**The Space Station projects are certainly OUT OF THIS WORLD!!! Come check them out before or after school. They will be in our classroom until the end of the school year. Our Space Day blast off was so much fun. The students wore their jet packs and helmets. They blasted off and spent their station day time exploring their space stations and engaging in dramatic play.
**Though it was cloudy and dreary, our walking field trip to the Maze Branch Library was loads of fun and very informative once we got inside. Maze librarian, Ms. Sarah got the students ready for listening by using some great movement techniques, read us a very engaging story about a tree house and showed us where all the different types of books are located along with videos, movies and special back packs of fun. The students got to look at some books of their choosing and some students even got their library cards. Ms. Sarah says, "Visit the library with your family and check out some books!" A special thanks to Nurse Jamie's daughter, Ava for helping us on our trip.
**Last call for permission slips and money for our field trip to the Adler Planetarium!! Our trip is Tuesday, May 3rd. We will depart at 9:20 and return by 1:30 pm. I need to turn in the money for our bus ride by Monday. We have M. Daniel, Amir's Granny, K. Harris, J. Metz and Mr. Pillacela helping us out on the trip. ALL STUDENTS NEED TO BRING A BAG LUNCH with name on it. NO glass bottles, lunch boxes or thermos bottles please. Please dress your child for the weather. We are keeping out fingers crossed for a picnic by the lake.
**KEEP PRACTICING YOUR POEM for the Traveling Poets Project. Ms. Noonan will hear the poems during our library time on Monday. The students will "travel" to different classrooms to recite their poems beginning on May 9th.
**It was all groovy at the Family Read In. Thanks to those who braved the elements to come out and hear Ms. Noonan, Mrs. Durham, Ms. Hartman and myself share cool stories.
**Lot's of rain outside but.....the the dancing went on inside at the Student Council sponsored "Dance-a-thon" to raise money for Special Olympics. Mr. DiPaolo was spinning popular tunes, the smoke machine was on and students were dancing the morning away. Ella, Lauren, Zadie and Audrey were in top form!
**The last rotation of Route to Reading will begin on Monday, May 2nd.
**The Irving Art Fest along with the Poetry Slam is Thursday, May 12th from 6-8 pm all over the school. A piece of art from every student in the school will be displayed along with Spanish games, food, traveling poets, a play, a performance by the chorus and of course......the POETRY SLAM! So far we have 3 "little slammers" representing our class but how about some more!!!!!! You can say a poem, rap, sing, write your own poem, work with a friend, sibling, group or family. Share your creativity! Don't forget to fill out the slip to be included in the program guide.
**NATIONAL SPORTS and FITNESS WEEK begins MONDAY!! Monday is Ball and Jump Rope Day.....Tuesday is Healthy Heart Day--wear red and bring a healthy snack.....Wednesday is ACES (all children exercising simultaneously)......Thursday is Sports Hat Day.....Friday is School Spirit Day--wear Irving wear or red/white/black. On Saturday--District 97 Fun Run at Lindberg Park beginning with the K-2 race at 8:00 am. Come--RUN WITH ME!!
**In Friendship Club this week, Ms. Bell Bey began winding down the year by hosting a "game show" where the students came up to answer a clue about something she taught during the year.
**In Mr. Packer Thinking and Problem Solving this week, the students completed a page for the book making project entitled "The Most in the World."
**Future field trips--Pizza and Play End of the Year Family Picnic at Rehm Park on June1st-9:30-noon. Walking field trip to the Oak Park Conservatory on Tuesday, June 7th at 10:00 am.
**June 8th (full day)--Last day of school (tear drop!) Family Hour and final report cards sent home.
This week:
The students continued their final study of space travel, the moon and the planets. Our NASA app has given us great up to the minute info on new planets, the international space station, space travel and the moon. The students explored their completed space stations with their team. Next week the students will begin using the space stations to chill in, read stories in and continue dramatic play as they explore the other groups projects. Station Day was devoted to our blast off and exploration.
Reading/Language Arts: The students finished Unit 8 Plants in our Treasures Reading series and that unit became the introduction to our final science unit. The students accessed prior knowledge about what plants need to grow. They completed an initial inquiry on what a seed was. We will begin our seed experiments next week. The students used the rest of the week in small groupings and with partners working on leveled readers receiving feedback about fluency from their group and their partners, elbow chatting about characters, setting and main events, asking and answering questions about a given text both oral and in writing, using context clues to find out a meaning of an unknown word and working to compare and contrast the adventures and experiences of characters in common texts. We continued to work with our Blueprint format comparing the texts "Mooncake" and "Where the Wild Things Are."
Math: The students enjoyed some "gamey" activities with small groups and partners to review all skills presented thus far. Activities included "Don't Spill the Beans" (building sums to 10) "Blast Off" (number comparison) "Addition and Subtraction Pails (adding and decomposing numbers to 10) "What's My Shape?" (2D/3D shape recognition) Partners took the "Subitize Callenge" on their iPads and looked at number families with the app Butterfly Math. They will begin their May Calendar Books and Math Process Journals on Monday.
Writing: Lots of writing going on here!!! The students are writing during all subject areas. They took the time to write thank you notes to Ms. Sarah from Maze Library, reflect in their science journals, answer in writing questions about what they have read and continued work on their beginning paragraphs using their shadow poses. Their "fix it up" checklist has been so helpful. Inventive or phonetic spelling continues to be very appropriate.
Science: The students studied the moon. We discussed the different parts of the moon we see at night. (phases) We are really seeing different amounts of light being reflected on the moon since the moon has no light of its own. How much light we see depends on the position of the Earth,, sun and moon. The students explored the moons surface area and noted that it has lots of holes or craters. It also has flat areas called planes or seas. How did the holes get there?? The students did an experiment where they created a moon using flour and cocoa powder on top in a pie pan. They then dropped magnetized marbles onto their moon like asteroids crashing into the moon to create the craters. Cool! Using a giant magnet, the groups took turns removing the marbles with the magnets to reveal the holes or craters. They sketched their findings and reflected the process in their science journal. The students also began preparation for their final science unit "From Seed to Plant" with an initial inquiry of what they knew and what they wanted to find out.
Technology: No new apps this week. The students have watched footage of what is to become their "movie" of their Space Station work. We will begin the editing process next week using iMovie.
Literature: "The Moon," "Phases of the Moon," "If You Decide To Go To The Moon," "Watching the Moon," "Planet Kindergarten," "Moonshot," "What Is The Moon?" "Zoom, Zoom, Zoom, Off to the Moon," "I Want to be an Astronaut," "There's No Place Like Space," "Space Vehicles," "The Planets," "Pop Up Facts About Space."
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