Lots of Business...

We had a great trip to the Planetarium!  







May 6th-Young Athletes culminating field trip

-We will be back in time for lunch so there is no need to pack an extra lunch.  We will be leaving right at 8:40.  Please have your child at school on time!
-We will distribute the t-shirts on Friday morning. Your child can change at school or wear it over another shirt.
- We will be outside all morning.  Please apply sunscreen.
-Your child NEEDS gym shoes.  

May 20th is Ms. Coffey's last day.  I would like to send her off with a little care package for her future classroom.  All teachers love books!  If you are able to contribute a book or two for a basket I know she would appreciate it.  You can give used books, as long as they are appropriate for a primary classroom.  PLEASE have your child sign her/his name inside the book.  I love looking back at book gifts from my old students.  
If you do not have time to pick out a book for her but would like to contribute in some way, I will be purchasing a gift certificate for her to use at a teacher store.  You can send a donation in an envelope with my name on it by next Thursday.   On Friday morning during snack time we will present the gifts to her and have a special snack.  

BOOK TALKS!
 Your child has one last written assignment for the year.  I am compiling a list of book recommendations for the summer.  Your child should think about a favorite book and be prepared to tell classmates about it.  It can be a book they enjoy reading independently or a book they enjoy listening to.   A form will go home Monday with your child's date on it and space to write three important things about the book.    Book talks start next week.  
  
May 9th Traveling poets begins - your child needs to have the poem memorized.  
May 12-Art Fest  This is a great night that celebrates all the special classes at Irving.  The culminating event is the poetry slam!  This is a great opportunity for those budding stage stars! 

May 20- Ms. Coffey's last day- We will have a send off for her.  
May 27th - Olympic Day
June 1 Picnic and Play at Rehm Park
June 3rd- (evening) End of year Party- whole school
June 8th-Last day of school.  Be sure to come for the "film fest" and the teacher dance.  (Times announced soon.)

April 22

Continue to check those dates and mark them in your calendar!  

Reading and Writing:  Ms. Coffey is working on finding and using text features in both reading and writing.  Kids have included maps, labels, diagrams and "fun facts" in their writing this week.  

Math: The students practiced measuring area this week in math.  We also finished up learning about capacity and weight.  This hands on math is a lot of fun and they are learning some difficult concepts at the same time.  Students also practiced making 3D shapes and putting shapes together to create new shapes.

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Science: We are excited for Space Day!  We have learned about gravity, planets and life for astronauts.  Tomorrow we will learn about constellations.  

Homework: Next week your child will have a calendar for the remaining days of the year.  Each day we do an alphabet countdown that will include a fun activity or  something special to wear for each letter of the alphabet.


https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7t0DQLJkq7xV3VvZk1qS1lwakk/view?usp=sharing


April 27th- 60s dress up day for whole school in keeping with the Peace, Love and Books theme for the book fair.  
April 28th--Maze Library Field Trip--DRESS FOR A WALK!!!  WE WILL WALK IF IT IS DRIZZLING.  WE WILL NOT WALK IF IT IS STORMING.

April 29th--Kindergarten Space Day--please see sign up genius if you need a reminder.  We CANNOT WAIT!  It will be a blast!

May 3rd--Adler Planetarium Field Trip-Your child will need a packed lunch on this day!
May 3rd- ABC Kindergarten Countdown begins
May 6th-Young Athletes culminating field trip-
     Irving Sleepover- Many Kindergarteners do really well at this event.  Some are not ready.  If you have any questions, let me know.  
May 9th Traveling poets begins 
May 12-Art Fest  This is a great night that celebrates all the special classes at Irving.  The culminating event is the poetry slam!  This is a great opportunity for those budding stage stars! 

May 20th- Ms. Coffey's last day- We will have a send off for her.  
May 27th - Olympic Day
June 3rd- (evening) End of year Party- whole school
June 8th-Last day of school.  Be sure to come for the "film fest" and the teacher dance.  (Times announced soon.)

April 15th

Reading  This week we compared the adventures of Max from Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak,   and Bear from Mooncake by Frank Asch.  The students did a great job telling how these characters were the same and how their adventures differed.
Writing:  Students are working on informational writing.  We will begin an informational book about the planets this week.
Math:  Students enjoyed using balance scales to measure and compare the weights of classroom objects.  We will learn about capacity and area this week.  
Science:  We learned a lot about the sun and moon.  This week we will learn about the planets.  We are getting excited for Space Day.

Homework: 
This week's packet will have a lot of work for the adults.  
-Please sign and return

• permission slip for Maze Library walking Field Trip
• permission slip for Adler Planetarium-we need chaperones
• permission slip for Young Athletes culminating field trip

-Please read an introductory letter from Ms. Coffey

-Please help your child find a brown paper bag and an empty cereal box.

-Your child will need to practice memorizing a poem for travelling poets.  This is a great Irving tradition.  Every student in the building will memorize a poem (with a partner).  During their library time students travel to different classes and give the class a "poetry break".  

It's a busy time of year!  Please take a minute to look at all the upcoming events.  Check back often for updates.
April 18th-21st--Irving Book Fair Coin Collection-clean out those piggy banks and donate coins to our classroom collection so that we can earn books for our classroom and school library
April 28th--Maze Library Field Trip--This is a walking field trip.  We do not need chaperones because Ms. Coffey will be with us.  You are welcome to join us if you would enjoy the walk.  Permission slip coming in homework packet.
April 29th--Kindergarten Space Day--please see sign up genius and information coming in homework packet.
May 3rd--Adler Planetarium Field Trip-permission slip coming in homework packet. We need chaperones.  You can ride the bus!
May 4th- ABC Kindergarten Countdown begins-more on this later
May 6th-Young Athletes culminating field trip-permission slip coming in homework packet
     Irving Sleepover- Many Kindergarteners do really well at this event.  Some are not ready.  If you have any questions, let me know.  
May 9th Traveling poets begins 
May 12-Art Fest  This is a great night that celebrates all the special classes at Irving.  The culminating event is the poetry slam!  This is a great opportunity for those budding stage stars!

May 20th- Ms. Coffey's last day
May 27th - Olympic Day
June 3rd- (evening) End of year Party- whole school
June 8th-Last day of school.  Be sure to come for the "film fest" and the teacher dance.  (Times announced soon.)

Spring?

We had a great first week back from break.  Ms. Coffey, our student teacher is taking over some small group work and some of our daily routines.  She will introduce herself soon in an email for those of you who have not had a chance to meet her in person.

Reading: As you saw from the homework this week, we are comparing the adventures of characters in two different stories.  The kids love working with the Venn Diagrams!  We are also working hard during daily five on many new word work activities.

Writing:  We wrote a lot about our Spring Break.  The kids added details to the stories with pictures and words.  Next week we will be working on writing nonfiction.  We will be doing some shared research on the planets and will compile a book about them in the next few weeks.

Math:  We are working on addition and subtraction stories.  We continue to learn about 3D shapes.  Next week we will be using balance scales to learn about weights and measurements.

Science:  We are learning about the sun and shadows.  We will learn about the moon and planets next.  This is all in preparation for Space Day and our Field Trip to the Planetarium!  Please look for a sign up doc this week about Space Day!

Hopefully this week will bring nicer weather and we can get outside to look at our shadows.

March 15, 2016

Reading:  We are reading nonfiction books about American Symbols.  This week we are learning about the Bald Eagle.  We are talking about main ideas and details.  We enjoyed making flags last week and writing about them.  We proudly displayed them in the auditorium so the voters would see them.

Writing:  This week we are working on telling more details in a story.  Students were given the opportunity to write a four page book during Writers Workshop.

Daily 5:  Students continue to work on literacy centers.

Math:  We are learning about 3D shapes this week.  We are also doing review on subtraction and addition using all of our strategies.  We also enjoyed learning how to flip a penny and tally and graph our results.  We had fun calling out, "Lincoln!"

Upcoming Dates:
Thursday, March 24th:  Field Trip to Field Museum 
Spirit Week is all next week! See below for details.
March 25-April 3rd:  Spring Break


Next week is Spirit Week sponsored by our Student Council.

Monday:  Pajama Day!
Tuesday: Crazy Hair Day!
Wednesday: Backwards Day!
Thursday:  Irving Day!

Click Here for more information about Spirit Week.

LaNya tries on an African scarf when Ms. Allen came a few weeks ago to talk about African Cultures.

Some fourth and fifth graders performed in the Opera for the Young last week.

Spring is in the Air

I hope everyone enjoyed the warmer temperatures this week!  I know I am finding dismissal a whole lot easier!  Whew!

Reading:
This week we are spending some time reading books about American Symbols and the Presidents.  We are learning how to figure out the meaning of unknown words by using context clues.

Writing:  We are working on "How to" writing.  We are also working very hard on writing our letters neatly and correctly. Some kids are working on special handwriting paper.  Everyone is working hard to use lower case letters in the middle of sentences.

Math:  We are working on subtraction number stories and sentences.  Just like addition, we have several strategies we can use to solve the problems.  Students used a number line and are drawing pictures to help them.  We also enjoyed subtracting some cheerios...by eating them.

Science:  We will be working on weather a lot when we get back from Spring Break and then we will jump into Space.  We are finishing up water  this week and next week.

Upcoming Dates:
Tuesday, March 15:  NO SCHOOL for students.
Monday, March 21:  Our student teacher, Ms. Coffey, begins her 8 weeks with us.
Friday, March 24th:  SPRING BREAK BEGINS
Monday, April 4:  School resumes

Reading:

We completed our author study of Mo Willems, but will continue to enjoy his books for the next few weeks during read alouds and when we have book buddies.  Since March 2 is Dr. Seuss' birthday, we are reading some of his books this week.  We will focus on rhyming and reading nonsense words.

Writing:  

Students did a great job sharing their opinion about what their favorite Mo Willems book is.  We are moving on to "how to" writing.  This kind of writing gets them practicing transition words such as next, later, after  and last.  We are also really working on neatness in writing now that we are close to the end of the second trimester.  Students will be asked to use lower case letters when appropriate.  

Math:

This week we learned how to use a number line to add two numbers together.  The students did a fantastic job using this strategy.   We are also using pictures and objects to help us solve number sentences.  Next week we will look at subtraction stories!

Upcoming Dates

March 15th: No School institute day. 

March 24th:  Field Trip to the Field Museum.  Report cards go home. 

March 25th-April 1st: Spring Break