Room 100 Happenings

We had a full week in Room 100!

• The Field trip was wonderful. Thanks to all the parents who were able to join us! Students enjoyed the museum and I think they were impressed with how much they could appreciate the different exhibits because of their studies. Our behind the scenes tour was fun, too!
  
• We earned a popcorn party because of our participation in zero waste lunch day on Wednesday! Hooray! Way to go!
• On Friday we are having our PBIS dance celebration. This is a school wide event to celebrate our great behavior this second trimester. Students who did not earn a pink slip have also earned a blue ribbon.
• We are excited about our ART START RECEPTION on Tuesday from 4:30-5:30 at Village Hall!
  

Reading
We are working on our last dinosaur story. This story is called Let's Go Dinosaur Tracking. We are learning about what fossilized dinosaur tracks can teach us about how dinosaurs lived. We continue to work on the reading strategy of main idea/detail. We are also working on monitoring our reading as we go. We talked about making sure we really understand what we have read before moving on to the next paragraph or page.
Writing
We are working on our research papers diligently. The first two paragraphs have taken form and next week we will work on our final paragraphs. We are running about 3 days behind because of all the exciting interruptions to our schedule.
Math
You probably noticed the emphasis on computation in the last few homework packets. This will continue next week. Be sure to practice those basic facts!
Dinosaur Projects
Next week there will be no spelling or writing homework to give students time to focus on the projects. Make sure your child starts memorizing the script/speech they will give for the class. After working out a bunch of kinks, I think I finally got the link to the project working. Another copy of the script will go home with the homework next week.

Have a great 3 day weekend!

Thanks to all the parents who helped us celebrate Chinese New Year! It was a great success.
Field Trip
Thursday is our Field Trip to the Field Museum. The bus will leave promptly at 9:00. Children need to bring a packed, clearly labeled lunch that is 100% disposable. Please review with your child appropriate behavior for field trips. It is crucial that children remain with their group for safety reasons. The museum is very crowded in February and it is easy to get lost.
Reading
We just finished the story Why Did the Dinosaurs Disappear. Students read about how scientists try to explain the disappearance. No one knows for sure why they disappeared. Ask your child which of the theories they think is most likely.
Writing
We spent most of this week gathering notes for our dinosaur project. We talked about using different sources and organizing our notes. The focus of this research paper will be a descriptive paragraph about the dinosaur. Students will also be responsible for creating "bullet points" of interesting facts. We will review "hook" beginnings, transitions and adjectives when we write our paragraph.
Math
We spent most of the week talking about subtraction with regrouping. This coming week we will talk about arrays and multiplication. When you see an array-point it out to your child. An easy example is a dozen eggs. It is a 6x2 array.
Social Studies
We enjoyed our Chinese New Year celebration. For the remainder of the month we will discuss African American History. We will read several books in our reading groups and- if there is time-write some poetry inspired by Mari Evans and Nikki Giovanni.
Art Start
Remember to Save the Date for our Artists Reception at Village Hall on March 2nd. The reception begins at 4:30. It should be a lovely opportunity for your children to experience an art opening!

Happy Valentines Day!
Happy Presidents Day
Happy Chinese New Year!
Whew! There's a whole lot of happy going around...
Reading
This week we read our third story about Dinosaurs. This story dealt specifically with Dinosaur Fossils and Paleontologists. We continue to work on the reading comprehension strategy of Main Idea and Detail.
Writing
We began our research on our dinosaurs this week. We practiced taking notes for our research paper. We used the online source, Enchanted Learning. This source is linked to the left. We are also enjoying looking through many books from the library. Next week we will learn how to take notes using a book as a source. (Hint: This is another chance to practice main idea and detail!)
Math
Unit 6 is heavily focused on computation strategies and algorithms. As always, if your child needs help with math and you are unfamiliar with what s/he is learning in school, it is OK to help! You won't do any long term damage! Just be sure to EXPLAIN what you are doing! The strength of this program is that it introduces many ways to solve one problem. If you teach your child another way it is most likely a valuable introduction to a future lesson. Keep practicing those facts!
Science
We finished our Science Unit on Sink and Float. The students did a great job making boats and understanding the concepts of buoyancy. (Take a look at the successful boats pictured!) While the dinosaur unit isn't technically a Science unit, we are revisiting Rocks and Fossils concepts and learning about how scientists share their research through writing.
Social Studies
We are reading the book Year of the Dog and will finish it next week in time to celebrate Chinese New Year. If you would like to join us for this, stop by next Friday, February 19th from 12-1. It should be a simple celebration of the Chinese culture and a wonderful way to bring closure to a book the students have really enjoyed reading.
Art Start
Thanks to all the families who have helped with this quilt! You will be so impressed when you come to the opening at Village Hall! There are new pictures-and they are AMAZING! (Only an artist can look at a bag of buttons that has spilled on a table and turn it into a beautiful photograph!) The link is posted above. There are many new pictures and the ones from last week are included. This time there is an option to purchase the pictures as requested by some of the parents.

Update your Calendar!

It was a wonderful seeing everyone during conferences last week. I hope your child understands just how proud I am of his/her progress!
Calendar Updates
It is time to update your calendars! We have lots of things going on in February. There are many opportunities to help in the classroom. As always, if you are unable to help during the day, I would love help with some projects that can be done at home.
Links to a class list, a copy of the Dinosaur Research Project, and the permission slip will go up shortly. All will be sent home as hard copies.
February 8th-Dinosaur Research project goes home.
February 9th -Art Start*, 12:00
Tastings*, 2:20
February 12th - Valentines Day Card Exchange*, 12:20. We will pass out Valentines and listen to a Valentine's Story. This will be a simple celebration of friendship. Tammy Schulz has volunteered to help with this celebration. If you have additional ideas, please contact me or Tammy. (See homework packet for class list.)
February 15th-President's Day, no school
February 16th-Art Start*, 12:00
February 19th - Chinese New Year Party*, 12:00-1:00
We have been reading the Year of the Dog for the last month. As a celebration of this novel and the holiday, we will make a Chinese craft, sample another Chinese food, (Tastings this month will feature Chinese food.) and play a game. Yvonne Collins Moore has volunteered to help with this party. If you would like to help with this party, please contact me or Yvonne!
February 20th - Beye Fun Fair!
February 23rd - Art Start*
February 25th - Field Trip to the Field Museum-Look for the permission slip! We would like lots of chaperones.
March 1- Casmir Pulaski- No School
March 2 - Art Start Reception at Village Hall, 4:30-5:30 (Time confirmed later.) Our quilt will go on display at the Village Hall. It will be our Gallery Opening!
March 8th - Dinosaur Projects Due

All the events with an asterisk are events where your help is welcome! If you are unable to join us, consider getting involved in a different way!

Thanks for your continued support.