We had a great week!
 Our first trip to the library was a success.  If you turned in an application for a library card, your library card is in the folder.  Congratulations!  Thanks to our volunteer chaperones.  We will be doing a research project in November using our new library cards.  

 Reading:  We have added several new centers to our guided reading centers.   Next week we will get new groups and students will get new books each week for their book bags.  We are focusing on beginning, middle and end.  We also started using Lexia this week.  Please see the instructions for how to use Lexia at home.

Writing:  We are also focusing on beginning, middle and end in our writing.  Students are getting more independent about getting sounds down on paper for their words.  We will really focus on spaces between our words next week.

Math:   We completed our first chapter in the My Math curriculum.  We worked on concepts of more than, less than and equal to.  We are also practicing writing and reading numbers 1-20.

Upcoming Dates:
October 10: No school for institute day
October 13:  No school for Columbus Day
October 22:  FUN RUN!  See the link to the left to register your child if you have not already!
October 31:  Halloween Party and Parade -Details on times coming soon.  Kids can bring costumes to school and will change after lunch.
November 5:  Our 50th day of School!  Your child will want to wear a 50's inspired outfit that day.  Keep this in mind as you gather Halloween costumes.

October?  October?  How can it be that Monday is our 30th day of school??

Your children are doing amazing things!  You must be noticing all sorts of fabulous growth at home.  If you even want to see exactly what goes on in a Kindergarten classroom let me know.  The doors are always open.

Reading:  We continue to work on characters and settings.  We are also working on telling about the beginning, middle and end.  We learned how to write stories with beginning, middles and ends, too.

Writing:  We continue to focus on beginning sounds and putting spaces between words when we write.    We start our letters at the top and are learning about tall and short letters.

Math:  We learned greater than and less than this week.

Apples:  This week we learned about the parts of an apple and how an apple grows.  We will make an apple diagram next week and we will keep reading about apples.  The week of October 13th we will make applesauce.   (Yummy!)  Stay tuned.

Upcoming Dates:
October 6th:   Walk to Maze Library-We will leave Irving School around 12:35 and Return to around 2:00.  We only have one chaperone.  We would gladly take an extra if you have time! (Please?)
October 7th:   Bus Evacuation Drill
October 8th:   Walk to School Day
October 10th:  No School for Teacher institute day.
October 13th:  No School for Columbus Day
October 23rd and 24th:  1/2 day for Parent Teacher Conferences.  Dismissal is at 11:00 on these days.  No lunch is served. Please look for a conference reminder in October 14th homework packets.

Reading:  We are practicing our Sight Words.  So far we have learned I, we, see, like, can.
The most exciting part of our Reading this week was starting Reading Groups during centers.  Right now our groups are still heterogeneous as we learn the routine.  In about two weeks I will have the kids reading books at their reading level.

Math:  You may notice the My Math papers coming home in Mailbox Papers.  We began "clipboard" math this week.  We sit around the rug and do a whole group math lesson before going to our tables and doing small groups and self directed math.  This program ensures that all of the Kindergarten standards are taught.

Writing:  We are working on "zooming in" during writing time.  This means we are moving away from stories like "I like my family."  Instead we are adding details like, "My sister is good at playing soccer." Next week you will see a bunch of writing papers come home.  These are our daily writing papers.  The students chose their favorites to hang in the hall.

Folders:  You will see the new homework folders go home Monday.  These will also have a behavior calendar that you can discuss with your child every day.  Please sign the calendar at the end of the week letting me know you have seen it.  This is meant as a conversation starter between you and your child.

Green Team:  Thanks to Maeve and Aidan for agreeing to be our Green Team Reps!

Upcoming Dates
September 30th:   Picture Day-Order Forms are in Friday Mailbox Papers
October 6th:   Walk to Maze Library-We will leave Irving School around 12:35 and Return to around 2:00.  If your child does not have a library card, please fill out the application in the Friday Mailbox Papers.  I need 2-3 parents who could walk with us.  Please let me know ASAP if you can join us on this trip.
October 7th:   Bus Evacuation Drill
October 8th:   Walk to School Day
October 23rd and 24th:  1/2 day for Parent Teacher Conferences.  Dismissal is at 11:00 on these days.  No lunch is served. 

We had a great week!

You will notice a blog post below this one that has information about an upcoming fundraiser...The FUN RUN!  Please read it carefully and let me know if you have any question.

You will also notice in our Friday Papers two Scholastic Book Club order forms with an attached letter explaining how to order online!  The link is right to the left on the blog.  After reading the letter, let me know if you have any questions about how it works.

Reading:  We worked on characters and setting this week.  We also learned about fiction and nonfiction in library.  We continue to work on reading left to right, top to bottom.

Math:  We are working on writing numbers and counting out the correct number of objects to match the  number.  We are also working on subitizing.  This is when students can look at a group of dots or objects and say how many there are without counting.  There will be a homework assignment to help you practice this at home next week.

Theme:  We are still talking about families and friends.  We will wrap this up next week and begin our apple theme.  This is an introduction to our life cycle studies and seasons.

Upcoming Dates:
September 25th:   Irving Spirit Wear orders are due.  Here's the link!  Totally optional!
September 26th:  Scholastic Book Orders Due.  The link is on the left!  Totally optional!
September 30th:  Fall Pictures

It’s time for the PTO Fun Run fundraiser! This year it will be during the school day on Wednesday, October 22. This will be the PTO’s third Fun Run since we’ve had so much success in the past. Together we hope to raise money while teaching healthy habits and building quality character traits.

The PTO needs your support to achieve the goals for this big fundraiser!

HOW CAN YOU HELP?: Raise pledges from friends and family.

Over the last two years we’ve raised $20,000 in profit for school activities and our overall goal this year is $13,000.

PRIZES

All students are given the starting goal of $30, but most choose a higher amount for their online page.

Students that raise $30 or more receive a School Spirit Store certificate.

The top pledging student in the school will receive a Fitness Pack with cool things in it.

The top 5 pledging students in the school will get a gift certificate for a Subway lunch.

The top pledging student in each classroom will get to be the gym teacher for their class one day!

The classroom that raises the most will get a Recess Pack with super fun stuff!

PLEDGES

Pledge packets will go home with the Tuesday Packets on 9/16. That is the “Kick-Off” day. Students can collect money by check, cash or online.

Checks/cash:

Students can bring in their pledges of cash/checks at any point after they’re done collecting. They should try to bring donations in all at once, not piecemeal. Students should use the envelopes that are part of the pledge packets, or they can use a regular envelope with their name and TEACHER on it.

Donations are due the day of the Fun Run, October 22!

Online:

Students can also collect donations online starting Tuesday, 9/16. Parents can register their child for online pledges at thegetmovincrew.com. A custom web page is created for student when they register. Parents can create custom emails and add posts to social media websites.

FUN RUN DAY

All students will participate in the Fun Run on Wednesday, October 22, regardless of whether or not they pledged. Below is a list of scheduled times per grade.

Kindergarten 8:15 – 8:45

1st Grade 8:50 – 9:20

2nd Grade 9:25 – 9:55

3rd Grade 12:15 – 12:45

4th Grade 12:50 – 1:20

5th Grade 1:25 – 1:55

The run will be outside on the turf or in the gym in case of bad weather. The students will get a Fun Run # sticker, have a brief warm-up and take a class photo with the eagle mascot. Then they will walk/run for about 15-20 minutes on the turf field. Once the walk/run time is over we will direct the students to the blacktop to enjoy a snack and water. Each student will receive a small prize for participating!

On behalf of the Irving PTO we thank you for your continued support!

September 12, 2014

It was so wonderful seeing everyone at Open House and Curriculum Night last night!  It is a good (GREAT!) sign for a teacher to see such great parent involvement.  If you have any lingering questions or concerns please do not hesitate to ask!

Reading:  We continue to work on Common Core Standard RL3:  Identifying characters, setting and main events.  We are also working with the foundational skills of one to one correspondence when reading words.

Writing:  We are working on beginning sounds in words and writing stories that have characters and settings.  We are also working on drawing pictures with details.

Math:  We celebrated our 10th day of school with Zero the Hero!  We are working on counting on and writing numbers.

Theme:  We continue to get to know each other and we are working on using everyone's names when we play with them.

September 5, 2014

I cannot believe what a difference a week makes!   The children are learning the routines and are already getting more independent!

Even though they are really settling in and getting more comfortable, please do not be alarmed if you still see meltdowns at home!  This is normal!  It will get better!  They are working so hard at school and behaving beautifully. They are simply saving up their grumpies for you!

Reading:  We are focusing on the foundational skills of letter identification, sounds and concepts of print.  We are also learning about characters and settings. (RL3)

Writing:  During Writers Workshop we are working on our writing stamina.  Students are learning that writing is just "getting your ideas down on paper."  We are also working on labeling.

Math:  We are learning the calendar routines for days of the week, months of the year and counting how many days we've been in school.  Next Monday Zero the Hero will fly in to "celebrate"our tenth day of school!

Social Studies:  We are talking about friends and family.  We are getting to know our Book Buddies and learning about how we are all alike and different.

Dates:
I hope to see you all at Barrie Park on Friday!

Thursday, September 11 at 6:30 is Curriculum Night!  Please plan on being there!  The presentation is only  25 minutes, but it will be the most important 25 minutes of the year!  Room 114!