**We had a very exciting week!! A firefighter and an Olympic champion came to visit us this week! There were kings, nurses and doctors in our classroom and some very creative masks made by the students. The students have begun to look at their work portfolios. The first of these have gone home this week. Look for more to come home. They have accomplished so much!!
**Our "Kings" and subjects had a visit from Fire Fighter La Fleur from the Oak Park Fire Department. He came to speak to the class about fire safety. He brought his special firefighter uniform and equipment. I was lucky enough to be his model as he explained each piece of clothing and equipment. Each student received a cool fire hat.
**It was a perfect day for our All School Olympic Day. The students had a great time. Lots of skill demonstrations and good sportsmanship. We all got a very special treat when Olympic Speed Skater and Oak Park native Emery Lehman gave the opening speech. He talk to the students about his experience in Sochi, Russia and answered questions about his training and motivation. Awesome!!!
**I was unable to attend Family Math "Monopoly" Night but heard it was a smash!! Hope everyone enjoyed themselves.
**A representative from the Oak Park Library spoke at an all school assembly about the Summer Reading Challenge that will begin right after school is out and continue over the summer. It is called "Fizz Boom Read." I have encouraged all my students to sign up at the Maze Branch Library to participate.
**PIZZA and PLAY End of the Year Family Picnic is Wednesday, May 28th. Come join us for pizza, community and fun at Rehm Park. The class will walk there beginning at 9:20 am and will walk back to school at 12:15 pm. Please dress your child for the weather. Keep your fingers crossed for a dry day!
**Student Council will be selling their All School Cook Book beginning Wednesday thru Friday. The cost is $3.00 for one or 2 for $5.00. All the proceeds will go to the Oak Park Food Pantry. Our classroom reps, Ally and Colin made signs to advertise the sale.
** Don't forget to send in the field trip slips for Gurgas/Chien Residence Chicken Coop visit on June 3rd and Chef Ashley's studio, Constructive Chaos on Monday, June 9th.
**The BUSY READER CLUB will conclude on Monday, June 2nd. The last day to check out a book is Friday, May 30th.
**ALL LIBRARY BOOKS are now DUE back to Ms. Noonan.
**All final assessments are complete. If you would like me to share with you a review of your child's assessments prior to the report card, please email me. I have set aside the week of June 2nd-6th for this.
**Please note a change-- New time for our last day Family Hour!! Our new time is 1:00-2:15 pm on Tuesday, June 10th. Please join us for refreshments, autograph signing, summer packets, report cards and a closing story. Mr. Hodge has something up his sleeve!!!!! He has asked that all students to join him on the playground at 2:20 pm. MMMMM.....What do you think he is up to??????
**Ms. Bell Bey shared a video with students to conclude her sessions.
**No Mr. Packer Math this week due to Olympic Day.
This week:
It was all about sprouting seed sponges and bags and worms. Plants continue to grow and germinate in our classroom. Sprouting seeds on sponges and in plastic bags??? What??!! Check out the science section for more. The students continue to "feed" the worm compost. We took some of the worms out for study. They were pretty squirmy! The students the segments, pointy head and saddle (middle.) Their bristles or hairs were too tiny to see. Many students took a look at the Herman the Worm website. The students made a list of facts that they recalled about worms. They are using this information to begin their worm paragraph drafts. We are looking at clearing our outside garden plot next week. Station day activities this week included working with 2D and 3D shapes, pattern block rabbit and parts of a flower activity.
Reading/Social Studies: The students continue to review all skills taught this year. They reviewed all letter sounds, short and long vowels, consonant blends and digraphs. They used their dry erase boards to practice segmenting and blending 3-4-5 and even 6 phoneme words. The students worked on substitution and sound addition activities. The students reviewed all their kindergarten sight words and the first half of the First Grade list. Student small groups chose their own literature and activities to go with them. Most groups chose a story elements format. They read to each other and discussed the text. They completed the activities and each group checked in with me so I could also hear readers. Students spent the remainder of each workstation reading independently or playing a reading game. Their top favorites this week were, "Very Silly Sentences," "Spot a Word,""Nouns, Verbs and Adjectives Cookie Jar" and the app "Tic Tac Toe." There were many opportunities for partner reading. It was great for the students to choose what they wanted to read. Lots of stellar discussions about story content.
Math: The students are reading their own story problem in their math journal and illustrating it, showing the parts in ten frames and showing the answer ten frames and writing the number sentence. I have been calling on students to come up and share with the class their math journal work. Students check their work and make the necessary corrections themselves. The students continue to practice number bonding using numbers 1-10, counting on from a random number 1-99, writing numbers 1-100 and creating their own story problems and illustrating them.
Writing: The students continue to put into practice all the elements of writing good sentences. They continue to write about adults in the school who have made an impact on their school life. They have written to Reading Grandma, Ms. D., Ms. Jack, Ms. Miller and Nurse Jamie.
Science: The students continue to monitor their seed sponges and seed bags. In each case, they observed shoots and roots sprouting without the benefit of water. The students all thought that no matter how the seeds were put on or in, the sprouted seed would always have shoots that grow up and roots that grow downward. The students wrote about their findings in their science journals and illustrated what they observed. The students made a sketch of our indoor class garden and wrote about it in their science journal. The students are using their space stations for a reading place with their flash lights. Next week will be the last week to play in our creations. They will be recycled soon. Next week--a plant in a closed box with only a small window cut out. What will happen to the plant??? Stay tuned!
Technology: The students continue to work on their end of the year movie. Stay tuned!!
Literature: "Growing a Garden," "Flat Stanley Goes Camping," "Apples Grow on Trees," "Tomatoes Grow on Vines," "Lettuce Grows on the Ground," "Over in the Garden," "What Lives in the Garden," "Roots," "Hip Hop Speaks to Children," "Noisy Poems for a Busy Day."
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