**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."
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