**Once again, thanks for sending our little kinders prepared for the elements. Next week, it looks like we will be outside for recess. Please keep sending snow pants and boots. ALSO.....While we are very comfortable in our classroom, it is very dry in the room. We are getting frequent drinks of water but you can feel free to send a water bottle and a small chap stick or small vaseline for dry lips that will remain in their backpacks. Along with water break we have been having a "chap stick" break too.
**I am holding off on our BUSY READER Club info until this coming Friday. Look for it in your child's homework folder.
**The Friday Night Disco Dance Party was super fun. Mr. DiPaolo was the DJ. There was smoke, glow in the dark sticks and lots of dancing!!!! Thanks to all who could attend.
**Swap, Shop and Read was great. Many students selected 10 or more new books. The milk and cookies were yummy too!
**Reading Grandma Mary came to class on Thursday. She was very impressed with the students reading and comprehension. She will be with us every Thursday until the end of the year. We love her!
**Route to Reading Rotation 5 will begin on Monday, January 25th. You will receive notification of the skill your child will be working on and the teacher teaching it.
**The 100th Day is coming!!! Keep working on your 100 item heart. Students are beginning to bring them in. So creative!!! They will be displayed in our hallway. The project is due on February 4th.
**Our 100th Day/Valentine's Day Celebration in Wednesday, February, 10th from 9-11 am. We now have K. Meier, N. Massett, N. Daniel, K. Harris, H. Alvarez, G. Lowell helping out. 2 more volunteers would be absolutely great!!!!!! Think about it!!!. On February 10th, we will also have an early Valentine's Day celebration. The students can bring in Valentine's for the class. We have 18 students total. (11 girls and 7 boys) Students can also bring in a treat (nut free/dairy free) or treasure that will be put in to a treat bag and sent home. Don't forget to bring in a picture of a person you think is 100 days old and a person you think is 100 years old. You can look in magazines, the internet or if you have a family member or know someone who is near 100, you can bring a real photo in.
**Please confirm your day and time for Parent Conference. Parent/Teacher Conferences for Mid Year are Monday, February, 8th, Tuesday, February 9th and Wednesday, February10th. Please note that on Thursday and Friday (February 11th and 12th) school will be in session in the MORNING ONLY. Dismissal will be at 11:00 am. Hephzibah, District school bus and Club House pick up will be at 11:00 am.
**Japanese Exchange Students will be visiting Irving School and come and chat with our students on Thursday, January 28th at 8:25 am. Japan Fest is Saturday, January 30th from 12-4 pm at OPRF.
**The FUN FAIR IS COMING!! THE FUN FAIR IS COMING!! The Irving School Fun Fair is Saturday, February 20th from 11-3 pm throughout the school. There will be games, prizes, silent auction, dancing for desserts and much more. Come play a game with me! Who will get the PIE IN THE FACE this year??? What special performances do the teachers have up their sleeves??? (silent auction items--I will be taking 4 special winners to lunch at the Junction Dinner. I will also be reading bedtime stories to 2 lucky students in their homes) Bid! Bid! Look for information soon from our Room Parents on making a contribution to our class basket. They are currently working on a theme.
**In Friendship Club this week, Ms. Bell Bey continued her lesson on remaining calm or calming yourself down in frustrating situations. Be a Cool Cucumber!!
**In Mr. Packer Problem Solving this week, Mr. Packer began a project on being a detective and looking for details.
** In Mr. Degman, Math/Tech, Mr. Degman worked with groups of students on number bounding.
**Keep saving those GIANT BOXES and other cool stuff for our space station design and construction in April. Keep everything at home until after spring break. Thanks!
This week:
It was all about WATER climbing---WHAT!? Check out the science section. Our Water Table will be opening up next week. The students also enjoyed tracking the snow storm heading to the east coast via weatherundeground. Station Day activities included creating climbing water snowflakes, graphing/recording/comparing winter clothing, building from an outline using pattern blocks, snowman sequence and write, snowflake color by code, build a snowman game. (sums to ten)
Reading/Language Arts: The students continue to work on Unit 5 Animals in our Treasures Reading series. Much of this week was spent on mid year phonemic and literacy assessments. The students continued to work on the same workstations as last week so all students could finish all workstations. Students reviewed all sight vocabulary. They worked with partners to create sentences with words, pictures and punctuation and then recorded them on paper. Students used their elkonin boxes to segment and blend 4-5 sound words. They worked on previous activities relating to short and long o words and consonant blends and digraphs. They listened to the trade book, "The Mitten" and used the Main Events quilt to record the key details in the story. The students did a summative Blueprint Workmat using the text, "Martin's Big Words." The students described the relationship between one of the illustrations and how is helps you to understand the story. We continue to use the "I Do," "We Do," and "You Do" format.
Math: The students continue to work on rote counting to 100 and beyond and now trying to write their numbers from 1-100. They are also working with groups of ten objects to count to 100. The students worked with partners to set up their ten frames to reflect certain numbers. ie-How many complete ten frames to we need to make 48? They began work in their new Story Problem Journals.
The page is projected on the screen. The students read the story and then decide what to do. We are beginning with adding story problems. They record the numbers on their ten frames, illustrate the problem (show their thinking) and then write the number sentence. The students continue to work with number bonds to ten this time using grouping objects of their choice to show a way. Workstations this week included writing numbers to 50, greater/less than "Nuts and Bolts" game, "Build a Snowman" (dice game sums to 10) working on geometric solids recognition.
Writing: Students continued to work on lowercase letter formation. The letters v,w, and t were reviewed. Students used their mini boards to practice and applied what they learned in their orange practice books. They continued to work on their writing project---snowman sequence from their station day.
Science: The students reviewed what they have discovered about water so far. This week, in Experiment 3, the students experimented with paper towel, sponges, wax paper, regular paper and kleenex in wiping up water. They discussed at their table what would be the best to remove water. Lots of conversation and OPINIONS about which one did the best job. Most of the tables agreed that the paper towels and sponges did the best job of "sucking up" (their words) the water. But How and Why???? As the student used their magnifying glasses to take a closer look, they noticed holes or spaces in the sponge and paper towel. Mmmmmmmm. The students then suspended a piece of paper towel on to a dowel rod in a cup. I poured red water into the cup. What Happened? "It looks like the water is going up the paper towel." Discovery.....The water climbs into the holes/spaces....a sponge has large holes. You can also see the holes/spaces in the paper towel. The conversation shifted to other things that the water climbs fast up into. The paper didn't really suck up the water fast. The kleenex got mushy but both got soaked. Each student put a piece of celery in their water at the end of the day. What will happen? The next day......the students took their magnifying glasses and looked very carefully. What did they observe? Some of the leaves of the celery looked red and so did the stem. The top of the celery had red inside. Hattie started the ball rolling by making the connection that when you water plants, the water goes up through the root system. Ahh......could there be spaces inside the celery too? Do all plants have holes/spaces where water can travel? The connections continued with students mentioning trees, plants in your garden must have spaces where water can climb into. What about the veins in leaves? Lots of connections!!! The students recorded their thoughts in their science journals and made sketches of their findings.
Technology: In reading whole and small groups, students used the apps Montessori Crosswords and Reading Magic 3 to enhance segmenting and blending 3-4 sound words, Spelling Bug to sequence sounds in cvc words and Oz Phonics to reinforce sentence word order. In math whole and small groups students used the apps Monster Squeeze, Sam Phibian, Butterfly Math, Number Find and Subitize Tree to enhance visual motor, addition/subtraction, number order/place value, and counting quantities.
Literature: "Martin's Big Words," "The Mitten," "The First Illustrated Science Dictionary," "Snowzilla," "Water's Way," "Curious George's Snowy Day."
Sunday, January 24, 2016
Sunday, January 17, 2016
UPDATES for 1/11-1/14 2016
**The weather was frigid, but we did get to go out on Thursday. Thanks for dong such a great job of having your child prepared for the elements! Please keep this up as we will have another round of very cold weather next week. Don't forget gym shoes on gym days. (Wednesday and Thursday) Science inquiry experiments and beginning discussion on our BUSY READER CLUB have been the talk of the classroom. Information on our BUSY READER CLUB will be in your child's homework folder this Friday.
**The 100th Day is coming!!!! The students received their 100 Item Project. They are excited to put their creativity to work. The project is due on February 4th. Email me with any questions.
**Our 100th Day/Valentine's Day Celebration is Wednesday, February 10th from 9-11 am. We have Ms. Meier, Ms. Massett and Ms. Daniel helping out so far but need at least 5 more so we can do some cool activities. Please email me if you are interested. On February 10th, we will also have an early Valentine Celebration. The students can bring a valentine for the class. We have 18 students total. (11 girls and 7 boys) Students can also bring a treat or treasure for the class that will be put into a treat bag and sent home.
**Parent/Teacher Conference for Mid Year notifications were stapled to the heart project. Please confirm your day and time. Let me know if you need a different day or time. Conferences will be held on Monday, February 8th, Tuesday, February 9th and Wednesday, February 10th. Please note that on Thursday, February 11th and Friday, February 12th, school will be in session in the MORNING ONLY. Dismissal will be at 11:00 am. Hephzibah, Club House and district bus pick up will also be at 11:00 am.
**Reading Grandma Mary will begin hearing readers this Thursday, January 21st from 9-11. We are so lucky to have her every Thursday.
**Our other helping Grandma, Mrs. D. will begin again every Tuesday morning. Want more Grandma love??!! You got it! I am in the process of scheduling another Grandma of a former student who wishes to volunteer some time.
**Want some new books and to donate books you have already read----come to SWAP, SHOP and READ on Thursday, January 21st from 6-7:30 pm in the Kindergarten Hallway.
**Friday Night DISCO DANCE PARTY to benefit the 5th grade Outdoor Education will be held Friday, January 22nd from 6-8 pm in the gym. Admission is $1.00. All students must be accompanied by an adult.
**Japanese Exchange students will visit Irving School and come and chat with our students on Thursday, January 28th at 8:25 am. Japan Fest is Saturday, January 30th from 12-4 pm at OPRF.
**NO SCHOOL--Monday, January 18th in observance of ML King.
**In Friendship Club this week, Ms. Bell Bey taught a lesson on how to remain and become calm and centered. She showed breathing techniques and video clips with some meditative music and actions.
**Keep saving those GIANT BOXES (the ones you can climb in) and other cool stuff for our space station design and construction in APRIL. I cannot store anything now. I will ave you bring it in after spring break.
This week:
The students began a mini unit on the life and accomplishments of Dr. Martin Luther King. One of the texts, "Martin's Big Words," will be used for 3 of our Blueprint Workmats on text features, illustrations and author's message. We used our map skills to trace the path of the march on Washington. The students saw a BrainPop video on Dr. King's life and work. They were very thankful for Dr. King's work to use nonviolence to promote change. There were some very reflective moments in our discussions where students could not believe that there was a time when they would not have been able to attend school together. We love our classmates!! We used selected texts to examine quotes, speeches and word choices. The students also began the inquiry into the properties of water. Who knew a drop of water could be so interesting! More in the science section.
Reading/Language Arts: The students continue to work in Unit 5 Animals in our Treasures Reading series. The students discussed animal babies and habitats. They accessed prior knowledge about animal habitats they knew about. The students listened to the Big Book story, "Animal Offspring ABC's." We discussed what an offspring was. The students used the story as a springboard to discuss what the name of the animal was and where and what their habitat looked like. The students reviewed the sight words play, is, in. They partnered up to create sentences using their sight words and punctuation. We continued work on sentence lifting. They are becoming quicker at spotting what needs to be done to "fix" a sentence. They reviewed the target sounds short and long o and Ff. We took time to review all of our consonant and vowel sounds as well as consonant blends and digraph combinations. Our Robust Vocabulary included HABITAT, RESPONSIBILITY, BENEATH, RAISE, ENTER. Students practiced segmenting and blending 3 and 4 sound words using their elkonin boxes. Using the decodable story, "Tap, Tap, Tap," the students revisited the words problem and solution and how they relate to a story. They then elbow chatted with a partner about what the problem was in the story and how it was fixed or solved. The students worked on sound spelling cvc and ccvc/cvcc words using their dry erase boards. They also worked on a formative Blueprint workmat for sequencing events in a story using the text "The Snow Day." Workstations included leveled readers with fluency, story elements and main idea check, reading a story and writing about the problem and solution, writing an opinion piece on which you like better--cats or dogs and supporting your answer, I Can, They Can sentences and illustrations, short o word work, reading short o word sentences, playing CHOMP--substituting sound game.
Math: The students continue to work on rote counting to 100 and beyond by ones and tens. They are also illustrating teen numbers on a ten frame as 1 group of ten and the number that is left over on the next ten frame. They continue to listen for information in a story problem. Next week, we will begin our math story problem journals. Math workstations this week included writing numbers 2 digit numbers, greater/less than "Nuts and Bolts" game, "Build a Snowman," (addition to 10) Make 5 Bingo, Is it even or odd activity and number bonds to 10 activity.
Writing: The students continue to work on sentence structure, placement of letters on a given line, punctuation, spacing between words and reading their sentences. Writing is taking place not only in their journals, but during their reading, math, science workstations.
Science: The students began discussion/dictation on what they knew about water. They were introduced to the word property and what it means. A property is a behavior. Each student was given and experiment notebook as well as a science reflection journal to record the experiments and their own thoughts, questions, comments and sketches. In Experiment 1, the students explored water using a variety of tools--hands, spoons, straws, stick, cup. In using the tools, they described how water feels, smells, looks, sounds. In Experiment 2, they discovered that water droplets have their shape and can "stick" to one another like magnets. Using a pipette, they practiced sucking up the water into it and releasing the water back into their cup. It was fun to watch the students carefully trying to capture one droplet of water and squeeze it onto their wax paper. The students delighted in pushing one water droplet into another----what happens??? it forms a bigger droplet!!!We talked about the scientific word--cohesion-to describe the sticking together process. They recorded their findings into their science notebooks. Next week--climbing water.
Technology: No new apps were introduced this week. The students continue to use the iPad to enhanced learning and work on skill building.
Literature: "The Snowy Day," "A Drop of Water," "Water," "Investigating Water," "I Am Snow," "Martin's Big Words," "A Picture Book of Martin Luther King," "Martin's Dream," "Deep Snow," "50 Degrees Below Zero," "The Biggest Snowball Fight Ever," "A Perfect Day."
**The 100th Day is coming!!!! The students received their 100 Item Project. They are excited to put their creativity to work. The project is due on February 4th. Email me with any questions.
**Our 100th Day/Valentine's Day Celebration is Wednesday, February 10th from 9-11 am. We have Ms. Meier, Ms. Massett and Ms. Daniel helping out so far but need at least 5 more so we can do some cool activities. Please email me if you are interested. On February 10th, we will also have an early Valentine Celebration. The students can bring a valentine for the class. We have 18 students total. (11 girls and 7 boys) Students can also bring a treat or treasure for the class that will be put into a treat bag and sent home.
**Parent/Teacher Conference for Mid Year notifications were stapled to the heart project. Please confirm your day and time. Let me know if you need a different day or time. Conferences will be held on Monday, February 8th, Tuesday, February 9th and Wednesday, February 10th. Please note that on Thursday, February 11th and Friday, February 12th, school will be in session in the MORNING ONLY. Dismissal will be at 11:00 am. Hephzibah, Club House and district bus pick up will also be at 11:00 am.
**Reading Grandma Mary will begin hearing readers this Thursday, January 21st from 9-11. We are so lucky to have her every Thursday.
**Our other helping Grandma, Mrs. D. will begin again every Tuesday morning. Want more Grandma love??!! You got it! I am in the process of scheduling another Grandma of a former student who wishes to volunteer some time.
**Want some new books and to donate books you have already read----come to SWAP, SHOP and READ on Thursday, January 21st from 6-7:30 pm in the Kindergarten Hallway.
**Friday Night DISCO DANCE PARTY to benefit the 5th grade Outdoor Education will be held Friday, January 22nd from 6-8 pm in the gym. Admission is $1.00. All students must be accompanied by an adult.
**Japanese Exchange students will visit Irving School and come and chat with our students on Thursday, January 28th at 8:25 am. Japan Fest is Saturday, January 30th from 12-4 pm at OPRF.
**NO SCHOOL--Monday, January 18th in observance of ML King.
**In Friendship Club this week, Ms. Bell Bey taught a lesson on how to remain and become calm and centered. She showed breathing techniques and video clips with some meditative music and actions.
**Keep saving those GIANT BOXES (the ones you can climb in) and other cool stuff for our space station design and construction in APRIL. I cannot store anything now. I will ave you bring it in after spring break.
This week:
The students began a mini unit on the life and accomplishments of Dr. Martin Luther King. One of the texts, "Martin's Big Words," will be used for 3 of our Blueprint Workmats on text features, illustrations and author's message. We used our map skills to trace the path of the march on Washington. The students saw a BrainPop video on Dr. King's life and work. They were very thankful for Dr. King's work to use nonviolence to promote change. There were some very reflective moments in our discussions where students could not believe that there was a time when they would not have been able to attend school together. We love our classmates!! We used selected texts to examine quotes, speeches and word choices. The students also began the inquiry into the properties of water. Who knew a drop of water could be so interesting! More in the science section.
Reading/Language Arts: The students continue to work in Unit 5 Animals in our Treasures Reading series. The students discussed animal babies and habitats. They accessed prior knowledge about animal habitats they knew about. The students listened to the Big Book story, "Animal Offspring ABC's." We discussed what an offspring was. The students used the story as a springboard to discuss what the name of the animal was and where and what their habitat looked like. The students reviewed the sight words play, is, in. They partnered up to create sentences using their sight words and punctuation. We continued work on sentence lifting. They are becoming quicker at spotting what needs to be done to "fix" a sentence. They reviewed the target sounds short and long o and Ff. We took time to review all of our consonant and vowel sounds as well as consonant blends and digraph combinations. Our Robust Vocabulary included HABITAT, RESPONSIBILITY, BENEATH, RAISE, ENTER. Students practiced segmenting and blending 3 and 4 sound words using their elkonin boxes. Using the decodable story, "Tap, Tap, Tap," the students revisited the words problem and solution and how they relate to a story. They then elbow chatted with a partner about what the problem was in the story and how it was fixed or solved. The students worked on sound spelling cvc and ccvc/cvcc words using their dry erase boards. They also worked on a formative Blueprint workmat for sequencing events in a story using the text "The Snow Day." Workstations included leveled readers with fluency, story elements and main idea check, reading a story and writing about the problem and solution, writing an opinion piece on which you like better--cats or dogs and supporting your answer, I Can, They Can sentences and illustrations, short o word work, reading short o word sentences, playing CHOMP--substituting sound game.
Math: The students continue to work on rote counting to 100 and beyond by ones and tens. They are also illustrating teen numbers on a ten frame as 1 group of ten and the number that is left over on the next ten frame. They continue to listen for information in a story problem. Next week, we will begin our math story problem journals. Math workstations this week included writing numbers 2 digit numbers, greater/less than "Nuts and Bolts" game, "Build a Snowman," (addition to 10) Make 5 Bingo, Is it even or odd activity and number bonds to 10 activity.
Writing: The students continue to work on sentence structure, placement of letters on a given line, punctuation, spacing between words and reading their sentences. Writing is taking place not only in their journals, but during their reading, math, science workstations.
Science: The students began discussion/dictation on what they knew about water. They were introduced to the word property and what it means. A property is a behavior. Each student was given and experiment notebook as well as a science reflection journal to record the experiments and their own thoughts, questions, comments and sketches. In Experiment 1, the students explored water using a variety of tools--hands, spoons, straws, stick, cup. In using the tools, they described how water feels, smells, looks, sounds. In Experiment 2, they discovered that water droplets have their shape and can "stick" to one another like magnets. Using a pipette, they practiced sucking up the water into it and releasing the water back into their cup. It was fun to watch the students carefully trying to capture one droplet of water and squeeze it onto their wax paper. The students delighted in pushing one water droplet into another----what happens??? it forms a bigger droplet!!!We talked about the scientific word--cohesion-to describe the sticking together process. They recorded their findings into their science notebooks. Next week--climbing water.
Technology: No new apps were introduced this week. The students continue to use the iPad to enhanced learning and work on skill building.
Literature: "The Snowy Day," "A Drop of Water," "Water," "Investigating Water," "I Am Snow," "Martin's Big Words," "A Picture Book of Martin Luther King," "Martin's Dream," "Deep Snow," "50 Degrees Below Zero," "The Biggest Snowball Fight Ever," "A Perfect Day."
Sunday, January 10, 2016
UPDATES for 1/4-1/8 2016
**Happy New Year and welcome back! The students appeared well rested and excited to be back to our routine. Looks like we will be experiencing "real" winter next week. Please continue to send snow pants, boots, gloves and scarves for warmth. Going out for lunchtime recess is determined by Mr. Hodge and the windchill factor. It could be 24 degrees and no windchill and that might mean we will be outside. It pays to be prepared! Our classroom has been very temperate. Some students have chosen to keep a sweater in school in case other classrooms are not so temperate. As always, don't forget to send gym shoes on gym days. (Wednesdays and Thursdays)
**Eagle Extras and World Language will begin on Monday. I will be getting a list of our participants.
**Route to Reading Rotation 4 began last Tuesday. Email me if you did not receive notification of the skill and teacher your child is working with.
**Mid Year DIBELS and AIMSWEB Math assessments will begin on Monday along with Darrell Morris Sound Foundation and mid year assessments in math, reading, writing, social/emotional growth and formative and summative Blueprint assessments. I will be sharing all of these with you are our Mid Year parent conference.
**You will receive notification on Thursday (1/14) about Mid Year Parent/Teacher Conferences. They will be held on Monday, February 8th, Tuesday, February 9th and Wednesday, February 10th. Please note that on Thursday, February 11th and Friday, February 12th school will be in session in the MORNING ONLY. Dismissal will be at 11:00 am. Hephzibah, Club House and district bus pick up will also be at 11:00 am.
**Our 100th Day of School/Valentine's Day Celebration is Wednesday, February 10th. I will let you know Thursday if we will celebrate in the morning or afternoon. We need lots of helpers to man learning station activities that will focus on the number 100 and counting by 10's to 100. Please email me if you can help. Right now, I have K. Meier signed up. I meed LOTS MORE!!. The students will also be working on a special 100 item project. This will be sent home with instructions on Thursday, January 14th.
**The students will see a special Dental Presentation on Monday, January 11th at 10:25 am.
**Reading Grandma Mary will begin her 9th year of volunteering in our class hearing our budding readers! Each student will get to spend private time with her working on fluency and comprehension. She will come to our classroom beginning Thursday, January 21st from 9-11 am and continue every Thursday at that time. We are thrilled to have her!
**NO SCHOOL on Friday, January 15th--Teacher's Institute Day
**NO SCHOOL on Monday, January 18th--ML King Day observance.
**Japanese Exchange students will visit Irving School and come and chat with our students on Thursday, January 28th at 8:25 am. Japan Fest is Saturday, January 30th from 12-4 pm at OPRF.
**Swap, Shop and Read will be held on Thursday, January 21st from 6-7:30 pm in the Kindergarten Hallway. It is a great way to add new books to your home library.
**Friday Night Disco Dance Party to benefit 5th grade outdoor education trip will be held on Friday, January 22nd from 6-8 pm in the gym. Admission is $1.00. All students must be accompanied by an adult.
**No Friendship club this week.
**No Mr. Degman Math/Tech this week.
**In Mr. Packer Problem Solving this week, Mr. Packer began a new thinking project using the text, "Tomorrow's Alphabet" by George Shannon. Stay tuned!
**Keep saving those GIANT BOXES (the ones you can climb in) and other cool stuff for our space station design and construction in APRIL. I cannot store anything now. I will have you start bringing things in after spring break.
This week:
The students were definitely getting back into the swing of all things related to learning. They shared their winter break stories of travels, presents and family fun. Our PTO has funded the continuation of the app Brain Pop and the students showed their appreciation by working on one of our common core standards--writing an opinion and supporting statements about why they like Brain Pop. We sent them off with Mr. Hodge to share at the PTO meeting. The students have also started their inquiry into what they know about WATER. We will begin our science unit on Monday with our first experiment. We do have a cool furry visitor from the Field Museum! I just pick him up so the students will see him on Monday. Station Day activities this week included snowmen wind socks, writing and illustrating using the sentence starter....In the winter...... construct a structure with pattern blocks using the teen number assigned and complete the ten frame, count the snowballs and glue them to the same number shovel and partner work viewing the Brain Pop video on Winter and taking the quiz.
Reading/Language Arts: The students completed Unit 4 Food and began Unit 5 Animals in our Treasures Reading series. They accessed background knowledge by discussing where animals might live. House, zoo, outside, forest, jungle, trees, caves were just some of their thoughtful answers. The students listened to the Big Book story, "Mama Cat and Her Three Kittens." They made predictions about story content. The elbow chatted with a partner about the actions the kittens were performing. The students took turns retelling the story in their own words to their partner. We took a look at sentence structure in the story--subject/action. We did a group Story Elements Butterfly, The students are doing a great job of volunteering to write characters, setting and main events. Our sight words for this week are is and in. Our target sounds are short o and long o. They continued their student of action words by creating a group list of action words (verbs ) that a kitten can do. Our robust vocabulary for this week included ACTION, GENTILE, COMPARE, CONTENT, POUNCE. The students continued work on sequencing events in a story using the words--first, next, then and last. They worked with a partner verbally retelling the story, "Bears Snores On." We worked on our Blueprint workmat with me first presenting the format (I do) then students helping me (we do) and finally the students completing their formative Blueprint workmat on their own. We also discussed what an OPINION is. They verbally discussed the question--Do you like cats or dogs? Why? They are learning to give supporting details to back up their claim. They used the question--Why do you like Brain Pop? The students then wrote a sentence or sentences to support their opinion. Cool! The students continue to work on segmenting and blending 3. 4 and 5 phoneme words using the app OZ Phonics projected on the screen. They also continue to work on strengthening auditory skills and verbal responses by deleting, adding and substituting sounds to create new words using the Haggerty Bluebook exercises. We are also doing an exercise where they see how fast they can say or sound out a nonsense word in preparation for our DIBELS testing. Workstations this week included Lexia Core 5 work, leveled readers with concentration on sequencing events, finding main topic and reading fluency, short o and short e word sort, ch/sh digraph sort, real or nonsense word find, using the app Spelling Bug to sequence sounds to make the word.
Math: The students continue to practice counting to 100 and beyond by 1's and 10's. They continued to work on teen numbers as one group of tens and what is left over or one complete ten frame and what is on the other ten frame. The students began work on formal number sentence writing now they have learned the process of addition. I showed examples of vertical and horizontal addition problems and the signs needed to create them--plus sign, equal sign. The students are beginning to listen as I read a story problem to decide what is being added together and how they arrive at an answer. There is not just one way! The students also continued to work on the concepts GREATER THAN/LESS THAN in speaking about numbers from 1-100. Workstations this week included sorting by common attribute review, let's make ten, number bonds to 10, even or odd number activity, recognizing geometric solids review.
Writing: Students began formal lowercase letter formation. The letters c, o, s were introduced with practice on their mini boards and application in their orange books. They worked on their opinion pieces and sentences relating to winter. We also began a process called sentence lifting, where I take a sentence from somebody's journal and project it so all students can examine it. How does the sentence look? Can you read it? Does it make sense? Does it have spaces between words? Does it have an ending mark? Does it begin with an uppercase letter? Are the letters where they should be? So much to think about!! The students give positive feedback and make suggestions. We are learning from each other!!
Technology: In reading small groups, the apps Rocket Speller and Spelling Bug were used to work on letter sequencing in a word. The students also used Oz Phonics to work on consonant blends and digraphs in words as well as short vowel sounds in a whole group setting. In math small group, students used the app Butterfly Math to work on vertical and horizontal addition facts to 10. In whole group, students used Number Find to continue work on recognizing a pattern to find the target number as quickly as they can. Partners used Brain Pop to view a video on the subject of Winter and to take the quiz.
Literature: "Bear Snores On," "10 Little Dinosaurs," "It's Winter," "Mam Cat and Her Three Kittens," "I Have To," "Hello Snow," "Snowmen at Christmas," "In the Snow--Who's Been Here?"
**Eagle Extras and World Language will begin on Monday. I will be getting a list of our participants.
**Route to Reading Rotation 4 began last Tuesday. Email me if you did not receive notification of the skill and teacher your child is working with.
**Mid Year DIBELS and AIMSWEB Math assessments will begin on Monday along with Darrell Morris Sound Foundation and mid year assessments in math, reading, writing, social/emotional growth and formative and summative Blueprint assessments. I will be sharing all of these with you are our Mid Year parent conference.
**You will receive notification on Thursday (1/14) about Mid Year Parent/Teacher Conferences. They will be held on Monday, February 8th, Tuesday, February 9th and Wednesday, February 10th. Please note that on Thursday, February 11th and Friday, February 12th school will be in session in the MORNING ONLY. Dismissal will be at 11:00 am. Hephzibah, Club House and district bus pick up will also be at 11:00 am.
**Our 100th Day of School/Valentine's Day Celebration is Wednesday, February 10th. I will let you know Thursday if we will celebrate in the morning or afternoon. We need lots of helpers to man learning station activities that will focus on the number 100 and counting by 10's to 100. Please email me if you can help. Right now, I have K. Meier signed up. I meed LOTS MORE!!. The students will also be working on a special 100 item project. This will be sent home with instructions on Thursday, January 14th.
**The students will see a special Dental Presentation on Monday, January 11th at 10:25 am.
**Reading Grandma Mary will begin her 9th year of volunteering in our class hearing our budding readers! Each student will get to spend private time with her working on fluency and comprehension. She will come to our classroom beginning Thursday, January 21st from 9-11 am and continue every Thursday at that time. We are thrilled to have her!
**NO SCHOOL on Friday, January 15th--Teacher's Institute Day
**NO SCHOOL on Monday, January 18th--ML King Day observance.
**Japanese Exchange students will visit Irving School and come and chat with our students on Thursday, January 28th at 8:25 am. Japan Fest is Saturday, January 30th from 12-4 pm at OPRF.
**Swap, Shop and Read will be held on Thursday, January 21st from 6-7:30 pm in the Kindergarten Hallway. It is a great way to add new books to your home library.
**Friday Night Disco Dance Party to benefit 5th grade outdoor education trip will be held on Friday, January 22nd from 6-8 pm in the gym. Admission is $1.00. All students must be accompanied by an adult.
**No Friendship club this week.
**No Mr. Degman Math/Tech this week.
**In Mr. Packer Problem Solving this week, Mr. Packer began a new thinking project using the text, "Tomorrow's Alphabet" by George Shannon. Stay tuned!
**Keep saving those GIANT BOXES (the ones you can climb in) and other cool stuff for our space station design and construction in APRIL. I cannot store anything now. I will have you start bringing things in after spring break.
This week:
The students were definitely getting back into the swing of all things related to learning. They shared their winter break stories of travels, presents and family fun. Our PTO has funded the continuation of the app Brain Pop and the students showed their appreciation by working on one of our common core standards--writing an opinion and supporting statements about why they like Brain Pop. We sent them off with Mr. Hodge to share at the PTO meeting. The students have also started their inquiry into what they know about WATER. We will begin our science unit on Monday with our first experiment. We do have a cool furry visitor from the Field Museum! I just pick him up so the students will see him on Monday. Station Day activities this week included snowmen wind socks, writing and illustrating using the sentence starter....In the winter...... construct a structure with pattern blocks using the teen number assigned and complete the ten frame, count the snowballs and glue them to the same number shovel and partner work viewing the Brain Pop video on Winter and taking the quiz.
Reading/Language Arts: The students completed Unit 4 Food and began Unit 5 Animals in our Treasures Reading series. They accessed background knowledge by discussing where animals might live. House, zoo, outside, forest, jungle, trees, caves were just some of their thoughtful answers. The students listened to the Big Book story, "Mama Cat and Her Three Kittens." They made predictions about story content. The elbow chatted with a partner about the actions the kittens were performing. The students took turns retelling the story in their own words to their partner. We took a look at sentence structure in the story--subject/action. We did a group Story Elements Butterfly, The students are doing a great job of volunteering to write characters, setting and main events. Our sight words for this week are is and in. Our target sounds are short o and long o. They continued their student of action words by creating a group list of action words (verbs ) that a kitten can do. Our robust vocabulary for this week included ACTION, GENTILE, COMPARE, CONTENT, POUNCE. The students continued work on sequencing events in a story using the words--first, next, then and last. They worked with a partner verbally retelling the story, "Bears Snores On." We worked on our Blueprint workmat with me first presenting the format (I do) then students helping me (we do) and finally the students completing their formative Blueprint workmat on their own. We also discussed what an OPINION is. They verbally discussed the question--Do you like cats or dogs? Why? They are learning to give supporting details to back up their claim. They used the question--Why do you like Brain Pop? The students then wrote a sentence or sentences to support their opinion. Cool! The students continue to work on segmenting and blending 3. 4 and 5 phoneme words using the app OZ Phonics projected on the screen. They also continue to work on strengthening auditory skills and verbal responses by deleting, adding and substituting sounds to create new words using the Haggerty Bluebook exercises. We are also doing an exercise where they see how fast they can say or sound out a nonsense word in preparation for our DIBELS testing. Workstations this week included Lexia Core 5 work, leveled readers with concentration on sequencing events, finding main topic and reading fluency, short o and short e word sort, ch/sh digraph sort, real or nonsense word find, using the app Spelling Bug to sequence sounds to make the word.
Math: The students continue to practice counting to 100 and beyond by 1's and 10's. They continued to work on teen numbers as one group of tens and what is left over or one complete ten frame and what is on the other ten frame. The students began work on formal number sentence writing now they have learned the process of addition. I showed examples of vertical and horizontal addition problems and the signs needed to create them--plus sign, equal sign. The students are beginning to listen as I read a story problem to decide what is being added together and how they arrive at an answer. There is not just one way! The students also continued to work on the concepts GREATER THAN/LESS THAN in speaking about numbers from 1-100. Workstations this week included sorting by common attribute review, let's make ten, number bonds to 10, even or odd number activity, recognizing geometric solids review.
Writing: Students began formal lowercase letter formation. The letters c, o, s were introduced with practice on their mini boards and application in their orange books. They worked on their opinion pieces and sentences relating to winter. We also began a process called sentence lifting, where I take a sentence from somebody's journal and project it so all students can examine it. How does the sentence look? Can you read it? Does it make sense? Does it have spaces between words? Does it have an ending mark? Does it begin with an uppercase letter? Are the letters where they should be? So much to think about!! The students give positive feedback and make suggestions. We are learning from each other!!
Technology: In reading small groups, the apps Rocket Speller and Spelling Bug were used to work on letter sequencing in a word. The students also used Oz Phonics to work on consonant blends and digraphs in words as well as short vowel sounds in a whole group setting. In math small group, students used the app Butterfly Math to work on vertical and horizontal addition facts to 10. In whole group, students used Number Find to continue work on recognizing a pattern to find the target number as quickly as they can. Partners used Brain Pop to view a video on the subject of Winter and to take the quiz.
Literature: "Bear Snores On," "10 Little Dinosaurs," "It's Winter," "Mam Cat and Her Three Kittens," "I Have To," "Hello Snow," "Snowmen at Christmas," "In the Snow--Who's Been Here?"
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