Calling All Curious Kids and Humpty Dumpty Heroes!

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR CLASSROOM SPELLING BEE WINNERS!

TIMMY NICOLOSI and SAMMIE RYAN will represent our class in the K-2 spelling bee! I am sure they will make us proud. If one of them is sick that day Hannah McDaniel will be our alternate. Way to go, spellers!

Also-since I have a few kids who already know they will be out on Friday I will be sending home mailbox papers on Friday. Please look for the Scholastic Book Orders. You can place an order anytime online using the link on the left. Thanks!

Reading and Writing: This week we read a lot about space and did some nonfiction writing. As you read nonfiction at home look for

• bold words
• diagrams
• detailed drawings or photographs
• explanations of unknown words

Math: We continue to practice naming the 3D shapes and describe them. We are also practicing our addition and subtraction facts up to ten so they are fluent.

Science: We are learning a lot about space. We will continue learning about Space when we return from Spring Break. This will culminate in two learning experiences. The first is a "Space Day" on April 17th. We will need some volunteers for this special day! We will also go to the Planetarium on April 20th. Please look for the permission slip the Monday after Spring Break.

See Below for information about our Academic Fair and Egg Drop

Calling All Curious Kids and Humpty Dumpty Heroes!

The Irving School Academic Fair and Egg-Drop Contest are for you!This year’s Academic Fair and Egg-Drop Contest will be held on Wednesday, April 22nd.

The Academic Fair is like a science fair, because students complete projects and present them at the Fair. However, it’s open to more subjects, including history, health, engineering, literature, architecture, geography, science, and more. To complete a project, children must come up with a question about a favorite topic, figure out a way to answer that question, and then present what they've learned.

Can you figure out how to drop an egg from a three-story window without letting it crack? Then why not design an egg-drop vehicle and try it out at this year's Egg-Drop Contest? We will stage the egg drop right after lunch on the day of the Academic Fair and then display the egg-drop vehicles in the evening during the Fair.

Both events are open to Irving School students in all grades, kindergarten through fifth. To participate in this year's Academic Fair or the Egg-Drop Contest – or both – please fill out this registration form.

If you have questions, or need any accommodations, please contact Emilie Creehan at ecreehan@op97.org.

To sign up, fill out this Google Form.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

It seems like Spring may finally come to our classroom!  As we begin the third trimester I am in awe of how much your children have grown so far this year!  I am excited to finish the year STRONG!  We have a lot left to learn and your sweet children are showing such great enthusiasm for tackling new challenges!

Today a leprechaun came and messed up our classroom!  He left gold all over the floor, made a wee little pyramid out of green cups, hid all our crayons and left us with only GREEN crayons and left us clues to a pot of (yummy!) gold.  It was a lot of fun.

Yesterday a bagpiper came to played some songs for us on the bagpipe!  What a fun week we have had so far!

Reading:  We are working on asking and answering questions while we read.  We continue to work on main ideas and details.  We will begin reading some more nonfiction books as we learn about space and the planets.

Writing:  As we read more non-fiction books we will also write more nonfiction.  For now, we are working on our writing stamina.  We are really focusing again on writing the whole time.  The kids went from 8 minutes of quiet the first day to 17 minutes just four days later. Good for them!

Math:  We are decomposing teen numbers.  We are also reviewing our measurement words and our measuring skills.  Finally, we are learning the names of 3d (solid) shapes.

Science:  We will begin learning about space and the planets.  This will take us all the way up to our field trip to the planetarium.

Upcoming Dates
Next Week is Spirit Week Sponsored by Student Council
Monday:  Pajama Day
Tuesday:  Decade Day (Dress like the 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's...)
Wednesday:  Stuffed Animal Day
Thursday:  Twin Day (Get with Friend or Friends and dress alike!)
Friday: Irving Day-Wear red and black or Wear Irving Gear

March 20th-Report Cards go home.
March 30-April 3: Spring Break
April 20th- Planetarium Field Trip-We will be looking for 3-4 chaperones for this trip.  This is a full day trip.

March 6

Reading:  
We loved reading Dr. Seuss books this week to celebrate his birthday!  We will finish up with a few more of his books next week.  Of course, we worked on rhyming words and nonsense words while reading Dr. Seuss books.

Speaking of GREAT authors...Aaron Reynolds came to Irving this week!  I was not able to attend his presentation, but by all accounts it was a huge hit!  Thank you to the PTO for helping fund this.  Last year during the Book Fair we raised enough money to bring this award winning author to Irving School.

And THANK YOU! for your generous contribution of the book Creepy Carrots to our classroom library.  Aaron Reynolds signed this book for us!

Writing:  This week we wrote an opinion story about which Dr. Seuss book was better-Green Eggs and Ham or The Cat in the Hat.  Green Eggs and Ham won by a landslide!

Math:  During math we are working on the tricky teens.  We are working on decomposing the teen numbers, writing the teen numbers and counting on from the teen numbers.  We continue to practice fact fluency with addition facts up to 10.  We really focus on the +1 and +2 facts.

Science:  We wrapped up or water unit this week by doing some non fiction reading and writing about water.  Next up for Science is our Astronomy unit and then our Plant and Animal Cycles unit.


Upcoming Dates
March 16th Spring Picture Day- there is a flyer in your child's folder.
March 20th-Report Cards go home.
March 30-April 3: Spring Break
April 20th- Planetarium Field Trip-We will be looking for 3-4 chaperones for this trip.  This is a full day trip.

In Like a Lion!

Whew!  The weather does not seem to be letting up!  Please continue to send snowpants, hats, mittens and scarves every day.  The general rule is that we go outside if it is 20 degrees or above.

Friday marks the end of the second trimester.  Yes.   We are 2/3 of the way through the school year.  Can you believe it?  I can!  I see it every day when your children read, write and think like mathematicians!  They are making such tremendous progress!

Reading:  We are finishing up some assessments this week but we are really focusing on main idea and details.  This is a concept that your children will revisit all the way through elementary school.  We are also working on reading those last sight words and re-reading when we need a little help to get through a tricky part.

During Reading Centers children have been making their own choices about which center to visit.  They can choose between word work, writing, silent reading, partner reading, phonics work, listening to reading and lexia.  While this sounds like a lot of work, the children look forward to cener time and strive to "work the whole time" every day.  Here are some pictures of what it looks like.  While they are busy working, I pull small groups of students to work on reading books.

Writing:  During Writers Workshop we are working on narrative writing again.  We will do a re-assessment on Opinion Writing this week as well.

Math:  During math we continue to work on drawing pictures to help solve problems.  We are also working on decomposing numbers greater than 10.  For example, 14 is 10 and 4.  We are just getting started on 3D shapes.

Science:  We explored water a lot last week and the kids have a natural curiosity for sink and float.  We also learned about how water travels.