**We were super busy this week! There were final assessments and summatives to mark the end of our first trimester of learning. Our cross curricular theme-Bears is winding down. We chatted about our upcoming field trip. We also formulated our question for our research projects. It was also a week of reflection for the students and myself. We all thought about what we were thankful for. The students and I are thankful for a number of things, the most important being family. I am particularly thankful for my student's dedication to their learning. Our class is thankful for our volunteer, Ms. D., who works tirelessly with individual students and small groups. Our class is thankful for each other and the great and meaningful interactions we have together. I am also thankful for the great support and help from my kindergarten families. You truly make a difference. Please enjoy your family time together as I will.
**No School-November 26th-28th--Thanksgiving Holiday.
**Our Brookfield Zoo FIELD TRIP is TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 25th. Please read the note that went home in your child's homework folder. BAG LUNCH and DRESS for the WEATHER. It looks like a pretty chilly forecast. We may shorten the duration of our stay at the zoo and find an inside space to eat lunch. We will have fun!!!!
**"Hibernation Day" was awesome!! We were cozy in our jammies with our blankeys and stuffed animals. We read about how different animals hibernate. The students helped me create a Venn diagram that compared Brown/Black Bears with Polar Bears. We also read about other kinds of bears. The students enjoyed a great picnic with their kindergarten friends in the kindergarten hallway. They enjoyed making butter from cream in our liquids to solids impromptu science lesson and created "Bear Paw" snacks that looked and tasted yummy with the butter.
**The "Turkey Trot" was fun! We made signs to cheer our Book Buddies on. The weather was frosty, but the students were dressed warmly and had extra blankets as they watched the race and cheered.
**Check your child's homework folder for their RESEARCH ASSESSMENT. Each student came up with a question they want to find out more about. They worked on special research vocabulary. Suggestions and guidelines are also enclosed. The project is due Thursday, December 11th.
**Route to Reading Rotation 3 will conclude December 4th.
**The 5th Grade is sponsoring "Frosty Fun Friday Dance" on Friday, December 5th. More info is coming soon!
**Kindergarten-Grade 1 WINTER CONCERT is DECEMBER 17th in the Irving Auditorium. It will be performed twice--First Time at 8:15 am and repeated again at 9:45 am. There will be some kind of reception for family and friends. I will be speaking with room parents. Stay tuned for more details.
**REPORT CARDS go home on Friday, December 12th.
**CALLING ALL COOKS!!!! Room 110's Annual Gingerbread Cookie Baking and Sharing is Thursday, December 11th beginning at 1:00 pm until dismissal. So far, I have no one volunteering to help, but I am hopeful!! It is really very fun! No experience needed. You bring the cookie sheets, rolling pins and man/woman power.....I will bring the dough, sprinkles and aprons. I need at least 3-4 volunteers.
**Come to the Irving Annual Handmade Craft Fair on Saturday, December 13th from 9-1pm in the mini gym and hallways. Stock up on those handmade holiday gifts.
**We will begin our next cross curricular theme--Celebrations and Traditions after Thanksgiving. Please think about coming to speak about your family celebration or tradition at holiday time. Students love to help in the planning and presentation. We recently had Tate and his Dad, Joel speak and share about their tradition of nature hikes and bird watching. Totally cool!!!
**In Friendship Club this week, Ms. Bell Bey continued her unit on friendship using the art of conversation and how to really listen to someone and respond.
**In Mr. Packer Problem Solving this week, the students finished up a project using visual imagery and perception to create a picture using Alphabet letters and dots.
**School is closed December 22nd -January 2nd for Winter Break.
This week: It was all about research basics for little ones!! Ms. Noonan worked with the students on the question--What is research? The students worked on thinking about a question about something they wanted to find out more about and then discussed how you might find a source to help you answer the question. The major topic is: BEARS. The students worked in class on special research vocabulary and examples. I can't wait to see the results. The students also continued work on their talking book project. They practiced reading their story page and then recorded it onto the iPad. We have had some absences but hope to have the story posted for you soon. It is pretty cute!! We are almost at the end of our Bear Unit. It has provided lots of activities and opportunities for growth in math, reading, writing and science. Our station day activities this week included think, create, count and record pattern block activity, building pattern block turkeys, color by code (number/color word) turkey, liquid to solid cream to butter and counting to form the toes on our bear paw snack.
Reading/Social Studies: The students continue to work in Unit 3 Transportation in our Treasures Reading series. The students built background knowledge on their travels near and far. They listened to the Big Book story, "On the Go." They observed how people travel from one place to another and the vehicles they used. We looked up each country on our world map. The students asked and answered questions about the types of vehicles used in other countries. In their comprehension study, the students compared and categorized the types of travel and vehicles. The sight words go and see were reviewed. The students worked on their target sounds Tt and short i. They continued to review the use of action words in texts. Our Robust Vocabulary this week included TRAVEL, JOURNEY, PREPARE, RELAX, FAMILIAR. The students used their elkonin boxes to segment and blend 3 phoneme words. They read their pre decodable story, "Go, Go, Go." They reviewed what a comma was and how it is used. They made predictions about story content and elbow chatted about characters, setting and main events. During an interactive writing exercise, the students made pop up signs using the word "Go" to help cheer on their Book Buddies in the Turkey Trot. The students listened to two poems about transportation--"The Bike," and "Riding the Subway." They noticed the rhyming pattern in both and tracked the words as I read them. They made connections in their own lives about riding their bikes and traveling on a subway. The students also worked on a common core assessment comparing two characters from two different stories. This week the students worked to complete the workstation rotation from last week.
Math: The students continue to work on rote counting to 75 and beyond. The students are really getting the hang of ten frame use and counting by tens. They worked with partners on counting and cardinality activities representing a group of objects with a written number. Students also continued to work with pattern block shapes building, counting and recording number. The students combined counting and recognizing color words during color by code exercises. Workstations this week included sorting and classifying by common attributes, writing numbers from 0-20, working with teen numbers using tally marks and ten frames (how many complete ten frames....how on the new ten frame) and counting on from a given number.
Writing: The students are working on formation of Starting Corner Capital letters H, K, L, U, V. They used their mini boards and applied what they learned in their orange books. The students wrote1-3 sentences about what they knew about Brown/Black and Polar Bears. from their study of bears. The students are working hard to begin with a capital letter, name and tell and space between words in a sentence and have an ending mark. Some students are beginning to add more details to their sentences. I love when I hear them reading back their own writing as they begin work on self editing. This week, one of the occupational therapist, Ms. Ilis came to observe student grasp and control of their pencil and markers, writing posture and proper tripod grasp. She gave support and reinforcement to individual students.
Technology: In reading, student small groups and individuals used the apps Dolch Words, ABC Magic 5 and Magnetic ABC's HD to practice sight words and short i words. Students continued to use iTalk to record reading fluency. In math whole and small groups, students used the apps Subitize Tree, Monster Squeeze, Easy Match and Number Find to assist in strengthening the concepts more/less/equal to, visual counting, number representation, 1 and 2 digit number recognition. Students continue to use Sonic Pics to record their sentences for our talking book. Students are beginning another project on shapes using Doodle Buddy.
Literature: "Desert Homes," "Hibernation Station," "Hibernation," "Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See?" "Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You See?" "Baby Bear, Baby Bear, What Do You See?" "Squirrels," "Tree Homes," "Underground Homes," "Who Lives Here?" "Eyes on Nature: Bears," "Follow the Polar Bears," "Polar Bears and Penguins," "Little Polar Bear," "Polar Bears."
Sunday, November 23, 2014
Sunday, November 16, 2014
UPDATES for 11/3-11/7 and 11/11-11/14 2014
**I am watching the snow fall as I update all of you on the past two weeks of fun and learning. Due to the exceptionally chilly weather, PACERS was cancelled and will resume in the spring. Please make sure your child is dressed for the weather. We will be going outside for lunch recess and want to make sure everyone stays warm. Hats/hoods are a must! If your child is wearing boots, make sure to send gym shoes for gym days. Thanks!
**Our 50th day in school sure was fun! Bobby socks, ponytails and fancy skirts, blue jeans, slick back and tees. So cool! The students compared and contrasted the 1950's and the present via a Venn diagram. They enjoyed dancing to music of the 1950's. These kids sure can move!!! Students worked on math and literacy stations surrounding the number 50. The countdown continues. Only 50 more days until our 100th day celebration!
**It was BIRDWATCHING 101!! While I attended a seminar on Lexia Core 5, Tate and his dad, Joel, did a presentation on nature walks and birdwatching which is something special they do as a family. The students were excited to tell me about where to watch birds, the equipment needed and to show me the bird case that showcased birds in our area. My sub, Ms. Grogan took pictures. Thanks to Tate and his dad, Joel for a great presentation. If you would like to present to the class on a special tradition or celebration your family has...just sign up on the Sign Up Genius. December is our Celebrations and Traditions month. Think about it!!!!
**Our Kindergarten Classes will have a special "HIBERNATION DAY" on Friday, November 21st. Students can wear their pajamas, bring a teddy bear or favorite stuffed animal or blankey. We will eat our lunch teddy bear "picnic" style in the kdg hallway and make a "beary" special bear snack during station day. I will send out a hard copy reminder.
**Our BROOKFIELD ZOO TRIP is Tuesday, November 25th. All money and permission slips need to be in ASAP! ALL STUDENTS must bring a BAG LUNCH with name on it and DRESS FOR THE WEATHER!! Students and teachers ride the bus. All volunteers will carpool. Thanks to S. Connelly, C. Goldbeck, S. Matta, D. Frank and C. Cummings for volunteering their time to come on the trip. If there is anyone else interested in coming, let me know. I will send a separate info sheet to volunteers with particulars. We will be leaving Irving at 9:30 and will return by 2:00 pm. Our trip includes a classroom experience and tour of the Bear Grotto, picnic lunch and time on your own to see other exhibits.
**It's the TURKEY TROT race for a Turkey on Thursday, November 20th at 2:00 pm. Grades 3-5 will participate. We will make signs and cheer them on. Who will win a turkey??!!
**The 5th Grade is sponsoring "Frosty Fun Friday Dance" on Friday, December 5th from 6-8 pm in the gym. More info is coming this week. Stay tuned.
**Come to the Irving Annual Handmade Craft Fair on Saturday, December 13th from 9-1pm in the mini gym and hallways. Stock up on those handmade holiday gifts.
**Trimester 1 ends on Friday, November 21st. Report cards go home on Friday, December 12th.
**Route to Reading Rotation 3 began this week. You should have received notification of the skill your child will be working on.
**Speaking of Traditions and Celebrations--CALLING ALL COOKS! We need several volunteers for Room 110's Annual Gingerbread Cookie baking on Friday, December 11th beginning at 1:00 pm until dismissal. No experience necessary. Roll out, create, decorate, bake and share. Email me if interested. I will provide the dough, sprinkles and aprons......you provide the baking sheets, rolling pins and man/woman power. It's really fun!!!!!
**SAVE the DATE! Our Winter Concert featuring Kindergarten and First Grade is Wednesday, December 17th. Due to the size of our auditorium, it will be held twice--first performance is at 8:15 am. and the second performance is at 9:45 am. It's going to be great!!
**In Friendship Club, the past weeks have continued to focus on Friendship.
**In Mr. Packer Problem Solving, the students have been working on a thinking project using the text, "Clifford's ABC's." The students needed to think about incorporating a letter into a picture they created. They are quite interesting!!!
**No School--Wednesday, November 26th, Thursday, November 27th and Friday, November 28th in observance of Thanksgiving.
The past 2 weeks: It was all about BEARS! The students listed what they knew about bears. They gathered information from books and the internet about characteristics that all bears share. The students were excited to learn that humans share something in common with bears--they are both mammals. The students found out that the black bear is the most common bear in North America. They read about where they are found, their habitats, characteristics and food. Our nature table has a black bear skull and jaw bone, black bear fur and claw and some other interesting artifacts courtesy of the Field Museum. The students noticed that black bears have smaller paws and claws than brown bears. They continued their fact finding to learn more about brown/grizzly bears. They noted similar habitats and food. They learned the term--omnivores--eating both plants and animals. BrainPop Jr. provided the students with some cool movies about hibernation and bears in action with their young and catching fish. What powerful claws!!! Next week--polar and other bears. The students began working on an author/illustrator study of Bill Martin Jr and Eric Carle. They make a great team! The students are using their own writing, illustrating and speaking to produce a group version of the "Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?" story. Each are contributing a page. Stay tuned!!! Station day activities for the past 2 weeks include sequencing the growth of a bear, pattern block bear build, count, record, number sequence activities 0-20, sponge painted bears/action sentence, building an animal habitat-bear cave--mixed media, yes/no bears--answering questions without speaking and shape review color by code--human habitat.
Reading/Language Arts: Week 1--The students have completed Unit 2 Friends in our Treasures Reading series. The students listened for a second reading to the trade book, "Simon and Molly plus Hester." They asked and answered questions and responded to the literature by making connections in their own lives. They discussed the problem the characters had in the story and what the solution was. The students reviewed all their sight vocabulary thus far and played "Hands Up, Hands Down." They practiced writing their words and using them in oral sentences. The students reviewed target sounds Pp, Mm, Tt, Ss and used their sound (elkonin) boxes to mark where they heard the target sound--at the beginning or at the end of the word. They reviewed what a noun was and looked for them in their story. In phonemic awareness, the students continued to categorize and blend 3 phonemes (individual sounds) to create words. The students read the pre decodable story, "We Like Sam." They made predictions about story content, elbow chatted with a partner about characters and setting and recalled an event from the story. The students listened to the thinking tale, "The Little Red Hen." The students listened to fluent reading and reoccurring phrases and once again thought about the problem and solution of the story. They worked to sequence the events in the story. Workstations included leveled reading/discussion of story elements, word building using the ed family, word search short e words, beginning and ending sound sort, creating speech bubbles around what 2 friends might say to one another, walk your words ...write your words, creating CVC words.
Week 2--The students began work on Unit 3 Transportation in the Treasures Reading series. The students discussed what is meant by transportation--a way to move people and things from one place to another. They brainstormed ways they get around and discussed forms of transportation that move fast and slow. They listened to the Big Book story, "A Bus for Us." After listening to the story, the students asked and answered questions about key details in the story. The students worked on words that show ACTION. The students took turns using the retelling cards to retell the story to their group. The students made connections in their own lives about various vehicles showcased in the story. The sight words go and see were introduced. Our target sounds for the week were Tt and Short i. Robust Vocabulary this week included TRANSPORTATION, VEHICLE, RAPIDLY, GLIDE, CONTINUE. The students worked with partners on their fluency reading aloud their pre decodable story, "I See Sam." Students are beginning to be more observant of how they read aloud. Is is choppy or smooth? Do they speak clearly? Can others hear them? Do they stop at the period? I began recording students reading using the app iTalk. I would play the tape back and as a group we would comment on the student reader. Workstations this week included leveled readers story discussion and fluency check, "How do you go to school?--graph and compare, write about a vehicle, spinning words--turn the wheel-make a real word/sort and write by beginning sound, story connection--after reading the story-What would you want the character Tig to see in Oak Park--write and illustrate and read it and add to it.
Math: The students worked on rote counting to 50, finding the missing number and choosing the number that comes before and after a given number. They continue to work on teen numbers in their ten frames. Learning stations included tracing/writing numbers to 50, playing the game "Race to 50," Top It using numbers 1-50, greater and less then using random numbers, reviewing positional concepts, counting quantities to 30 and continuing the subitize challenge using the app Subitize Tree.
Writing: The student have finished learning their Frog Jump Capitals and are continuing to practice their letters. We will begin work on Starting Corner Capitals next week. The students have started writing and illustrating in their new Yellow Journals. We are moving to lined paper with places to put uppercase and lowercase letters. Their new journal also contains all the upper and lowercase letters and all their sight words for reference. Students are beginning to use more lowercase letters and are really starting think about where on the line the letters go. They are using inventive (phonetic ) spelling and working towards more consistency in using a capital letter at the beginning of their sentence, spacing between words and having an ending mark. They are also working on reading their writing before they come to conference with me. All students are working on their talking book project. It should be ready for you to hear and see before Thanksgiving!
Technology: In the area of reading, student small groups used the apps iTalk to work on fluency, Magnetic ABC'S HD to create sentences using sight words, i Write Words to practice letter formation and Montessori Crossword to enhance phonemic awareness skills. In the area of math, student small groups used the apps, Top It for greater/less/ compare, Monster Squeeze for sequencing. Whole group enjoyed the apps, FireFinger for sight word practice, Subitize Tree for internalizing/visualizing number, Number Rack for problem solving and Butterfly Math for counting/adding and subtracting numbers. BrainPop Jr. and Watch/Know/Learn were great visuals to gather facts about bears. The app Sonic Pics is being used to create the student talking book.
Literature: "Amazing Bears," "Bears," "Black Bear Cub," "Day in the Life of Baby Bear," "Bears in the Forest," "Every Autumn Comes the Bear," "Maybe a Bear Ate It," "Sleep Big Bear, Sleep," "Time to Sleep," "Brave Bear," "Animal Homes," "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?" "Chipmunk at Hollow Tree Lane," Osos Negros."
**Our 50th day in school sure was fun! Bobby socks, ponytails and fancy skirts, blue jeans, slick back and tees. So cool! The students compared and contrasted the 1950's and the present via a Venn diagram. They enjoyed dancing to music of the 1950's. These kids sure can move!!! Students worked on math and literacy stations surrounding the number 50. The countdown continues. Only 50 more days until our 100th day celebration!
**It was BIRDWATCHING 101!! While I attended a seminar on Lexia Core 5, Tate and his dad, Joel, did a presentation on nature walks and birdwatching which is something special they do as a family. The students were excited to tell me about where to watch birds, the equipment needed and to show me the bird case that showcased birds in our area. My sub, Ms. Grogan took pictures. Thanks to Tate and his dad, Joel for a great presentation. If you would like to present to the class on a special tradition or celebration your family has...just sign up on the Sign Up Genius. December is our Celebrations and Traditions month. Think about it!!!!
**Our Kindergarten Classes will have a special "HIBERNATION DAY" on Friday, November 21st. Students can wear their pajamas, bring a teddy bear or favorite stuffed animal or blankey. We will eat our lunch teddy bear "picnic" style in the kdg hallway and make a "beary" special bear snack during station day. I will send out a hard copy reminder.
**Our BROOKFIELD ZOO TRIP is Tuesday, November 25th. All money and permission slips need to be in ASAP! ALL STUDENTS must bring a BAG LUNCH with name on it and DRESS FOR THE WEATHER!! Students and teachers ride the bus. All volunteers will carpool. Thanks to S. Connelly, C. Goldbeck, S. Matta, D. Frank and C. Cummings for volunteering their time to come on the trip. If there is anyone else interested in coming, let me know. I will send a separate info sheet to volunteers with particulars. We will be leaving Irving at 9:30 and will return by 2:00 pm. Our trip includes a classroom experience and tour of the Bear Grotto, picnic lunch and time on your own to see other exhibits.
**It's the TURKEY TROT race for a Turkey on Thursday, November 20th at 2:00 pm. Grades 3-5 will participate. We will make signs and cheer them on. Who will win a turkey??!!
**The 5th Grade is sponsoring "Frosty Fun Friday Dance" on Friday, December 5th from 6-8 pm in the gym. More info is coming this week. Stay tuned.
**Come to the Irving Annual Handmade Craft Fair on Saturday, December 13th from 9-1pm in the mini gym and hallways. Stock up on those handmade holiday gifts.
**Trimester 1 ends on Friday, November 21st. Report cards go home on Friday, December 12th.
**Route to Reading Rotation 3 began this week. You should have received notification of the skill your child will be working on.
**Speaking of Traditions and Celebrations--CALLING ALL COOKS! We need several volunteers for Room 110's Annual Gingerbread Cookie baking on Friday, December 11th beginning at 1:00 pm until dismissal. No experience necessary. Roll out, create, decorate, bake and share. Email me if interested. I will provide the dough, sprinkles and aprons......you provide the baking sheets, rolling pins and man/woman power. It's really fun!!!!!
**SAVE the DATE! Our Winter Concert featuring Kindergarten and First Grade is Wednesday, December 17th. Due to the size of our auditorium, it will be held twice--first performance is at 8:15 am. and the second performance is at 9:45 am. It's going to be great!!
**In Friendship Club, the past weeks have continued to focus on Friendship.
**In Mr. Packer Problem Solving, the students have been working on a thinking project using the text, "Clifford's ABC's." The students needed to think about incorporating a letter into a picture they created. They are quite interesting!!!
**No School--Wednesday, November 26th, Thursday, November 27th and Friday, November 28th in observance of Thanksgiving.
The past 2 weeks: It was all about BEARS! The students listed what they knew about bears. They gathered information from books and the internet about characteristics that all bears share. The students were excited to learn that humans share something in common with bears--they are both mammals. The students found out that the black bear is the most common bear in North America. They read about where they are found, their habitats, characteristics and food. Our nature table has a black bear skull and jaw bone, black bear fur and claw and some other interesting artifacts courtesy of the Field Museum. The students noticed that black bears have smaller paws and claws than brown bears. They continued their fact finding to learn more about brown/grizzly bears. They noted similar habitats and food. They learned the term--omnivores--eating both plants and animals. BrainPop Jr. provided the students with some cool movies about hibernation and bears in action with their young and catching fish. What powerful claws!!! Next week--polar and other bears. The students began working on an author/illustrator study of Bill Martin Jr and Eric Carle. They make a great team! The students are using their own writing, illustrating and speaking to produce a group version of the "Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?" story. Each are contributing a page. Stay tuned!!! Station day activities for the past 2 weeks include sequencing the growth of a bear, pattern block bear build, count, record, number sequence activities 0-20, sponge painted bears/action sentence, building an animal habitat-bear cave--mixed media, yes/no bears--answering questions without speaking and shape review color by code--human habitat.
Reading/Language Arts: Week 1--The students have completed Unit 2 Friends in our Treasures Reading series. The students listened for a second reading to the trade book, "Simon and Molly plus Hester." They asked and answered questions and responded to the literature by making connections in their own lives. They discussed the problem the characters had in the story and what the solution was. The students reviewed all their sight vocabulary thus far and played "Hands Up, Hands Down." They practiced writing their words and using them in oral sentences. The students reviewed target sounds Pp, Mm, Tt, Ss and used their sound (elkonin) boxes to mark where they heard the target sound--at the beginning or at the end of the word. They reviewed what a noun was and looked for them in their story. In phonemic awareness, the students continued to categorize and blend 3 phonemes (individual sounds) to create words. The students read the pre decodable story, "We Like Sam." They made predictions about story content, elbow chatted with a partner about characters and setting and recalled an event from the story. The students listened to the thinking tale, "The Little Red Hen." The students listened to fluent reading and reoccurring phrases and once again thought about the problem and solution of the story. They worked to sequence the events in the story. Workstations included leveled reading/discussion of story elements, word building using the ed family, word search short e words, beginning and ending sound sort, creating speech bubbles around what 2 friends might say to one another, walk your words ...write your words, creating CVC words.
Week 2--The students began work on Unit 3 Transportation in the Treasures Reading series. The students discussed what is meant by transportation--a way to move people and things from one place to another. They brainstormed ways they get around and discussed forms of transportation that move fast and slow. They listened to the Big Book story, "A Bus for Us." After listening to the story, the students asked and answered questions about key details in the story. The students worked on words that show ACTION. The students took turns using the retelling cards to retell the story to their group. The students made connections in their own lives about various vehicles showcased in the story. The sight words go and see were introduced. Our target sounds for the week were Tt and Short i. Robust Vocabulary this week included TRANSPORTATION, VEHICLE, RAPIDLY, GLIDE, CONTINUE. The students worked with partners on their fluency reading aloud their pre decodable story, "I See Sam." Students are beginning to be more observant of how they read aloud. Is is choppy or smooth? Do they speak clearly? Can others hear them? Do they stop at the period? I began recording students reading using the app iTalk. I would play the tape back and as a group we would comment on the student reader. Workstations this week included leveled readers story discussion and fluency check, "How do you go to school?--graph and compare, write about a vehicle, spinning words--turn the wheel-make a real word/sort and write by beginning sound, story connection--after reading the story-What would you want the character Tig to see in Oak Park--write and illustrate and read it and add to it.
Math: The students worked on rote counting to 50, finding the missing number and choosing the number that comes before and after a given number. They continue to work on teen numbers in their ten frames. Learning stations included tracing/writing numbers to 50, playing the game "Race to 50," Top It using numbers 1-50, greater and less then using random numbers, reviewing positional concepts, counting quantities to 30 and continuing the subitize challenge using the app Subitize Tree.
Writing: The student have finished learning their Frog Jump Capitals and are continuing to practice their letters. We will begin work on Starting Corner Capitals next week. The students have started writing and illustrating in their new Yellow Journals. We are moving to lined paper with places to put uppercase and lowercase letters. Their new journal also contains all the upper and lowercase letters and all their sight words for reference. Students are beginning to use more lowercase letters and are really starting think about where on the line the letters go. They are using inventive (phonetic ) spelling and working towards more consistency in using a capital letter at the beginning of their sentence, spacing between words and having an ending mark. They are also working on reading their writing before they come to conference with me. All students are working on their talking book project. It should be ready for you to hear and see before Thanksgiving!
Technology: In the area of reading, student small groups used the apps iTalk to work on fluency, Magnetic ABC'S HD to create sentences using sight words, i Write Words to practice letter formation and Montessori Crossword to enhance phonemic awareness skills. In the area of math, student small groups used the apps, Top It for greater/less/ compare, Monster Squeeze for sequencing. Whole group enjoyed the apps, FireFinger for sight word practice, Subitize Tree for internalizing/visualizing number, Number Rack for problem solving and Butterfly Math for counting/adding and subtracting numbers. BrainPop Jr. and Watch/Know/Learn were great visuals to gather facts about bears. The app Sonic Pics is being used to create the student talking book.
Literature: "Amazing Bears," "Bears," "Black Bear Cub," "Day in the Life of Baby Bear," "Bears in the Forest," "Every Autumn Comes the Bear," "Maybe a Bear Ate It," "Sleep Big Bear, Sleep," "Time to Sleep," "Brave Bear," "Animal Homes," "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?" "Chipmunk at Hollow Tree Lane," Osos Negros."
Sunday, November 2, 2014
UPDATES for 10/27-10/31 2014
**Our 50th Day of School is WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5th! We will be half way to 100! The students will be comparing and contrasting the dress, technology and food of the 1950's to the present. This Wednesday, we will mark the day by dressing up like the 50's, having a sock hop and working on math learning stations surrounding the number 50. The students can dress up like up the 50's on Wednesday. It can be as simple as a white tee shirt and jeans, letter sweaters/jackets, slicked back hair, ponytails and poodle skirts if you should have one.
**PICTURE RETAKE Day is MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3rd. in the morning.
**Halloween was cold and blustery but did not prevent us from having lots of fun! The students were transformed into super heros, knights, princesses, owls, mermaids and more. Was that a skeleton or a teacher?? We feasted on fruits and veggie snacks. Our day was also deemed "Walker Day" in honor of our fellow classmate Walker who is moving to Michigan. We will really miss him. Thanks to all of you who came to join us or provided goodies for us. A special shout out to our room moms!
**Slightly Spooky Story Night was a huge success and lots of fun. Mr. Sak, Ms. Noonan, Ms. Durham and myself had a great time reading silly, slightly spooky and out of this world stories. Thanks to all who came out to hear us. A SPECIAL THANK YOU for those who bought books for our classroom! THANK YOU!!!!!
**Author Eileen Christelow read from her most recent book and shared with the students how she gets her ideas for her stories and how she drew the monkey for her "Five Little Monkeys" story. It was a great experience for the students.
**Our own Nurse Jamie did an hand washing demonstration and experiment with the students. She discussed the importance of washing your hands super well to get off all the germs. She suggested singing or humming the Happy Birthday Song 2 times making sure to scrub top, bottom and between fingers. Students experimented with using a "special" liquid on their hands and shaking hands with a friend. The friends put their hands under a black light and.......ooooooh germs showed up like a powder. The students washed their hands...singing their song and put their hands back under the light. How well did they wash their hands?? Did the powder show?? Pretty cool and surprising!
**Student Council reps, Ethan and Lily have worked on the Stand Up for Cancer project. The photos are posted and the students will vote via money in the jar of their favorite pose next week. All funds raised will go toward the Stand Up for Cancer project.
**Green Team reps Evan and Atessa worked on a video at their Green Team meeting on recycling used water color markers and saving the earth.
**On Monday, we will begin our next cross curricular theme-BEARS. We will become bear experts. Our field trip will have special classroom experience. We will turn our nature table into a bear artifacts table courtesy of the Field Museum. We will be linking our study of bears to the common core standards.
**Each student received an Irving School Student Directory. It is in your child's homework folder.
**In Friendship Club this week, Ms. Bell Bey began a unit on Friendship. What does it take to be a good friend?
**In Mr. Packer Problem Solving this week, Mr. Packer read the story "Ten Black Dots" by Donald Crews and then had the students use one black dot and design a picture around it. Way cool!!!
**NO SCHOOL--Monday, November 10th in observance of Veteran's Day.
**NO SCHOOL-Wednesday, November 26th, Thursday, November 27th and Friday, November 28th in observance of Thanksgiving.
**Permission slips for our field trip to BROOKFIELD ZOO will be sent out this week. Come join us on Tuesday, November 25th from 9:00-1:30 pm.
**CALLING ALL COOKS!!! We will need several volunteers for our annual Gingerbread Cookie Baking on Thursday, December 11th all afternoon. No experience necessary. Roll out, create, decorate, bake and share. Email me if interested. I will provide the dough, sprinkles and aprons.....you provide the baking sheets, rolling pins and man power.
**SAVE THE DATE! Our WINTER CONCERT featuring Kindergarten and First Grade is Wednesday, December 17th. Due to the size of our auditorium, our concert will be held twice--first performance is at 8:15 am--the second repeat performance is at 9:45 am. The students are already practicing!!
This week:
It was all about bats! We took the fright out of these amazing creatures. The students listened to informational texts as well as fiction texts on bats. BrainPop Jr. had a great bat fact video and quiz. They viewed bat skeletons in diagram form and learned about bat habitats, bat physiology and bat diets. Ask your child what a mammal is. The students learned that humans and bats have something in common--we are both mammals. Students sought information about bat types, bat characteristics (super long fingers and a thumb) and baby bats (they are pink and called pups.) The students also read about and viewed a human skeleton. Who has more bones--a baby or a 5-6 year old? Students delighted in feeling for their bones and checking out different texts about bone structure.
Reading/Language Arts: The students continue to work to complete Unit 2 Friends in our Treasures Reading series. This weeks lessons centered around friends who solve problems together.
The students listened to the trade book story, "Simon and Molly Plus Hester." They asked and answered questions about the text and responded to the literature by making connections in their own lives. The students discussed the story elements of problem and solution. They continued to work on reviewing their sight vocabulary. They practiced writing them and using selected words in oral and written sentences. The students reviewed the target sounds Pp and Ss and used their sound boxes to mark where they heard the target sound---at the beginning or at the end of a selected word. The students took turns retelling the trade book story using the retelling cards. In phonemic awareness activities, the students categorized and blended 3 phoneme (individual sounds) to create words. The students read their pre decodable story, "I Like, We Like." They made predictions about story content and practiced reading to a partner. Our Robust Vocabulary this week included PROBLEM, SOLVE, GRATEFUL, THOUGHTFUL, INCLUDE. The students thought about what the author's message could be in the Haitian read aloud tale, "The Turtle and the Sheep." What was the lesson in the story? Workstations this week were a continuation of last weeks work with a couple of new items. Students drew a picture of themselves happy and sad and then write about when they felt that way, leveled reader fluency practice and discussion about story element/comprehension, rainbow word family writing and activities--Pumpkin Nonsense words, Bat Race-reading at family words, making CVC words with leaves and Rock, Paper, Scissors--sound match.
Math: The students worked on rote counting to 50 in preparation for our celebration next Wednesday. How many ten frames do you need to make 50. How many sets of tally marks? Our group leaf collection helped the students develop categorizing skills. Each student took the leaves out of their bags and added them to the growing collection. They agreed to group and label the leaves by color. Check out our photo! The students continue to work on recognizing pattern block shapes and using the shapes to create a design depending upon the number of blocks. (ie-Can you create a design with 7 shapes.?..9 shapes?) it was a game week in their math workstations--Spin and Color the pumpkins (matching numbers 1-12,) Roll, Color and Count apples (counting and comparing numbers-greater than/less than,) Skeleton Game (counting/following directions,) Plus One game--adding one to a number. Whole group enjoyed the subitize challenge using the app Subitize Tree and working on problem solving using the app Number Rack.
Writing: Students have completed work on their Frog Jump Capitals. They applied what they learned about formation in their orange practice book. In Writer's Workshop, the students continue to work on writing a naming and telling sentence, using more word details, labeling pictures, using spaces between words and beginning with a capital letter and ending with a period. Next week, we will be working on a writing summative writing piece for common core.
Technology: New apps for whole group instruction included Subitize Tree and Number Rack for math. The students delighted in setting their sight words on "fire" using the app Fire Finger to reinforce sight word recognition and writing. The app iTalk was used to record readers and played back so they could hear their reading.
Literature: "Bones," "Bats-Strange and Wonderful," "Skeleton for Dinner," "Fantastic Bats," "Popcorn," "Skeletons," "Amazing Bats," "Little Red Bat," "Bats Big Game," "Your Skeleton," "Skeleton Cat," "Wacky Animal Facts," "Black Out," "Skeleton Meets Mummy," "If Kids Ruled the World."
**PICTURE RETAKE Day is MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3rd. in the morning.
**Halloween was cold and blustery but did not prevent us from having lots of fun! The students were transformed into super heros, knights, princesses, owls, mermaids and more. Was that a skeleton or a teacher?? We feasted on fruits and veggie snacks. Our day was also deemed "Walker Day" in honor of our fellow classmate Walker who is moving to Michigan. We will really miss him. Thanks to all of you who came to join us or provided goodies for us. A special shout out to our room moms!
**Slightly Spooky Story Night was a huge success and lots of fun. Mr. Sak, Ms. Noonan, Ms. Durham and myself had a great time reading silly, slightly spooky and out of this world stories. Thanks to all who came out to hear us. A SPECIAL THANK YOU for those who bought books for our classroom! THANK YOU!!!!!
**Author Eileen Christelow read from her most recent book and shared with the students how she gets her ideas for her stories and how she drew the monkey for her "Five Little Monkeys" story. It was a great experience for the students.
**Our own Nurse Jamie did an hand washing demonstration and experiment with the students. She discussed the importance of washing your hands super well to get off all the germs. She suggested singing or humming the Happy Birthday Song 2 times making sure to scrub top, bottom and between fingers. Students experimented with using a "special" liquid on their hands and shaking hands with a friend. The friends put their hands under a black light and.......ooooooh germs showed up like a powder. The students washed their hands...singing their song and put their hands back under the light. How well did they wash their hands?? Did the powder show?? Pretty cool and surprising!
**Student Council reps, Ethan and Lily have worked on the Stand Up for Cancer project. The photos are posted and the students will vote via money in the jar of their favorite pose next week. All funds raised will go toward the Stand Up for Cancer project.
**Green Team reps Evan and Atessa worked on a video at their Green Team meeting on recycling used water color markers and saving the earth.
**On Monday, we will begin our next cross curricular theme-BEARS. We will become bear experts. Our field trip will have special classroom experience. We will turn our nature table into a bear artifacts table courtesy of the Field Museum. We will be linking our study of bears to the common core standards.
**Each student received an Irving School Student Directory. It is in your child's homework folder.
**In Friendship Club this week, Ms. Bell Bey began a unit on Friendship. What does it take to be a good friend?
**In Mr. Packer Problem Solving this week, Mr. Packer read the story "Ten Black Dots" by Donald Crews and then had the students use one black dot and design a picture around it. Way cool!!!
**NO SCHOOL--Monday, November 10th in observance of Veteran's Day.
**NO SCHOOL-Wednesday, November 26th, Thursday, November 27th and Friday, November 28th in observance of Thanksgiving.
**Permission slips for our field trip to BROOKFIELD ZOO will be sent out this week. Come join us on Tuesday, November 25th from 9:00-1:30 pm.
**CALLING ALL COOKS!!! We will need several volunteers for our annual Gingerbread Cookie Baking on Thursday, December 11th all afternoon. No experience necessary. Roll out, create, decorate, bake and share. Email me if interested. I will provide the dough, sprinkles and aprons.....you provide the baking sheets, rolling pins and man power.
**SAVE THE DATE! Our WINTER CONCERT featuring Kindergarten and First Grade is Wednesday, December 17th. Due to the size of our auditorium, our concert will be held twice--first performance is at 8:15 am--the second repeat performance is at 9:45 am. The students are already practicing!!
This week:
It was all about bats! We took the fright out of these amazing creatures. The students listened to informational texts as well as fiction texts on bats. BrainPop Jr. had a great bat fact video and quiz. They viewed bat skeletons in diagram form and learned about bat habitats, bat physiology and bat diets. Ask your child what a mammal is. The students learned that humans and bats have something in common--we are both mammals. Students sought information about bat types, bat characteristics (super long fingers and a thumb) and baby bats (they are pink and called pups.) The students also read about and viewed a human skeleton. Who has more bones--a baby or a 5-6 year old? Students delighted in feeling for their bones and checking out different texts about bone structure.
Reading/Language Arts: The students continue to work to complete Unit 2 Friends in our Treasures Reading series. This weeks lessons centered around friends who solve problems together.
The students listened to the trade book story, "Simon and Molly Plus Hester." They asked and answered questions about the text and responded to the literature by making connections in their own lives. The students discussed the story elements of problem and solution. They continued to work on reviewing their sight vocabulary. They practiced writing them and using selected words in oral and written sentences. The students reviewed the target sounds Pp and Ss and used their sound boxes to mark where they heard the target sound---at the beginning or at the end of a selected word. The students took turns retelling the trade book story using the retelling cards. In phonemic awareness activities, the students categorized and blended 3 phoneme (individual sounds) to create words. The students read their pre decodable story, "I Like, We Like." They made predictions about story content and practiced reading to a partner. Our Robust Vocabulary this week included PROBLEM, SOLVE, GRATEFUL, THOUGHTFUL, INCLUDE. The students thought about what the author's message could be in the Haitian read aloud tale, "The Turtle and the Sheep." What was the lesson in the story? Workstations this week were a continuation of last weeks work with a couple of new items. Students drew a picture of themselves happy and sad and then write about when they felt that way, leveled reader fluency practice and discussion about story element/comprehension, rainbow word family writing and activities--Pumpkin Nonsense words, Bat Race-reading at family words, making CVC words with leaves and Rock, Paper, Scissors--sound match.
Math: The students worked on rote counting to 50 in preparation for our celebration next Wednesday. How many ten frames do you need to make 50. How many sets of tally marks? Our group leaf collection helped the students develop categorizing skills. Each student took the leaves out of their bags and added them to the growing collection. They agreed to group and label the leaves by color. Check out our photo! The students continue to work on recognizing pattern block shapes and using the shapes to create a design depending upon the number of blocks. (ie-Can you create a design with 7 shapes.?..9 shapes?) it was a game week in their math workstations--Spin and Color the pumpkins (matching numbers 1-12,) Roll, Color and Count apples (counting and comparing numbers-greater than/less than,) Skeleton Game (counting/following directions,) Plus One game--adding one to a number. Whole group enjoyed the subitize challenge using the app Subitize Tree and working on problem solving using the app Number Rack.
Writing: Students have completed work on their Frog Jump Capitals. They applied what they learned about formation in their orange practice book. In Writer's Workshop, the students continue to work on writing a naming and telling sentence, using more word details, labeling pictures, using spaces between words and beginning with a capital letter and ending with a period. Next week, we will be working on a writing summative writing piece for common core.
Technology: New apps for whole group instruction included Subitize Tree and Number Rack for math. The students delighted in setting their sight words on "fire" using the app Fire Finger to reinforce sight word recognition and writing. The app iTalk was used to record readers and played back so they could hear their reading.
Literature: "Bones," "Bats-Strange and Wonderful," "Skeleton for Dinner," "Fantastic Bats," "Popcorn," "Skeletons," "Amazing Bats," "Little Red Bat," "Bats Big Game," "Your Skeleton," "Skeleton Cat," "Wacky Animal Facts," "Black Out," "Skeleton Meets Mummy," "If Kids Ruled the World."
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