**Thanks so much for your attendance at Open House/Curriculum Night. I know that there was a lot of material presented and I probably could have talked another 30 minutes! Please read through your curriculum handouts. If you have any questions or would like to meet to go over anything, please email me. I know the students had a great time. They were a bit sleepy eyed the next morning but full of conversation about who they saw and the teachers they introduced you to. Thanks again.
**Many of you signed up for Parent/Teacher Conferences. I will be sending a hard copy of your day and time. If you did not sign up......I will give you a date and time and we can work from there. Parent/Teacher Conferences will be held on Monday, October 19th, Tuesday, October 20th and Wednesday, October 22nd. At that time, I will be sharing assessments. student progress in all academic areas, participation and social/emotional growth reflections. I will also share with you what our standards based report card looks like. Please note: On Thursday and Friday, October 22nd and 23rd, school in session in the MORNING ONLY. Dismissal will be at 11:00 am. There will be district bus service, Hephzibah and Kids Club pick up at 11:00 am. There is NO afternoon session.
**Eagle Extra Classes have begun. The students really seem to be enjoying themselves.
**School Pictures will be taken on Tuesday, September 29th. Please check your child's homework folder for the order form. You can also order on line. Our picture taking time is 8:30 am. K. Meier will assist us. Thanks!
**Family Math Night is Thursday, October 1st from 6:00-7:30 pm. There is still time to join us for "There's No Place Like Math Night." I will be on the yellow brick road serving some Oz treats after you complete your adventure. Email me for information.'
**Irving Pacers Running/Walking will begin on Thursday, October 1st during our lunch hour. Instead of going on the playground, the students will walk/run around the school to earn cute little foot charms to add to a necklace. I will be walking and students are welcome to walk with me or RUN!!!! Pacers will continue thru November and start up again in the spring.
**I am continuing to assess student phonemic awareness skills. Everything will be completed by Friday. Route to Reading skill specific groups will begin on Monday, October 5th. Students are in the process of being screened to see which skill level they fall into. The skill will be taught for 3 weeks and then assessed. 90% mastery is needed for a students to move to another skill. Students can remain at a skill, move to the next skill or even test out/skip skills. All kindergarten teachers as well as Ms. Chinn, our Language Arts specialist and reading tutors Ms. Simon, Ms. Cruz, Ms. Deihl and Ms. Cairns will each a have a small group of students. You will receive notification of the skill your child is working on and the teacher teaching it. Route to Reading will meet 3 times a week on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday from 9:05-9:45 am.
**Information on those interested in being a Student Council Rep in in your child's homework folder. I will be choosing 2 reps on Friday.
**Do you have a topic that you are really interested in?? Do you have a question you want answered on a certain topic?? Can you construct a vehicle that will keep an egg from breaking when dropped from a 3rd floor window?? Think about it!!!! Be part of the Irving School's Academic Fair and Egg Drop contest on Wednesday, October 14th. Information on signing up on line is in your child's homework folder. Ms. Creehan will be coming in next week to show the students examples of projects and vehicles. I would love to see our class represented! The Egg Drop will take place on the playground beginning at 12:45 pm. The Academic Fair will be open to the public beginning at 6:30 pm. and students can chat about their projects. Email me with any questions.
**Information on Green Team reps will be in next weeks homework folder.
**Calling all Girls!!! Sign up to become a DAISY SCOUT. The meetings are every 3rd Thursday of the month from 3-4:15 pm. Contact Troop Leader N. Daniel, (Quinn's mom) at nicole.h.daniel@gmail.com.
**In Friendship Club this week, Ms. Bell Bey continued to work on the Zones of Regulation and how we can work to get ourselves out of those blue, yellow or red zone. She share some cool apps (see technology section) for calming and contemplating. Great lesson!
**Mr. Packer Problem Solving and Mr. Degman Math Technology will begin next week.
**SAVE THE DATE: Irving's Annual Trivia Night Fundraiser is Thursday, November 5th from 7-10 pm. at the Wire in Berwyn. More info will follow!
**Kindergarten is in the process of planning a walking field trip to the Maze Library the week of October 13th-16th. More in on this next week. I will need 2 volunteers.
**Future field trip to Brookfield Zoo on Tuesday, November 23rd from 9-2 pm. I will need 4-5 volunteers.
This week:
It was all about getting ready for Open House. The students worked hard on projects to display in the hallway. They thought about their future in their illustrations and writing about about what they wanted to be when they grew up. They worked on retelling a story both verbally and with a whole effort, recording letters and words. The students shared information about who was in their family. They drew pictures of family members. Discussions on expectations, behavior, Eagle Slips and following directions remain important topics.
Reading/Language Arts: We have begun Unit 1 FAMILIES in our Treasures Reading series. Students shared background knowledge about types of families they know about. They discussed human families and animal families. We all shared experiences about our families and how many family members we have. The students listened to the Big Book story, "Whose Baby Is It?" They reviewed parts of the book--front and back cover, spine, title page. They also located where to find the page number. Students noted the question and answer pattern of the book. The sight word we and the were introduced. We used our word "feet" to play "Walk Your Words." Our target sound in isolation is Mm. We used our sound cards and toys to tell if the sound was heard and the beginning or the end of a target word. The students worked on additional vocabulary when listening to the thinking fable, "The Lioness and the Ostrich." This vocabulary will be referred to a ROBUST VOCABULARY. Our words this week were PROTECT, RESEMBLE, TOGETHER, ANIMAL. We defined the words and gave sentence examples. The students used the retelling cards to retell the Big Book story with a partner. The story words, joey, pup and cub were discussed. We read aloud our predecodable story, "We Can." The students continue to work on using their famous pointing finger to track each word and picture when they read. In our round robin reading, all students got a chance to read aloud to the group and also read to a partner. In our formative text study this week, we read the story, "Duck on a Bike." We continue to work on story elements--Characters, Setting, Main Event and why the main event is important. I set up the format of our Blueprint Workmat. (I do) As we go thru our second reading, the students helped me with pictures and writing as the Blueprint is projected on the screen. (we do) Students acted out parts of the story and elbow chatted about the character, setting and main events. Students did their own Blueprint Workmat of the story. (you do) It is pretty cool to see their thinking reflected in their drawing and a little more attempts at writing this time. We will begin our summative text, "How Rocket Learns to Read" next week. The students continue to create group word webs for action words and words that people and animals. In the Haggerty Blue Book, our puppet friends, Mr. Happy and Mr. G assist in oral exercises on rhyming words, initial and final sounds in words, adding, deleting and substituting sounds to create new words and counting how words are in a sentence. We are just beginning to chat about word parts or syllables. This week, we began our literacy workstations. While I work with small group leveled readers each day, the students also work in rotating small groups. They also have a story read to themselves and then to a partner containing their sight words and then activities emphasizing our unit and phonemic awareness. This week our workstations included comparing family sizes project, stamp your words, upper and lowercase match game. "Oh No" initial sound game, "walk your words"-write your words and games Little Read Ridinghood and Froggy, Froggy Where's Your Home (initial sound and letter match.) Each week, the groups are assigned a "table manager." Their jobs are to set out the materials needed, controlling noise level and give gentle reminders to keep group on task. We spent time last week roll playing varies scenes to a workstation. Our table managers did an excellent job!
Math: The students continue their study of simple shapes. They counted the sides and corners of their shapes and made comparisons--how the square and rectangle alike? Students are working with pattern block shapes hexagon, trapezoid, oval and rhombus as well as basic shapes. The students worked on a variety of counting activities using their ten frames. We played "Show Me" where I write a number and the students have to create it on their ten frame. Students worked with a variety of objects-pennies, bears, blocks and cubes matching one to one. Students worked with partners and number cards to match numbers and sequence numbers 0-5, 0-10, 0-15 and 0-20. We continue to work on positional concepts above, below, behind, beside, between and next to. Math workstations this week included creating a number globe using the app Doodle Buddy, playing "spin and cover" number/ten frame match, counting corners and sides of shapes, number practice using their number rhymes 0-5.
Writing: The students began work on their Frog Jump Capitals. They are using their mini boards, tiny pieces of chalk (great for tripod grasp) and rags for erasing. The students are also working with wooden curved, straight and slanting pieces to assist in imprinting not only formation but directionality of the letters. Letters F, E, D were introduced. The students learned a song about where to begin all letters......Where do you start your letters......AT THE TOP!!! Appearing at the top left corner is Mr. Smiley, He is there to remind students to begin their writing on the left. Next week, the students will apply what they have learned in their orange practice books. Students continue to work on their journal entries in Writer's Workshop. This week, we talked about how to label parts of our drawings with a word or two.
Technology: The students were thrilled to do their first project in math using the app Doodle Buddy. They used their globe template, chose their number, and selected the icon they wanted to use to show their number. They worked on steps to email their project to my computer so I could print it out and display it. Cool! The apps Subitize Tree, Easy Match and Sam Phibian were projected to work on visualizing number and number patterns, matching number to quantity and quickly locating the quantity needed to match the number. In reading, the app Montessori Crosswords was introduced and projected for group use. It is a great sound foundation app to assist students in ordering of sounds to create a word and has many different levels. In Friendship Club, Ms. Bell Bey used the apps Calm Counter and Breath, Think, Do in her lesson on ways to self regulate.
Literature: "Animal Babies," "Hop On Pop," "I Will Try," "Pete the Cat Wheels on the Bus," "A Kiss Goodbye," "Family Fun," "Author's Back to School Surprise," "Duck on a Bike."
Saturday, September 26, 2015
Saturday, September 19, 2015
UPDATES for 9/14-9/18 2015
**Come One, Come All to Irving School's OPEN HOUSE/CURRICULUM NIGHT on THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24th beginning at 6:30 pm. The schedule is as follows: I will have a PARENT ONLY curriculum overview from 6:30-7:00 pm in our classroom. You can drop your child off in the auditorium for a supervised special feature. I will be speaking about our daily routine. all subject areas, testing that is done in Kindergarten, behavior management, Route to Reading skill specific groupings and special area classes. I will also have handouts with other information on our year. There will be SIGN UP SHEETS for PARENT CONFERENCES, ROOM PARENTS, and for other COOL EVENTS. Please pick up your child after my presentation and they will become your TOUR GUIDES as they bring you to meet the teachers who will be working with them. I will give you a list of teachers and room numbers as an assist. Hope to see everyone!
**We had our first BOOK BUDDY meeting on Friday!! This year our Book Buddies are Ms. Balicki's 5th grade class. Each one of our students were matched up with one and sometimes two book buddies. The buddies completed a getting to know me book. Each kindergarten student has one to take home and share. After, the kindergarten buddy chose a story that the 5th grade buddy read to them. We will be meeting every month and sharing stories, writing, projects. So fun!!
**Sign up for FAMILY MATH NIGHT! It is Thursday, October 1st from 6:00-7:30 pm. The theme this year is "There's No Place Like Math Night--A Wizard of Oz Adventure." I will be there on the yellow brick road!! Email me if you need another sign up flyer.
**Class and Individual Pictures will be taken on Tuesday, September 29th.t I usually try for an early morning time.
**Our Tech Advisor, Mr. Degman, will be in on Monday, September 21st to speak with students on proper and safe use of our classroom student iPads. I am also in the process of securing a time each week where Mr. Degman will be part of our math workstations with an iPad activity. Fun! Fun!
**Mr. Packer"s Problem Solving Session will begin in two weeks every Friday, from 10:30-11:00 am. Mr. Packer will use small group and whole group activities and projects to encourage thinking outside of the box. All lessons will be taught on multi levels to support and to challenge all learners.
**I will be speaking to the students about STUDENT COUNCIL representation for our class. Each classroom will have 2 reps. I will be sending home a flyer on the merits of being on Student Council. If your child is interested in being a rep, they can fill out the flyer.
**We have a GREEN TEAM! Each class will send 2 reps to the meetings that meet every other Tuesday. The Green Team plans projects, discusses ways to create a "greener" school environment and will relay information to our class. I will also send more info home next week about rep responsibilities.
**Calling all girls!!!! Be a Daisy Girl Scout!!! Quinn's mom is one of the leaders!!! Meetings are every THIRD THURSDAY from 3:00-4:15. There is a $15 registration fee. There will also be a $30 fee that will cover Daisy vest, badges and some supplies. Any questions--you can contact Quinn's mom at nicole.h.daniel@gmail.com.
**There was a flyer in your child's homework packet on Irving School's Annual Egg Drop and Academic Fair to be held on Wednesday, October 14th. I will be giving students more info about participating in this super fun event. Ms. Creehan will also be chatting with the students and showing examples of projects and vehicles. Stay tuned!
**EAGLE EXTRA CLASSES begin on Monday, September 21st. I will be getting a listing of all students participating. An Eagle Extra supervisor will pick up your child in our classroom at dismissal.
**In Friendship Club this week, Ms. Bell Bey reviewed with the students what whole body learning is and began the conversation about the ZONES of REGULATION. I have enclosed some information on this in your child's homework folder.
**Future Field Trip to Brookfield Zoo on Tuesday, November 23rd from 9:00-2:00 pm. More info to follow. I will need 4-5 volunteers.
This week:
It was all about letters and numbers. The students have found letters and numbers throughout our classroom and the school. What is the difference between letters and numbers? The students began the conversation about consonants (letters that have 1-2 sounds) and vowels (letters that can have many different sounds.) The students found the consonants and vowels in their name. They then compared that number to the number of consonants and vowels in a friends name. We are counting everything in sight--crayons, markers, chairs, books, fingers, shoes. The students worked on their number formation rhymes 0-5. Station day activities included pattern block build, count and record, build a dog out of pattern blocks and hand prints!
Reading/Language Arts: The students have completed Week 3 of our prep for our Treasures Reading series called Start Smart. The students worked on reinforcing letters 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 continue to work on sight vocabulary. The words A, THE and SEE were added. They played "Hands Up, Hands Down" using their sight words. The students used their sight words, pictures and ending marks for sentence building with a partner. Each student had to build 2 sentences to read to their partner. The partner had to do the same. Planning, recall, and tracking were in play with this activity. The students did their first formative Blueprint Workmat independently! Again we used the formative text, "Chysanthemum." The goal was for the students to draw and write about the characters, setting, main event and why the main event is important. Quite a task! In the beginning, pictures and talking about the key concepts is happening. A few students did do some writing. As we work throughout the year on this format, more writing will occur. We will begin our next formative text, "Duck on a Bike" next week. The students brainstormed words that name people and words that show action. I read the trade book, "Jazz Baby." Before reading, the students made predictions on story content. They were able to point to the title, title page, spine and tell that the story was fiction. During the reading, the students were able to tell me about words that showed action in the story. (dance, sway, sing) After a second reading, the students used the retelling cards to retell the story. Some students volunteered to write some words about each picture. It was a group effort to sound out words and record the letters to create the sentences. Great Team Work! During our group read aloud of the paper story, "I Can," the students were spot on at naming the action pictures and words. We continue to work on tracking words in a sentence from left to right, noting that a sentence begins with an uppercase letter and has an ending mark. Finger pointing during reading is essential!!! We continued to work on foundational skills in the Haggerty Blue Book which included rhyming, letter naming, first sound and ending sound fluency, adding and deleting word parts and counting words in a sentence.
Math: The student work on calendar books is becoming more routine. Focus this week was on basic and pattern block shapes. The students went on a shape hunt around the room. We looked for circles, squares, rectangles, triangles, ovals, hexagon, trapezoids and rhombuses They used their blocks to create really cool designs and counted how many blocks it took to make the design. We will take our hunt for shapes around the school next week. We continue to work on positional words using lots of movement activities. Above, below, between, behind, in front of, next were covered, Number rhymes for 0-5 have been practiced. Workstations this week included egg carton math, sorting and classifying activities, matching number with quantity, writing numbers 0-5, playing number bingo 0-20.
Writing: The students are learning about what kinds of lines are used to make letters--straight, slant and curved. The students used these lines to form MAT MAN. We even sang a song about him. Students drew their own Mat Man. During Writer's Workshop, We read a story called "I Can Write." What do writers do? Who is a writer? Where do I find writers? We worked together to complete a three column chart. The students chose their own topics to write about this week. I suggested some sentence starters for those wanting to try writing. "I can........... I see............ The students are also working on adding more details to their pictures.
Technology: The students continue to participate by using the interactive apps that are projected on the screen. In reading, the students worked on creating a simple sentence with their sight words and pictures using the app Magnetic Letters HD. They continue to delight in setting their sight words and name on "fire" using the app Fire Finger. In math, I introduced the app Easy Match working on matching quantity to number and examining number patterns and continue work on Subitize Tree working on visual counting and number patterns. Next week, Mr. Degman will work with the students on classroom iPad etiquette.
Literature: "Curious George Goes to School," "Chysanthemum,""It's Okay to Make Mistakes," "Kindergarten Rules," "Jazz Baby," "Oh, David," "Hands Are Not For Hitting," "I Can," "At School," "We Go To School," thinking story--"You Are As Beautiful As You Are."
**We had our first BOOK BUDDY meeting on Friday!! This year our Book Buddies are Ms. Balicki's 5th grade class. Each one of our students were matched up with one and sometimes two book buddies. The buddies completed a getting to know me book. Each kindergarten student has one to take home and share. After, the kindergarten buddy chose a story that the 5th grade buddy read to them. We will be meeting every month and sharing stories, writing, projects. So fun!!
**Sign up for FAMILY MATH NIGHT! It is Thursday, October 1st from 6:00-7:30 pm. The theme this year is "There's No Place Like Math Night--A Wizard of Oz Adventure." I will be there on the yellow brick road!! Email me if you need another sign up flyer.
**Class and Individual Pictures will be taken on Tuesday, September 29th.t I usually try for an early morning time.
**Our Tech Advisor, Mr. Degman, will be in on Monday, September 21st to speak with students on proper and safe use of our classroom student iPads. I am also in the process of securing a time each week where Mr. Degman will be part of our math workstations with an iPad activity. Fun! Fun!
**Mr. Packer"s Problem Solving Session will begin in two weeks every Friday, from 10:30-11:00 am. Mr. Packer will use small group and whole group activities and projects to encourage thinking outside of the box. All lessons will be taught on multi levels to support and to challenge all learners.
**I will be speaking to the students about STUDENT COUNCIL representation for our class. Each classroom will have 2 reps. I will be sending home a flyer on the merits of being on Student Council. If your child is interested in being a rep, they can fill out the flyer.
**We have a GREEN TEAM! Each class will send 2 reps to the meetings that meet every other Tuesday. The Green Team plans projects, discusses ways to create a "greener" school environment and will relay information to our class. I will also send more info home next week about rep responsibilities.
**Calling all girls!!!! Be a Daisy Girl Scout!!! Quinn's mom is one of the leaders!!! Meetings are every THIRD THURSDAY from 3:00-4:15. There is a $15 registration fee. There will also be a $30 fee that will cover Daisy vest, badges and some supplies. Any questions--you can contact Quinn's mom at nicole.h.daniel@gmail.com.
**There was a flyer in your child's homework packet on Irving School's Annual Egg Drop and Academic Fair to be held on Wednesday, October 14th. I will be giving students more info about participating in this super fun event. Ms. Creehan will also be chatting with the students and showing examples of projects and vehicles. Stay tuned!
**EAGLE EXTRA CLASSES begin on Monday, September 21st. I will be getting a listing of all students participating. An Eagle Extra supervisor will pick up your child in our classroom at dismissal.
**In Friendship Club this week, Ms. Bell Bey reviewed with the students what whole body learning is and began the conversation about the ZONES of REGULATION. I have enclosed some information on this in your child's homework folder.
**Future Field Trip to Brookfield Zoo on Tuesday, November 23rd from 9:00-2:00 pm. More info to follow. I will need 4-5 volunteers.
This week:
It was all about letters and numbers. The students have found letters and numbers throughout our classroom and the school. What is the difference between letters and numbers? The students began the conversation about consonants (letters that have 1-2 sounds) and vowels (letters that can have many different sounds.) The students found the consonants and vowels in their name. They then compared that number to the number of consonants and vowels in a friends name. We are counting everything in sight--crayons, markers, chairs, books, fingers, shoes. The students worked on their number formation rhymes 0-5. Station day activities included pattern block build, count and record, build a dog out of pattern blocks and hand prints!
Reading/Language Arts: The students have completed Week 3 of our prep for our Treasures Reading series called Start Smart. The students worked on reinforcing letters 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 continue to work on sight vocabulary. The words A, THE and SEE were added. They played "Hands Up, Hands Down" using their sight words. The students used their sight words, pictures and ending marks for sentence building with a partner. Each student had to build 2 sentences to read to their partner. The partner had to do the same. Planning, recall, and tracking were in play with this activity. The students did their first formative Blueprint Workmat independently! Again we used the formative text, "Chysanthemum." The goal was for the students to draw and write about the characters, setting, main event and why the main event is important. Quite a task! In the beginning, pictures and talking about the key concepts is happening. A few students did do some writing. As we work throughout the year on this format, more writing will occur. We will begin our next formative text, "Duck on a Bike" next week. The students brainstormed words that name people and words that show action. I read the trade book, "Jazz Baby." Before reading, the students made predictions on story content. They were able to point to the title, title page, spine and tell that the story was fiction. During the reading, the students were able to tell me about words that showed action in the story. (dance, sway, sing) After a second reading, the students used the retelling cards to retell the story. Some students volunteered to write some words about each picture. It was a group effort to sound out words and record the letters to create the sentences. Great Team Work! During our group read aloud of the paper story, "I Can," the students were spot on at naming the action pictures and words. We continue to work on tracking words in a sentence from left to right, noting that a sentence begins with an uppercase letter and has an ending mark. Finger pointing during reading is essential!!! We continued to work on foundational skills in the Haggerty Blue Book which included rhyming, letter naming, first sound and ending sound fluency, adding and deleting word parts and counting words in a sentence.
Math: The student work on calendar books is becoming more routine. Focus this week was on basic and pattern block shapes. The students went on a shape hunt around the room. We looked for circles, squares, rectangles, triangles, ovals, hexagon, trapezoids and rhombuses They used their blocks to create really cool designs and counted how many blocks it took to make the design. We will take our hunt for shapes around the school next week. We continue to work on positional words using lots of movement activities. Above, below, between, behind, in front of, next were covered, Number rhymes for 0-5 have been practiced. Workstations this week included egg carton math, sorting and classifying activities, matching number with quantity, writing numbers 0-5, playing number bingo 0-20.
Writing: The students are learning about what kinds of lines are used to make letters--straight, slant and curved. The students used these lines to form MAT MAN. We even sang a song about him. Students drew their own Mat Man. During Writer's Workshop, We read a story called "I Can Write." What do writers do? Who is a writer? Where do I find writers? We worked together to complete a three column chart. The students chose their own topics to write about this week. I suggested some sentence starters for those wanting to try writing. "I can........... I see............ The students are also working on adding more details to their pictures.
Technology: The students continue to participate by using the interactive apps that are projected on the screen. In reading, the students worked on creating a simple sentence with their sight words and pictures using the app Magnetic Letters HD. They continue to delight in setting their sight words and name on "fire" using the app Fire Finger. In math, I introduced the app Easy Match working on matching quantity to number and examining number patterns and continue work on Subitize Tree working on visual counting and number patterns. Next week, Mr. Degman will work with the students on classroom iPad etiquette.
Literature: "Curious George Goes to School," "Chysanthemum,""It's Okay to Make Mistakes," "Kindergarten Rules," "Jazz Baby," "Oh, David," "Hands Are Not For Hitting," "I Can," "At School," "We Go To School," thinking story--"You Are As Beautiful As You Are."
Saturday, September 12, 2015
UPDATES for 9/8-9/11 2015
**The students are becoming more familiar with the daily routines and expectations of all of their teachers and classes. Lunch is going well!. At lunch, we are reinforcing eating our main entre first, drinking our beverages and recycling the school lunch trays and milk cartons. Don't forget to send a healthy snack each day. Please put that snack in your child's backpack and not the lunchbox. Our lunchboxes are going into a big lunch bin that goes down to the lunchroom each morning. Thanks!
**Thanks for seeing that your child's HOMEWORK FOLDER is in their backpack each THURSDAY. It was lovely sharing our "Getting to Know me Heads!" Games and paper practice stories can remain home is a secure place in your home for future review. A reminder to please check HOMEWORK FOLDERS every FRIDAY for homework and other updates. Check the assignments page on my website for activities and due dates.
**The Irving Back to School Party was rained out! Bummer! We all were hoping to see each other and watch the movie. Hope you will enjoy Barrie Fest this weekend.
**COME ONE COME ALL to Irving School's OPEN HOUSE/CURRICULUM NIGHT on THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24th beginning at 6:30 pm. The schedule is as follows: I will have a PARENT ONLY curriculum overview from 6:30-7:00 pm in our classroom Room 110. You can drop your child of in the auditorium for a supervised special feature. I will be speaking about our daily routine, all subject areas, testing that is done in Kindergarten, Route to Reading skills specific groupings and special area classes. I will also have handouts with other information on our year. There will also be SIGN UP SHEETS for PARENT CONFERENCES, ROOM PARENTS and for other COOL EVENTS. Please pick up your child after the presentation and they will become your TOUR GUIDE as they bring you to meet the teachers who are working with them. I will give you a list with the teachers name, subject and room number as an assist. Hope to see everyone!
**Sign up for FAMILY MATH NIGHT! It is Thursday, October 1st from 6:00-7:30 pm. The theme this year is "There Is No Place Like Math Night--a Wizard of Oz Adventure." I will be there on the yellow brick road!!! Email me if you need another sign up flyer.
**We will have our first LIBRARY TIME with Ms. Noonan on Monday where the students can check out one book and keep it to read at home for 7 days until the next Library Time. After awhile, the students will be able to check out 2 books. Ms. Noonan will reading many types of fiction and non fiction books, helping with projects and showing students how the library is organized and where to find certain books. The students will be able to check out one book each week as long as they bring the previous book back. It is recommended that when not reading their book....students should keep it in their backpack to lessen the chances of it getting lost.
**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 on around fostering positive peer relationships, feelings, conflict resolution, sharing, regulating their own behavior and other topics that may arise. She will use a variety of materials and approaches including stories, videos, role playing, acting, games and puppets to name a few. This week, Ms. Bell Bey gave an overview about being ready to learn and school manners.
**Last week, I began screening students with the DIBELS test and baseline letter and number recognition. In the coming week, I will be using a PHONIC SCREENER to asses basic phonemic awareness. All of these screeners take a small amount of time. These assessments will help in determining each students placement in our skills specific ROUTE TO READING groups. You will hear much more about this at CURRICULUM NIGHT.
**I had forgotten to mention that we had our first FIRE DRILL last week. We discussed how important it is to have a plan to get out of the school in case of a fire. The students did a great job of following directions. We will be having fire drills periodically throughout the year.
**The students continue to learn about the process of earning an EAGLE SLIP. This is in conjunction with our school wide PBIS behavior incentive. Everyone in our class has earned an Eagle Slip or more. Every Friday, Mr. Hodge will reach into the big container of slips and pull out 10 lucky winners.
**Information for DAISY SCOUTS is in your child's homework folder. It was a super fun experience for our girls last year! Think about signing your daughters up.
**Don't forget to check out the cool after school Eagle Extra classes out last week. Email me with any questions.
**Class and Individual Pictures will be taken on Tuesday, September 29th. More info will follow.
**Future Field Trip--Brookfield Zoo on Tuesday, November 24th from 9:00-2:00 pm. More info to follow. I will need about 5 volunteers.
This week:
It was all about the student's continued effort to feel comfortable with our daily routines and meet all of their teachers for the year. It was about ABC's everywhere! Why do we need them? What do they look like? How do they sound? What does our mouth look like when we say them? Many sounds? One sound? Uppercase? Lowercase? What happens when we put letters together? The students experienced many activities surrounding the alphabet! Station Day activities included creating a paper doll and using their sight words "I am (their name)" to complete their project, count and color to 5, building with pattern blocks and magnatiles.
Reading/Language Arts: The students are continuing to work on their prep for our Treasures Reading series using Smart Start. The students focused on letter recognition and sounds for letters A-M. They are learning about imprinting sound and how our mouth looks when we make that sound. The students used mirrors to really see what happens when a letter sound is produced. Is their mouth opened or closed? Can they feel a vibration in their throat? Can they feel any air coming out of their mouth? Lot's to think about! It is also very fun to look in your own personal mirror. 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 vocabulary. The students continue listen for rhyming patterns in words. They are learning to chant the ending. Our mantra or chant is for example--"Cat, Bat they end in at."
Students have begun work on sight word recognition. Words presented this week were--YES, NO, I, AM, CAN. The students read their first paper story, "I Can." They practiced finger pointing each word and mini picture. We talked about beginning at the left and reading to the right. We had a group read aloud, locating the title and page numbers. Students then practiced reading their story with a partner. The students also worked on describing the pictures in the story using a complete sentence and finding as many details as they could. In our formative text study using the story "Chrysanthemum," the students continued finding the title, front cover, back cover and spine of the book. Once again, we discussed the job of the author and illustrator. This week we talked about who is in the story (characters) and where the story happens (setting) We used the term, event to describe something that happens in the story. The students began work on a group Blueprint Workmat identifying the characters, setting and important events. Some of the students helped me to fill in the Blueprint which was projected on the board. The students will eventually complete their own individual Blueprint Workmat on selected stories. Pretty cool! The students continued to work on foundational skills using the Haggerty Blue Book. Whole group instruction aided by our reading puppet, Mr. Happy, centered on upper and lowercase recognition, counting words in sentence, isolating beginning and ending sounds and counting word parts and beginning work on syllables. Small group workstations included letter hunt, rhyming board game, sequencing ABC's, beginning sound sequence activities and Hands Up, Hands Down using their new sight words.
Math: The students continuing working in their calendar book each day. They are working on writing the correct number for the date and year, patterning exercises, forming numbers using rhymes, learning about tally marks and ten frames and recording the weather. The students also worked on a variety of small group workstations on counting and cardinality including egg carton math, "Got It," "Listen and Count," number/object match, counting to 20, using their rhymes to write numbers 1-5 and basic shape recognition. Together they worked on a project where they wrote their name...one letter in each box. The students arranged the names on the chart according to the number of letters in their name. Who had the least letters in their name? Who had the most? Ask you child!
Our Problem of the Day this week centered on positional words. Concepts, above, below, next to and under were included. The students explored pattern blocks.
Writing: The students are working on strengthening their hands and fingers by using clay. Kneading, squishing and rolling are great ways to get our fingers and hands moving. Students are also using the giant tweezers (great tripod grasp tools) to "feed" the dog and place the beads into the cups. In Writer's Workshop this week, each student created an idea light bulb and used stickers and drawings to show what they liked or are interested in. Writers write about what they know! The topics this week were friends and family. We talked about what a sentence is----it NAMES and TELLS us about something or someone. During their journal conference, I may ask them to read to me what they wrote, record on the paper what they tell me their picture is about or assist them (I will write a word, you write a word) as they talk about their pictures. During our journal time, the students are beginning to use "inventive spelling"---it could be just the beginning sound, the beginning and ending sound to spell a word. It is what they are hearing that is important. Many times, vowels are omitted. Let them spell what they hear.
Technology: We continue to work on foundational apps that are projected for the whole group. We kept to the same ones that were introduced last week. Next week, we will begin learning about personal iPad care and operation of our classroom iPads.
Literature: "Chrysathemum," "David Goes to School," "What Would the Fat Cat Sit On?" "If You Take a Mouse to School," "Mouse Loves School," "Who Will My Teacher Be This Year?" "How do Dinosaurs go To School?" "Shades of Black," "The Mixed Up Alphabet," "This is the Teacher," "I Measure Myself." (poem)
**Thanks for seeing that your child's HOMEWORK FOLDER is in their backpack each THURSDAY. It was lovely sharing our "Getting to Know me Heads!" Games and paper practice stories can remain home is a secure place in your home for future review. A reminder to please check HOMEWORK FOLDERS every FRIDAY for homework and other updates. Check the assignments page on my website for activities and due dates.
**The Irving Back to School Party was rained out! Bummer! We all were hoping to see each other and watch the movie. Hope you will enjoy Barrie Fest this weekend.
**COME ONE COME ALL to Irving School's OPEN HOUSE/CURRICULUM NIGHT on THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24th beginning at 6:30 pm. The schedule is as follows: I will have a PARENT ONLY curriculum overview from 6:30-7:00 pm in our classroom Room 110. You can drop your child of in the auditorium for a supervised special feature. I will be speaking about our daily routine, all subject areas, testing that is done in Kindergarten, Route to Reading skills specific groupings and special area classes. I will also have handouts with other information on our year. There will also be SIGN UP SHEETS for PARENT CONFERENCES, ROOM PARENTS and for other COOL EVENTS. Please pick up your child after the presentation and they will become your TOUR GUIDE as they bring you to meet the teachers who are working with them. I will give you a list with the teachers name, subject and room number as an assist. Hope to see everyone!
**Sign up for FAMILY MATH NIGHT! It is Thursday, October 1st from 6:00-7:30 pm. The theme this year is "There Is No Place Like Math Night--a Wizard of Oz Adventure." I will be there on the yellow brick road!!! Email me if you need another sign up flyer.
**We will have our first LIBRARY TIME with Ms. Noonan on Monday where the students can check out one book and keep it to read at home for 7 days until the next Library Time. After awhile, the students will be able to check out 2 books. Ms. Noonan will reading many types of fiction and non fiction books, helping with projects and showing students how the library is organized and where to find certain books. The students will be able to check out one book each week as long as they bring the previous book back. It is recommended that when not reading their book....students should keep it in their backpack to lessen the chances of it getting lost.
**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 on around fostering positive peer relationships, feelings, conflict resolution, sharing, regulating their own behavior and other topics that may arise. She will use a variety of materials and approaches including stories, videos, role playing, acting, games and puppets to name a few. This week, Ms. Bell Bey gave an overview about being ready to learn and school manners.
**Last week, I began screening students with the DIBELS test and baseline letter and number recognition. In the coming week, I will be using a PHONIC SCREENER to asses basic phonemic awareness. All of these screeners take a small amount of time. These assessments will help in determining each students placement in our skills specific ROUTE TO READING groups. You will hear much more about this at CURRICULUM NIGHT.
**I had forgotten to mention that we had our first FIRE DRILL last week. We discussed how important it is to have a plan to get out of the school in case of a fire. The students did a great job of following directions. We will be having fire drills periodically throughout the year.
**The students continue to learn about the process of earning an EAGLE SLIP. This is in conjunction with our school wide PBIS behavior incentive. Everyone in our class has earned an Eagle Slip or more. Every Friday, Mr. Hodge will reach into the big container of slips and pull out 10 lucky winners.
**Information for DAISY SCOUTS is in your child's homework folder. It was a super fun experience for our girls last year! Think about signing your daughters up.
**Don't forget to check out the cool after school Eagle Extra classes out last week. Email me with any questions.
**Class and Individual Pictures will be taken on Tuesday, September 29th. More info will follow.
**Future Field Trip--Brookfield Zoo on Tuesday, November 24th from 9:00-2:00 pm. More info to follow. I will need about 5 volunteers.
This week:
It was all about the student's continued effort to feel comfortable with our daily routines and meet all of their teachers for the year. It was about ABC's everywhere! Why do we need them? What do they look like? How do they sound? What does our mouth look like when we say them? Many sounds? One sound? Uppercase? Lowercase? What happens when we put letters together? The students experienced many activities surrounding the alphabet! Station Day activities included creating a paper doll and using their sight words "I am (their name)" to complete their project, count and color to 5, building with pattern blocks and magnatiles.
Reading/Language Arts: The students are continuing to work on their prep for our Treasures Reading series using Smart Start. The students focused on letter recognition and sounds for letters A-M. They are learning about imprinting sound and how our mouth looks when we make that sound. The students used mirrors to really see what happens when a letter sound is produced. Is their mouth opened or closed? Can they feel a vibration in their throat? Can they feel any air coming out of their mouth? Lot's to think about! It is also very fun to look in your own personal mirror. 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 vocabulary. The students continue listen for rhyming patterns in words. They are learning to chant the ending. Our mantra or chant is for example--"Cat, Bat they end in at."
Students have begun work on sight word recognition. Words presented this week were--YES, NO, I, AM, CAN. The students read their first paper story, "I Can." They practiced finger pointing each word and mini picture. We talked about beginning at the left and reading to the right. We had a group read aloud, locating the title and page numbers. Students then practiced reading their story with a partner. The students also worked on describing the pictures in the story using a complete sentence and finding as many details as they could. In our formative text study using the story "Chrysanthemum," the students continued finding the title, front cover, back cover and spine of the book. Once again, we discussed the job of the author and illustrator. This week we talked about who is in the story (characters) and where the story happens (setting) We used the term, event to describe something that happens in the story. The students began work on a group Blueprint Workmat identifying the characters, setting and important events. Some of the students helped me to fill in the Blueprint which was projected on the board. The students will eventually complete their own individual Blueprint Workmat on selected stories. Pretty cool! The students continued to work on foundational skills using the Haggerty Blue Book. Whole group instruction aided by our reading puppet, Mr. Happy, centered on upper and lowercase recognition, counting words in sentence, isolating beginning and ending sounds and counting word parts and beginning work on syllables. Small group workstations included letter hunt, rhyming board game, sequencing ABC's, beginning sound sequence activities and Hands Up, Hands Down using their new sight words.
Math: The students continuing working in their calendar book each day. They are working on writing the correct number for the date and year, patterning exercises, forming numbers using rhymes, learning about tally marks and ten frames and recording the weather. The students also worked on a variety of small group workstations on counting and cardinality including egg carton math, "Got It," "Listen and Count," number/object match, counting to 20, using their rhymes to write numbers 1-5 and basic shape recognition. Together they worked on a project where they wrote their name...one letter in each box. The students arranged the names on the chart according to the number of letters in their name. Who had the least letters in their name? Who had the most? Ask you child!
Our Problem of the Day this week centered on positional words. Concepts, above, below, next to and under were included. The students explored pattern blocks.
Writing: The students are working on strengthening their hands and fingers by using clay. Kneading, squishing and rolling are great ways to get our fingers and hands moving. Students are also using the giant tweezers (great tripod grasp tools) to "feed" the dog and place the beads into the cups. In Writer's Workshop this week, each student created an idea light bulb and used stickers and drawings to show what they liked or are interested in. Writers write about what they know! The topics this week were friends and family. We talked about what a sentence is----it NAMES and TELLS us about something or someone. During their journal conference, I may ask them to read to me what they wrote, record on the paper what they tell me their picture is about or assist them (I will write a word, you write a word) as they talk about their pictures. During our journal time, the students are beginning to use "inventive spelling"---it could be just the beginning sound, the beginning and ending sound to spell a word. It is what they are hearing that is important. Many times, vowels are omitted. Let them spell what they hear.
Technology: We continue to work on foundational apps that are projected for the whole group. We kept to the same ones that were introduced last week. Next week, we will begin learning about personal iPad care and operation of our classroom iPads.
Literature: "Chrysathemum," "David Goes to School," "What Would the Fat Cat Sit On?" "If You Take a Mouse to School," "Mouse Loves School," "Who Will My Teacher Be This Year?" "How do Dinosaurs go To School?" "Shades of Black," "The Mixed Up Alphabet," "This is the Teacher," "I Measure Myself." (poem)
Friday, September 4, 2015
UPDATES for 8/31-9/4 2015
**We are off to a great start! I am so glad all of you are part of our Irving School Family! I was so happy to meet all of you and your extended family and caregivers. We are going to have a great year!
**We were a bit hot and sweaty, but we survived the heat and humidity this week. The students were real troopers! Although the temperature and humidity will come down next week, you can continue to send a water bottle with your child.
**Thanks to all of you who have signed up to help at lunch. Things are going very well. The students are learning about the lunch routine and recycling milk cartons and paper trays. Please continue to reinforce--HOME LUNCH or SCHOOL LUNCH---MILK---WHAT KIND? If your child is ordering milk with their HOME LUNCH.......would you Email me? Many students were asking for milk with their home lunch. I would like to get an accurate account so you are not charged in error.
**Your child's HOMEWORK FOLDER is in their backpacks. It has their homework and many information items for parents to read. PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU SIGN THE iLEARN iPAD MINI PROGRAM AGREEMENT. You child needs this form signed in order to use our student iPADS. Thanks! Please CHECK the HOMEWORK FOLDERS EVERY FRIDAY. If there is work to send back, that will be due on the following Thursday. Games and stories can remain at home. Read the info under "click here for assignments" for other learning suggestions.
**Please remember to wear or send gym shoes and socks everyday. They are especially needed on gym days.
**Information on being an Irving Volunteer, Eagle Extra On Line Registration, the Irving Events Calendar, Menu and the Back to School Party and Movie Night at Barrie Park is in your child's Homework Folder.
**I am still in the process of scheduling Mr. Packer Problem Solving class and Mr. Degman Math/Technology class. Friendship Club, our character education class, under the direction of Ms. Bell Bey will begin next Friday.
**As soon as I set up student passwords, students will begin working on Lexia Core 5 in our computer lab. This program is a great companion piece to our Language Arts and Literacy Program. Students are able to work at their own pace on skills ranging from Kindergarten to Grade 3. I will also set up SPELLING CITY, BRAINPOP JR. and DREAMBOX MATH. You can access FREE activities on STARFALL and MATHNOOK from the left side of this blog under "check out these great resources." Feel free to explore.
**ROOM PARENTS WANTED!!!! I have Kate Meier and Julie Wulff signed up. We could 1 or 2 more. Email me if interested. You can plan, facilitate and organize activities in our classroom.
**OPEN HOUSE/CURRICULUM NIGHT is Thursday, September 24th from 6:30-8:30 pm. More information is forthcoming.
**Picture Day is Tuesday, September 29th. Both individual and class pictures will be taken that day. We try to set up an early morning time for our students.
**Family Math is Thursday, October 1st from 6:00-7:30 pm. The theme this year is "There's No Place Like Math Night." I'll be there! It's great fun! Sign up is in your child's homework folder.
**I have included the recipe we use for clay. Clay is a great way to get the fingers and hands moving. We have been developing our tripod grasp by "feeding" the dogs his bones and picking up small pebbles with kid tweezers. Kid chopsticks with the connector is also great for practice--all very tactile and sensory oriented.
**In the future---if your child is traveling where they are staying overnight---let me know and I will send a "Travel Journal." We are going to be tracking places where we have been and sharing our travel stories. It can be to grandma's, another town, state or country. Great geography!!!
**Future Field Trip---Brookfield Zoo on Tuesday, November 24th from 9:00-2:00 pm. More info to come. We will need about 5 volunteers.
**NO SCHOOL--Monday, September 7th in observance of Labor Day.
This week:
It was all about routines, expectations and meeting new friends and teachers. Yes......I talked a lot!! The students met with most of their special area teachers-- Ms. Hiolski-Music, Senorita Zaragoza-Spanish, Ms. Noonan-Library, Mr. Hancock-Gym and Mr. Patterson-Art. The students are getting to know each other and fostering new friendships. The students have learned how to earn EAGLE SLIPS as part of our school wide behavior incentive. Our DAILY Mantra is--Be Respectful, Be Responsible, Be Safe EVERYWHERE and HAVE FUN!! Many students earned EAGLE SLIPS this week. Each Friday, Mr. Hodge picks 10 winners to receive a little token. We had a winner picked from our room!!! Congratulations to Aidan!!! Great start!
Reading/Language Arts: In our first week of school, the students began a 3 week prep in our Treasures Reading series call Smart Start. Our Common Core State Standards have under gone some tweaking and we will be focusing on teaching the standards thru selected texts. I will be speaking more about this at Open House/Curriculum Night. The students are using their language skills to respond to a daily warm up question. We are working on raising our hand to volunteer information. Students worked on their listening comprehension skills and making predictions and connections by listening and responding to the Big Book Story "Animals in the Park-ABC Book." The students also began work on recognizing rhyming sequences. Rhyming words have the same ending parts. Students began to generate words and rhyming patterns. They began to learn the rhyming chant---"bat, cat, they end with at." Students are working on upper and lowercase letter recognition. They learned how to play, "Hands Up, Hands Down." It is one of their homework assignments! Students also work on "tracking" words in a sentence from left to right and counting how words are in a given sentence. In our formative text, "Chrysanthemum," the students worked on finding the title, the front and back cover and the spine of the book. We discussed what an author does and what an illustrator does. The students are working on foundational skills using the Haggerty Blue Book. Whole group instruction centered around upper and lowercase letter recognition, counting words in a sentence, isolating the beginning and ending letter sounds. Workstation (small group) activities centered around sequencing ABC's, playing Hands Up, Hands Down, Go Fish for Letters and finding the rhyme.
Math: The students were introduced to the daily calendar activities, What is a ten frame? The students began placing a black dot on the ten frame for each day we are in school. When we get to 100----PARTY!!! Our Math Problem of the Day was about a different positional word each day. We are counting and counting and counting!!! We are beginning number formation and worked on numbers 1-5. The students worked in small group workstations on "egg carton math" (placing the correct number of beans in each place in the carton, spin a number--using a pencil and paper clip as a spinner and moving their marker along the board, stamping their names and counting the number of letters in their name and writing numbers 1-5. The students also explored pattern blocks, geo boards, simple plane shapes, making numbers with clay and problem solving activities using "Gears" and "Magnatiles."
Social Studies/Cross Curricular: Our theme is All About Me and My Family. This week the students shared information about their daily lives and likes and dislikes. They chatted about their family, where they live and what is important to them. They drew their self portrait and related a little fact about themselves. They chatted about their feelings and reflected about a place they could go to in their home to "chill" or "cool out" if they are angry or upset. We read the story, "Jared's Cool Out Space and began to chat about a space we could use in our classroom for a place to "chill out" if we are having a hard time with our feelings.
Writing: In our Writer's Workshop, we read the story, "It's All About You--Writing Your Own Journal." The students chatted about what a school journal is and what they can put in it. We can draw, sketch, write words or sentences or even a story. I modeled a format. They will make an entry most days. Most students were able to tell me about their pictures, Some student chose to write their own words.
Technology: We have been working together on some foundational skills apps that have been projected onto the screen for student interaction. In reading, the students enjoyed the apps Sound Sort (letter sound association,) Magnetic Letters ABC (letter recognition/spelling) and Fire Finger (letter recognition--setting their letter on fire!) In math, the student enjoyed Brainy Bugs (counting and cardinality) and Subitize Tree (visual recognition of number by finding the pattern.) Most of these apps are free or inexpensive. Feel free to load them onto your child's iPad or tablet.
Literature: "You Are Beautiful As You Are," "You're Finally Here," "Splat the Cat," "Pete the Cat Too School for School," "Ms. Bindergarten Get's Ready For Kindergarten,""Cool Dog, School Dog," "Pirates Go To School," "Time for School, Mouse," "Kindergarten Rocks," "Chrysanthemum."
**We were a bit hot and sweaty, but we survived the heat and humidity this week. The students were real troopers! Although the temperature and humidity will come down next week, you can continue to send a water bottle with your child.
**Thanks to all of you who have signed up to help at lunch. Things are going very well. The students are learning about the lunch routine and recycling milk cartons and paper trays. Please continue to reinforce--HOME LUNCH or SCHOOL LUNCH---MILK---WHAT KIND? If your child is ordering milk with their HOME LUNCH.......would you Email me? Many students were asking for milk with their home lunch. I would like to get an accurate account so you are not charged in error.
**Your child's HOMEWORK FOLDER is in their backpacks. It has their homework and many information items for parents to read. PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU SIGN THE iLEARN iPAD MINI PROGRAM AGREEMENT. You child needs this form signed in order to use our student iPADS. Thanks! Please CHECK the HOMEWORK FOLDERS EVERY FRIDAY. If there is work to send back, that will be due on the following Thursday. Games and stories can remain at home. Read the info under "click here for assignments" for other learning suggestions.
**Please remember to wear or send gym shoes and socks everyday. They are especially needed on gym days.
**Information on being an Irving Volunteer, Eagle Extra On Line Registration, the Irving Events Calendar, Menu and the Back to School Party and Movie Night at Barrie Park is in your child's Homework Folder.
**I am still in the process of scheduling Mr. Packer Problem Solving class and Mr. Degman Math/Technology class. Friendship Club, our character education class, under the direction of Ms. Bell Bey will begin next Friday.
**As soon as I set up student passwords, students will begin working on Lexia Core 5 in our computer lab. This program is a great companion piece to our Language Arts and Literacy Program. Students are able to work at their own pace on skills ranging from Kindergarten to Grade 3. I will also set up SPELLING CITY, BRAINPOP JR. and DREAMBOX MATH. You can access FREE activities on STARFALL and MATHNOOK from the left side of this blog under "check out these great resources." Feel free to explore.
**ROOM PARENTS WANTED!!!! I have Kate Meier and Julie Wulff signed up. We could 1 or 2 more. Email me if interested. You can plan, facilitate and organize activities in our classroom.
**OPEN HOUSE/CURRICULUM NIGHT is Thursday, September 24th from 6:30-8:30 pm. More information is forthcoming.
**Picture Day is Tuesday, September 29th. Both individual and class pictures will be taken that day. We try to set up an early morning time for our students.
**Family Math is Thursday, October 1st from 6:00-7:30 pm. The theme this year is "There's No Place Like Math Night." I'll be there! It's great fun! Sign up is in your child's homework folder.
**I have included the recipe we use for clay. Clay is a great way to get the fingers and hands moving. We have been developing our tripod grasp by "feeding" the dogs his bones and picking up small pebbles with kid tweezers. Kid chopsticks with the connector is also great for practice--all very tactile and sensory oriented.
**In the future---if your child is traveling where they are staying overnight---let me know and I will send a "Travel Journal." We are going to be tracking places where we have been and sharing our travel stories. It can be to grandma's, another town, state or country. Great geography!!!
**Future Field Trip---Brookfield Zoo on Tuesday, November 24th from 9:00-2:00 pm. More info to come. We will need about 5 volunteers.
**NO SCHOOL--Monday, September 7th in observance of Labor Day.
This week:
It was all about routines, expectations and meeting new friends and teachers. Yes......I talked a lot!! The students met with most of their special area teachers-- Ms. Hiolski-Music, Senorita Zaragoza-Spanish, Ms. Noonan-Library, Mr. Hancock-Gym and Mr. Patterson-Art. The students are getting to know each other and fostering new friendships. The students have learned how to earn EAGLE SLIPS as part of our school wide behavior incentive. Our DAILY Mantra is--Be Respectful, Be Responsible, Be Safe EVERYWHERE and HAVE FUN!! Many students earned EAGLE SLIPS this week. Each Friday, Mr. Hodge picks 10 winners to receive a little token. We had a winner picked from our room!!! Congratulations to Aidan!!! Great start!
Reading/Language Arts: In our first week of school, the students began a 3 week prep in our Treasures Reading series call Smart Start. Our Common Core State Standards have under gone some tweaking and we will be focusing on teaching the standards thru selected texts. I will be speaking more about this at Open House/Curriculum Night. The students are using their language skills to respond to a daily warm up question. We are working on raising our hand to volunteer information. Students worked on their listening comprehension skills and making predictions and connections by listening and responding to the Big Book Story "Animals in the Park-ABC Book." The students also began work on recognizing rhyming sequences. Rhyming words have the same ending parts. Students began to generate words and rhyming patterns. They began to learn the rhyming chant---"bat, cat, they end with at." Students are working on upper and lowercase letter recognition. They learned how to play, "Hands Up, Hands Down." It is one of their homework assignments! Students also work on "tracking" words in a sentence from left to right and counting how words are in a given sentence. In our formative text, "Chrysanthemum," the students worked on finding the title, the front and back cover and the spine of the book. We discussed what an author does and what an illustrator does. The students are working on foundational skills using the Haggerty Blue Book. Whole group instruction centered around upper and lowercase letter recognition, counting words in a sentence, isolating the beginning and ending letter sounds. Workstation (small group) activities centered around sequencing ABC's, playing Hands Up, Hands Down, Go Fish for Letters and finding the rhyme.
Math: The students were introduced to the daily calendar activities, What is a ten frame? The students began placing a black dot on the ten frame for each day we are in school. When we get to 100----PARTY!!! Our Math Problem of the Day was about a different positional word each day. We are counting and counting and counting!!! We are beginning number formation and worked on numbers 1-5. The students worked in small group workstations on "egg carton math" (placing the correct number of beans in each place in the carton, spin a number--using a pencil and paper clip as a spinner and moving their marker along the board, stamping their names and counting the number of letters in their name and writing numbers 1-5. The students also explored pattern blocks, geo boards, simple plane shapes, making numbers with clay and problem solving activities using "Gears" and "Magnatiles."
Social Studies/Cross Curricular: Our theme is All About Me and My Family. This week the students shared information about their daily lives and likes and dislikes. They chatted about their family, where they live and what is important to them. They drew their self portrait and related a little fact about themselves. They chatted about their feelings and reflected about a place they could go to in their home to "chill" or "cool out" if they are angry or upset. We read the story, "Jared's Cool Out Space and began to chat about a space we could use in our classroom for a place to "chill out" if we are having a hard time with our feelings.
Writing: In our Writer's Workshop, we read the story, "It's All About You--Writing Your Own Journal." The students chatted about what a school journal is and what they can put in it. We can draw, sketch, write words or sentences or even a story. I modeled a format. They will make an entry most days. Most students were able to tell me about their pictures, Some student chose to write their own words.
Technology: We have been working together on some foundational skills apps that have been projected onto the screen for student interaction. In reading, the students enjoyed the apps Sound Sort (letter sound association,) Magnetic Letters ABC (letter recognition/spelling) and Fire Finger (letter recognition--setting their letter on fire!) In math, the student enjoyed Brainy Bugs (counting and cardinality) and Subitize Tree (visual recognition of number by finding the pattern.) Most of these apps are free or inexpensive. Feel free to load them onto your child's iPad or tablet.
Literature: "You Are Beautiful As You Are," "You're Finally Here," "Splat the Cat," "Pete the Cat Too School for School," "Ms. Bindergarten Get's Ready For Kindergarten,""Cool Dog, School Dog," "Pirates Go To School," "Time for School, Mouse," "Kindergarten Rocks," "Chrysanthemum."
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