End of the Year

It is hard to believe the year is drawing to a close. The last few weeks of school are always so busy that it is hard to find a moment to look back on the year. I am officially finishing my 16th year of teaching. While each year is different, and each class is different, I'm always amazed and grateful as the year draws to a close. This year is no different.

This year I am amazed at the growth of the children in this class! They came in eager to learn and worked hard each day. They made the leap from primary to intermediate students in a blink! They work well independently and as a group. This group is characterized by curiosity and creativity.

I am grateful for their smiles and hugs. I am grateful for your trust and support. We've had great volunteers and tons of support from home. Homework was turned in on time, papers were returned, and we always had great participation at school wide events. The dedication to our class and Irving was evident. Your support of education will benefit your child for a lifetime!

I am looking forward to seeing everyone around over the summer and can't wait to have third grade visitors next year. As always, please consider me an advocate for your child. If you ever have a question, would like some advice, or just want to celebrate an accomplishment, don't hesitate to get in contact with me.

Have a wonderful summer. Thank you all for a wonderful school year!

Mrs. Parkinson

Finally! Spring!

Reading: We read a story about the creation of the Statue of Liberty this week. We learned about the friendship between France and the United States.
Math: We finished up our unit on measurement. Ask your child about the "measure man" we made on Tuesday to help us remember units of capacity.
Writing: We worked on expository paragraphs this week about a frog's life cycle. Students needed to support each detail.
Science: The big excitement of the week was watching the caterpillars turn into chrysalises. They quickly emerged as gorgeous painted lady butterflies. Fortunately we got to release them into gorgeous weather.

Our field trip was a blast and we are so grateful for the many chaperones who joined us on this trip. I've linked pictures. There are also some pictures from our trip to release the butterflies.

Upcoming Dates:
May 23: All Library books are due
May 24: Tribute to Excellence 8:30 am
May 27: Olympic Day and Final spelling test
May 30: No school
May 31: Math Facts tests (This will be repeated every day this week for students who do not pass the first time.)
June 1: Board Game Day-students can bring in a board game from home to practice our Room 204 Promise. We will play from 1:00-2:00
June 2nd: 2nd grade Picnic at Barrie Park-We will walk to Barrie Park to have a picnic lunch and play. Students can bring balls, hula hoops, etc. We would love lots of parents to join us!
June 3: Cleaning Day: Please send in an extra bag for extra supplies, books, art projects, etc.
June 6: Reading Celebration Day-students can bring pillows, stuffed animals and favorite books to read with friends.
June 7: Shortened schedule, last day of school!

May 9-13

Reading: Students continue to read either George Washington or Molly's Pilgrim. We are practicing the reading strategy of drawing conclusions as we read these great stories.

Math: We are practicing measuring and looking at longer distances. Next week we will learn about capacity, volume and area.

Science: We carefully observed our Painted Lady caterpillars this week. We learned that these caterpillars spin silk like a spider. We also learned that a caterpillar has 6 true legs and 12 prolegs. Ask your child about these features.

Students took the final MAP test this week in the computer lab. Results will go home in the last report card.

Ask your child about

• the fire safety house
• math center measuring
• cursive practice

Upcoming Dates:

2010-11 Irving Yearbooks
The 2010-11 Irving yearbooks will be for sale after school Wednesday and Thursday, May 18 and 19, outside the school office. Cost is $15 per book (cash or check to the Irving PTO). Yearbooks also will be available for sale in the school office Thursday and after. Don’t miss this chance to capture your child’s school memories! This year’s book features a color-it-yourself cover (chosen by the fifth-graders) that students can personalize with markers.

May 14-Irving Yard Sale
May 16th Public Library Presentation
May 19th-Field Trip to Peggy Notebaert Museum and Lincoln Park Zoo, Poetry Slam 7:00pm
May 23rd-Library Books due
May 24th-Tribute to Excellence awards 8:30
June 1rst-Tea for Volunteers (Invitations will go out soon)
June 2nd- Second Grade Picnic (11:00-1:00 at Barrie Park) and PBIS celebration 1:30
June 3rd Full day of School (Make up Day)
June 6th Full day of School (Make up Day)
June 7th Last day of school-shortened schedule

We Have a Lot Going On!!!

Reading: We continue to read stories about America and It's People. Students are working on comprehension packets for a book about George Washington or book about a girl who immigrated from Russia, called Molly's Pilgrim.
Math: We are measuring with standard units such as inches, centimeters, yards and meters.
Social Studies: You may have seen the banks that came home last Friday after a cool presentation on economics and being money wise. We will continue to work on these concepts for the remainder of the year.
Science: Our painted lady caterpillars have arrived and we will be observing them until we are able to release the butterflies later this spring.
PBIS celebration: The class has earned their second PBIS celebration. They voted to have another movie... (I tried to steer them in a different direction, but they really wanted the movie...) I will make the movie selection this weekend and let you know when that is happening. This will not be a pajama day.
Dates:
May 10-Fire Safety House Presentation
May 14-Irving Yard Sale
May 16th Public Library Presentation
May 19th-Field Trip to Peggy Notebaert Museum and Lincoln Park Zoo, Poetry Slam 7:00pm
May 23rd-Library Books due
May 24th-Tribute to Excellence awards 8:30
June 1rst-Tea for Volunteers (Invitations will go out soon)
June 2nd- Second Grade Picnic (11:00-1:00 at Barrie Park) and PBIS celebration 1:30
June 3rd Full day of School (Make up Day)
June 6th Full day of School (Make up Day)
June 7th Last day of school-shortened schedule

Almost May-Hard to Believe!

We have been very busy in room 204 this week.
Reading: We are working on a new unit in Open Court about Our Country and It's People. In addition to the stories we are reading in our anthologies, students are reading a novel or a biography. Ask your child about which book they are reading during centers. For the next two weeks our reading assessments will be on these books instead of our typical Open Court tests.
Science: We learned about erosion and weathering. We will be taking a careful look at different types of soil and an earthworm before wrapping up our unit on Rocks, Minerals and Soil.
Social Studies: If your child has already passed the 50 states test two times s/he received a map of the continents and oceans to study this week. Once she has passed this test two times we will work on the Great Lakes and major rivers.
Math: We finished our unit on fractions and will start a unit on measurement next. Keep practicing those basic facts. All students need to be able to answer 100 addition facts and 100 subtraction facts in 5 minutes by June!
Ask your child about:

• making a sand pile erode
• the academic fair and egg drop
• reporting as a table about different American Indian groups from different regions of America

Fitness Week
Monday: Ball and Rope Day-kids can bring their favorite ball or jump rope
Tuesday: Healthy Heart Day-wear red and bring a healthy snack to lunch
Wednesday: ACES-10:35-10:50 All Children Exercising Simultaneously
Thursday: Sports Hat Day-wear your favorite sports hat
Friday: School Spirit Day-wear Irving school clothing or anything with red/white
Saturday: Districts Annual Fun Run 8:00 at Lindburg Park
DATES
April 28th -Math Night
April 29th-Irving Sleepover
May 2-6 Fitness Week: See above
May 3-6-Book Fair
May 4th and 11th MAP testing
May 16th Public Library Presentation
May 19th-Field Trip to Peggy Notebaert Museum and Lincoln Park Zoo, Poetry Slam 7:00pm
May 23rd-Library Books due
June 1rst-Tea for Volunteers (Invitations will go out soon)
June 2nd- Second Grade Picnic (11:00-1:00 at Barrie Park) and PBIS celebration 1:30
June 3rd Full day of School (Make up Day)
June 6th Full day of School (Make up Day)
June 7th Last day of school-shortened schedule

Centennial Celebration!

Centennial Celebration
I hope all of you will come to Irving Friday night for Irving's big centennial celebration. Many parents and teachers have worked hard to make this a great birthday party for the school we all love. The artwork that is on display is amazing and I'm sure you will enjoy the opportunity to see the whole school.
Marc Brown
We were all a little star struck here on Wednesday with the visit from famous author and illustrator Marc Brown. It was exciting to meet a man who is so accomplished and yet so modest. He connected with the students instantly. It was awesome to see the students have true respect for someone who creates books!

Spelling Bee Champs!
Congratulations to Bodie Kahlow and Robin Manansala for placing First and Third in the K, 1, 2 spelling bee respectively. Way to go!

Earth Day Persuasive Writing
When you come to school on Friday be sure to notice the great persuasive writing about going green. Students wrote two paragraphs for this persuasive assignment.

Other News

• Reading: We are coming to an end of our unit on Courage. There will be a lot of assessments next week.
• Math: We continue to work on Fractions
• Homework next week will be "green" if at all possible. Your child will be responsible for emailing me a few assignments and using the blog. If you have any concerns about this let me know and I will compile a packet.
• The Academic Fair and Egg Drop will be on April 27 instead of April 20th.
  

April 4-8

Reading: This week we've been working on strategies for learning new vocabulary words. The story we read is about a little boy in China who had the courage to tell the truth. There were many rich vocabulary words in the story. We also practiced sequencing and monitoring while we read.
Writing: We started a new writing project about Earth Day. The children will be writing two paragraphs about Earth Day. Look for these next Friday at Irving's Centennial Celebration!
Math: We finished up our unit on measuring, complements of 10 and number grids. We are starting a unit on fractions and multiplication and division number stories.
Science: We started a cool unit on Rocks and Minerals. Children learned that all rocks are made up of one or more mineral. We also did a mineral scavenger hunt in the computer lab. Take a look at the link to the left to see how minerals are used throughout our houses!

Dates:

• A gentleman from the Historical Society is coming to Irving to do a presentation on our Centennial Celebration on April 11th.
  

• Marc Brown, author of the Arthur books is coming on April 13th! This is quite an honor! Yay to Ms. Noonan for arranging this celebrity author visit!

• Please plan on attending the Irving Centennial and Taste of Irving next Friday, April 15th.
• Don't forget Thursday, April 21st is Institute Day (no school) and there is no school on Friday, April 22nd.

Ask your child about

• sorting rocks
• their Earth Day story
• how close we are to our button celebration!
  

Lots of Upcoming Events!

Report Cards go home Friday. If you have any questions regarding a grade, a comment or overall progress do not hesitate to write or call. This is a team effort!

Next Week is Spirit Week!
Monday: Sports Day-Wear something to represent your favorite sport today. A hat, t-shirt, jersey.
Tuesday: Pajama Day-Wear pajamas, slippers, a robe. Bring a stuffed animal or doll
Wednesday: Backwards Day-Be crazy! Wear something backwards today! (Zero Waste lunch, too!)
Thursday: Dress Up Day-Today is all about being fancy. Wear something extra fancy today.
Friday: School Colors Day-wear red and black or wear an Irving shirt.

Zero Waste Lunch: On March 23rd Irving School is striving to have a ZERO waste lunch. We are urging kids to take responsibility for packing their lunch that day or if they are ordering a hot lunch to take only what they know they will eat. Please see this handout for additional information and tips. Our class will be helping the whole school sort their waste during lunch this day. As leaders of this initiative, the students will become experts on reducing waste and learning about our environment.

It's getting to be that time to mark the calendar.
Other dates:
April 8:Academic Fair and Egg-Drop contest registration is due by April 8th
April 15: Centennial Celebration
April 20th: Academic Fair and Egg Drop
May 19th: Field Trip to Peggy Notebaert Museum and Lincoln Park Zoo
June 2nd: End of the Year 2nd Grade Picnic

Ask your child about

• the opera
• what courage means to them
• Amelia Earhart
• the three branches of national government
  

In Like a Lion

Brrrr! So much for hoping for an early spring.
Reading: We finished our reading unit on Dinosaurs and Fossils. We learned a lot and practiced reading strategies with expository texts. As you read with your child (which you should be doing at least once a week...) make sure you ask what the main idea of a story is. Ask your child to give you alternate titles. Identifying the main idea of a story was a focus of this unit and still proves to be difficult.
Writing: Students wrote a narrative story with a dinosaur chase as the main event. It was an opportunity for me to assess punctuation and story organization.
Math: We have been very busy working on beginning multiplication concepts. We even spent a day doing division. We will continue to practice addition and subtraction computation.
Science: At the end of next week we will begin work on a new science unit on Rocks and Minerals.
Behavior: The students have been working hard to make me "burst my buttons." They earn buttons in a jar every time they work as a team to be good listeners, hard workers and respectful friends. When the jar is full we will have a celebration. Individual students who aren't working as a team member might earn a strike. Once a student has five strikes they will miss 5 minutes of our celebration. 10 strikes is 10 minutes. 15 strikes is 15 minutes. Beyond 15 strikes a student will miss the entire celebration.
Pizza on Wednesday: Students will be eating lunch in the room next Wednesday to celebrate the New Beats dance victory AND the phenomenal, outstanding, wonderful, perfect listening during the dinosaur presentations. I will provide the pizza. Please send in a piece of fruit/bag of vegetables for your child to supplement the pizza. Kids can order milk or bring a water bottle.

Wow!

Congratulations to all the young paleontologists in our classroom! Each student who presented today did an AMAZING job. The projects were creative, informative and thorough. I learned a lot! I will upload pictures as soon as our last presenters go tomorrow. I know (first hand) the time that goes into these projects and I respect each family for consistently making participation in your child's education a priority.

A VERY SPECIAL THANK YOU goes to families in our classroom for the hours of work they put into making the Fun Fair a huge success. Mr. Jordan, Lucy's dad, organized an amazing day. He put in countless hours and is still logging time today. Mrs. Mattern, Isabel's mom, organized the silent auction. It raised $9800 this year! Incredible. Thanks also to all the families that contributed to the basket and to Mrs. Garcia, Diego's mom, for putting it together.

Odds and Ends:
The homework packet has LOTS of math computation practice this week. Make sure your child paces it carefully so it is not all left to the last minute. PLEASE check your child's work. If she is still confused, help! If it becomes frustrating, let me know RIGHT AWAY so I can re-teach or send alternate homework. A writing assignment will go home next week.

If your child is participating in the Six Flags/Great America reading program those forms were due last Friday. IF YOU LET ME KNOW TONIGHT, MONDAY that a form is coming in, I will add your child's name. If not, I am submitting names tomorrow morning.

Well, the New Beats did not earn the pie in the face for earning the most money. We did, however, have a lot of fun! I told the class we'll have a pizza party to celebrate the dance victory AND the amazing job listening to and presenting the dinosaur projects. Next Wednesday, March 9 we will eat pizza in the room. Details in next week's homework packet.

Two Left Feet

How much do I love Irving? Enough to dance in front of my students, neighbors, friends and family with my two left feet. Why? Because it's for a good cause! Irving's Pie in the Face competition has a new twist. There are three teams competing in a Dance Off! The team with the most votes wins a pie in the face(s)! So-the New Beats on the Block-the teachers new to Irving-formed a team and we are hoping to get your support! Put your pennies, nickels, dimes and dollars in our jar. The jar will be in the office next week and in the hall during the fun fair. All the money goes directly to the Irving PTO. Show your class spirit and support your teacher! If we win, my class can have a pizza party! (Yes-that's a bribe.)

Reading: We continue to read expository stories about dinosaurs. This week we worked on understanding cause and effect. Students discussed theories of why the dinosaurs disappeared. We continue to work on our extended responses. When you see your child's test, be sure to have your child identify topic sentence, details, personal response and a conclusion sentence.
Writing: Come in and see our snow day stories! They are great!
Math: We have worked on subtraction with borrowing. It's a tricky concept, so make sure that your child practices their facts so the actual computation does not slow them down.
Dinosaur Project: The dinosaur project is due a week from Monday. The only homework for next week is spelling words and reading. If your child finishes the project early you can send it in.
Field Trip: All chaperones should get a letter in your child's backpack. Please plan on being at Irving by 9:05. Make sure your child has a PACKED LUNCH for the field trip that is 100% disposable! Thank you.
Ask your child about:

• Our African American History presentation
• The Monument projects
• How to solve a subtraction problem that requires trading (like 73-28)

SNOW! DINOSAURS! MONUMENTS! PAJAMAS! VALENTINES!

Whew! We have a lot going on.
Snow Days
I assume the kids (and parents) enjoyed the two snow days. Thank you to all of you for being so flexible in rescheduling conferences. I love meeting with you and hearing about all your impressions of your child. It helps me get a full picture of each individual child. Thanks!
Writing
Of course we turned the snow day into an opportunity to write an expository story. The kids are drafting, revising and publishing stories that explain something they did on the snow days. They are using great transitions and wonderful beginnings. We learned about "take away" endings.
Reading
We are in the thick of our dinosaur unit. We have been emphasizing main idea and details as we read, write and listen this week.
Social Studies
Students were given their monument assignments and groups. They started looking through books to answer the "wh" questions: Who? What? Where? and Why? They used post -it notes to mark the spots in the book that answered these questions. They will prepare the presentation next week. We will also have the opportunity to see some more multicultural monuments at a presentation from Lynn Allen, our multicultural resource teacher next week.
Jurassic Parkinson
Just a reminder to keep working on those projects. They are due February 28. Your child needs to have the speech MEMORIZED in order to present in to the class. Please let me know if you need anything clarified, if you are having difficulty finding resources or if you have an idea that you'd like "approved" before you get started. The complete assignment is posted to the left.
Pajama Movie Day
Your child can wear pajamas to school on Friday for our pajama movie day. If your child wants a snack during the movie s/he can pack an extra snack for the day. We won't be sharing these snacks.
Valentines
We will exchange Valentines on Monday afternoon. Children should address each Valentine and sign each card. Your child can include candy in the valentines, but the candy will be sent home. We will not have a party, but we will do some fun Valentine activities that complement, but are a change of pace from our every day curriculum.

Working Hard

Please click on the link above to see your conference time. I look forward to seeing everyone in two weeks.
Let me know if you have any questions about the Six Flags Reading Incentive. I am happy to give you forms for siblings AT IRVING if you would use the tickets. The same rules would apply: It has to be reading above and beyond what is assigned. You can go to the Read to Succeed site if you have any questions. It is linked on the left.

Reading: Last week we finished up the Unit on Animal Camouflage in our Open Court books. This week we started on Fossils. This unit is a lot of fun. It is full of great expository texts, which allow us to practice many new reading and writing strategies.
Math: We continue to work on geometry concepts. This week we constructed pyramids, reviewed parallel lines and talked about 3 dimensional shapes. We also continue to practice our computation strategies and practice telling time.
Social Studies: We have been talking about traditions and customs. We have learned many Chinese traditions while we read the book The Year of the Dog by Grace Lin. While we read this novel during our reading groups, there are many opportunities for us to practice our Social Studies vocabulary.
Links:

• There is a link in our Language Arts section for Grace Lin's site. Your child might enjoy reading some of her other books or you might enjoy reading one as a family.
• There is also a link for your child to practice the Social Studies vocabulary words. This is the same game, with different words, that was linked in the beginning of the year.
• Be sure to encourage your child to go on xtra math whenever there is a chance. It makes a HUGE difference.
• If your child is missing some of the states on the weekly quizzes, be sure to use the games as a resource for practicing the new states.
• Highlights for Kids is fun and has great grade level reading passages. I would certainly accept Highlights for Kids passages for reading logs or for the Six Flags incentive.

Busy Week

If you have not already signed up for a conference time, please do so right away. I will make a schedule this weekend and send it home with the homework on Tuesday.
Reading: We read the folktale, How the Guinea Fowl Got her Spots this week. It was full of rich vocabulary that the students quickly used in everyday sentences.
BOOK CLUB: On Friday we had our first BOOK CLUB. It is an opportunity for the students to gather around, perhaps have a snack, and discuss a book that we all read. Right now our club is reading a novel called The Year of the Dog. Some students are reading this novel independently. Others are reading it with partners and others with more support. It is a wonderful novel about a little girl who is discovering who she is, both culturally and personally. We had an AMAZING discussion about growing up in families with special customs that are different from those around us. We will have book club every Friday to discuss this book. If you would like to provide a VERY simple snack for our book club, let me know. If you go to a book club, talk to your child about some of the things you do in your book club.
Math: We started our unit on geometry this week. We learned about line segments and attributes. We also practiced a lot of addition strategies.
Social Studies: We are learning about family traditions and customs and culture. The vocabulary has helped us discuss our book!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! I hope you were able to find some time to relax over the two week winter break. The New Year is a good time to refresh supplies. Please check with your child to see if she needs pencils, a sharpener or crayons.
Reading: We continue to read stories about animal camouflage. This week we learned about how sea creatures use camouflage. How to Hide an Octopus and Other Sea Creatures is a fascinating non-fiction selection about many interesting sea animals. We worked on differentiating between fact and opinion. We also talked about author's purpose.
Math: We continue to work on algorithms for addition as well as making sure there is a conceptual understanding of our base ten number system. We will take our final unit assessment in a few days and begin a unit on Geometry next week.
Social Studies: We began to study Ways of Living during our Social Studies time. We are learning about culture, customs and traditions. We will also explore national monuments and American symbols through some small group cooperative projects. We are also creating a time line of Martin Luther King Jr's life.

Announcements/Planning Ahead

• In the January 31st Homework packet there will be instructions for beginning an at home project on a dinosaur. This correlates with our next reading unit, Dinosaurs, and our science unit on Rocks, Fossils and Soil. Your child will have a month to complete the project and presentation. Homework will be adjusted to allow time to work on the project.
• Our class will be taking a field trip to the Field Museum on Tuesday, February 22. If you think you would like to join us, let me know. I would like at least 5 chaperones for this trip.
• There is no school on January 17 in observation of Martin Luther King Jr's birthday. There is no school on January 24 for Teacher Institute Day.
• I will be creating an online form/survey to sign up for our next conferences, which are scheduled the week of January 31-February 4. Please check your email next week for this. Slots will be filled on a first response, first served basis.