Thank You Lieutenant Colonel Corwin!

We certainly appreciate Mr. Corwin (Victoria's dad) for coming into our classroom on Veterans Day to share his experiences of serving as a Lieutenant Colonel in the US Marines Corps.  Mr. Corwin served in the Marines for 28 years!   We thank Mr. Corwin and all other military veterans for their service to our country.  

October/November Classroom Snapshot of Events

Here's what has been happening in our classroom:

Reading:

Throughout whole group CAFE strategy lessons, our class has been working with the comprehension strategies of  determining the author's purpose for writing (to persuade, inform, or entertain the reader); learning how to generate questions when we read; and learning how to summarize a passage.   Additionally, we have been learning how to be more accurate and fluent readers by reviewing the various strategies of  being a voracious reader; learning how to read appropriate level texts that are a good fit; and being able to cross-check what we read for understanding or to skip a word we don't know and come back to it or substitute another word that makes sense.    

We also have been having mini-lessons about how the students can monitor our own comprehension when they read.   Together, the students are learning how to "follow their inner conversation"  and "notice when they lose their way" when they read independently.    As the result, the student have been learning how to listen to the voice in their head when they read and stopping to "fix-up" problems when their comprehension breaks down.

During our extended vocabulary time, the students have been working with homographs. These are words that are spelled the same, but have different meanings. Additionally, the students have also been using the website called Dictionary.com to learn how to find the various definitions of words having multiple meanings.  

The students are beginning to settle into the routines and practices of guided reading groups.  I have placed your child in a group and provided them with an appropriate books that I feel matches their reading strengths and capabilities. Our guided reading time involves assigning students chapters to read independently and meeting several times a week with me to work on comprehension, fluency, and extended vocabulary skills.    Afterwards, they can complete one of their Weekly 5 assigned activities.  Throughout the year, your child may be moved to a different guided reading group depending on their needs. If your child has a difficult time finishing their guided reading assignment during the scheduled 60 minute literacy period, they may be asked to finish it that night for homework.

Grammar:

Over the past month, the students have been working on determining the difference between finding the subject and predicate in a sentence. We also have been learning the proper way to combine two sentences that are alike by using a comma and the words "but" or "and" to make one compound sentence. Additionally, we have been working on learning how to capitalize proper nouns and the rules for making words plural.  

During literacy time, the students had fun practicing these skills with the following web pages. Feel free to lick on these links to view and play the web site games at home: Rags to Riches , Compound Sentences, Rats, and The Plural Girls.  

Spelling:

I appreciate all of the hard work that each student gives to spelling each evening. Please continue to make sure that they are sorting their words correctly into their various spelling categories. The goal of our spelling program is for the students to learn and retain the spelling rules and word patterns for future use in their writing. The nightly spelling sorts and activities will help your student to reach this goal.

Writing:

Throughout Writer's Express (WEX) time, our class continues to work hard learning about the important elements to include in a personal narrative. Together, our mini-lessons have been focusing on writing our paragraphs in a more logical and organized manner. In addition, we are continuing to make sure that our work focuses on a single moment in time. Our lessons have been stressing the importance of utilizing strong verbs, good sensory detail, and proper sentence mechanics in our writing.

During conference time, parents will be able to view all of our stories in our WEX binder. Parents will also get to read our first published personal narrative that we just finished writing,  revising, conferencing, and editing last week in a program called Googledocs.  

Math:

In October, our class completed Unit 2 in math that involved adding and subtracting whole numbers. The students have been working hard learning about fact families, extensions of addition and subtraction facts, two and three digit addition and subtraction problems, "What's My Rule?" problems, parts-and-total number stories, and comparision number stories.   We will wrap up Unit 3 this week that involves learning about both the U.S. Customary and metric forms of measurement.  Our final test on Unit 3 will be on Tuesday.  

A BIG THANKS goes out to all of the parents that helped your child to start an Xtramath.org account.   Everyone did a great job with logging into the program and settling into the routine of practicing their math facts.   I appreciate all of the help and assistance with making sure your child completes at least three rounds of math practice a week.  

Social Studies:

Our class just finished up learning about the history and landmarks in Chicago.   We still will continue to work on extended enrichment activities twice a week in the LMC with Mrs. Kleist and Mrs. Cerniglia that focus on Chicago and Illinois.  

Currently, the students have been put into research groups to work on our "Weekend in Chicago" podcasts.   Within their group, their job is to research and plan a weekend in the Windy City.    Through the research, the groups are taking notes on attractions and activities they want to visit,  restaurants they want to eat in, and finding a hotel they want to stay in. (Please click here to view the websites that the students are researching from.)  After they have researched and planned their weekend, their group will be creating a podcast to share with the rest of the class about their fun-filled weekend.   Once our podcasts are finished, we will post them on our webpage for all to view.   

A BIG THANK YOU goes to all of our parent classroom volunteers You are all amazing!

We would like to thank Mrs. Tiedge for setting up our fantastic Sign-Up Genius volunteer lists.  

I would also like to thank Mr. and Mrs. Stahr, Mrs. Leu (Esquivel), Mrs. Owen, and Mrs. Wengronowitz for coming in this past month to make copies for our class.    There's still a lot spots available to come on in to help copy during the months of January through May.   If you're interesting in volunteering, please click on this Sign-Up Genius link: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0a4fabad2ea5f58-copy

We were able to have two successful Reader Theater sessions. This is where the students are put into a small group with a parent and are asked to read aloud from a short play script. We certainly appreciate Mrs. Kuhn, Mrs. Stahr, Mrs. Davenport, Mrs. Corwin, and Mrs. Butler for coming in to assist and monitor each of our groups!  

Our class was also able to experience our first Art Appreciation last month.   We would like to thank Mrs. Butler and Mrs. Georg for conducting a wonderful art lesson about Chicago architecture.   

We also would personally like to thank Mrs. Kuhn for taking time out of her busy schedule to take inventory on our Science boxes that just arrived!

Thank You Mr. Valathur!

We would like to thank Mr. Valathur (Srimathi's dad), for coming into our classroom to give such a fantastic presentation and teach us all about the Indian holiday of Diwali.    We learned so much and had a great time!  Enjoy some of the pictures from our event.

Parent Teacher Conference Sign-Up

Information from the office regarding signing up for Parent/Teacher Conferences:

Westgate will be using SignUp Genius as an electronic way to schedule Parent/Teacher Conferences for November 24th and November 25th. Families without access to the internet or a computer should contact your child’s teacher.

On Monday, November 3rd at 10:00AM, all parents registered on SchoolMessenger will receive an electronic message with homeroom teacher’s link to SignUpGenius. Parent will need this link to use SingUpGenius for conferences. Parents will need to follow the Parent/Teacher Conference SignUpGenius info sheet (electronic sheet located in the Friday Packet and sent electronically through SchoolMessenger.)

Art Appreciation

We would like to thank Mrs. Butler for coming in to plan and conduct a spectacular Art Appreciation lesson last week! In addition, we thank Mrs. Georg for coming in to assist.

 The students had fun learning about different types of architectural structures that are all around downtown Chicago.   Afterwards, the students were given a bag of various materials and were asked to create a specific structure out of the supplies given to them.  Enjoy the pictures from our event.

Information Regarding Halloween Festivities

We are planning our annual Halloween extravaganza for the afternoon of Friday, October 31st. Students will be in costume (in the afternoon) to celebrate the special day! Teachers and parents are planning a fun afternoon of games and activities! Although most children take part in the costume parade and parties, their participation is completely voluntary. As you are planning your child’s costume, please remember we are a kindergarten through fifth-grade elementary school. Students remaining in school during lunch should plan on costumes with limited make-up accessories. We are requesting your cooperation in selecting school-appropriate costumes that avoid violence, sharp objects, weapons, unnecessary gore, etc. At the discretion of the principal, students with inappropriate costumes will not be able to participate in the parade. If you are unsure of the appropriateness of your child’s costume, please contact the office.

The costume parade will start at 1:45 PM (please note lunch changes below for Halloween). Weather permitting; the parade will begin outside on the sidewalk. Students in grades 1st and 2nd will exit the building using the Primary Doors and line up on the sidewalk along Dwyer Street. Students in kindergarten and 3rd grade will exit the building using the Main Doors and line up on the sidewalk in front of school. Students in grade 4th through 5th will exit the Grove Street door and line up on the sidewalk along Grove Street west of Dwyer Street. The office team will lead the parade and students will parade in the following order: Kindergarten, 3rd , 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th grades.

The parade will walk north on the west side of Dwyer Street to Sigwalt, and then return to Westgate walking south on the east side of Dwyer Street. Parents are welcome to line the parade route outside along Dwyer Street. (Students will exit the Primary Door, Main Door, and Grove Street Door. The entire school will meet on the southwest corner of Grove Street and Dwyer Street.) The parade will be cancelled due to rain or the route will be reduced due to extreme cold weather. A SchoolMessenger will be sent out to Westgate families at 12:00PM announcing either the cancellation of the parade or the reduction of the parade route.

Traditionally, many students go home for lunch on Halloween to change into a costume. However, in recent years, more children remain at school for recess and lunch. To ensure all children will be able to go home and return for the Halloween parade at the same time, the lunch time for ALL grades will be from 12:30 -1:30PM as follows:

Grades 1-5: Lunch 12:30-1:00/ Recess 1:00-1:30PM

If your child is in grades 1-5, then please complete the portion on the next page and return it to your child’s teacher by Friday, October 24th.

Students leaving the school for lunch will use the following exits: Main Door (Door #1), Primary Door (Door #2), and 5th Grade Door (Door #16.) The Cab Doors (adjacent to the North Parking Lot, Door #13 ) will not be used for lunch dismissal.

Remember: Students leaving for lunch should not return to school prior to 1:30PM. Returning students should line up at the Main Entrance (Door #1.) There will be no supervision prior to 1:25PM. Students may not enter the building until 1:30PM

Children who stay at school for lunch will have the opportunity to change into their costumes during the lunch/recess hour. There will be limited adult assistance for costume preparations and it is advisable to keep the costume simple.

Special Note For Kindergartens…. All kindergarten students should come to school dressed in their costumes. AM classes will have their parties during their class time and will parade outside (weather permitting) around the Circle Drive during the morning class time. In the event of rain or inclement weather, the AM parade will be canceled. There will be no indoor parade accessible to parents. THE AM KINDERGARTEN PARADE CANCELLATION NOTICE WILL BE MADE BY 9:00AM THROUGH SCHOOLMESSENGER AND EXTERIOR PA SYSTEM. The PM Kindergarten children will join the all-school parade in the afternoon. The AM Kindergarten children are invited back at 1:45 PM to join in the all-school parade if they so desire. All AM Kindergarten children participating in the afternoon parade need to be accompanied by an adult. Please refer to homeroom Kindergarten letters for more information regarding Halloween festivities.

Global Read Aloud

Last week the students started to learn what it truly means to be global.   Today,  we read an online story called What Does It Mean To Be Global? by Rana DiOrio. Through reading the book we learned that being global is........

• .....being curious about other parts of the world.
• .....recognizing that your language is just one of thousands spoken on our Earth.
• .....listening to all different kinds of music.
• .....traveling to places near and far and appreciating how special they are.  
• .....trying all types of food.
• .....experiencing other traditions.  
• .....learning about other religions.
• .....respecting that others may have different values than you do.
• ....celebrating diversity in people.
• .....understanding how your actions affect another person's experience.
• .....living respectfully and peacefully with one another.
• .....opening your mind to new possibilities.
• .....being a citizen of the world.

Throughout the school year we will continue to integrate our curriculum with being global.  Our first step involves all of the third grade classes participating in the "Global Read Aloud Program" that runs from October 6th - November 14th.   Together, all of us will be reading aloud a book called The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo to the students.   Each class then partners up with another third grade class across the nation that is also participating in the Global Read Aloud.  Together, the partnering classes plan various activities and literature discussions throughout the read aloud experience.

Our Global Read Aloud partner is Mrs. Hanson's Third Grade Class in Ottawa, Canada.  Last Friday, our class was able to meet with them via Skype.   The students had the opportunity to ask questions about each other's classrooms and learn more about our cultures.   Over the next month, we will continue to read aloud Edward Tulane to each of our classes.  Our class will also hook up with Mrs. Hanson's class via Edmodo to answer literature response questions.  

Please be sure to  have your student log into their Edmodo accounts at home to update you on our classroom experiences with our partnering class!   You can also learn more about Global Read Aloud through visiting this webpage:  http://www.globalreadaloud.com/p/faq.html