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!