February 22-26

Reading:   We continue our Mo Willems author study.  The students are really enjoying the sense of humor he has and his expressive, simple art.  Students wrote opinion pieces about whether or not the pigeon should be able to drive the bus.

Writing:  We will write an opinion piece about the best Mo Willems book on Thursday. This will be a hard decision for many of the students!  Students should be able to express their opinion and give a few reasons why they think it is the best book.  

Math:   We are learning how to use a number line to solve addition problems.  We now have several strategies for  solving problems.

Science:  This week we learned about water melting and evaporation.  We will learn about condensation tomorrow and on Friday we will learn how some things dissolve in water and some things don't.  One of the things that dissolves might be hot cocoa mix...  

Author Visit:
You should have received the order sheet for books written by Jonah Winter.  He will be visiting Irving on March 11th and will sign the books ordered.  


Upcoming Dates
March 4th--Opera for the Young Performance
March 11th--Jonah Winter Author Visit
March 15th--Institute Day-NO SCHOOL
March 25th-April 1st--SPRING BREAK

February 16-19

I hope everyone had a wonderful long weekend.

Reading and Writing: We will continue reading Mo Willems books this week.  Today we were inspired by Knuffle Bunny to write stories about when we lost something special to us.  The kids did a fantastic job writing about this experience!

We will also work on writing some opinions about our favorite Pigeon.  Would YOU let the pigeon drive the bus? 

Math:  We are working on drawing pictures to solve story problems in math.  Students will also practice writing number sentences.  Even though our 100th day of school has come and gone we still practice counting to 100 every day.  Keep practicing at home.  This is a skill that has to be secure.

Science:  We will learn about how water changes from solid to liquid this week.  

The Fun Fair is this weekend!  I hope to see many of you there.  This week your child can "vote" for which teachers get the pie in the face!

Pie in the Face

Groups of teachers are on teams.  Your child decides which team gets a PIE IN THE FACE!!!  Kids bring in pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, dollars...you get the idea!  The money goes in jars during the day or  after school.  The team who raises the most money gets the pie...in the face!   The winner of the Pie in the Face contest is announced at the end of the Fun Fair after the Talent Show. Check out this video to see the theme of the Teacher "Talent" Show this year...Wild and Crazy Teachers!

Reading:  We are working on identifying supporting details the author gives to support the main idea.  We have read a number of non-fiction books to practice this.   Next week we are starting an author study of Mo Willems!  

Writing:  The kids are getting very good at writing opinion pieces.  They need to state an opinion and then give a few reasons why they think that way.  

Math:  We are spending lots of time getting ready for our 100th day of school.  We are also having fun playing games that help us add 1 to a number quickly.

Behavior:  We did not have our color charts in our folders this week for two reasons.  First we ran out when I was gone...  The other reason is that I've been coming down pretty strict on the kids this week for behavior.  There was a lot of talking on the rug and off task behavior during work time.  We used this week to review good behavior choices and did a lot of talking about what it looks like to be a good listener.

Social Studies:
We learned a lot about MLK and Rosa Parks.  Now we are learning about Jackie Robinson.

Valentines:

Next week in the  homework you will find is a list of names for our Valentines.  Your child can bring Valentines in on Friday.  Please make sure to include everyone on the list.  Your child can bring in treats, goodie bags...whatever.  HOWEVER!  The only snack we will eat at school will be our leftover 100 day snack.  All treats will be sent home, so please pack it accordingly.  If it is not individually wrapped the kids won't be able to enjoy it.

As promised-here is some information about our upcoming Fun Fair!

Fun Fair Glossary of Definitions

Is this your First Fun Fair?  If it is, you may be confused about all the different emails and flyers that are coming home and will be coming home.  Here is a crash course in our biggest fundraiser of the year.

Silent Auction  

Teacher Parties, Parent Parties, Donated Items, and Class Baskets

The class baskets and teacher parties/donations will be auctioned off at the Fun Fair from 11-230.  The rest of the items, including tickets to parent parties and any tickets to the teacher parties that didn't sell at the Fun Fair, will be available in the online auction.  The online auction begins at 5:00 the evening of the Fun Fair.

  Together with the Kindergarten teachers, I am hosting a games and giggles and pizza party.  It should be lots of fun!  With a few other grade levels I am hosting a movie party.  It would be great to see lots of my students at these events. 

Fun Fair

Tickets

You pay for almost everything with tickets.  There are advance ticket sales the week before the Fun Fair after school.  You can also get them at the door.  The more you buy, the more you do.  

Carnival Games

These are in the gym.  Each game usually costs one or two tickets.  This is great especially for the younger kids.

Cake Walk

This is the traditional cake walk game.  Music is played.  When it stops they call a number.  If you are on that number you get to pick a cake. PLEASE CONSIDER MAKING COOKIES, CAKES, CUPCAKES, ETC FOR THE CAKE WALK!

Staff Talent Show

This is the highlight of the Fun Fair for lots of people.  Many teachers participate in this fun (humiliating) event.  This is at the end of the Fun Fair.  It is loud and crowded and lots of fun.  It is in the auditorium.  This year we will be doing "Wild and Crazy Teachers!"  Come see what it is all about!

Silent Auction

There are many items and events in the auction.  Our community is very generous.  This is also where the class baskets are.  Ours is sure to be a big hit!  Be sure to contribute to our Movie Night Basket!

Pie in the Face

Groups of teachers are on teams.  Your child decides which team gets a PIE IN THE FACE!!!  Kids bring in pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, dollars...you get the idea!  The team who raises the most money gets the pie...in the face!  g The winner of the Pie in the Face contest is announced at the end of the Fun Fair after the Talent Show.

How awesome is our school???!!!!