**WELCOME NEW KINDERGARTEN STUDENTS and FAMILIES!! I am so glad you are a part of our Irving School family. I was so happy to meet all of you. We are going to have a great year!
**Thanks to all of you who have signed up to assist at LUNCH for the next 3 weeks. The students are learning about the lunch routine and recycling milk cartons and paper trays. We are enjoying eating with our friends, Sophia and Jalin from Ms. Von Hagel's class. Please continue reinforcing--HOME LUNCH or SCHOOL LUNCH---MILK??---WHAT KIND?? Our parent volunteers and I are encouraging the students to eat their MAIN ENTRE first, whether it is sandwich, pizza, salad, yogurt, noodles etc. and then eating granola bars, pudding, chips etc. Thanks for sending good choices for lunch and snacks. I will always have either Veggie Straws or fruit on hand if your child forgets their snack. You can still help--just meet us on the playground at 11:45 am.
**The students have been using our awesome new schoolyard. They are learning about the how to safely use all the pieces of equipment. Our RIBBON CUTTING CEREMONY on Wednesday morning was pretty cool. I was part of the original discussion over eight years ago to design a new playground. It is a great feeling to see it come to fruition.
**We had our first FIRE DRILL on Thursday. The students did well exiting from the building and following directions. The fire marshal was on hand to see how fast we were to exit the building.
**Please remember to send GYM SHOES and SOCKS everyday. Check your special schedule for Gym days.
**We were 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.
** Don't forget to send a healthy snack each day.
**I am working on setting up our on line activities, SPELLING CITY, XTRAMATH, READING EGGS and some new activities. Currently, STARFALL.COM is up and running. Please stay tuned.
**Irving's Back to School Party/Movie is next Friday, September 6th from 5:30-9:00 pm. at Barrie Park.
**OPEN HOUSE/CURRICULUM NIGHT is Thursday, September 12th from 6:30-8:30 pm. More info is forthcoming.
**NO SCHOOL on Monday, September 2nd--Labor Day.
This week:
It was all about routines, expectations and meeting new people. Yes, I talked a lot!! Our daily special area schedule is slowly talking shape. The students met with their special area teachers. They are getting to know each other and fostering new friendships. The students learned how to earn an individual and class EAGLE SLIP as part of our school wide PBIS Behavior Initiative. Our Eagle Essentials are....Be Respectful, Be Responsible, Be Safe, Be Peaceful Everywhere.....and have FUN!
Reading: In our first week of school, the students began a 3 week prep in our Treasures Reading Series called Smart Start. This year District 97 will be joining with other Illinois school districts as well as other states nationwide in adopting the Common Core Standards of Learning. I will share information on this during Curriculum Night. Our Kindergarten Team is using Treasures along with other materials to ensure that each standard is taught and assessed. Students used their language skills by responding to a daily warm up question. They worked on their listening comprehension skills and making predictions and connections by listening and responding to the Big Book story, "Animals in the Park-An ABC Book." The students worked on identifying the sequence of sounds in the rhyme, "Hey Diddle Diddle." The students identified letters Aa, Bb. Cc, Dd, Ee, Ff, Gg and Hh and worked on sound recognition. The students were introduced to the sight words, I, am, yes, no and go. They learned to play the Hands Up, Hands Down Game to help reinforce letter recognition. The students learned what a character is in a story. They also worked on telling about where the story happened. (setting) The students read their first paper story called, "I Run." They began learning about using their pointing finger to read the word and picture. Exciting!!!!!
The students are also using the Haggerty Blue Book to assist in letter and sound recognition, rhyming, upper and lowercase recognition and how many words are in a given sentence.
Math: The students were introduce to calendar activities. Using a ten frame, the students will count and place a dot on the frame for each day they are in school. When we get to 100--PARTY!!!
Our problem of the day was about positional words. The students worked in small group workstations on"egg carton math," "number /picture match." and one to one correspondence frames to 5. They also learned to play the counting and number recognition game, "Got It" with a partner. The students also explored geo boards, pattern blocks, unifix cubes and simple plain shapes.
Writing: The students discussed what a school journal was and how to use it and what to put in it. They also began work on strengthening pencil grasp. They practiced writing their names. Students worked in their journal drawing and even trying to write a word or two. Most students were able to talk about the picture they drew in their journal entry.
Literature: "You're Finally Here," "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Books," "Kindergarten Rocks," "Who Will Be My Teacher This Year?" "Curious George--First Day of School," "School Days Around the World," "In My World," "Wemberly Worried," "How Will I Get to School This Year?" "Hungry for Numbers."
Friday, August 30, 2013
Thursday, July 11, 2013
SUMMER UPDATES July 2013
**Hope you all are continuing to enjoy your summer activities. Our playground is progressing! The markers are being set for our new equipment and some cement has been poured. The area for our new soccer field is being leveled. It is all very exciting. Lots of BIG trucks and equipment! It is really fun to watch all the action!
**Our garden plot continues to explode with cucumber blossoms. Our nasturtiums are blooming. Pick some and put them in your salad. Along with all the spices that are ready, you can come and pick baby celery, lots of green beans, swiss chard, kale, chives and lettuce. Go ahead and observe the squash blossoms, tiny baby green peppers, lots of baby green tomatoes and dill. I have been putting mint in my ice tea and made a great pesto salad with the basil. Enjoy!
** What you reading? How is "20,000 Reads Under the Sea" going? Are you "Splashing into Math?"
**Our garden plot continues to explode with cucumber blossoms. Our nasturtiums are blooming. Pick some and put them in your salad. Along with all the spices that are ready, you can come and pick baby celery, lots of green beans, swiss chard, kale, chives and lettuce. Go ahead and observe the squash blossoms, tiny baby green peppers, lots of baby green tomatoes and dill. I have been putting mint in my ice tea and made a great pesto salad with the basil. Enjoy!
** What you reading? How is "20,000 Reads Under the Sea" going? Are you "Splashing into Math?"
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
SUMMER UPDATES June 2013
**Greetings students and parents! I hope you are enjoying your summer so far. I have had the chance to see some of you. (Splash, splash!) Our playground is really progressing! It is amazing the amount of work that has been done in a short time. Stop by and have a look. Lots of big trucks and equipment. Our garden is really looking great! The cucumbers are branching out. The nasturtiums have many wagon wheel leaves. The carrots have been thinned. (Thanks, Gurgas/Chiens!) The basil can be picked! Make some pesto! There is also sage, mint and parsley. Get out and enjoy the weather. It is going to get hot! Now it will really be time for swimming! Stay tuned.
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
CHEER, CHEER....IT'S BEEN AN AWESOME YEAR!!!
Check out our last project of the year. Click here to read the story.
**Our last week of Kindergarten was one of fun, reflection and love. The students were able to review all they know and think about what is to come next year. They are all ready to be First Graders! We had a great get together on Friday, a Million Minutes of reading our books, a ground breaking ceremony for our new playground and ........the end of the year teacher dance! I will be updating you on our growing garden throughout the summer and let you know when you can come to harvest the veggies and spices. Happy summer to all of you!!
**Our last week of Kindergarten was one of fun, reflection and love. The students were able to review all they know and think about what is to come next year. They are all ready to be First Graders! We had a great get together on Friday, a Million Minutes of reading our books, a ground breaking ceremony for our new playground and ........the end of the year teacher dance! I will be updating you on our growing garden throughout the summer and let you know when you can come to harvest the veggies and spices. Happy summer to all of you!!
Saturday, May 25, 2013
UPDATES for 5/20-5/24 2013
**We are one week closer to becoming First Graders! This week, the students took a look at their third trimester portfolios and were in awe of what they have accomplished. Their portfolios are now in their back packs to share with you. Check them out!! All writing journals, math process journals and our last science journal will go home next week. Keep sending a backpack with your child even on the last day. Thanks!
**Our All School Olympic Day was great! Lots of skill demonstration and good sportsmanship. A BIG SHOUT OUT to Aidan--he almost beat Mr. Packer in the running relay!! Our class continued their physical exercise during Pacers at lunch time. All students participated. Many students even ran instead of walked! The students will take home their Pacer Feet bracelets on Friday.
**All of our final assessments are completed. If you would like me to share with you your child's end of the year assessments, please email me and we can set up a time. The final report card for Kindergarten will be sent home Friday, May 31st, along with some suggestions for the summer. Stay tuned for information on our summer reading and math on line programs. I am also encouraging my students to sign up for Maze Library's summer reading incentive called--"20,000 READS UNDER the SEA." The students saw a presentation on Monday about it.
**CHANGE IN TIME--Please note the change in time for our last day Family Hour on Friday, May 31st. The new time is 1:00-2:15 pm. At 2:15 pm, Mr. Hodge has asked all students to come out on the black top for a special send off. During our Family Hour, students will be signing autographs in their autograph books, having some refreshments provided by our awesome Room Parents and listening to a final story. All family members are most welcome to join us.
**BIG REMINDER--PIZZA and PLAY--is Tuesday, May 28th!! Our permit is from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm. Ms. Cummings has an online sign up sheet that you probably have seen. All items can be brought to school the day of the trip and placed on the kindergarten patio. Vans will be transporting 2 giant juice/water containers, sand toys, your blankets and card tables, t- ball stand, bat/ball, jump ropes, garbage bags and cups, napkins and plates. We will beginning walking to Rehm around 9:30 am, play and eat pizza, fruit and veggies around 11:00 am., have a bit more playtime and then cleanup and head back to school around 12:15 pm. Let's keep our fingers crossed for pleasant weather. If you do not want pizza, just bring your own lunch. There is a port-o-potty on the park premises. We will also have wipes and hand sanitizer. In the event of rain, we will picnic somewhere inside our beloved school!
**Our Barrie Park Lunch very superb! We had a perfect day, good lunches and great peer interactions!!
**The students really enjoyed our field trip to see Kanohi's chicken coup. The students listened to Kanohi's mom talk about egg production, hen facts, chicken coup construction and showed us the eggs. The students got to take some grass to feed the chickens. Their lovely backyard also featured a cool water pond. Back at school, the students reflected in their journal on their experience.
**Money Madness was fun, Thanks to all those who attended.
**Please join me and the other staff members for our Volunteer Thank You Tea. There is an invitation in your child's backpack. All of our volunteers have been tremendous! It is what makes our program so successful.
**"Queen Day" was very regal!! The queens for a day decreed 2 choice times--one inside and one outside. The servants wrote kind notes and the queens gladly and kindly accepted them.
**We love our SIBLINGS!!! SIBLING DAY was extremely cool. The students interacted with their siblings and shared some treats. I have to admit, it brought a tear to my eye seeing such love.
**Ms. D.'s last day was Tuesday. The students thanked her by writing kind letters and presenting her with flowers. She was very touched by the gesture and wished all the students well. We were so lucky to have her. She certainly brought out the best in our students!!!
**BUSY READER CLUB has concluded. All books are due back now. Also, ALL LIBRARY BOOKS are DUE NOW . Ms Noonan has sent information to you if you still have books out.
**NO SCHOOL--Monday, May 27th-Memorial Day observance.
**Please be so kind as to complete the End of the Year Parent Questionaire. This will be very helpful to me in shaping my program for next year.
This week:
It was all about worms and gardening. The student continue to study worm life and contributions to our environment. The students took a closer look at the worms in our compost bin. They used their magnifiers and the microscope. The worms were pretty squirmy! The students could see the segments, saddle and head structure. Their bristles were too tiny to be seen. Many students had viewed the website for Herman the Worm over the weekend. The students worked on their worm paragraph drafts. Our outside garden plot is germinating!!!! The students observed baby cucumber leaves and tiny carrot leaves. Our basil plants look healthy and our nasturtium seeds have germinated too. With all the rain we have had, it is looking very good. Stay tuned!
Reading/Social Studies: The students continue their review of the the years skills. They reviewed all letter sounds including short and long vowels, consonant blends and digraphs. They use their dry erase boards for practice in blending and segmenting 3-4-5- and even 6 phoneme words. The students worked on substitution activities changing sounds to create new words. The student reviewed all the Kindergarten sight word vocabulary and the first half of the First Grade list. Student small groups chose their own literature and activities to go with it. Most groups chose a story elements format. They read to each other and discussed the text. They completed the activities and went over them with me during their workshop conferencing. The last 30 minutes of their group time was spent either in independent reading or playing a reading game. Their top favorites this week were: "Very Silly Sentences," "What's Gnu?" "Spot a Word," "Nouns, Verbs, Adjectives Cookie Jar" and working on their teams with the iPad app Teach Me. There were many opportunities for shared partner reading. It's great that the students could choose what they wanted to read. Lots of stellar discussions about story story content!
Math: The students are reading their own story problem and recoding their process illustration, equation and number relationship in their process math journals. WOW! We are using stories that contain addition and subtraction using numbers 0-10. They continue to work on reading and writing 2-3 digit numbers, counting on from a random number, counting by 2's, 5's and 10's and rote counting as high as they can. We also used a game format this week which included selected iPad apps and the games, "What's My Rule? "Dice Addition," "Race Car Addition and Subtraction," "Place Value on Calculators," and "It Takes Two and Three."
Writing: The students continue to put into practice all the elements of writing good sentences. They worked this week on composing and writing 4 sentences on a given topic. The topics this week were: "Queens," "Chicken Coop" visit, "Olympic Day," "Thank you to Ms. D." and writing and illustrating a page for our end of the year storybook. The students also began their draft for their final paragraph--the topic: "Worms." Stay tuned!
Science: The students finished their experiments with seed sponges and seed bags. In each case, they observed roots and shoots sprouting without the benefit of water. The students all thought that no matter which way or how they are planted, a sprouted seed will always have shoots that grow up and stems that grow down. The students reflected in their science journal their findings and illustrations and any remaining questions that they had. We continue to observe the growth in our inside classroom garden. We currently have pumpkins, chard, cosmos, grass, peas, marigolds, nasturtiums, cantalope and beans growing, I will be looking for some home gardens to take these plants next week, It you are interested--email me. Worm study is in progress! Our outdoor garden plots are germinating also. They students did sketches of the garden with 7 days of growth. They will do another sketch next week. It is fun to analyze the changes!
Technology: The students continue to use a variety of apps to enhance their reading, math, science and problem solving pleasure. Currently, they are using the app Story Kit to photograph and record their words for our end our the year storybook.
Literature: "Earl the Worm Digs for his Life," "A Worms Life," "Say Hello to Zorro," "How Do Seeds Grow?" "E-mergency," "The Curious Garden," "Planting a Rainbow," "I Can't Said the Ant," "What Do Principals Do When No One is Looking?" "Rah Rah, Vegetables."
**Our All School Olympic Day was great! Lots of skill demonstration and good sportsmanship. A BIG SHOUT OUT to Aidan--he almost beat Mr. Packer in the running relay!! Our class continued their physical exercise during Pacers at lunch time. All students participated. Many students even ran instead of walked! The students will take home their Pacer Feet bracelets on Friday.
**All of our final assessments are completed. If you would like me to share with you your child's end of the year assessments, please email me and we can set up a time. The final report card for Kindergarten will be sent home Friday, May 31st, along with some suggestions for the summer. Stay tuned for information on our summer reading and math on line programs. I am also encouraging my students to sign up for Maze Library's summer reading incentive called--"20,000 READS UNDER the SEA." The students saw a presentation on Monday about it.
**CHANGE IN TIME--Please note the change in time for our last day Family Hour on Friday, May 31st. The new time is 1:00-2:15 pm. At 2:15 pm, Mr. Hodge has asked all students to come out on the black top for a special send off. During our Family Hour, students will be signing autographs in their autograph books, having some refreshments provided by our awesome Room Parents and listening to a final story. All family members are most welcome to join us.
**BIG REMINDER--PIZZA and PLAY--is Tuesday, May 28th!! Our permit is from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm. Ms. Cummings has an online sign up sheet that you probably have seen. All items can be brought to school the day of the trip and placed on the kindergarten patio. Vans will be transporting 2 giant juice/water containers, sand toys, your blankets and card tables, t- ball stand, bat/ball, jump ropes, garbage bags and cups, napkins and plates. We will beginning walking to Rehm around 9:30 am, play and eat pizza, fruit and veggies around 11:00 am., have a bit more playtime and then cleanup and head back to school around 12:15 pm. Let's keep our fingers crossed for pleasant weather. If you do not want pizza, just bring your own lunch. There is a port-o-potty on the park premises. We will also have wipes and hand sanitizer. In the event of rain, we will picnic somewhere inside our beloved school!
**Our Barrie Park Lunch very superb! We had a perfect day, good lunches and great peer interactions!!
**The students really enjoyed our field trip to see Kanohi's chicken coup. The students listened to Kanohi's mom talk about egg production, hen facts, chicken coup construction and showed us the eggs. The students got to take some grass to feed the chickens. Their lovely backyard also featured a cool water pond. Back at school, the students reflected in their journal on their experience.
**Money Madness was fun, Thanks to all those who attended.
**Please join me and the other staff members for our Volunteer Thank You Tea. There is an invitation in your child's backpack. All of our volunteers have been tremendous! It is what makes our program so successful.
**"Queen Day" was very regal!! The queens for a day decreed 2 choice times--one inside and one outside. The servants wrote kind notes and the queens gladly and kindly accepted them.
**We love our SIBLINGS!!! SIBLING DAY was extremely cool. The students interacted with their siblings and shared some treats. I have to admit, it brought a tear to my eye seeing such love.
**Ms. D.'s last day was Tuesday. The students thanked her by writing kind letters and presenting her with flowers. She was very touched by the gesture and wished all the students well. We were so lucky to have her. She certainly brought out the best in our students!!!
**BUSY READER CLUB has concluded. All books are due back now. Also, ALL LIBRARY BOOKS are DUE NOW . Ms Noonan has sent information to you if you still have books out.
**NO SCHOOL--Monday, May 27th-Memorial Day observance.
**Please be so kind as to complete the End of the Year Parent Questionaire. This will be very helpful to me in shaping my program for next year.
This week:
It was all about worms and gardening. The student continue to study worm life and contributions to our environment. The students took a closer look at the worms in our compost bin. They used their magnifiers and the microscope. The worms were pretty squirmy! The students could see the segments, saddle and head structure. Their bristles were too tiny to be seen. Many students had viewed the website for Herman the Worm over the weekend. The students worked on their worm paragraph drafts. Our outside garden plot is germinating!!!! The students observed baby cucumber leaves and tiny carrot leaves. Our basil plants look healthy and our nasturtium seeds have germinated too. With all the rain we have had, it is looking very good. Stay tuned!
Reading/Social Studies: The students continue their review of the the years skills. They reviewed all letter sounds including short and long vowels, consonant blends and digraphs. They use their dry erase boards for practice in blending and segmenting 3-4-5- and even 6 phoneme words. The students worked on substitution activities changing sounds to create new words. The student reviewed all the Kindergarten sight word vocabulary and the first half of the First Grade list. Student small groups chose their own literature and activities to go with it. Most groups chose a story elements format. They read to each other and discussed the text. They completed the activities and went over them with me during their workshop conferencing. The last 30 minutes of their group time was spent either in independent reading or playing a reading game. Their top favorites this week were: "Very Silly Sentences," "What's Gnu?" "Spot a Word," "Nouns, Verbs, Adjectives Cookie Jar" and working on their teams with the iPad app Teach Me. There were many opportunities for shared partner reading. It's great that the students could choose what they wanted to read. Lots of stellar discussions about story story content!
Math: The students are reading their own story problem and recoding their process illustration, equation and number relationship in their process math journals. WOW! We are using stories that contain addition and subtraction using numbers 0-10. They continue to work on reading and writing 2-3 digit numbers, counting on from a random number, counting by 2's, 5's and 10's and rote counting as high as they can. We also used a game format this week which included selected iPad apps and the games, "What's My Rule? "Dice Addition," "Race Car Addition and Subtraction," "Place Value on Calculators," and "It Takes Two and Three."
Writing: The students continue to put into practice all the elements of writing good sentences. They worked this week on composing and writing 4 sentences on a given topic. The topics this week were: "Queens," "Chicken Coop" visit, "Olympic Day," "Thank you to Ms. D." and writing and illustrating a page for our end of the year storybook. The students also began their draft for their final paragraph--the topic: "Worms." Stay tuned!
Science: The students finished their experiments with seed sponges and seed bags. In each case, they observed roots and shoots sprouting without the benefit of water. The students all thought that no matter which way or how they are planted, a sprouted seed will always have shoots that grow up and stems that grow down. The students reflected in their science journal their findings and illustrations and any remaining questions that they had. We continue to observe the growth in our inside classroom garden. We currently have pumpkins, chard, cosmos, grass, peas, marigolds, nasturtiums, cantalope and beans growing, I will be looking for some home gardens to take these plants next week, It you are interested--email me. Worm study is in progress! Our outdoor garden plots are germinating also. They students did sketches of the garden with 7 days of growth. They will do another sketch next week. It is fun to analyze the changes!
Technology: The students continue to use a variety of apps to enhance their reading, math, science and problem solving pleasure. Currently, they are using the app Story Kit to photograph and record their words for our end our the year storybook.
Literature: "Earl the Worm Digs for his Life," "A Worms Life," "Say Hello to Zorro," "How Do Seeds Grow?" "E-mergency," "The Curious Garden," "Planting a Rainbow," "I Can't Said the Ant," "What Do Principals Do When No One is Looking?" "Rah Rah, Vegetables."
Saturday, May 18, 2013
UPDATES for 5/13-5/17 2013
**What a great week! The students, under the guiding eyes of Ellie's mom and myself planted in our outside garden bed. They helped move soil, sprinkle seeds and plants 4 baby basil plants. They have been carefully watering them each day. This summer, the PTO volunteers will see to the watering and weeding. Next week, students from BLUE BEAR Table will be responsible for bringing in "food" to "feed" our "wormy" compost. Once again, little bits of paper, banana/peel, veggies, egg shells are acceptable.
**"K" for King Day was truly imperial! The kings decreed--afternoon recess and playing in our space stations. The girls sang songs and recited poems to them and wrote some very touching notes.
**Reading Grandma Mary's last day with us was Friday. She reported that the students have made a great deal of progress and encouraged them to keep reading over the summer. The students presented her with written notes and flowers. We all love her!!!! She is truly a treasure!!!!
**We had our last meeting with our Book Buddies on Friday. Since it was "O" day-"Origami Day", both sets of students had a super time assisting and creating. We have some very talented kids of both grades. We wished our 5th grade buddies well. They are going to the Middle School next year.
**Our field trip to the Oak Park Conservatory was awesome! The great weather made it a very comfortable walk. The students also got to observe plant and flower growth on lawns that we passed.
Our docents were super knowledgeable and each room that the students visited contained plants, animals and fish with colorful histories and interesting facts. The century plant was the very favorite of the group. It is growing out of the rooftop window! Stop by to see it. Back at school, the students worked in their journals to write down what they learned about and what was the most interesting to them. Some thoughts: venus fly trap, cactus plants, ponderosa lemons, cacao plant, banana plant, ferns with spores and moss.
**The Art Fest/Poetry Slam was the bomb!! Thanks to our own "little slammers" Zaria, Zoie, Amare and Cobie for their participation. The art work was beautiful, the games and the play were fun. The chorus sounded great!!!
**Monday, May 20th is our Picnic Lunch at Barrie Park. We will leave around 10:50 am and return to school by 12:05 pm. I am still missing some permission slips. Don't forget: BAG LUNCH and DRINK! Feel free to walk with us or meet us there!
**Tuesday, May 21st is our trip to the Gurgas/Chien backyard to see and learn about the chicken coup. We will leave around 9:50 am and return to school around 10:40 am. It is a regular lunch day. I am also missing permission slips for this event. Please don't forget to send them in. Thanks! Feel free to join us or meet us there.
**Family Math Night is Tuesday, May 21st from 6:30-8:00 pm. It's MONEY MADNESS!!! Come on--join in the fun! See me for a sign up sheet.
**"S" is for Sibling Day on Thursday, May 23rd at 2:30 pm. Come check out the room.
**Olympic Day is Friday, May 24th from 8:30-10:30 am inside and outside of the school. Come on out to see Team Gullo participate in events such as Basketball Hotshot and Egg and Spoon Race. There will be 11 events and 1 rest station. Please see that your child is dressed in comfortable clothes for the day. GYM SHOES and SOCKS ARE A MUST!
**Keep sending in slips and money for PIZZA and PLAY End of the Year Family Picnic to be held at Rehm Park on Tuesday, May 28th from 9:30-12:30 pm. Thanks to C. Cummings for the on line sign up.
**BYE BYE BLACKTOP PARTY--Friday, May 24th from 4-8 pm. Say goodbye to the blacktop and hello to our new playground!!! Outside activities include--dunk tank for teachers, special song and t shirt sale, parent/teacher soft ball game, Robinson's Ribs food truck or bring your own picnic, ice cream truck. WOW! It is going to be great!! Ms. Gullo has been waiting 8 long years for this new playground. Come on out and celebrate!
**NO SCHOOL-Monday, May 27th in observance of Memorial Day.
This week:
It continues to be all about seeds and plants. The students are not only monitoring the growth of their plants at home but continue to monitor our indoor class garden. We now have cosmos, spinach, beans, peas, pumpkins, swiss chard, cantalope sprouted seeds. Our potato plants are really growing and are ready to be planted outside. The students used the magnifiers often to take a closer look. I love listening to their conversations on what they are observing! On our last station day of the year, the students worked on reading and coloring the illustrations in their plant cycle read aloud book, painted the stem and leaf structures on their coke bottle flowers and continued developing their social interaction skills while creating origami with their Book Buddies.
Reading/Social Studies: The students continue to demonstrate what they know in Unit 10-- I Know A Lot in our final Treasures Reading unit. The students are working in small groups, leveled reader groups and individually to review all vocabulary pertinent to kindergarten. They are reading story literature both fiction and non fiction in their groups discussing story elements, asking and answering questions, making connections, discussing cause and effect and drawing conclusions. The students are also working on grammar which includes recognizing nouns, verbs, adjectives and pronouns. Some groups have done some work with articles and adverbs. The students are using a variety of games and iPad apps as reinforcement. The students themselves have been called upon to "be the teacher" in many review situations. Each day, we have "volunteer read alouds." Wow! I have so many volunteers! After each read aloud, the students can critique their own reading and other students can give suggestions. This is done in a kind, caring way and the care shown each reader is amazing! In our Haggerty Blue Book exercises, the students continue to review phoneme blending, adding, deleting and substituting phonemes and work on words containing blends, digraphs, vowel teams, silent e and controlled "r". They have come so far!! The students listened and responded to a variety of poems. We had many poetry breaks in our day.
Math: The students continue to review counting beyond 100 by 1's, 10's, 2's and 5's, reading and writing 2 and 3 digit numbers, place value and addition and subtraction processes using numbers 0-10. The students continue to work in their math process journal--reading the story problem, illustrating the process and writing the number sentence or equation. They are using the "function machine" to play "What's My Rule? The students are using a game format to review coins and values, telling time and counting down.
Writing: The students have been putting into practice all the elements of writing a good sentence. They continue to reflect in their journals about given topics--Kings, the Conservatory and Reading Grandma among this weeks topics. Next week, we will begin our final writing project--topic: WORMS! We will also begin work on an individual poem relating to an art project that the students recently finished.
Science: A companion piece to our Conservatory trip was the Traveling Seed Experience Box sent over by the Oak Park Conservatory. The students took a hands on look at the way seeds travel or are dispersed depending upon their shapes and sizes. The box contained experiments to show--blowing in the wind, floating on water, popping from pods and how they can be carried by animals. Lots of fun! The students also checked on their sprouting seed bags and seed sponges. (hydroponics) Wow! Something is sprouting! Students also notice some mold, another living organism, on some of the seeds. The students recorded in their science journals by illustrating, writing and diagrams what their bags and sponges look like after one week. This week the students began the study of the life and times of a worm. This amazing creature is very vital to our earth. Stay tuned for more next week!
Technology: The students are doing some preliminary work with the app Story Kit for our final project of the year. Stay tuned!! In reading and math, student groups of 4 continue to work on the app Teach Me.
Lots of discussion and encouragement by the members of each group to each other. In science, the students use the apps Life Cycles and Enchanted Learning to seek out supplemental information on plants and insects. Small group student work centered around the story, "The Seed Grows" on our book app.
Literature: "Counting in the Garden," "The Garden," "Bright Yellow Flowers," "Compost Stew," "Seeds," "The Earthworm," "Plants Bite Back," "Curious George Plants a Tree," "Oh Say Can You Seed," "The Reason for a Flower," "Planting a Rainbow," "Me Want Pet." (Kings request!)
**"K" for King Day was truly imperial! The kings decreed--afternoon recess and playing in our space stations. The girls sang songs and recited poems to them and wrote some very touching notes.
**Reading Grandma Mary's last day with us was Friday. She reported that the students have made a great deal of progress and encouraged them to keep reading over the summer. The students presented her with written notes and flowers. We all love her!!!! She is truly a treasure!!!!
**We had our last meeting with our Book Buddies on Friday. Since it was "O" day-"Origami Day", both sets of students had a super time assisting and creating. We have some very talented kids of both grades. We wished our 5th grade buddies well. They are going to the Middle School next year.
**Our field trip to the Oak Park Conservatory was awesome! The great weather made it a very comfortable walk. The students also got to observe plant and flower growth on lawns that we passed.
Our docents were super knowledgeable and each room that the students visited contained plants, animals and fish with colorful histories and interesting facts. The century plant was the very favorite of the group. It is growing out of the rooftop window! Stop by to see it. Back at school, the students worked in their journals to write down what they learned about and what was the most interesting to them. Some thoughts: venus fly trap, cactus plants, ponderosa lemons, cacao plant, banana plant, ferns with spores and moss.
**The Art Fest/Poetry Slam was the bomb!! Thanks to our own "little slammers" Zaria, Zoie, Amare and Cobie for their participation. The art work was beautiful, the games and the play were fun. The chorus sounded great!!!
**Monday, May 20th is our Picnic Lunch at Barrie Park. We will leave around 10:50 am and return to school by 12:05 pm. I am still missing some permission slips. Don't forget: BAG LUNCH and DRINK! Feel free to walk with us or meet us there!
**Tuesday, May 21st is our trip to the Gurgas/Chien backyard to see and learn about the chicken coup. We will leave around 9:50 am and return to school around 10:40 am. It is a regular lunch day. I am also missing permission slips for this event. Please don't forget to send them in. Thanks! Feel free to join us or meet us there.
**Family Math Night is Tuesday, May 21st from 6:30-8:00 pm. It's MONEY MADNESS!!! Come on--join in the fun! See me for a sign up sheet.
**"S" is for Sibling Day on Thursday, May 23rd at 2:30 pm. Come check out the room.
**Olympic Day is Friday, May 24th from 8:30-10:30 am inside and outside of the school. Come on out to see Team Gullo participate in events such as Basketball Hotshot and Egg and Spoon Race. There will be 11 events and 1 rest station. Please see that your child is dressed in comfortable clothes for the day. GYM SHOES and SOCKS ARE A MUST!
**Keep sending in slips and money for PIZZA and PLAY End of the Year Family Picnic to be held at Rehm Park on Tuesday, May 28th from 9:30-12:30 pm. Thanks to C. Cummings for the on line sign up.
**BYE BYE BLACKTOP PARTY--Friday, May 24th from 4-8 pm. Say goodbye to the blacktop and hello to our new playground!!! Outside activities include--dunk tank for teachers, special song and t shirt sale, parent/teacher soft ball game, Robinson's Ribs food truck or bring your own picnic, ice cream truck. WOW! It is going to be great!! Ms. Gullo has been waiting 8 long years for this new playground. Come on out and celebrate!
**NO SCHOOL-Monday, May 27th in observance of Memorial Day.
This week:
It continues to be all about seeds and plants. The students are not only monitoring the growth of their plants at home but continue to monitor our indoor class garden. We now have cosmos, spinach, beans, peas, pumpkins, swiss chard, cantalope sprouted seeds. Our potato plants are really growing and are ready to be planted outside. The students used the magnifiers often to take a closer look. I love listening to their conversations on what they are observing! On our last station day of the year, the students worked on reading and coloring the illustrations in their plant cycle read aloud book, painted the stem and leaf structures on their coke bottle flowers and continued developing their social interaction skills while creating origami with their Book Buddies.
Reading/Social Studies: The students continue to demonstrate what they know in Unit 10-- I Know A Lot in our final Treasures Reading unit. The students are working in small groups, leveled reader groups and individually to review all vocabulary pertinent to kindergarten. They are reading story literature both fiction and non fiction in their groups discussing story elements, asking and answering questions, making connections, discussing cause and effect and drawing conclusions. The students are also working on grammar which includes recognizing nouns, verbs, adjectives and pronouns. Some groups have done some work with articles and adverbs. The students are using a variety of games and iPad apps as reinforcement. The students themselves have been called upon to "be the teacher" in many review situations. Each day, we have "volunteer read alouds." Wow! I have so many volunteers! After each read aloud, the students can critique their own reading and other students can give suggestions. This is done in a kind, caring way and the care shown each reader is amazing! In our Haggerty Blue Book exercises, the students continue to review phoneme blending, adding, deleting and substituting phonemes and work on words containing blends, digraphs, vowel teams, silent e and controlled "r". They have come so far!! The students listened and responded to a variety of poems. We had many poetry breaks in our day.
Math: The students continue to review counting beyond 100 by 1's, 10's, 2's and 5's, reading and writing 2 and 3 digit numbers, place value and addition and subtraction processes using numbers 0-10. The students continue to work in their math process journal--reading the story problem, illustrating the process and writing the number sentence or equation. They are using the "function machine" to play "What's My Rule? The students are using a game format to review coins and values, telling time and counting down.
Writing: The students have been putting into practice all the elements of writing a good sentence. They continue to reflect in their journals about given topics--Kings, the Conservatory and Reading Grandma among this weeks topics. Next week, we will begin our final writing project--topic: WORMS! We will also begin work on an individual poem relating to an art project that the students recently finished.
Science: A companion piece to our Conservatory trip was the Traveling Seed Experience Box sent over by the Oak Park Conservatory. The students took a hands on look at the way seeds travel or are dispersed depending upon their shapes and sizes. The box contained experiments to show--blowing in the wind, floating on water, popping from pods and how they can be carried by animals. Lots of fun! The students also checked on their sprouting seed bags and seed sponges. (hydroponics) Wow! Something is sprouting! Students also notice some mold, another living organism, on some of the seeds. The students recorded in their science journals by illustrating, writing and diagrams what their bags and sponges look like after one week. This week the students began the study of the life and times of a worm. This amazing creature is very vital to our earth. Stay tuned for more next week!
Technology: The students are doing some preliminary work with the app Story Kit for our final project of the year. Stay tuned!! In reading and math, student groups of 4 continue to work on the app Teach Me.
Lots of discussion and encouragement by the members of each group to each other. In science, the students use the apps Life Cycles and Enchanted Learning to seek out supplemental information on plants and insects. Small group student work centered around the story, "The Seed Grows" on our book app.
Literature: "Counting in the Garden," "The Garden," "Bright Yellow Flowers," "Compost Stew," "Seeds," "The Earthworm," "Plants Bite Back," "Curious George Plants a Tree," "Oh Say Can You Seed," "The Reason for a Flower," "Planting a Rainbow," "Me Want Pet." (Kings request!)
Saturday, May 11, 2013
UPDATES for 5/6-5/10 2013
**It has been a busy week! The students are busy tracking the growth of their sprouted seeds. They are becoming plant nurturers! Our class garden is also sprouting. Next week we will plant our cucumber, carrot, nasturtium and sweet basil seeds in our outside planting bed. Students from RED BEAR Table will be responsible for bringing in "food" to "feed" our "wormy" compost. Once again, little bits of paper, banana/peel, veggies, egg shells, (nothing cooked or orange peels) are acceptable.
**Don't forget to send back the permission slip for our Walking Field Trip to the Oak Park Conservatory. It is this coming TUESDAY!! I cannot take anyone who doesn't have a slip in.
**In your child's homework folder--please look for 3....yes....3 permission slips for future Field Trips! Barrie Park Lunch-May 20th----Trip to visit and learn about raising chickens and eggs in the Gurgas/Chien backyard-May 21st and Pizza and Play-Annual End of the Year Family Picnic at Rehm Park-May 28th. All trips a being powered by FEET! There is a $2.00 cost for Pizza and Play. I will be mobilizing our wonderful room parents to help in organizing Pizza and Play. They will be contacting you. If you would be so kind as to send back all permission slips as soon as you can--that would be much appreciated. Please feel free to join us on any of our trips---especially Pizza and Play. Siblings are most welcome!
**I am beginning to send home student Science Journals and work portfolios. Your child's past Science Journals are enclosed. Work portfolios are next week and then Writing Journals. Marvel at the growth!!!!!
**Students are having a great time listening to the "Traveling Poets" coming to our room, as well as traveling to Ms. Williams, Mr. Hancock and Ms. Saliny's room to recite their poetry. Our students will travel again next Thursday. Keep practicing your poems!!!
**We have 5 SLAMMERS signed up to recite poetry at the Poetry Slam/Art Fest to be held next week on Thursday evening, May 17th. The Kindergarten-2nd Grade slammers will go on at 7:00 pm in the auditorium. I will send you specific info on our meeting place next week. Come on----there is room for more slammers!!!!! Join in the fun!!!! Remember, you can recite your favorite poem, write your own poem, recite your traveling poets poem, sing, rap etc. You can recite solo, in a group, partner up, with a sib or parent. See the schedule enclosed for all the other events going on. Let's celebrate the arts!!!
**RUN WITH ME!! Come on out this Saturday, May 11th at 8:00 am to Lindberg Park for District 97's Annual Fun Run around the park. We had a nice turn out from Irving!!!!
**The students will be planting in our class garden bed this coming Monday, May 13th at 8:30 am. Ellie's mom will help get our soil ready. We will be learning about garden tools and view a video on planting cucumbers prior to our planting.
**Family Math Night is Tuesday, May 21st from 6:30-8:00 pm. This years theme is MONEY MADNESS. Let me know if you need a sign up sheet.
**All School Olympic Day is Friday, May 24th around the school. We will perform our Olympic feats from 8:30-10:30 am. Stop by to see us!
**Our final assessments for this year are almost complete. A HUGE THANKS to our Route to Reading teacher, Mrs. Cruz and our beloved Ms. Dennis for their assistance in testing this week. Report cards will go home on Friday, May 31st, the last of school.
**NO SCHOOL--Monday 27th in observance of Memorial Day.
**Last day of school events---Please join us for Family Hour on Friday, May 31st from 12:55-2:55 pm. We will sign autographs, have refreshments, get our summer packets/report cards and read a closing story. All are welcome!
This week: It was all about our sprouting seeds and baby plants! The students came back to a great discovery on Monday. Most of their seeds had germinated. All morning glories, marigolds and sunflowers showed signs of growth at about 5 days. The nasturtium plants took longer at about 9 days. Students hypothesized that the very hard coat surrounding the seed was why it took longer for the seed to soften. Each day the students checked their plant. They checked to see if water was needed. They observed leaf structure and stems and drew a diagram in their science journal of their plants parts. Very cool! More in the science section.
The students had a great time chasing bubbles. Our new bubble machine from Asher and his family had us all running around on a great Monday afternoon. Thanks, Asher!!!
Students are feeling the changes that will soon take place--end of the year--no school--end of kindergarten--new teachers--new classroom--different expectations--new friendships. Turning into a First Grader is big!! We chat daily as a class about expectations, fears and the fact that it will be an adventure that they are ready for! They all have come so far!
The students are loving observing our "wormy" compost. They are very concerned about "feeding" the compost to produce the new soil. The magnifying window lets them view the worms at work! Cool!
Station Day activities included--seed sequence part 2, flower making with bottles and paint, writing--If I Were a Seed.... and Story Problems with Flowers.
Reading/Social Studies: The students are continuing to work on skills and literature from Treasures Units 9 and 10. They are working on sight words with, me, my, where and reviewing target sounds and letters Jj, Yy and Zz. All kindergarten sight words have now been introduced. The students spent time in pairs using their word cards, picture cards and punctuation to create sentences. Each pair of students shared their sentences. Students continued work on recognizing and using nouns, verbs, adjectives and pronouns. Each day, the students work on group substitution activities to strengthen sound recognition and automatic recording of phonemes to form words. Students read their decodable and leveled readers and paper stories on their own this week and discussed the stories in small groups. Robust vocabulary included AMAZING, DEEP, INVITE, OCEAN, REASON. Workstations this week focused on leveled readers reading for meaning and fluency, responding in writing to what you read and retelling key events in a story. In our Common Core lessons, the students worked on asking and answering questions about unknown words in a text, being able to recognize common types of texts, finding details in informational reading and clarifying the meaning of multiple meaning words.
Math: The students continue to work on reading a story problem from the board and recording information in their math process journal. Most students are able to read the problem, illustrate the the process, write the number sentence and explain their work. They continue to work on the relationship between numbers in a number sentence. Numbers from 0-15 are currently part of their story problems. The use of concrete objects continues to be helpful to some students--fingers, blocks, pennies, tally marks, circles, the number line are a part of that process. The students continue to review counting by 10's, 2's and 5's, counting on from a random number, rote counting to 120, writing 2-3 digit numbers, exploring the concept of place value and recognizing and using pattern blocks and geometric solids.
Writing: The students have finished their primary paragraphs on the topic: "My Shadow." They are on display in our hallway. What a great job!!!! The students have begun journaling each day on a person at Irving School that they have contact with. So far---Ms. Gullo, Ms. Dennis, Ms. D. and Mr. Hodge have been the topics of their entries. They are writing 4 sentences and using their writer's checklist--capital letter at the beginning, naming and telling, checking their letter formation, having a ending mark, reading it back to see how it sounds---all this before they come to the writer's conference with me. At the writer's conference, they read their writing to me and we look at it together. I may point out--wow, great sentence...or next time don't forget this....and ask what they think of their work. We have begun to do some prep on our final primary paragraph on the topic of WORMS!!! Stay tuned!
Science: Our plants are growing everywhere! This week in our class garden, pumpkin, spinach, cosmos, beans, peas and nasturtiums, marigolds, morning glories and sunflowers have sprouted. Students have brought in cantalope, strawberry and plum seeds to plant too. In Experiment 4, the students observed what is growing under the ground. We removed baby nasturtiums, morning glories, sunflowers and marigolds from the soil to take a closer look at the root and shoot systems. The students looked at the similarities and differences in the each plant. Thicker shoots, skinny shoots, straight shoots, curvy shoots, lots of roots, one stringy root, tons of tiny roots were their observations. The students also took a look at the leaf structure of each plant. They sketched their leaves in their science journals--leaves that looked like butterfly wings (morning glory), wagon wheels (nasturtium), ovals (sunflowers), dragonfly wings (marigolds). In Experiment 5, the question was asked-- What if the seed has no soil? Can it still sprout? We had discussed that all plants need water, sun, soil to grow. The students sprinkled a variety of seeds on a sponge and watered it. Each table has a seeded sponge that they will water and check. What will happen? The students made some predictions. Stay tuned! Next week--We will plant in our outside garden plot.
Technology: The students continue to use all apps introduced throughout the year. The focus on reading is apps related to vocabulary recognition, blending, segmenting and substituting phonemes. In math, students are using apps on addition, subtraction, place value and problem solving. This week students created teams of 4 students and began work on the app Teach Me. The app contains math--addition/subtraction, spelling, and sight word recognition. Students play each other and move up the levels. It includes sticker rewards too. Fun! Fun! Then student have also been exploring the app Life Cycles and and National Geographic Explorer.
Literature: "Plants," "What Moms Can't Do," "Tools for the Garden," "Fancy Nancy's Marvelous Mother's Day," "Worms," "Seeds," "The Ant Bully," "Ants Day Off," "Ice Cream Everywhere," "How Does a Seed Grow?" "Yucky Worms," Poetry--"A Bad Case of the Giggles," Poetry--"A Pizza the Size of the Sun," "Poetry for the Young by Langston Hughes," "Poems for Teachers."
**Don't forget to send back the permission slip for our Walking Field Trip to the Oak Park Conservatory. It is this coming TUESDAY!! I cannot take anyone who doesn't have a slip in.
**In your child's homework folder--please look for 3....yes....3 permission slips for future Field Trips! Barrie Park Lunch-May 20th----Trip to visit and learn about raising chickens and eggs in the Gurgas/Chien backyard-May 21st and Pizza and Play-Annual End of the Year Family Picnic at Rehm Park-May 28th. All trips a being powered by FEET! There is a $2.00 cost for Pizza and Play. I will be mobilizing our wonderful room parents to help in organizing Pizza and Play. They will be contacting you. If you would be so kind as to send back all permission slips as soon as you can--that would be much appreciated. Please feel free to join us on any of our trips---especially Pizza and Play. Siblings are most welcome!
**I am beginning to send home student Science Journals and work portfolios. Your child's past Science Journals are enclosed. Work portfolios are next week and then Writing Journals. Marvel at the growth!!!!!
**Students are having a great time listening to the "Traveling Poets" coming to our room, as well as traveling to Ms. Williams, Mr. Hancock and Ms. Saliny's room to recite their poetry. Our students will travel again next Thursday. Keep practicing your poems!!!
**We have 5 SLAMMERS signed up to recite poetry at the Poetry Slam/Art Fest to be held next week on Thursday evening, May 17th. The Kindergarten-2nd Grade slammers will go on at 7:00 pm in the auditorium. I will send you specific info on our meeting place next week. Come on----there is room for more slammers!!!!! Join in the fun!!!! Remember, you can recite your favorite poem, write your own poem, recite your traveling poets poem, sing, rap etc. You can recite solo, in a group, partner up, with a sib or parent. See the schedule enclosed for all the other events going on. Let's celebrate the arts!!!
**RUN WITH ME!! Come on out this Saturday, May 11th at 8:00 am to Lindberg Park for District 97's Annual Fun Run around the park. We had a nice turn out from Irving!!!!
**The students will be planting in our class garden bed this coming Monday, May 13th at 8:30 am. Ellie's mom will help get our soil ready. We will be learning about garden tools and view a video on planting cucumbers prior to our planting.
**Family Math Night is Tuesday, May 21st from 6:30-8:00 pm. This years theme is MONEY MADNESS. Let me know if you need a sign up sheet.
**All School Olympic Day is Friday, May 24th around the school. We will perform our Olympic feats from 8:30-10:30 am. Stop by to see us!
**Our final assessments for this year are almost complete. A HUGE THANKS to our Route to Reading teacher, Mrs. Cruz and our beloved Ms. Dennis for their assistance in testing this week. Report cards will go home on Friday, May 31st, the last of school.
**NO SCHOOL--Monday 27th in observance of Memorial Day.
**Last day of school events---Please join us for Family Hour on Friday, May 31st from 12:55-2:55 pm. We will sign autographs, have refreshments, get our summer packets/report cards and read a closing story. All are welcome!
This week: It was all about our sprouting seeds and baby plants! The students came back to a great discovery on Monday. Most of their seeds had germinated. All morning glories, marigolds and sunflowers showed signs of growth at about 5 days. The nasturtium plants took longer at about 9 days. Students hypothesized that the very hard coat surrounding the seed was why it took longer for the seed to soften. Each day the students checked their plant. They checked to see if water was needed. They observed leaf structure and stems and drew a diagram in their science journal of their plants parts. Very cool! More in the science section.
The students had a great time chasing bubbles. Our new bubble machine from Asher and his family had us all running around on a great Monday afternoon. Thanks, Asher!!!
Students are feeling the changes that will soon take place--end of the year--no school--end of kindergarten--new teachers--new classroom--different expectations--new friendships. Turning into a First Grader is big!! We chat daily as a class about expectations, fears and the fact that it will be an adventure that they are ready for! They all have come so far!
The students are loving observing our "wormy" compost. They are very concerned about "feeding" the compost to produce the new soil. The magnifying window lets them view the worms at work! Cool!
Station Day activities included--seed sequence part 2, flower making with bottles and paint, writing--If I Were a Seed.... and Story Problems with Flowers.
Reading/Social Studies: The students are continuing to work on skills and literature from Treasures Units 9 and 10. They are working on sight words with, me, my, where and reviewing target sounds and letters Jj, Yy and Zz. All kindergarten sight words have now been introduced. The students spent time in pairs using their word cards, picture cards and punctuation to create sentences. Each pair of students shared their sentences. Students continued work on recognizing and using nouns, verbs, adjectives and pronouns. Each day, the students work on group substitution activities to strengthen sound recognition and automatic recording of phonemes to form words. Students read their decodable and leveled readers and paper stories on their own this week and discussed the stories in small groups. Robust vocabulary included AMAZING, DEEP, INVITE, OCEAN, REASON. Workstations this week focused on leveled readers reading for meaning and fluency, responding in writing to what you read and retelling key events in a story. In our Common Core lessons, the students worked on asking and answering questions about unknown words in a text, being able to recognize common types of texts, finding details in informational reading and clarifying the meaning of multiple meaning words.
Math: The students continue to work on reading a story problem from the board and recording information in their math process journal. Most students are able to read the problem, illustrate the the process, write the number sentence and explain their work. They continue to work on the relationship between numbers in a number sentence. Numbers from 0-15 are currently part of their story problems. The use of concrete objects continues to be helpful to some students--fingers, blocks, pennies, tally marks, circles, the number line are a part of that process. The students continue to review counting by 10's, 2's and 5's, counting on from a random number, rote counting to 120, writing 2-3 digit numbers, exploring the concept of place value and recognizing and using pattern blocks and geometric solids.
Writing: The students have finished their primary paragraphs on the topic: "My Shadow." They are on display in our hallway. What a great job!!!! The students have begun journaling each day on a person at Irving School that they have contact with. So far---Ms. Gullo, Ms. Dennis, Ms. D. and Mr. Hodge have been the topics of their entries. They are writing 4 sentences and using their writer's checklist--capital letter at the beginning, naming and telling, checking their letter formation, having a ending mark, reading it back to see how it sounds---all this before they come to the writer's conference with me. At the writer's conference, they read their writing to me and we look at it together. I may point out--wow, great sentence...or next time don't forget this....and ask what they think of their work. We have begun to do some prep on our final primary paragraph on the topic of WORMS!!! Stay tuned!
Science: Our plants are growing everywhere! This week in our class garden, pumpkin, spinach, cosmos, beans, peas and nasturtiums, marigolds, morning glories and sunflowers have sprouted. Students have brought in cantalope, strawberry and plum seeds to plant too. In Experiment 4, the students observed what is growing under the ground. We removed baby nasturtiums, morning glories, sunflowers and marigolds from the soil to take a closer look at the root and shoot systems. The students looked at the similarities and differences in the each plant. Thicker shoots, skinny shoots, straight shoots, curvy shoots, lots of roots, one stringy root, tons of tiny roots were their observations. The students also took a look at the leaf structure of each plant. They sketched their leaves in their science journals--leaves that looked like butterfly wings (morning glory), wagon wheels (nasturtium), ovals (sunflowers), dragonfly wings (marigolds). In Experiment 5, the question was asked-- What if the seed has no soil? Can it still sprout? We had discussed that all plants need water, sun, soil to grow. The students sprinkled a variety of seeds on a sponge and watered it. Each table has a seeded sponge that they will water and check. What will happen? The students made some predictions. Stay tuned! Next week--We will plant in our outside garden plot.
Technology: The students continue to use all apps introduced throughout the year. The focus on reading is apps related to vocabulary recognition, blending, segmenting and substituting phonemes. In math, students are using apps on addition, subtraction, place value and problem solving. This week students created teams of 4 students and began work on the app Teach Me. The app contains math--addition/subtraction, spelling, and sight word recognition. Students play each other and move up the levels. It includes sticker rewards too. Fun! Fun! Then student have also been exploring the app Life Cycles and and National Geographic Explorer.
Literature: "Plants," "What Moms Can't Do," "Tools for the Garden," "Fancy Nancy's Marvelous Mother's Day," "Worms," "Seeds," "The Ant Bully," "Ants Day Off," "Ice Cream Everywhere," "How Does a Seed Grow?" "Yucky Worms," Poetry--"A Bad Case of the Giggles," Poetry--"A Pizza the Size of the Sun," "Poetry for the Young by Langston Hughes," "Poems for Teachers."
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