We have had a busy week at Irving!  Rachel Ruiz came and told us about writing the book, When Penny Meets Potus.  Then she came back to our classroom to give some advice to the authors in our room!  Thanks, PTO for sponsoring this.  

We also had the Dental Education Clinic come in and talk to us about keeping our teeth healthy.  It's not too late to sign up for the dental clinic.  We usually have about 130 students from the school sign up for the screener.  It's a great program!  Here is a link to the form in case you lost yours.  

Math:  We have been working hard getting ready for our 100th day of school.  We've stepped up our counting to 100 and done a lot of math that involves making groups of ten.  The students have also enjoyed playing a new game on the ipad.  Subitize Tree is a fantastic app that really helps kids learn how to do mental math quickly.  The cost is 99cents.  If you want an app on your tablet of phone that will actually help your child AND keep them busy-consider this one! 

Reading:  We have talked about main idea and detail when reading nonfiction books.  We have been comparing characters when reading fiction books.  We will continue to work on these skills next week.

Writing:  The students are doing a GREAT JOB writing their "how to" books!  I love reading about all the things they know how to do.  I will put these in the hall for your read the week of conferences. Conference sign ups and times will be sent digitally on Monday!   Please check emails!

Dates:

January 27:  Institute Day- no school for students

January 30, 31, and February 1:  Dental Clinic. This FREE clinic is available for all students who return a permission slip.  

February 6:  100th day of school!  Come!  Join us at 8:15 for our celebration!  It will be a great way to start your day!

February 16 and 17:  Half day for Conferences.  Conference Sign up will be coming home soon.  Conferences will be held all week. Please plan on 30 minutes for these conferences.  5 minutes will be spent completing forms for my National Board Teaching Certification, Young Athletes.  5 minutes will be spent reading your child's published "How To" book.  20 minutes will be spent with me.  

February 25:  Fun Fair  More on this later!

February 24, 27, and 28:  Ms. Endres will be substitute teaching for 3 days

3/27-3/31 Spring Break (!)

May 19:  Young Athletes field trip to celebrate our partnership with Mr. McDonald's Young Athletes.  Permission slips and waivers will be filled out at conferences.

Upcoming Dates

Please make note of these upcoming events at school.  

January 19 at 10:15: Author visit from Rachel Ruiz.  Author of When Penny Meets POTUS.  Parents are welcome.  Thank you PTO for making this possible.

Wednesday, January 25 12:45 pm:  Opera for the Young  - Parents are welcome to come to this annual PTO sponsored event.  Ms. Hiolski does a great job preparing the students

January 27:  Institute Day- no school for students

January 30, 31, and February 1:  Dental Clinic. This FREE clinic is available for all students who return a permission slip.  

February 16 and 17:  Half day for Conferences.  Conference Sign up will be coming home soon.  Conferences will be held all week. Please plan on 30 minutes for these conferences.  5 minutes will be spent completing forms for my National Board Teaching Certification, Young Athletes.  5 minutes will be spent reading your child's published "How To" book.  20 minutes will be spent with me.  

February 25:  Fun Fair  More on this later!

February 24, 27, and 28:  Ms. Endres will be substitute teaching for 3 days

3/27-3/31 Spring Break (!)

May 19:  Young Athletes field trip to celebrate our partnership with Mr. McDonald's Young Athletes.  Permission slips and waivers will be filled out at conferences.

Happy New Year!  We had a great first week back!  We were busy catching up on our holiday, reviewing routines, and learning all sorts of new things!

Writing:  Enjoy some pictures of some of the kids trying their hand at "How To" writing.  This was our "On Demand" writing day.  Before we begin a new unit in writing, I tell the kids a little about the new kind of writing and then ask them to do their best.  It helps me see what they can already do and figure out where I should begin.  If you have not already done the list of things your child can do at home, please do that this weekend!  It will be very helpful since we write a new "How To" book almost every day! They have become wonderful authors!

Speaking of authors, we are VERY excited to meet author Rachel Ruiz on Thursday!  She will be coming to speak to all the Kindergarteners about her book, When Penny Meets POTUS.  If you did not order a copy, but would like one, let me know ASAP and we can make sure it happens!  It is an awesome book!  

Reading:  This week we read The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats.  The kids loved seeing a favorite character, Peter, in a new book.  We discussed how readers make connections with characters and we reviewed retelling.  Next week we will begin doing some more nonfiction reading as we learn about Martin Luther King.  

Math:  We worked on the concept of more than and less than this week.  We loved playing our new game, Top It!  We also learned about number bonds.  Check out these pictures and this cute video of the kids playing Top It!