learned facts about certain types of dinosaurs and compared and contrasted body parts, eating habits and habitats. The students read their decodable book, "Pat and the Vet" and made predictions about story content. They also discussed parts of the story that were real or make believe. The students reread their story to a partner and discussed and filled out the Reader's Checklist with each other. The students read their paper story, "Rex." Workstations for this week included a literature study-leveled readers with sequencing frames, informational picture and question and answer form, leveled readers, reading, story element discussion and completion of Literacy Activities using Doodle Buddy and Magnetic Letters with a partner, Dino Talk- where students write in the speech bubble what the 2 dinosaurs might say to each other and game station--Spot a Word, What's GNU? and Very Silly Sentences.
Math: The students continue their massive review which includes rote counting beyond 100, recognizing and writing 2-3digit numbers, telling time by the hour and half hour, recognizing coins and their values, using coins to add, listening to story problems and and illustrating the process in solving them using pictures and number sentences, counting by 2's, 5's and 10's to 100, dice addition, subtraction puzzles and working with dollar bills. The students continue to work on the function activity called "What's My Rule." End of the year assessments in math will begin next week. Whole group, small group and partner activities were part of this.
Writing: The students are working to complete their orange handwriting books. They continue to use the writing prompts from our Treasures series. I continue to stress to the students refining their upper and lowercase letter formation, spacing between words in a sentence, placement of letters on a given line, reading back anything they write to make sure it names and tells, using a capital letter at the beginning of a sentence and a punctuation mark at the end of a sentence. Many students are writing 2-6 sentences. Some are using pronouns and adjectives. This week, we discussed the use of contractions. WOW! Next week, we will begin prep for our final paragraph writing activity on the subject of worms!
Science: The students began with an inquiry question: What is a Seed? With magnifiers in hand, the students closely examined a variety of small objects--some were seeds and some were not. Each table conducted sorting activities and tried to decide which were in fact seeds and which were not. In the next experiment, each student selected a seed for planting and nurturing. The students really were struck by the shape differences in the Nasturtium, Marigold, Morning Glory and Sunflower seeds. Lots of descriptive words in their science journals! Students accessed information on the internet about growth patterns (horizontal vs. vertical), stems and root structures (tiny, thin, wide, large) and leaf shape (wagon wheel, long and pointed, small.) We made a class growth chart--which will be the first to sprout? The students discussed what was needed for the plants to grow--soil, sun, water. They continue to observe our potato plants (unbelievable!) and help provide a viable environment for our compost to mature. They are always questioning as good scientists should. It keeps me on my toes!!! Next week--seed dissection!
Technology: In reading, student partners used the apps Magnetic Letters and Doodle Buddy to illustrate and write to complete the literacy activities that accompanied their story, Montessori Crosswords app to continue work with segmenting and word families and the app Tic Tac Toe assist with phonemic awareness questions. Students continue to record their reading and play it back to assist in fluency development. In math, the students continue to use apps using addition, subtraction, number writing. In science, the students use the app Enchanted Learning to look up information on seeds and plants.
Literature: "Splat the Cat-Good Night, Sleep Tight," "Ron's Big Mission," "Aliens in Underpants Save the World," "Sara's Seed," "I am a Seed," "More Bears," "What am I--Look and See State of Illinois Book," "If You Were a Minus Sign," "The Curious Garden."
**Thanks to K.Mikos and R. Leveridge for sharing their job descriptions during Parent Career Day. Ms. Mikos pitch about being able to facilitate change really resonated with some students after we read "Ron's Big Mission" which is the story about astronaut, Ron McNair. Born in a South Carolina town, a young Ron, as an African American, was not aloud to take out books from his neighborhood library. To facilitate change, Ron stood up on the table in the library and would not come down. He wanted to be able to take books out of the library instead of having to stay there to read them. He loved to read. Parents and police were called, but the librarian saw his determination and in the end that rule was changed.
**The students are really enjoying traveling to other classrooms to recite their poems. We have also enjoyed the poetry of others in the building. The traveling will continue until May 17th.
**Our compost center is going well with our "wormy" friends. Students can continue to bring veggies, fruit, newspaper to "feed" our compost. The students are getting a kick out of watching the worms move about.
**Reminder--Our Field Trip to the Maze Branch Library is Thursday, May 10th. I do not have everyone's permission slip. Please send it in ASAP. Thanks! The applications for student cards are being processed. We will begin our walk around 8:30 am. I have T. Dantzler, C. Bravo and R. Leveridge volunteering to walk will us. Thanks for volunteering!
** Please read the information about National Sports and Fitness Week enclosed in the homework packet. Monday is Ball and Jump Rope Day!
**Our Field Trip to the Oak Park Conservatory is Thursday, May 17th. I need all permission slips in ASAP. Thanks! I have G. Garcia, K. Mikos, I. Henry and Yaya's Grandma volunteering to help. Thanks to all of you who have offered your help. I believe I have scheduled all who volunteered to help to one of our 3 walking trips.
** We are continuing on with our ABC Countdown to the last day of Kindergarten. Monday is H--Hat Day! We have had favorite Colored clothes, Dress up day, Eagle colors, Flowers (real and created) and Green dress so far. The students came up with very creative ways to make flowers using the donated and recycled materials. Many students became the "teacher" to others. Wonderful sharing and helping!
**Come run with me at the District 97 FUN RUN on Saturday, May 12th at 8:00 am. at Lindberg Park. See me for the information sheet.
**The Different Together Potluck is Friday, May 11th from 6:30-8 pm. This newest PTO Committee is a social group offering community and support to LGBT Irving families, families with gender-diverse children and friends. Come share a meal and conversation.
**IRVING ART FEST is Thursday, May 17th from 6-8 pm. Sign up to be in the Poetry Slam! There will be lots of activities including the slam, art display, Chorus performance, Dance lessons, Shakespeare performed. WOW! This will be fun! Don't miss it!
**Taste of Irving is Friday, May 18th. Stay tuned for more info.
**FAMILY MATH NIGHT--"Messy Math" will be held on Thursday, May 24th from 6:30-8 pm. Stay tuned for more info.
**Future Field Trip--Pizza and Play End of the Year Family Picnic at Rehm Park is Wednesday, May 30th from 10:30-12:30 pm. Information and permission slips for this event will be sent home this coming week.
This week:
It was all about seeds and planting! The students began their last unit in science--From Seed to Plant. They began their prep by learning about the composting process. Watching and "feeding" that process has been really cool. The students brainstormed what they knew about seeds. Much discussion centered around kinds of seeds and what they produce. Some students students recognized that we even eat some seeds and that not all seeds look alike. The students conducted some experiments (see science heading) and then learned about the particular seeds that they could choose to nurture into a plant. Each student chose a particular flower seed. Our choices were Nasturtium, Marigold, Morning Glory and Sunflower. Each seed has their own distinct shape, growing pattern and leaf structure. Each student is responsible for checking to see if their plant needs water every other day. We are keeping a class chart to see when growth begins and which flower is first to sprout! We are at DAY 4--no growth yet. What will happen over the weekend???? Stay tuned! Station Day activities included Ladybug Math, Flower Part Phoneme completion, Seed Sequence and accompanying story sentences.
Reading/Social Studies: The students have completed week 3, Unit 9 Amazing Creatures in their Treasures Reading series. They will take their unit assessment on Monday. The students began by building background knowledge about animals then and now. The animals of the past were the dinosaurs. What do you know about dinosaurs? Are they real or make believe? Do you know any animals that were around when dinosaurs were alive and are still around today? The students knew that dinosaurs were real animals. Some students mentioned that turtles were also around in the time of dinosaurs and are still here today. I shared the trade book, "If Dinosaurs Came Back." In this fantasy story, if dinosaurs came back, they would perform many duties for humans--function like ladders, buses, cars, saws, lawn mowers etc. The students used the pictures and words to decide if the story was real or make believe. The students continue to review pronouns and adjectives. We used our trade book to locate pronouns and made a list. The students created a word web about what dinosaurs looked like and used adjectives to describe. The students continue to review their sight words-he, she, has, look. They worked with a partner to create sentences using word and picture cards and read them back to one another. The students used their elkonin boxes to work on addition, deletion and sound blending of phonemes. Students are becoming pretty quick at creating new words using this process. They continue with their weekly Word Play activities. Robust Vocabulary words this week included ENORMOUS, GULP, INCREDIBLE, FANTASY, REALITY. In our Vocabulary Story, "Powerful Plant-Eating Dinosaurs," the students learned facts about certain types of dinosaurs and compared and contrasted body parts, eating habits and habitats. The students read their decodable book, "Pat and the Vet" and made predictions about story content. They also discussed parts of the story that were real or make believe. The students reread their story to a partner and discussed and filled out the Reader's Checklist with each other. The students read their paper story, "Rex." Workstations for this week included a literature study-leveled readers with sequencing frames, informational picture and question and answer form, leveled readers, reading, story element discussion and completion of Literacy Activities using Doodle Buddy and Magnetic Letters with a partner, Dino Talk- where students write in the speech bubble what the 2 dinosaurs might say to each other and game station--Spot a Word, What's GNU? and Very Silly Sentences.
Math: The students continue their massive review which includes rote counting beyond 100, recognizing and writing 2-3digit numbers, telling time by the hour and half hour, recognizing coins and their values, using coins to add, listening to story problems and and illustrating the process in solving them using pictures and number sentences, counting by 2's, 5's and 10's to 100, dice addition, subtraction puzzles and working with dollar bills. The students continue to work on the function activity called "What's My Rule." End of the year assessments in math will begin next week. Whole group, small group and partner activities were part of this.
Writing: The students are working to complete their orange handwriting books. They continue to use the writing prompts from our Treasures series. I continue to stress to the students refining their upper and lowercase letter formation, spacing between words in a sentence, placement of letters on a given line, reading back anything they write to make sure it names and tells, using a capital letter at the beginning of a sentence and a punctuation mark at the end of a sentence. Many students are writing 2-6 sentences. Some are using pronouns and adjectives. This week, we discussed the use of contractions. WOW! Next week, we will begin prep for our final paragraph writing activity on the subject of worms!
Science: The students began with an inquiry question: What is a Seed? With magnifiers in hand, the students closely examined a variety of small objects--some were seeds and some were not. Each table conducted sorting activities and tried to decide which were in fact seeds and which were not. In the next experiment, each student selected a seed for planting and nurturing. The students really were struck by the shape differences in the Nasturtium, Marigold, Morning Glory and Sunflower seeds. Lots of descriptive words in their science journals! Students accessed information on the internet about growth patterns (horizontal vs. vertical), stems and root structures (tiny, thin, wide, large) and leaf shape (wagon wheel, long and pointed, small.) We made a class growth chart--which will be the first to sprout? The students discussed what was needed for the plants to grow--soil, sun, water. They continue to observe our potato plants (unbelievable!) and help provide a viable environment for our compost to mature. They are always questioning as good scientists should. It keeps me on my toes!!! Next week--seed dissection!
Technology: In reading, student partners used the apps Magnetic Letters and Doodle Buddy to illustrate and write to complete the literacy activities that accompanied their story, Montessori Crosswords app to continue work with segmenting and word families and the app Tic Tac Toe assist with phonemic awareness questions. Students continue to record their reading and play it back to assist in fluency development. In math, the students continue to use apps using addition, subtraction, number writing. In science, the students use the app Enchanted Learning to look up information on seeds and plants.
Literature: "Splat the Cat-Good Night, Sleep Tight," "Ron's Big Mission," "Aliens in Underpants Save the World," "Sara's Seed," "I am a Seed," "More Bears," "What am I--Look and See State of Illinois Book," "If You Were a Minus Sign," "The Curious Garden."
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