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Please turn in RSVP by next Monday.

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May 8th- Graduation picture money due.
**Calendars should be out tomorrow, I will update and send out link.

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This week in science we  celebrated Earth Day. We started the week with a read aloud of The Lorax.  Then we discussed the importance of taking care of the Earth and our impact on it.  We also conducted our “Freddie the Fish” experiment as a great way to help students “see” the impact we have on animals and their environment. First, we created the “water environments” using a plastic container and a sponge cut in the shape of a fish. Then we used kitchen items that represent a “pollutant.”  For instance, when Freddie ran across fertilizer, we used water with blue food coloring, litter from a local park was used from the holes in my paper punch, and when he was exposed to acid rain, we used dish soap. Next we read the story of Freddie taking a journey in his river downstream and being exposed to various pollutants along the way.  Each time Freddie was being exposed to a toxin, we poured a new item into the “water environment.”  As we progressed downstream, Freddie’s environment was getting filthier and more dangerous for him.  In fact, his survival was slim to none. Throughout the activity, we discussed how Freddie was feeling.  At the conclusion of our experiment, we brainstormed what could have been done differently with each pollutant so Freddie could have had a healthier environment.   It took a bit of higher order thinking to push students to think beyond the simple “just don’t do it” and “put up a fence along the river” but students did an awesome job.

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At this point in the year we only have a few more sight words to learn, whoo hoo!
Below are all the sight words students should be practicing at home weekly. Thank you so much to families who are practicing at home, the hard work really shows!

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March 8th- last day to collect money for endangered animals.
March 18th -Picture Day Retakes
March 28th-
Latin Beats on the Square Fundraiser/Recaudador de Fondos

6:00 PM - 11:00 PM

Logan Square Auditorium, 2539 N Kedzie Blvd

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week of 3/4-
first
too
why
not

week of 3/11-
new
he
as
look

week of 3/18-
they
where
day
could

week of 3/25
jump
went
get
away

Words we have already covered
one   two   three  four  five
six seven  eight  nine  ten
I  can  we  the  at  am  it
up  no  yes  like  a  see  go
in  of  us  by  eat  was
to  have  is  play  come  on
and  my  me be  big  one  has  are
four  you  this  her  she  run  off  so
want  do  what little  his with
love but  all  saw  said  there  him
that  got

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The 100th day of school was a blast! Thank you to all parents who participated and dressed their kiddos like they were 100 years old. Students wrote about what they would do with $100 dollars and what they wold like to do before they are 100 years old. During math centers students worked together to designed an build a structure with 100 cups. Students were also very proud to show their families their "100 days smarter " certificate! Click the link below to check out our 100th day of school activities!

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Students had a great time celebrating Dr. Seuss’s birthday. They wrote their own rhyme books and read a collection of Seuss classics during center time with their Cat in the Hat whiskers. We also made fish tanks after reading “One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish”. Click the link below to see our Dr. Seuss celebration.

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February 12th- PICTURE DAY
February 15th- Report cards go home.
February 18th- NO SCHOOL PRESIDENT'S DAY
February 20th- 100th day of school celebration. We will celebrate by doing 100 themed activities in the classroom. Also students can come dressed up like they are 100 years old. For ideas click the link below to see pictures of my former students.
February 22nd- Sports day students can dress in gear from their favorite team.

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There are 22 students in our class. 11 boys and 11 girls. Students can bring cards or small girts for their classmates. Please remember that students can not bring any sort of food treats. Thank you!

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week of 2/11-
little
his
with
love
week of 2/18
but
all
saw
said
week of 2/25
there
him
that
got
Words we have already covered
one   two   three  four  five
six seven  eight  nine  ten
I  can  we  the  at  am  it
up  no  yes  like  a  see  go
in  of  us  by  eat  was
to  have  is  play  come  on
and  my  me be  big  one  has  are
four  you  this  her  she  run  off  so
want  do  what

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January -NO SCHOOL Martin Luther King Jr. Day
January 31st- Sports Day- students can come dressed in their favorite  team gear!
February 1st- School Improvement Day - NO SCHOOL

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This week we began our first exploration of weather! Your child heard a story about a little boy who watched storms with his grandpa from the front porch of his house. The little boy learned how exciting it can be to watch the weather! After hearing the story, we observed and drew the weather.

You can encourage your child’s curiosity about the weather by becoming weather watchers yourselves! Anytime there are interesting clouds or weather conditions, invite your child to spend some time watching it with you.

PS: Weather is a topic we’ll return to throughout the year as the weather conditions change!

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Hi Parents,
Hope everyone had an awesome winter break. Below is a list of the new sight word schedule for the next month. Student should be preaciticing their sight words every night at this point in the school year. We pracritce sight word acitivites daily and now be learning 4 sight words per week. Thank you for you help and support!

Words we have already covered
one   two   three  four  five
six seven  eight  nine  ten
I  can  we  the  at  am  it
up  no  yes  like  a  see  go
in  of  us  by  eat  was
to  have  is  play  come  on
and  my  me be  big  one  has  are
four  you  this  her  she  run  off  so
want  do  what
Week of 1/7
be
big
one
has
week of 1/14
are
four
you
this
week of 1/21
here
she
run
off
week of 1/28
so
want
do
what

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https://photos.app.goo.gl/iu21ZhZwP3KQLSPa8
Every student will have a turn to be star student of the week. I will send you a text on Friday if its your child's turn. There will be detailed directions for the week in your kiddos folder so you know exactly what your kiddo has to bring in to share for the week. Remember to tell your kiddo to keep it a secret when they come back to school on Monday because we play a name guessing game to guess who the star student is.

Our first star student of the week is Kellan. Kellan loves basketball, onions and camping. Something you may not know about Kellan is that he has a really big family, he loves to visit his cousins in Sana Fe. Kellan has a smile that will brighten up anyone's day. I love the way he gets super excited about learning in kindergarten. Check out the photo below of Kellan getting ready for a basketball  game!

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Now that students are extra bundled up I just want to remind parents to please write students names on all winter gear. Also since it can be wet outside during recess please make sure to send an extra pair of clothes in, if you have not already done so, to keep in the classroom. Thank You!

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Sometimes parents ask if their is anything we wee need in our classroom and its hard to think of things on the spot. We have had several of our head phones break for our computer center. We are in need of 6 heads phones. If you have any extra at home or would like to purchase any for our classroom, the donation would be greatly appreciated. For sanitary reasons we ask that they are not ears buds. Here's a picture of the ones we use in the classroom.

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In writing students are working on pattern books. Each pattern book has four pages and we work on one page a day. Students focus on writing the sentence pattern, inventive spelling, using sight words in writing, using finger spaces, drawing pictures and labeling pictures. This week our sentence pattern was "I like to". Click below to listen to Kellan read his pattern book from this week!

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12/5:  Toy Drive (student council collecting new toys and monetary donations for the less fortunate).

12/6-12/7:  Holiday Bazaar.  Gift range from $.50-$5.00.  Homemade/handmade gifts students can buy to give as a holiday gift to you!

12/7: Photos with Santa fundraiser!  Santa comes this day and students can take a picture with Santa for $5.  The pictures turn out really cute!

12/13:  Operation Santa.  A big day at school for the kids!  Santa comes to school and gives gifts of books to each and every student at the school.  It is such a wonderful day!

12/13:  This day is also pajama and stuffed animal day!

12/18:  Holiday assembly.  The K-1 assembly is from 8:15-9:30 am.  Students should dress up and wear holiday colors!

12/21:  Classroom celebrations and last day of school before winter break!

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Last we continued our science unit about forces. Our key idea is that by playing with and thinking about forces, people can accomplish surprisingly big things. For example, this week we solved the mystery, “How can you knock down a wall made of concrete?”  Your child did an activity where they investigated what happened to a “wall” made of cups when they changed the strength and direction of a paper wrecking ball.

One thing you can do to encourage your child’s curiosity is to play any ball game that your child likes, whether basketball, soccer/football, or just tossing a ball back and forth. But rather than just play as usual, suggest that they try a special challenge:  hit or throw the ball as hard as possible, then very softly, then somewhere in between. Is hitting or throwing the hardest always the best?

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Hi Parents,
Please make sure to practice sight words with students every night. Below are the words we have already covered and the words we will be covering for the next few weeks.
Words we have already covered
one   two   three  four  five
six
seven  eight  nine  ten
I  can  we  the  at  am  it
like  a  see  go  in  to  is  and  my  me
Week of 11/25
up
no
yes
week of 12/3
of
us
by
week of 12/10
eat
was
have
week of 12/17
play
come
on

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November 12th- No school Veteran’s Day
November 13th- 16th Book Fair
November 14th- No school Report Card Pick up
November 21-23rd- No School Thanksgivings Break

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Social Studies                                  

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Social Studies                                  

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This week in social students we talked about Martin Luther King Jr. We read several stories and talked about diversity, equality, freedom and peace. We made freedom bells and talked about MLK's famous I Have a Dream speech, and how he wanted to "let freedom ring". To help student understand diversity we looked at two different colored eggs. I asked students what the main difference was in the two eggs. Then I asked students if they think the brown egg is brown on the inside or the white is white on the inside. We found out by cracking the eggs. Then we had a discussion about how the eggs are like us. We discussed how we all may look different on the outside, and that is what makes us unique with different hair type, body type, color, language, culture and interest. However, the beautiful thing is, we are all human with a heart that beats, with emotions of laughter, joy, sadness and love and this is what should hold us together not the color of our skin. I encourage all parents to continue this important conversation at home with your kiddos. Start the convo off by asking them about our egg experiment!

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Kiddos did an awesome job at their Halloween assembly. We had a fun day making crafts, playing Halloween bingo and passing out Halloween treats. Click on the link to check out videos of the assembly and photos from Halloween.

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We are so excited to celebrate Halloween in room 106! Students are more than welcome to bring in treats for their classmates, however treats cannot be any type of food or candy. To ensure that we are safe safe space for students with food allergies, students of Goethe are not allowed to celebrate Halloween with food. I listed some ides below for  treats. We have 20 students in our classroom, 10 boys and 10 girls. I hope to see you at  our Halloween Parade  Wednesday October 31st at 8:10am on the playground. Thank you for your cooperation and support!

Halloween treat ideas:
pencils
stickers
erasers
mini toys

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Last week we started reading in our bins.  This is something we will do everyday!  We begin by "reading the pictures" and over time, students will begin reading books at their levels where they can read the words.  We are building our reading muscles (stamina)!  Our goal is to get to 10 minutes a day of uninterrupted, focused reading. Students get to read in their smart work spaces around the classroom. Soon, reading time will be 10-15 minutes of independent reading and then 10-15 minutes of partner reading.  We must build those reading muscles first before we can do that!

The kids did great for their first week! Click the link below to see what reading bin time looks like.

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recycled materials, LEGO, or even Dixie cups. After reading the story we discussed the meaning of STEM zeroing in on engineering. I challenged students to be an architect like Iggy and create three-dimensional structures using only fruit snacks and toothpicks. Students started by designing a blueprint of their structure then they made their own structures. Next, they worked as a team to put their structure together to make a team structure. One of our students, Cosmo, suggested that we try and “really work as a team” and put all of our team sculptures together to make one big structure. 

This simple activity allowed kiddos to use materials and learn how they work- the beginning stages of engineering. Additionally this STEM challenge allowed student to be critical thinkers, problem solve, collaborate, analyze, and use creativity and imagination. Students will be participating in many STEM challenges this year.  Kiddos had a blast! Take a look at how it went!

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Please start checking folders for math practice  sheets. These worksheets go along with the lesson that we teach in math for the day. This worksheet is to be completed at home for extra practice. They do not need to be turned in but please make sure students are completing them. Thank you!

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This week in science we read “After the Fall” by Dan Stantan. In After the fall Humpty Dumpty learns to overcome his fear of heights and falling by climbing to the top of the wall that he once fell from. He creates a paper airplane bird to launch from the top, however, a surprise twist of events at the very end shows Humpty actually hatching from the egg, becoming a bird himself, and flying beautifully with outstretched wings from the top of the wall. Not only does Humpty persevere and overcome his fear, he challenges himself to construct and test something amazing despite that fear. After reading the story we challenged students to do just that- construct and test! The STEM challenge for the week was to build a structure that could prevent Humpty for breaking.

Students worked together in teams of four to create a structure out of tape, straws, marshmallows, sponges, coffee filters, cups and cotton balls. Not only were students super pumped to start designing and creating but they thought of amazing ways to protect their egg. Throughout the activity I asked them questions so they can explain the purpose of their structure. Kiddos were going nuts during the egg drop (in a good way) they were so excited to see if their structures worked. We had success with two structures! Click the links below to take a look at how it went! 😁https://photos.app.goo.gl/SJJfXZJWaEYoHSB4A

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Sight words are words like come, does, or who that don't follow the rules of spelling.  These words must be memorized because decoding them is really difficult.

High-frequency words are also sight words and words that are most commonly found in the English written language.  Some fit standard phonetic patterns and some do not.

It is very important for our young readers to memorize these words as a whole, by sight, so they recognize them immediately.

For my purposes in class, I call all of these words "sight words." I introduce 2-4 new sight words a week.  I encourage you to make flashcards and hang them up on the refrigerator, your child's bedroom, etc. I have also attached a picture with some other ideas for learning and practicing these words.

The words I have introduced so far are:

The, see, I, me, and, my

The rest of the month is as follows:

Oct. 9-12: to, is, like

Oct. 15-19: go it, we

Oct. 22-26: in, at, go

Oct. 29-Nov. 2: Review of all words

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October 8th- NO SCHOOL

October 27th- Fall Festival

October 31st- Halloween Parade

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Hello parents, welcome to Room 106 classroom website. I will send a link to this page via Remind a few times a month to give you a look into curriculum and classroom activities. You can also visit this website for important classroom reminders and updates.

Important Reminders

Please make sure kiddos have a snack for snack time each day. I have extra snacks in case kiddos forget.

Please make sure all clothing items are labeled with student’s names.

Students get really thirsty during the day. If you would like to send a water bottle with them to stay in the classroom please feel free. This will save a few trips to the water fountain. Please make sure to write students name on the bottle.

We have quiet time every day, as a part of our SEL curriculum, after recess for 10 mins. During this time I turn the lights off and play relaxing music for students. Students have the option to either draw on a half sheet of paper or relax on the rug or at their seat. If you find half sheets of paper in backpacks they are from quiet time.

Calendars for October have not come out yet. Once I receive them I will send them home and update this page with October's important dates.

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We practice calm classroom 3 times a day as a part of our SEL curriculum. The routines are 3 min breathing exercises designed to teach the value of self care and mindfulness. Students really love calm classroom. After each routine I ask students the following reflection questions:

1. How do you feel after routine?

2. Was it way or challenging? why?

3. Did u notice your mind wondering? How did u bring it back?

4. Did our classroom grow?

5. When could you use a Technique outside of school?

Here you can see students doing the Big Happy Breath routine.

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Please be sure to practice sight words with students weekly. Flash cards work great but if you have a few people in your house you can play BANG to practice sight words in a fun way like we do in class. Students are obsessed with bang! Check out this explanation of BANG.

The words I have introduced so far are:

The, see, I, me, and, my

The rest of the month is as follows:

Oct. 9-12: to, is, like

Oct. 15-19: go it, we

Oct. 22-26: in, at, go

Oct. 29-Nov. 2: Review of all words

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Sight Word Games - Flash Card Practice - Parents and Teachers!  Play with a Purpose!

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In this "Play with a Purpose" video I show you some ways to make sight word practice fun! Flash card practice doesn't have to be stressful or boring!!!

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Last week we launched our first unit in Writing Workshop, “Personal Narratives”. Students learned that just like authors in books, they too could teach others though their writing. I encourage students to represent their ideas with pictures and to get words down on their paper. Inventive spelling and even just writing letters down is acceptable at this early stage of learning to write. Students are even using our word wall to write down some sight words too! Students keep writing in their writing folders. Folders will stay at school and we will look over your child’s writing together at parent-teacher conferences. Below Esme is teaching others how to fill buckets though her writing.
"Me helping."

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Join us in celebrating Dia de Los Muertos in our classroom! In the next two weeks students will be learning all about the Holiday and will be putting together an ofrenda.

Día de los Muertos, or “Day of the Dead,” is a holiday filled with wonderful and happy celebrations and traditions. In Mexico and all over the world, Día de los Muertos is both a time to remember those who have passed on and also a time to celebrate life.

On Día de los Muertos, family members spend the day remembering their loved ones. Some people tell funny stories, while others decorate alters with beautiful flowers, or with the favorite foods of their loved ones. There is music and dancing as well as candlelight vigils and parades honoring those that have passed on. On Día de los Muertos, relatives make altars  in honor of family and friends that have passed away and are decorated with their pictures, personal objects or mementos and candles.  Their favorite food and drinks are also placed on the altar, along with a trail of marigold flowers.

As our culminating project, I would like for students to collaborate in creating a classroom altar.  My goal is to create a space where students can bring in pictures, personal objects or mementos of their loved ones. This is optional, students do not have to partake in the activity. However, I do encourage teaching children of different holidays/traditions. Throughout the week, we will be doing different crafts during centers to add to our classroom alter.

In preparing for this, I kindly ask that students bring in pictures, personal objects or mementos of a loved one. I promise to make sure they are well taken care of. Please send all items in a bag with your child's name on it no later than Wednesday, October 31st. If you would like to put a name on all mementos, that would also be great! All personal items will be sent home on monday November 5th..

Thank you for all of your support!

Ms. Toro

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We use a curriculum called Second Step.  Right now we are focusing on our listening skills, focusing attention, and using self-talk.  Our next lessons will be about being assertive.  Ask your kids about the listening rules (eyes watching, ears listning, body still, and voice quiet).  You could also ask them about their "attenti-scopes" and using self-talk to help them focus!  They also love Doggie and Snail...they help me teach the lessons ;).

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Our Chillax Space is one of students favorite places in our classroom. Students use the Chillax Space when they are feeling sad, frustrated or just missing mom and dad. In the Chillax Space  students take a break on our red couch and  pick a sensory toy to help them relax. Students set a timer for 3 minutes. After they are done with the 3 minutes we chat about how they are feeling. Here’s Maya showing us how to use the Chillaz Space.

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Last week I introduced Science to students. We talked about what Science is and what Scientists do. Students also participated in our first STEM Challenge. STEM education is an interdisciplinary approach to learning where academic concepts are coupled with real-world lessons as students apply science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

We started our STEM challenge by reading In Iggy Peck, Architect. In this story a young Iggy uses whatever materials he happens to have at his disposal to construct towers, bridges, and famous international landmarks. In the end, he is forced to use his talents to save the day during a field trip mishap by joining with his classmates to construct an elaborate suspension bridge. Despite the wondrous creative abilities of Iggy Peck, I love how this book teaches our kiddos to be resourceful.  Just like Iggy, our kids can use whatever materials they happen to have on hand to create great inventions and forms of architecture, whether it be recycled materials, LEGO, or even Dixie cups. After reading the story we discussed the meaning of STEM zeroing in on engineering. I challenged students to be an architect like Iggy and create three-dimensional structures using only fruit snacks and toothpicks. Students started by designing a blueprint of their structure then they made their own structures. Next, they worked as a team to put their structure together to make a team structure. One of our students, Cosmo, suggested that we try and “really work as a team” and put all of our team sculptures together to make one big structure.

This simple activity allowed kiddos to use materials and learn how they work- the beginning stages of engineering. Additionally this STEM challenge allowed student to be critical thinkers, problem solve, collaborate, analyze, and use creativity and imagination. Students will be participating in many STEM challenges this year.  Kiddos had a blast! Take a look at how it went!