Ms. Horgan

February 27, 2012

Friends of Room 114,

Here are a few announcements for this week:

• Thank you to all the families that paid for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on March 12^th.  The $13 fee must be paid this week.  It would be very helpful if students paid the $46 fee for all remaining field trips.
• 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.
• On Friday we will celebrate filling up our marble jar.  The students voted to watch a movie that afternoon.  If you have any age appropriate movies at home that your child could share on Friday it would be greatly appreciated.  Any movie brought to school on Friday will be returned that day.
• There is no school Monday, March 5, 2012 in honor of Pulaski Day.
•  March is the girls’ month for snack donation.

Reading

This week in reading workshop we will complete our readings on travel.  We will read about Lewis and Clark and their travels across North America.  We will discuss the pros and cons of various forms of transportation.   During word study we will review the long o, long u and long e.  We will also review action words and identify the subject in a sentence.  During writing workshop students will continue to work on non-fiction How-To books.  Students will choose one of their How-To drafts to turn into a published book.

Math

This week we will look at the addition and subtraction fact table.  A copy of this fact table will be sent at home, along with a number grid.  These are to be kept at home to assist with homework.  We will also discuss equivalent names for a number 7 = seven, 3+4, 5+ 2, etc.  Students will also learn about fact families.  A fact family using the numbers 5, 1 and 6 would be 5+1=6, 1+ 5=6, 6-1=5, 6-5=1.

Science and Social Science

In science we will continue our study of plants and animals.   Students will work on the seed observation journal.  Thank you to all families that completed their 3 focus questions.  On Thursday more information on the research report will be sent home.  All reports will be completed by March 9th. In social science students will learn about ways that we can help people around the world.

Have a great week!

Stacy Horgan

February 21, 2012

Friends of Room 114,

Here are a few announcements for this week:

• A reminder for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on March 12^th was sent home last week.  The $13 fee must be paid this week.  It would be very helpful if students paid the $46 fee for all remaining field trips, but this is not mandatory.
• The African American Poetry in Motion gallery walk is scheduled for this Thursday, February 23^rd at 5:30.  This will be followed by a pot luck and the Ray School poetry slam.

Reading

This week in reading workshop we will complete our readings on space and learn about Mae Jemison.  Students will also read the story The Big Trip, and discuss the ways that we travel.  Students will complete a story web with facts they have learned about space.  During word study we will learn about the long  u and long o sound and the combinations that make (long u: u_e, -ue, ew   long e: ee, ea, _y, e_a.   We will also review statements vs. questions.  During writing workshop students continue to work on non-fiction How-To books.

Math

This week students will complete Unit 5 and take the end of unit assessment. In this unit we have studies time to the quarter hour, graphing, addition facts, money, base ten, greater than, less than and equal to.  In addition, students will learn “What’s My Rule?”  In these problems students have what is called a function machine.  This machine is programed so that when you drop a number into the machine the machine changes the number according to the rule, and a new number comes out of the machine.

Science and Social Science

In science we will continue our study of plants and animals.   Students will begin their seed observation journal.  Students will pick animals for their research report.  All reports will be completed by March 9th. In social science students will complete their “If I Were President” writing piece.  We will also discuss the climate in various parts of the country.

Have a great week!

Stacy Horgan

February 14, 2012

Friends of Room 114,

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

Here are a few announcements for this week:

• There is no school Monday, February 20^th in honor of Presidents Day
• The African American Poetry in Motion gallery walk is scheduled for February 23^rd.
• Principals coffee with Dr. Tatia Beckwith is this Thursday at 9:15 outside the school cafeteria
• I have included spelling words on the homework chart.  Please work with your child on these words and make sure they can correctly spell all words on the list.

Reading

This week in reading workshop we will continue reading nonfiction texts about animals and begin a lesson on space.   Students will read Let’s Go to the Moon.   We will continue to use Venn Diagrams to compare people and things in our world.  During word study we will learn about the long o sound and the combinations that make the long o: o_e, oa, ow, oe.   We will also learn about suffixes –y and –ly.  During writing workshop students will begin to work on their non-fiction unit.  We will create lists of things we know how to do and work create a book on one of our topics.

Math

This week will complete a Valentines Day graphing projects.  We will also use dice to solve addition problems.  Students will be introduced to the turn around rule for addition. This rule teaches students that if you learn one fact you are really learning two facts, 3+4 is the same as 4+3.  Students will also take home their fast facts table to study at home.

Science and Social Science

In science we will continue our study of plants and animals.  We will plant seeds for observation.  Your child will also begin to think about an animal they would like to complete a research project on.  We will work as a class to create a list of animals to study.  In social science we will study presidents and complete a writing project “If I were president”.

Have a great week!

Stacy Horgan

February 6, 2012

Friends of Room 114,

Here are a few announcements for this week:

• There is no school Monday, February 13^th in observance of Lincoln’s Birthday
• Please pay the $9 fee for our field trip to the Merle Reskin Theater.  All money is due no later than tomorrow.  Students do not need to bring a lunch as we will be eating at school during our regular lunch hour.

Reading

This week in reading workshop we will be reading nonfiction texts about animals.    Students will read Animals and Animal Picnic.  Students will discuss all animal groups and complete a Venn diagram comparing two of these groups.  During word study we will learn about the long i sound and digraphs kn, wr, gn, mb.  We will also study phonograms-ine and –ite. During writing workshop students will work on writing a short piece about a famous African American they chose to study. Students will discuss when to use is vs. are and was vs. were in their writing.

Math

In math we will discuss parts and total.  During this activity students will be given two parts to a problem and must find the total, or they will have the total and one part and must discover the missing part.  We will also continue to compare items using greater than, less than or equal to.  Students will solve a variety number stories that involving relations, addition and subtraction.

Science and Social Science

In science we will share our geologist stories and begin a unit on organisms.  This week we will compare similarities and differences between plants and animals.  In social science we will continue to explore resources in our community and how we use these resources.  We will also look at ways to improve recycling at home and school.

Have a great week!

HOMEWORK