**The students had a productive week! They continue to respond to our Eagle Essential Guidelines and our in class behavior tips and are beginning to be very much a part of shaping their own behavior. The students continue to work on fostering positive peer relationships both in and out of our classroom.
** PICTURE DAY is TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1st. We will have our picture taken at 8:30 am. It is a gym day so don't forget to send gym shoes. If you are ordering pictures---order online or use the envelope sent in the Tuesday packet. We will have a class picture taken as well as each child's individual picture. Ms. Merritt has volunteered to help make sure we all look our best!
**Congratulations to GINA and REID--our GREEN TEAM reps for this year. They will attend bi monthly meetings and keep our class up to date with ideas and projects that make our school GREEN! Their first meeting will be Tuesday during lunch recess.
**Reminder--Don't forget to send in your confirmation for Parent/Teacher Conferences. Don't forget that on Thursday and Friday--October 10th and 11th, school is only in session in the morning. There is no afternoon session.
**ROUTE to READING SKILL GROUPS will begin on Wednesday, October 2nd. Your child will be bringing home information on the skill they will be working on and the teacher who is teaching it. Route to Reading Skill Groups meet 3 times a week for 40 minutes. The skill will be taught for 3 weeks and then assessed for mastery.
**Final Call for parent volunteers for Friday Station Day! Sign up if you can. I will post it on the blog as well as send a hard copy.
**NO SCHOOL on Monday, October 14th in observance of Columbus Day.
**We all did well on our first Friday in the PACERS Running/Walking Club. 3 laps around the school equals 1 mile. 6 students earned their first FOOT for their bracelet. Many students did 2 laps. Can't wait for next week!
**Our first D. E. A. R. (drop everything and read) was a hit. The whole school read for 8 minutes. Next month, we will increase by 8 more minutes.
**SEASONAL BABIES PROJECT--Please send in a baby picture of your child to school for our project. The photo will be displayed all year and will be returned to you at the end of the school year. The project will begin October 15th.
**Irving School Book Fair is October 7-10.
**Irving School Trivia Night Fundraiser info is on the Irving School website.
**Don't forget to sign and return the permission slip for ARTSONIA online students art work museum.
**In Friendship Club, Ms. Bell Bey taught a lesson on physical proximity and comfort level in daily student interaction.
** In Mr. Packer Math this week--Mr. Packer played getting to know you memory activity where he asked the students to think of word that starts with the same letter as their name and they had to help him remember every ones word. Pretty hysterical!!
This week:
It was all about a rather large bean that Gina brought from her garden. The students said it was the longest bean in Oak Park! Check it out on the side the blog. The students are beginning to notice small changes that signal the season of autumn. Some students noted that they had to wear jackets and long pants. Some are observing leaves on the ground and leaves changing color. They are also noticing less bugs around. Our Station Day activities included pattern block build and count, stamp your sight words, create your word wheels and read and decorate your PACER bracelet envelope. Next week--Apple Mania!
Reading/Social Studies: We have begun UNIT 1 FAMILIES in our Treasures Reading Series. The students built background knowledge on the types of families they knew about. They discussed animal families and human families. We all shared experiences about our families and the number of family members we have. The students listened to the Big Book story, "Whose Baby Is It?" The students made predictions about story content and noticed patterns in the text. They examined the cover, title page, front and back parts of the book and located where the page number was. They reviewed their previous sight words and added the new target words WE and THE. They spelled and wrote them and used them in their journals. Our target sound in isolation this week is Mm. The students worked with the sound toy box and sound cards and created a list of words that began with Mm. They also listened for Mm at the end of words. The students worked on additional vocabulary while listening to the fable, "The Lioness and the Ostrich." This vocabulary is referred to as ROBUST VOCABULARY. Ask your child about the words ANIMAL, PROTECT, TOGETHER and RESEMBLE. We defined each word and gave an example sentence. We used them frequently in our discussion. The students used the retelling cards to retell the story to a partner. The students worked on story words JOEY, PUP and CUB in the baby animal world. We read aloud our pre decodable story, "I Can, We Can." The students continue to work on tracking words and pictures in a sentence using their pointing finger. They also read the story, "We Can" to a partner. The students continue to work on Common Core Skills--recognizing FICTION and NONFICTION stories and examining the similarities and differences between a story and a poem. The students continue to work on parts of speech. They brainstormed of lists words that named people, animals and places (NOUNS) and looked for action words (VERBS) in their predecodable stories.
The students enjoyed their workstations this week. While I worked with small groups, the students also worked in rotating small groups creating an Mm mural, playing an upper and lowercase match game, creating a family sizes graph using paper dolls and sharing a story with a partner and retelling it. Our table managers are beginning to take more responsibility setting up, controlling noise level and helping to resolve any conflicts in the table group. The students continue to work in the Haggerty Blue Book.
Math: The students reviewed simple shape recognition. We also talked about how many corners and sides a shape has. The students also continued the exploration of pattern block shapes. We talked about hexagon, trapezoid, rhombus and skinny rhombus and the amount of sides and corners they have. The students worked on a variety counting activities using their 10 frames as well as counting objects, cubes, bears, blocks and matching one to one. We reviewed positional concepts over, under, between, next, in front of, above and below using movement activities. The students worked with their number cards with partners matching and sequencing numbers---0-5, 0-10, 0-15, 0-20. They also worked on activities surrounding the concept of greater then, less then.
Writing: The students continue to work on FROG JUMP CAPITALS---F-E-D-P-B-R. They are using their mini chalk boards, chalk and sponges. The small chalk and sponge pieces help to reinforce the tripod grasp. They apply what they have learned in their orange practice book. The students continue working with their journal prompts. I am recoding some the words about their pictures. Students are recoding the first sound they hear in a word. Some students are labeling a picture or two. Some students are working on sentence structure--naming and telling (noun-verb) (subject-action) Inventive or phonetic spelling is great. Spacing of words in a sentence is also being modeled and talked about.
Technology: The students used a variety of activities on the iPad to reinforce their curriculum. In reading small group, students used the apps ABC Touch, ABC Magic 3-sound matching (letter to picture and picture to picture), Fun Rhyming and Word Wizard to practice their sight vocabulary. In math small groups and with partners, students used the apps Intro to Math and Numbers to assist in number recognition, counting and patterns. We are currently working on a math project using the app Doodle Buddy.
Literature: "Whose Baby Am I?" "The Alphabet Adventure," "What Will the Fat Cat Sit On?" "Boom Chicka Rock," "The Colors of us," "The Pout Pout Fish in the Big Big Dark," "How Rocket Learned to Read," "Where in the Wild," "The Playground Problem," "How Do We Learn?" Poems--"Everybody Says," "Andre."
Sunday, September 29, 2013
Sunday, September 22, 2013
UPDATES for 9/16-9/20 2013
**A letter about PARENT/TEACHER CONFERENCES will be in your child's folder on Monday. Some of you have already signed up and will get a confirmation letter. If you haven't signed up I have given you a day and time. If you cannot make that time, please write in some options and we will make it work. Conferences are scheduled for Monday, October 7th, Tuesday, October 8th and Wednesday, October 9th. I am available before school, after school and in the evening. Reminder--On Thursday, October 10th and Friday, October 11th--dismissal for all students is 11:00 am. There is NO afternoon session and NO lunch. District Bus service, River Forest Community Center and Hephzibah pick up are at 11:00 am.
**NO SCHOOL October 14th in observance of Columbus Day.
**Irving PACERS Running/ Walking club began last Friday. Our class will begin THIS coming Friday. Students can use their lunch recess to run/walk around the school grounds 3 times (1 mile) and receive a special chain with a little foot on it. PACERS will meet on September 27th, October 4th, 18th, 25th and November 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd for this year and will resume in the spring. Each week, the students will have the opportunity to earn another foot. Our whole class will be participating!! Most students run and walk. Students are most welcome to walk with me. The students will decorate an envelope to keep their growing foot necklace in and keep it in class. Let's say YES to exercise!!!
**D.E.A.R. Program--Born to Read at Irving School. At the end of September, the whole class school will participate in uninterrupted reading D.E.A.R. (drop everything and read) for 8 minutes. Each month, the number of minutes will increase by 8. The goal to increase the amount of reading so that by the end of May, each students can read uninterrupted for 64 minutes. Be on the look out for the monthly exercises. Look for a flyer in your child's folder.
**Picture Day is Tuesday, October 1st. I will try and book an early morning time slot for our class. Thanks to J. Merritt for volunteering to help. Should take about 20 minutes.
**International Walk to School Day is Wednesday, October 9th. Stay tuned for more info.
**Irving School has a GREEN TEAM!! Each class has 2 reps that meet every other Tuesday lunch recess with Green Team Leaders, Ms. Parkinson and Mr. Packer. They plan projects, discuss how to create a "greener" environment for our school and will relay information to our class. We need 2 reps for our class. I will be having a discussion with them on Monday to see if anyone is interested. Discuss it at home. Email me if your child's is interested. It is a commitment for the entire school year and we will talk about what that means.
**Irving School Book Fair is October 7-10.
**Irving School Trivia Night info will be in your child's folder.
**Please sign and send back the permission slip for ARTSONIA on line student art work museum.
**All DIBELS and PHONIC SCREENER assessment are now completed. I will be sharing all the information with you at conference time. Route to Reading will begin soon. At that time you will receive information on the skill your child will be working on as well as the teacher. The rotations are 3 weeks long.
**Don't forget to fill out the HELPFUL PARENTS SIGN UP sheet. If you are interested in helping out for STATION DAY on FRIDAY afternoons--check it off! I will be compiling a rotating list of volunteers. If you have a specific Friday in mind--jot it down on the sheet. There are usually 2-3 parents each Friday. Grandmas and Grandpas are most welcome. Our start date is Friday, October 4th.
This week:
It was all about letters and numbers. The students found letters around our classroom and school. They also located numbers in our classroom and school. What is the difference between a number and letter? The students began a conversation about consonants (letters that have 1 or 2 sounds) and vowels (letters that have many different sounds.) The students found the consonants and vowels in their name. They compared their name to a friends name. We are counting everything in sight--markers, crayons, chairs, books, feet, fingers, noses.......Station Day activities included creating patterns with teddy bears, exploring pattern block shapes, working on ten frame number books and reading their paper stories to a partner.
Reading/Social Studies: The students have completed the intro to our Treasurer Reading series called Smart Start and spent this week reviewing letter recognition A-Z, beginning consonant sounds, matching upper and lowercase letters and sequencing letters A-Z. The students brainstormed lists of words that named animals and words that names actions. We are beginning work on nouns and verbs and how to use them when we speak and write. They are working on using complete sentences subject/action when speaking. During our read aloud time, students read the story, "I Can." We continue to work on our Common Core skills-- locating the title, finding the characters and setting and chatting about the events that occur in the story. The students are now locating the page number, where the sentence begins (left side) and what ends a sentence (period, question mark, exclamation mark.) They continue to examine the contents of each page. What do you see in the big picture? Let's finger point and read each word and little picture (rebus reading.) Do you recall your sight words? Before we turn the page--what do you think might happen? (predicting) How many words are in the sentence? Can you find an action word? Can you ask and answer a question about the story? Wow! Lots going on! Students are sharing their story reading with a partner. The partner is observing finger pointing and voice quality. (Can I hear what my partner is reading?) Workstations this week included "Rhyme Time Toss," "Sound Toy Bag," letter cards for sequencing, Can you write the sound down activity and iPad activities ABC Touch, Alphatots, Dolch Words, Write Words, ABC lite and ABC matching and Fun Rhyming. Students are working on the Haggerty Blue Book exercises. They are becoming focused as a group on letter recognition, rhyming distinction, syllable counting, segmenting and substituting sounds and adding and deleting sounds. We will begin Unit 1 Families next week.
Math: The students continue to work on rote counting to 20 and one to one correspondence to 10. They are becoming more familiar with using the ten frames and bead ropes. The students began work on their ten frame counting books. They did some review work with creating patterns using teddy bears. The students also explored pattern blocks and created designs and learned the names of each block. We all learned to play "Spin a Number" with our pencil and paper clip spinners. We are counting back from 10 and counting forward beginning at a random number from 0-20. Students worked with partners to sequence number 0-5, 0-10 and 0-20. They also used the unifix cubes to build number towers.
Writing: The students continue to work on their FROG JUMP CAPITALS--F, E, and D. They used their wooden pieces to create the letters. The students worked in their orange books really thinking about the quality of their letter formation. They continue to use activities from the hand/finger activity box to strengthen their tripod grasp. Along with the Treasurers writing prompts, the students worked on a special writing prompt where they drew about a dream or a wish they had. I encouraged them to label parts of their drawings or write some words about them. Students were also encouraged to draw as many details as they could in their drawings. When students were finished, each student shared their drawing and writing with the class. The class could add suggestions. It was great fun sharing and hearing what other had to say about their work.
Technology: The students used a variety of iPads apps in their small group and individual work. All students used Doodle Buddy to explore and create a picture and added their name to it. They became familiar with how to look for stamp pictures, create text and use the paint and chalk. Next week we will do a project in math using Doodle Buddy. The apps used in reading have already been mentioned. The students worked in small groups, with partners or individually on the apps Intro to Math and Numbers. We all tracked the rain and storms using Weatherunderground.
Literature: "How Kids Grow," "A Hippopotamus Ate the Teacher," "Mouse Loves School," "David Goes to School," "They Day the Teacher Went Bananas," "The Colors of Us," "Clifford's Best School Day," "Shades of Black," "Skippy John Jones Class Action."
**NO SCHOOL October 14th in observance of Columbus Day.
**Irving PACERS Running/ Walking club began last Friday. Our class will begin THIS coming Friday. Students can use their lunch recess to run/walk around the school grounds 3 times (1 mile) and receive a special chain with a little foot on it. PACERS will meet on September 27th, October 4th, 18th, 25th and November 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd for this year and will resume in the spring. Each week, the students will have the opportunity to earn another foot. Our whole class will be participating!! Most students run and walk. Students are most welcome to walk with me. The students will decorate an envelope to keep their growing foot necklace in and keep it in class. Let's say YES to exercise!!!
**D.E.A.R. Program--Born to Read at Irving School. At the end of September, the whole class school will participate in uninterrupted reading D.E.A.R. (drop everything and read) for 8 minutes. Each month, the number of minutes will increase by 8. The goal to increase the amount of reading so that by the end of May, each students can read uninterrupted for 64 minutes. Be on the look out for the monthly exercises. Look for a flyer in your child's folder.
**Picture Day is Tuesday, October 1st. I will try and book an early morning time slot for our class. Thanks to J. Merritt for volunteering to help. Should take about 20 minutes.
**International Walk to School Day is Wednesday, October 9th. Stay tuned for more info.
**Irving School has a GREEN TEAM!! Each class has 2 reps that meet every other Tuesday lunch recess with Green Team Leaders, Ms. Parkinson and Mr. Packer. They plan projects, discuss how to create a "greener" environment for our school and will relay information to our class. We need 2 reps for our class. I will be having a discussion with them on Monday to see if anyone is interested. Discuss it at home. Email me if your child's is interested. It is a commitment for the entire school year and we will talk about what that means.
**Irving School Book Fair is October 7-10.
**Irving School Trivia Night info will be in your child's folder.
**Please sign and send back the permission slip for ARTSONIA on line student art work museum.
**All DIBELS and PHONIC SCREENER assessment are now completed. I will be sharing all the information with you at conference time. Route to Reading will begin soon. At that time you will receive information on the skill your child will be working on as well as the teacher. The rotations are 3 weeks long.
**Don't forget to fill out the HELPFUL PARENTS SIGN UP sheet. If you are interested in helping out for STATION DAY on FRIDAY afternoons--check it off! I will be compiling a rotating list of volunteers. If you have a specific Friday in mind--jot it down on the sheet. There are usually 2-3 parents each Friday. Grandmas and Grandpas are most welcome. Our start date is Friday, October 4th.
This week:
It was all about letters and numbers. The students found letters around our classroom and school. They also located numbers in our classroom and school. What is the difference between a number and letter? The students began a conversation about consonants (letters that have 1 or 2 sounds) and vowels (letters that have many different sounds.) The students found the consonants and vowels in their name. They compared their name to a friends name. We are counting everything in sight--markers, crayons, chairs, books, feet, fingers, noses.......Station Day activities included creating patterns with teddy bears, exploring pattern block shapes, working on ten frame number books and reading their paper stories to a partner.
Reading/Social Studies: The students have completed the intro to our Treasurer Reading series called Smart Start and spent this week reviewing letter recognition A-Z, beginning consonant sounds, matching upper and lowercase letters and sequencing letters A-Z. The students brainstormed lists of words that named animals and words that names actions. We are beginning work on nouns and verbs and how to use them when we speak and write. They are working on using complete sentences subject/action when speaking. During our read aloud time, students read the story, "I Can." We continue to work on our Common Core skills-- locating the title, finding the characters and setting and chatting about the events that occur in the story. The students are now locating the page number, where the sentence begins (left side) and what ends a sentence (period, question mark, exclamation mark.) They continue to examine the contents of each page. What do you see in the big picture? Let's finger point and read each word and little picture (rebus reading.) Do you recall your sight words? Before we turn the page--what do you think might happen? (predicting) How many words are in the sentence? Can you find an action word? Can you ask and answer a question about the story? Wow! Lots going on! Students are sharing their story reading with a partner. The partner is observing finger pointing and voice quality. (Can I hear what my partner is reading?) Workstations this week included "Rhyme Time Toss," "Sound Toy Bag," letter cards for sequencing, Can you write the sound down activity and iPad activities ABC Touch, Alphatots, Dolch Words, Write Words, ABC lite and ABC matching and Fun Rhyming. Students are working on the Haggerty Blue Book exercises. They are becoming focused as a group on letter recognition, rhyming distinction, syllable counting, segmenting and substituting sounds and adding and deleting sounds. We will begin Unit 1 Families next week.
Math: The students continue to work on rote counting to 20 and one to one correspondence to 10. They are becoming more familiar with using the ten frames and bead ropes. The students began work on their ten frame counting books. They did some review work with creating patterns using teddy bears. The students also explored pattern blocks and created designs and learned the names of each block. We all learned to play "Spin a Number" with our pencil and paper clip spinners. We are counting back from 10 and counting forward beginning at a random number from 0-20. Students worked with partners to sequence number 0-5, 0-10 and 0-20. They also used the unifix cubes to build number towers.
Writing: The students continue to work on their FROG JUMP CAPITALS--F, E, and D. They used their wooden pieces to create the letters. The students worked in their orange books really thinking about the quality of their letter formation. They continue to use activities from the hand/finger activity box to strengthen their tripod grasp. Along with the Treasurers writing prompts, the students worked on a special writing prompt where they drew about a dream or a wish they had. I encouraged them to label parts of their drawings or write some words about them. Students were also encouraged to draw as many details as they could in their drawings. When students were finished, each student shared their drawing and writing with the class. The class could add suggestions. It was great fun sharing and hearing what other had to say about their work.
Technology: The students used a variety of iPads apps in their small group and individual work. All students used Doodle Buddy to explore and create a picture and added their name to it. They became familiar with how to look for stamp pictures, create text and use the paint and chalk. Next week we will do a project in math using Doodle Buddy. The apps used in reading have already been mentioned. The students worked in small groups, with partners or individually on the apps Intro to Math and Numbers. We all tracked the rain and storms using Weatherunderground.
Literature: "How Kids Grow," "A Hippopotamus Ate the Teacher," "Mouse Loves School," "David Goes to School," "They Day the Teacher Went Bananas," "The Colors of Us," "Clifford's Best School Day," "Shades of Black," "Skippy John Jones Class Action."
Sunday, September 15, 2013
UPDATES for 9/9-9/12 2013
**OPEN HOUSE/CURRICULUM NIGHT was very well attended. I know that there was a lot of material presented to you and we didn't even cover everything. Please read through your curriculum packet. If you have any questions or would like to meet me after school or early evening, please email me! The students seemed to be having a great time. I hope you got to meet all of your child's teachers. Many of you did sign up for a Parent Conference time. If you did not have a chance, I have it posted in my classroom. I will be sending a formal letter next week. Parent/Teacher Conferences for my class will be held Monday, October 7th, Tuesday, October 8th and Wednesday, October 9th in our classroom. At that time, I will be sharing my assessments, student progress in all academic areas, participation and social/emotional growth reflections. I will also share with you what our new standards based report card will look like.
**A letter with a review of your child's KRT score (Kindergarten Readiness Test that was given this summer) is in your child's homework folder. Any questions--please contact me.
**Picture Day is Tuesday, October 3rd. At that time, a class photo and individual picture of your child will be taken. I usually try to be one of the first classes signed up for early morning. I need one parent volunteer to help with this. (It will take about 20 minutes) Please email if you can help. Thanks!
**You now have a copy of our weekly specials schedule. Our computer lab time is yet to be scheduled. I will be working on it this next week. The students will be working in the lab on a program called Lexia Core5. It is a great companion piece to our Treasures Reading and Route to Reading Skills Based programs. Your child will be able to use this program at home too!
**I am currently working to complete assessment of students using the PHONIC SCREENERS. This will assist in your child's skill placement in Route to Reading.
**Don't forget--Library books can remain out for one week and must be brought back on Library Day (Tuesday) so your child can pick a new one or two!
**Mr. Packer Math Enrichment will begin this Friday from 9:30-10:00. He will be working on whole group and small group thinking and problem solving skills.
**If your child will be TRAVELING over any weekend or on a vacation, let me know.....I will send a Travel Journal with them. Our class will track our "travels" throughout the year on our state and world map. It can be anywhere---Chicago, Forest Park, Florida, Colorado, France....you name it--we will track it!
**Next week is the last week I will send a hard copy of the homework assignments. It will be posted under the "check here for assignments" line under my blogspot. If you feel you need a hard copy, please let me know and I will provide one.
This week:
It was all about getting ready for OPEN HOUSE. The students worked hard on projects that were displayed in our hallway. They thought about their future in their illustrations and writing of what they wanted to be when they grew up. They worked on retelling a story both verbally and with the help of their classmates recording letters and words. Their TACTILE NAMES project was sensational!! Very creative--very touchy feely! They are on display in our classroom. The students also shared information on who was in their family with each other. They drew a picture of all the family members in their household.....even their pets!! Totally adorable!!! The discussions on expectations, behavior, Eagle slips, direction following remain important topics.
Reading/Social Studies: The students finished Week 3 of our prep for Treasures Reading Series called Smart Start. The students worked on reinforcing the recognition of letter names A-Z and sounds A-P. They again used mirrors to observe where each sound came from...open/closed mouth?....puff of air.?....vibrations?....where is your tongue? The students continues work on sight word vocabulary. They learned to "Walk Your Words." It is in their homework packet. The students continue to work on sight words---red, blue, go, am, I, go, the, yes, no, can. I read the trade book, "Jazz Baby." The students made prediction about story content. They used retelling cards to orally retell the story. Some students volunteered to write words under the pictures. It was a group effort to help in the sounding out of words and the recording of letters to create the sentences. The students named the instruments used and described the sounds they made. The students brainstormed ways they used their 5 Senses and helped create a list. The students continued work on their Common Core Standards of comparing texts and asking and answering questions about a story read. The students compared the fiction story, "Jazz Baby," to the informational (nonfiction) story, "Made From Clay." They noted the real from make believe, photo vs. illustrations and what each story was about (making music vs. finding/using clay.) They also continued work on recognizing the CHARACTERS, SETTING and TITLE of a given story. The positional words under, on, in, and over were reviewed. During our oral read aloud time, the students read the paper story, "I Can." They concentrated on finger pointing each word and picture and noting that each sentence begins with a capital letter and has an ending mark. (period, question mark, exclamation mark) Students took turns reading aloud while the other students followed along with their finger. (tracking) Our workstations this week included "Froggy, Froggy Where's Your Home? (upper/lowercase match,) Sound Toy Bag Game (matching toy to its appropriate initial sound box,) "Walk Your Words," Sequencing your ABC's, "Go Fish for Letters," "Initial Sound Magnetic Board," and the iPad activity, Alphatots.
The students continue to work on Haggerty Blue Books exercises which include, rhyming, letter naming, sound recognition, segmenting, substituting sounds, adding and deleting sounds and counting syllables.
Math: The students worked on Common Core Standards matching one to one on their number boards and building number. Students are working in groups--recognition 0-5 and 0-10. They also worked on sequencing numbers. They continue to use our calendar ten frames to count the number of days in school. Our workstations this week included Egg Carton Math, Number Boards, matching number with quantity, counting and writing to 5 or 10, Sorting and Classifying Activity, exploring pattern blocks. The students did the "Shape Rap" to review basic plane shapes--circle, square, triangle and rectangle. They also went on a shape hunt to find basic shapes in the classroom. We discussed the terms GREATER THAN, LESS THAN.
Writing: Now that the students are aware that different types of lines form our letters, we have begun to explore our writing series Handwriting Without Tears. The students used wooden pieces (straight lines, slant lines and curved lines) to construct their name on the floor. We talked about always starting at the top when producing a letter. We will begin this week with our FROG JUMP letters and using our orange workbook. The students were introduced to the our finger/hand strengthening box. It contains center activities built around strengthening our tripod grasp for writing and drawing. Our Occupational Therapist, Mrs. Nichols was in to observe development of tripod grasp. She has given me suggestions on students and we will continue to work with her. The students continue to work on their journal prompts. They are drawing and verbally sharing their what they have drawn. They are also in some cases, writing down the first sound they hear in one of their pictures, maybe writing one word using their inventive (phonetic) spelling, labeling one picture, or trying to write a sentence. (a group of words that NAMES and TELLS) All very exciting to observe!
Technology: The students have begun work on iPad etiquette. How to turn on, turn off, use the pad of their finger, control sound, add a headset and where to find activities. Our new data/tech coach, Mrs. Diehl will also help assisst in helping to foster greater independence in using the iPad. iPad use in our classroom is another tool the students can use to enhance and support what they are learning in the classroom. Stay tuned!
Literature: "When You Go To Kindergarten," "Tiptoe Into Kindergarten," "Pirates Go To School." "The Recess Queen," "ABC I Like Me," "Hands are Not for Hitting," "Two Eyes, A Nose, A Mouth," "Splat the Cat," "Hop on Pop," "The Cat in the Hat," "Cool Dog, School Dog," "Jazz Baby," "Made From Clay," "Don't Hit Me," "Where Do You Go To School?"
**A letter with a review of your child's KRT score (Kindergarten Readiness Test that was given this summer) is in your child's homework folder. Any questions--please contact me.
**Picture Day is Tuesday, October 3rd. At that time, a class photo and individual picture of your child will be taken. I usually try to be one of the first classes signed up for early morning. I need one parent volunteer to help with this. (It will take about 20 minutes) Please email if you can help. Thanks!
**You now have a copy of our weekly specials schedule. Our computer lab time is yet to be scheduled. I will be working on it this next week. The students will be working in the lab on a program called Lexia Core5. It is a great companion piece to our Treasures Reading and Route to Reading Skills Based programs. Your child will be able to use this program at home too!
**I am currently working to complete assessment of students using the PHONIC SCREENERS. This will assist in your child's skill placement in Route to Reading.
**Don't forget--Library books can remain out for one week and must be brought back on Library Day (Tuesday) so your child can pick a new one or two!
**Mr. Packer Math Enrichment will begin this Friday from 9:30-10:00. He will be working on whole group and small group thinking and problem solving skills.
**If your child will be TRAVELING over any weekend or on a vacation, let me know.....I will send a Travel Journal with them. Our class will track our "travels" throughout the year on our state and world map. It can be anywhere---Chicago, Forest Park, Florida, Colorado, France....you name it--we will track it!
**Next week is the last week I will send a hard copy of the homework assignments. It will be posted under the "check here for assignments" line under my blogspot. If you feel you need a hard copy, please let me know and I will provide one.
This week:
It was all about getting ready for OPEN HOUSE. The students worked hard on projects that were displayed in our hallway. They thought about their future in their illustrations and writing of what they wanted to be when they grew up. They worked on retelling a story both verbally and with the help of their classmates recording letters and words. Their TACTILE NAMES project was sensational!! Very creative--very touchy feely! They are on display in our classroom. The students also shared information on who was in their family with each other. They drew a picture of all the family members in their household.....even their pets!! Totally adorable!!! The discussions on expectations, behavior, Eagle slips, direction following remain important topics.
Reading/Social Studies: The students finished Week 3 of our prep for Treasures Reading Series called Smart Start. The students worked on reinforcing the recognition of letter names A-Z and sounds A-P. They again used mirrors to observe where each sound came from...open/closed mouth?....puff of air.?....vibrations?....where is your tongue? The students continues work on sight word vocabulary. They learned to "Walk Your Words." It is in their homework packet. The students continue to work on sight words---red, blue, go, am, I, go, the, yes, no, can. I read the trade book, "Jazz Baby." The students made prediction about story content. They used retelling cards to orally retell the story. Some students volunteered to write words under the pictures. It was a group effort to help in the sounding out of words and the recording of letters to create the sentences. The students named the instruments used and described the sounds they made. The students brainstormed ways they used their 5 Senses and helped create a list. The students continued work on their Common Core Standards of comparing texts and asking and answering questions about a story read. The students compared the fiction story, "Jazz Baby," to the informational (nonfiction) story, "Made From Clay." They noted the real from make believe, photo vs. illustrations and what each story was about (making music vs. finding/using clay.) They also continued work on recognizing the CHARACTERS, SETTING and TITLE of a given story. The positional words under, on, in, and over were reviewed. During our oral read aloud time, the students read the paper story, "I Can." They concentrated on finger pointing each word and picture and noting that each sentence begins with a capital letter and has an ending mark. (period, question mark, exclamation mark) Students took turns reading aloud while the other students followed along with their finger. (tracking) Our workstations this week included "Froggy, Froggy Where's Your Home? (upper/lowercase match,) Sound Toy Bag Game (matching toy to its appropriate initial sound box,) "Walk Your Words," Sequencing your ABC's, "Go Fish for Letters," "Initial Sound Magnetic Board," and the iPad activity, Alphatots.
The students continue to work on Haggerty Blue Books exercises which include, rhyming, letter naming, sound recognition, segmenting, substituting sounds, adding and deleting sounds and counting syllables.
Math: The students worked on Common Core Standards matching one to one on their number boards and building number. Students are working in groups--recognition 0-5 and 0-10. They also worked on sequencing numbers. They continue to use our calendar ten frames to count the number of days in school. Our workstations this week included Egg Carton Math, Number Boards, matching number with quantity, counting and writing to 5 or 10, Sorting and Classifying Activity, exploring pattern blocks. The students did the "Shape Rap" to review basic plane shapes--circle, square, triangle and rectangle. They also went on a shape hunt to find basic shapes in the classroom. We discussed the terms GREATER THAN, LESS THAN.
Writing: Now that the students are aware that different types of lines form our letters, we have begun to explore our writing series Handwriting Without Tears. The students used wooden pieces (straight lines, slant lines and curved lines) to construct their name on the floor. We talked about always starting at the top when producing a letter. We will begin this week with our FROG JUMP letters and using our orange workbook. The students were introduced to the our finger/hand strengthening box. It contains center activities built around strengthening our tripod grasp for writing and drawing. Our Occupational Therapist, Mrs. Nichols was in to observe development of tripod grasp. She has given me suggestions on students and we will continue to work with her. The students continue to work on their journal prompts. They are drawing and verbally sharing their what they have drawn. They are also in some cases, writing down the first sound they hear in one of their pictures, maybe writing one word using their inventive (phonetic) spelling, labeling one picture, or trying to write a sentence. (a group of words that NAMES and TELLS) All very exciting to observe!
Technology: The students have begun work on iPad etiquette. How to turn on, turn off, use the pad of their finger, control sound, add a headset and where to find activities. Our new data/tech coach, Mrs. Diehl will also help assisst in helping to foster greater independence in using the iPad. iPad use in our classroom is another tool the students can use to enhance and support what they are learning in the classroom. Stay tuned!
Literature: "When You Go To Kindergarten," "Tiptoe Into Kindergarten," "Pirates Go To School." "The Recess Queen," "ABC I Like Me," "Hands are Not for Hitting," "Two Eyes, A Nose, A Mouth," "Splat the Cat," "Hop on Pop," "The Cat in the Hat," "Cool Dog, School Dog," "Jazz Baby," "Made From Clay," "Don't Hit Me," "Where Do You Go To School?"
Sunday, September 8, 2013
UPDATES for 9/3-9/6 2013
**The students are becoming more familiar with our daily routine and expectations of all their teachers and classes. Lunch time is going well! The students are learning to eat their main entre first, clean up and recycle their milk cartons and tray. A special shout out to our parent volunteers at lunch! You have helped make a big difference! We have one more week of parent helpers. If you would like to help, just meet us out on the playground at 11:45 am.
**No School on Friday, September 13th. It is a Teacher's Institute Day.
**COME ONE, COME ALL to Irving School's OPEN HOUSE/CURRICULUM NIGHT on Thursday, September 12th. The schedule is as follows: PARENTS ONLY from 6:30-7:00 pm. You can drop off your child in the auditorium for a supervised special feature. I will be speaking about our daily routine, all subject areas and all curriculum will be displayed for you to look at. I will also have handouts with other information on our year. There will be a SIGN UP SHEET for PARENT CONFERENCES and OTHER FUN EVENTS. Please pick up your child at 7:00 pm in the auditorium and let them be your TOUR GUIDE as they bring you to meet the teachers who will be working with them this year. I will give you a list with the teacher's name, subject and room number as an assist. Don't forget--from 6:30-7:00 pm is PARENTS ONLY in my classroom. Hope to see everyone on Thursday.
**The students took out their first library book this week. The books can remain out for 7 days. At the next library time, your child can select a new book. Please keep the book in the back pack when not in use. Thanks!
**The students had their first Friendship Club meeting with Ms. Bell Bey, our social worker. She will be working with the class on a variety of lessons centering around fostering positive peer relationships, feelings, conflict resolution, sharing, bullying and other topics. She will use a variety of materials and approaches including stories, role playing, acting, games, videos, puppets to name a few.
**Our weekly schedule is near completion. I am working on securing a computer lab time and time with Mr. Packer, our Math Enrichment teacher. He will be coming into the class weekly to work on higher level thinking skills and problem solving with whole and small groups of students.
**DIBELS Testing is almost complete. Next week I will be giving a PHONICS SCREENER to each child. These assessments will help in determining each students placement in our skill specific ROUTE TO READING groups. You will hear much more about this at CURRICULUM NIGHT.
**If you are placing an order with SCHOLASTIC BOOKS.....the order is due September 12th.
**The students continue to learn about the process of earning indiviual EAGLE SLIPS and how a whole class can earn a class EAGLE SLIP. This is conjunction with our school wide PBIS behavior incentive. Many of the students have gotten them already. Mr. Hodge will put his hand in the big box each week and pull out 6 winners and one class winner. GUESS WHAT!!!!! Let's give a shout out to Philippe and Colin as one of the first EAGLE SLIP winners!! We were cheering so loud for Philippe that we did not hear Colin's named called too! I found out about it after school. So Colin......you will pick your prize on Monday. Let's keep up the good work!
This week:
It was all about the students continued effort to feel comfortable with their daily routine and meet all of their teachers for the year. It was also about ABC's everywhere!! What do they look like? How do they sound? What does our mouth do when we say them? Many sounds? Only one or two sounds? Uppercase? Lowercase? What happens when we put letters together? The students experienced many activities surrounding the alphabet.
Reading/Social Studies: The students are continuing to work on their prep for our Treasures reading series using SMART START. The students are focusing on letter recognition and sounds for A-M. They are learning about imprinting sound and how our mouth looks when we make that sound. The students are using mirrors to really see what happens when a sound is produced. Is their mouth open or closed? Is their air coming out of their mouth? Is there a vibration in their throat? Lots to think about!! The students are learning to work with me to create word webs on suggested topics--What do we do in Kindergarten? What do hands do? How do we look? These exercises generate conversation and participation that stimulate oral vocabulary. The students continue to listen to rhyming patterns in words. They are learning to chant the ending. An example would be--bat, cat they both have at. Rhyming words have the same ending part. The students continue to work on their sight words. The words I, can, am, yes, no, go, red, blue have been introduced. The students played . "Hands Up, Hands Down." The students listened to the big book story, "Hands Can." They made predictions about story content. In working with our Common Core Standards, we discussed what an AUTHOR is and what he does. We also talked about the ILLUSTRATOR and their job. The students also worked on the story elements--CHARACTERS and SETTING. As I read the story, the students are watching as I model tracking each word from left to right as I read. The story was read a second time and the students made connections in their own lives about what their hands can do. The students read aloud their paper story, "I Can." They practiced finger pointing each word and picture from left to right. Together we worked on story structure and sequence. In our Haggerty Blue Book exercises, the students continue to work on letter naming, rhyming, blending, saying the beginning sound, segmenting and substituting sounds and counting how many words there are in a given sentence. Our workstations this week included playing "Go Fish for Letters," "Alphabet Bingo," Sound Sorting Board, sequencing uppercase letters, upper and lowercase match, "Hands Up, Hands Down" sight words, oral comprehension and story retelling and iPAd activity AlphaTots (letters and sounds.)
Math: The students worked on a variety of Common Core number recognition/counting activities including Egg Carton Math, Listen and Count building number boards, "Got It," Number Object Match and sorting and classifying in their workstations. We did a class activity called the "Name Train" where the students write their name, one letter in each box and place one cube in the box for each letter in their name. They connect the cubes to form a train and then they went around comparing--Is my name train longer or shorter then yours? Who has the longest name train? the shortest? the dame? The student took their name boxes and glue them on chart paper reflecting shortest to longest. We talked about the patterns we see around us. Students were able to point out a color and shape pattern on our calendar. The students continue to work on our calendar with number order and counting in our ten frame. On our AGE CHANGE CHART--Ethan and Ever have moved to the land of the six year olds!! The students reviewed basic flat shapes--Circle, Square, Rectangle and Triangle. We did the "SHAPE RAP." Cool! The students also worked on positional words--ABOVE, BELOW, BETWEEN, IN THE MIDDLE.
Writing: The students are learning about the types of lines we use to form letters--straight, curved, slanted. The students used these lines to form MAT MAN. We even learned a song about him. Students used the body image in MAT MAN to make their own "One thing you should know about me" portrait. They are up in the room. Too cute!!!! We are working on strengthening hands and fingers. We used clay to do this. Kneading, squishing, rolling are good ways to get those hands and fingers moving. We even made some letters with straight, slant and curved clay snakes! The students are using journal prompts from our Treasures series. During journal conferencing, I ask the student to tell about this drawing, maybe chose a picture and write the first sound they hear, maybe see if they can write all the sounds they hear in the word they use to describe their picture and just maybe they want to write a sentence (a group of words that names and tells) about their picture. Students will use "inventive spelling"--just what they hear--it could be just the beginning sound, ending sound. Many times the vowel is omitted. This is the beginning of the acquisition of sound foundation. Let them spell what they hear!
Technology: We are just at the beginning stages of iPAd use. I am using them with small groups of students. We are learning the use and care of the iPad. More on this next week!
Literature: "Schools Around the World." "Smile If Your Human." "Alphabet Mystery." "Little Blue, Little Yellow," "If You Take A Mouse To School," "How Do Dinosaurs Go To School?" "The Quiet Book," "When You Go To Kindergarten."
**No School on Friday, September 13th. It is a Teacher's Institute Day.
**COME ONE, COME ALL to Irving School's OPEN HOUSE/CURRICULUM NIGHT on Thursday, September 12th. The schedule is as follows: PARENTS ONLY from 6:30-7:00 pm. You can drop off your child in the auditorium for a supervised special feature. I will be speaking about our daily routine, all subject areas and all curriculum will be displayed for you to look at. I will also have handouts with other information on our year. There will be a SIGN UP SHEET for PARENT CONFERENCES and OTHER FUN EVENTS. Please pick up your child at 7:00 pm in the auditorium and let them be your TOUR GUIDE as they bring you to meet the teachers who will be working with them this year. I will give you a list with the teacher's name, subject and room number as an assist. Don't forget--from 6:30-7:00 pm is PARENTS ONLY in my classroom. Hope to see everyone on Thursday.
**The students took out their first library book this week. The books can remain out for 7 days. At the next library time, your child can select a new book. Please keep the book in the back pack when not in use. Thanks!
**The students had their first Friendship Club meeting with Ms. Bell Bey, our social worker. She will be working with the class on a variety of lessons centering around fostering positive peer relationships, feelings, conflict resolution, sharing, bullying and other topics. She will use a variety of materials and approaches including stories, role playing, acting, games, videos, puppets to name a few.
**Our weekly schedule is near completion. I am working on securing a computer lab time and time with Mr. Packer, our Math Enrichment teacher. He will be coming into the class weekly to work on higher level thinking skills and problem solving with whole and small groups of students.
**DIBELS Testing is almost complete. Next week I will be giving a PHONICS SCREENER to each child. These assessments will help in determining each students placement in our skill specific ROUTE TO READING groups. You will hear much more about this at CURRICULUM NIGHT.
**If you are placing an order with SCHOLASTIC BOOKS.....the order is due September 12th.
**The students continue to learn about the process of earning indiviual EAGLE SLIPS and how a whole class can earn a class EAGLE SLIP. This is conjunction with our school wide PBIS behavior incentive. Many of the students have gotten them already. Mr. Hodge will put his hand in the big box each week and pull out 6 winners and one class winner. GUESS WHAT!!!!! Let's give a shout out to Philippe and Colin as one of the first EAGLE SLIP winners!! We were cheering so loud for Philippe that we did not hear Colin's named called too! I found out about it after school. So Colin......you will pick your prize on Monday. Let's keep up the good work!
This week:
It was all about the students continued effort to feel comfortable with their daily routine and meet all of their teachers for the year. It was also about ABC's everywhere!! What do they look like? How do they sound? What does our mouth do when we say them? Many sounds? Only one or two sounds? Uppercase? Lowercase? What happens when we put letters together? The students experienced many activities surrounding the alphabet.
Reading/Social Studies: The students are continuing to work on their prep for our Treasures reading series using SMART START. The students are focusing on letter recognition and sounds for A-M. They are learning about imprinting sound and how our mouth looks when we make that sound. The students are using mirrors to really see what happens when a sound is produced. Is their mouth open or closed? Is their air coming out of their mouth? Is there a vibration in their throat? Lots to think about!! The students are learning to work with me to create word webs on suggested topics--What do we do in Kindergarten? What do hands do? How do we look? These exercises generate conversation and participation that stimulate oral vocabulary. The students continue to listen to rhyming patterns in words. They are learning to chant the ending. An example would be--bat, cat they both have at. Rhyming words have the same ending part. The students continue to work on their sight words. The words I, can, am, yes, no, go, red, blue have been introduced. The students played . "Hands Up, Hands Down." The students listened to the big book story, "Hands Can." They made predictions about story content. In working with our Common Core Standards, we discussed what an AUTHOR is and what he does. We also talked about the ILLUSTRATOR and their job. The students also worked on the story elements--CHARACTERS and SETTING. As I read the story, the students are watching as I model tracking each word from left to right as I read. The story was read a second time and the students made connections in their own lives about what their hands can do. The students read aloud their paper story, "I Can." They practiced finger pointing each word and picture from left to right. Together we worked on story structure and sequence. In our Haggerty Blue Book exercises, the students continue to work on letter naming, rhyming, blending, saying the beginning sound, segmenting and substituting sounds and counting how many words there are in a given sentence. Our workstations this week included playing "Go Fish for Letters," "Alphabet Bingo," Sound Sorting Board, sequencing uppercase letters, upper and lowercase match, "Hands Up, Hands Down" sight words, oral comprehension and story retelling and iPAd activity AlphaTots (letters and sounds.)
Math: The students worked on a variety of Common Core number recognition/counting activities including Egg Carton Math, Listen and Count building number boards, "Got It," Number Object Match and sorting and classifying in their workstations. We did a class activity called the "Name Train" where the students write their name, one letter in each box and place one cube in the box for each letter in their name. They connect the cubes to form a train and then they went around comparing--Is my name train longer or shorter then yours? Who has the longest name train? the shortest? the dame? The student took their name boxes and glue them on chart paper reflecting shortest to longest. We talked about the patterns we see around us. Students were able to point out a color and shape pattern on our calendar. The students continue to work on our calendar with number order and counting in our ten frame. On our AGE CHANGE CHART--Ethan and Ever have moved to the land of the six year olds!! The students reviewed basic flat shapes--Circle, Square, Rectangle and Triangle. We did the "SHAPE RAP." Cool! The students also worked on positional words--ABOVE, BELOW, BETWEEN, IN THE MIDDLE.
Writing: The students are learning about the types of lines we use to form letters--straight, curved, slanted. The students used these lines to form MAT MAN. We even learned a song about him. Students used the body image in MAT MAN to make their own "One thing you should know about me" portrait. They are up in the room. Too cute!!!! We are working on strengthening hands and fingers. We used clay to do this. Kneading, squishing, rolling are good ways to get those hands and fingers moving. We even made some letters with straight, slant and curved clay snakes! The students are using journal prompts from our Treasures series. During journal conferencing, I ask the student to tell about this drawing, maybe chose a picture and write the first sound they hear, maybe see if they can write all the sounds they hear in the word they use to describe their picture and just maybe they want to write a sentence (a group of words that names and tells) about their picture. Students will use "inventive spelling"--just what they hear--it could be just the beginning sound, ending sound. Many times the vowel is omitted. This is the beginning of the acquisition of sound foundation. Let them spell what they hear!
Technology: We are just at the beginning stages of iPAd use. I am using them with small groups of students. We are learning the use and care of the iPad. More on this next week!
Literature: "Schools Around the World." "Smile If Your Human." "Alphabet Mystery." "Little Blue, Little Yellow," "If You Take A Mouse To School," "How Do Dinosaurs Go To School?" "The Quiet Book," "When You Go To Kindergarten."
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