Happy Holidays!

Wow, what a fun week! This year each class was assigned a Secret Snowflake class. Throughout the week, students brainstormed good deeds we could do for our Secret Snowflakes (Mrs. Balicki's class). My class cleaned their room and desks, made the students holiday cards, and prepared treat bags for an after-concert snack.

We also got to meet our Secret Snowflakes: Mrs. Browning's class! They gave our class handmade snowflakes, candy canes, and finally treated us to hot cocoa while we made marshmallow snowmen together. 

 

This week students each presented their family's holiday traditions. From sushi-making to a backyard ice-rink, the variety of traditions was amazing! The kids really enjoyed hearing about the ways their classmates celebrate the season. 

 Ian was our Can-Do Kid this week! Ian told the class all about his favorite activities (soccer and mountain climbing), and he read his favorite book Art to the class. Ian also shared a slideshow with the class on Friday. 

 

On Friday, the students performed their Winter Concert.  Mrs. Hiolski did an amazing job with the kids, and I am really proud of all the students' hard work. 

Finally, students made gingerbread houses! Special thanks to the parents who volunteered to help with gingerbread construction. 

 

At the end of the day Friday the students surprised me with a card and a class gift. Thank you so much! I am so lucky and proud to be a part of Irving School. There are many more pictures in the Photo Gallery so please check them out. Have a happy and safe winter break!

In reading this week, students became Story Gurus! Students learned how to describe the elements of a story and how illustrations can help them to understand key details. Students read The Ugly Duckling and Lucille's Snowsuit and then discussed with partners how the illustrations helped them. Students also read a play and took turns voicing the different parts.

 Students put their new knowledge into practice creating Story Element Snowmen! Students created these graphic organizers which detail characters, setting, and problem/solution after reading Too Many Tamales, a Mexican Christmas story.

In math, students practiced solving "add to" and "take from" word problems. Students continued to develop their verbal reasoning skills by justifying their solutions and sharing their findings with the class. 

In social studies, students learned about how Christmas is celebrated in Mexico, England, and Germany. Mrs. Hiolski also had the students attend their first practice for the winter concert! There will be two Kindergarten - 1st Grade winter concert performances on Friday, December 20th: the first at  8:15 a.m. and the second at 9:45 a.m. Irving staff asks that families reserve the first performance for those who need to get to work afterward. If you are able to attend the second performance, please do so!

Next week students will present their own family's holiday traditions. I can't wait to hear about all the unique ways my students celebrate the holidays!

In reading, students learned to distinguish between fiction and nonfiction texts. We discussed how certain text features can indicate whether a book contains real information. Students practiced this skill by reading Bats and Stellaluna, and later in the week we read Velociraptors and If the Dinosaurs Came Back. Students then completed a Venn Diagram after reading Click, Clack, Moo and Let's Visit a Dairy Farm. Students also studied how to use illustrations and main ideas in a text to describe its key details. We read Pointy, Long, or Round as a class, then students read A Ladybug's Life with a partner and shared with the class what information they gathered from the pictures versus the text.

 In math, students learned to create simple picture representations to solve subtraction word problems. To practice this skill, students worked in teams to create word problems which they then read to the class. The students really enjoyed solving their classmates' creative story problems!

 

In social studies, students plotted their historical events on a giant timeline! I really enjoyed listening to the students' presentations, especially because each event was so different from the next. If you are in the building, swing by the classroom lockers to see out timeline display. 

We also began our unit studying Holidays Around the World. Students learned about how Christmas is celebrated in the Netherlands, and also learned about Hanukkah. 

Kiran was our Can-Do Kid this week! We loved learning about all the things Kiran can do. Kiran is a gymnast and a drummer, and his favorite book is The Snowy Day. 

There are lots of extra pictures in the Photo Gallery this week, so make sure to check them out!