Ms. Horgan

March 26, 2012

Friends of Room 114,

I hope everyone had a great weekend.

-Spring Break is next week!  There will be no school April 2^nd- April 6^th, 2012.

-Donations of tissue, glue sticks and black dry erase markers would be greatly appreciated.  With allergy season upon us we have been going through a box of tissues a day.

- On April 12, 2012 we will be going to the Alvin Ailey Dance Co.  The cost of the trip is $18.  Please pay no later than Friday, March 30^th.  You may also pay for the remaining field trips at this time.  The cost for the remainder of the year is $33.

- On Friday I sent home a report of how many checks each child received last week.  If your child has 3 checks or less they will not have a note sent home.  Look for this in their folder every Friday.  If you have a questions about this please email me.

-Spring school pictures are Thursday, March 29^th.  A form was sent home with rates for these pictures.  Please return the form by Wednesday if you would like to select a pose for your child.

-The PTA Book Fair is happening all this week.   We are visiting the book fair today.  However, if you child found something they would like to purchase, and did not have money, they may go any other day.

-Please remember that students are to be picked up after school promptly at 3:30.  I will be staying outside until 3:35, after this time students will be escorted to the office.

Reading

This week in reading workshop students will read fiction and non-fiction books about trees.  Students will read The Tree and It Comes From Trees.  Students will complete a story web with information from the text and answer the question, What do characters do when there is a problem?  During word study we will learn about r-controlled words, focusing on  -ar (arm, star, yard), -or and –ore (shore, orange).  Students will also review pronouns replacing  proper nouns with a pronoun in a sentence.  In writing workshop we will continue work on our All About Me books.  Please pay attention to your child’s writing, checking for correct letter formation.

Math

We will have our Unit 6 test tomorrow.  Originally I had scheduled the test for today but after looking over student work I felt one more day of review was necessary.  We will begin Unit 7 on Wednesday.  This week students will compare attributes of objects, focusing on size, shape and color.

Science and Social Science

This week in science we will learn about the food chain and how all creatures are important.  We will also discuss the parts of a plant and how they all work together.  In social science we will learn about American symbols and landmarks.  We will also discuss national holidays and why people believe they should be celebrated.

Have a great week!

Stacy Horgan

March 19, 2012

Friends of Room 114,

Weekly reminders:

-A field trip notice is being sent home today.  On April 12, 2012 we will be going to the Alvin Ailey Dance Co.  The cost of the trip is $18.  Please pay as soon as possible.  You may also pay for the remaining field trips at this time.  The cost for the remainder of the year is $33.

- On Friday I will send home a report of how many checks (reminders for following classroom rules) your child received over the course of the week. Please talk to your child about appropriate behaviors for the classroom/school.

-Spring school pictures are Thursday, March 29^th.  A form was sent home last week with rates for these photos.  Please send in money if you would like your child to receive pictures.

-The PTA Book Fair is happening all next week.  Our class will be visiting the book fair on Monday, March 26^th.  Please send money with your child on that day if they wish to purchase books.  In addition, we have been given a collection box to collect loose change for the PTA Book Fair.  Feel free to send any change to school to donate to our class fund.

-Please remember that students are to be picked up after school promptly at 3:30.  No students will be left outside without parent supervision.

Reading

This week in reading workshop students will read humorous fiction books.  After reading Little Rabbits Tale students will complete a cause and effect chart using events from the story. Students will also read various silly poems and we will practice reading tongue twisters.  During word study we will learn about the vowel pair –ea and how it can make the short and long e sound (ready and sea). Students will also create a list of compound words.  Each student will create flip charts for the compound words they chose to study.  We will also study prepositional phrases, focusing on words that show when something happens (during, before, after, by, at).  In writing workshop we will begin our All About Me books.

Math

This week we will learn about range and median.  We will also review for our Unit 6 test next Monday.  During this unit we have learned about fact families, measuring with the centimeter, quarters and various activities that helped us develop our addition and subtraction skills.  A unit review sheet will go home on Thursday.

Science and Social Science

This week in science we will present our animal research reports.  The student did a great job collecting information about their animal and seems excited to share their reports with the class.  In social science we will learn about our flag and how it has changed over time.  We will also learn more about the Pledge of Allegiance.

Have a great week!

Stacy Horgan

March 12, 2012

Friends of Room 114,

Weekly reminders:

-If you have any questions regarding progress reports please contact me at slhorgan@cps.edu

-Traveling library books have not gone home the last several weeks.  If your child has any old travelling library bags please send them to school this week.

-Please talk with your child about appropriate behavior during brain boost.  We have discussed at length about touching other students.  What starts as an innocent game of tag turns into something more when someone gets tagged harder than they feel is necessary.  Also, we have had a lot of ‘ninja’ play that is inappropriate at school.  Thanks for your support in this matter.

Reading

This week in reading workshop students will read non-fiction biographies.  After reading Tomas Rivera students will complete a story map sharing important details they have learned about Rivera’s life.   While reading Life Then & Now students will complete a Venn diagram comparing their life to the past.   During word study we will learn about vowel pairs –oa and -ow.  Students have been working with various vowel pairs and learned that two vowels working together often only make the sound of the first vowel.  Students will also review contraction ‘s, ‘d, ‘ll and learn contractions ‘ve and ‘re.  Students will also learn about future verb tense while using the phrase ‘is going to’.  Last week in writing workshop students published non-fiction How-To books and they turned out great.  We will publish one more How-To book this week before we begin All About books.

Math

This week we will practice learning our addition and subtraction facts while playing What’s My Rule?  We will also review the value of our penny, nickel and dime, while also introducing the quarter.  It is important that each student continues to practice skip counting from any given number.  This skill is necessary when counting money.  We will also review even and odd numbers, as well as telling time with an analog and digital clock.

Science and Social Science

This week we will complete our seed observations.  Students will use the animal research they have worked on the last few weeks to create an animal presentation.  In social science students will learn about some of the first settlers to our country and the thirteen original colonies

Have a great week!

Stacy Horgan

March 6, 2012

Friends of Room 114,

I hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend.  I was able to spend time with my family back in Michigan, with lots of relaxing.  Here are a few announcements for this week:

• If you need to get in touch with me please remember to use my email at slhorgan@cps.edu.   I am no longer be using other email addresses for work related matters.
• March is the girls’ month for snack donation. Please donate snack if you have not yet done so.

Reading

This week in reading workshop we will read non-fiction books about food.  After reading Where Does Food Come From students will complete a story web using the facts stated in the story. During word study we will learn about the long a (a_e, ai, _ay) sound.  We will also review contraction ‘s and learn about ‘d and ‘ll.

During writing workshop students will continue to publish non-fiction How-To books.   When your child is writing at home please make sure to check that he/she is correctly forming letters and using capitalization appropriately.  We are also spending a lot of time checking for proper punctuation.

Math

This week we will continue to practice our fast facts.  Students should practice their addition facts every night at home.  Starting this Friday I will be giving timed tests on our addition facts.  This week we will also continue to work on fact families and measurement.  We will focus on centimeters.  So far this year we have learned customary U.S units, inch and foot.  Please make sure you child has a ruler at home with inches and centimeters to practice measuring objects at home.

Science and Social Science

This week we will continue working on our seed journals.  We planted pumpkin, sunflower, snap pea and lima beans and they are all sprouting at different rates.  This Friday the research from our animal reports is due.  Students will work on their final presentations in school. In social science students will take the Unit 2 assessment. The assessment will cover the difference between a state, country and continent.  We will also show we understand resources we have in the world and the importance of recycling.

Have a great week!