**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."
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