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.