May 22nd- Camp Read-a-Lot Picnic

(no need to send a lunch this day)  

Picnic will be held outside at 11:30 am.

May 25th- Coffee House Poetry Reading

2:30-3:15 (We’d love to have you in our classroom to listen to us read our poetry.)

May 30th-Field Trip to the Brookfield Zoo

9:00-2:00 we need 4 more chaperones.  Please email me if you are interested.

1. Betsy N.
2. Stephanie D.
3. Adam K.
4.
5.

All library books for kids are due back on May 25th. A popsicle party in the courtyard can be earned for returned books. Each grade level will have a winner for the first class that returns all their library books starting on the 25th. It will be a reading popsicle party, we don’t want to lose sight of what earned us the treat!

If students have lost a book during the year, paying for the book is the same as returning it. That kind of transaction should occur anytime before the 25th.

Tomorrow is Dollars for Deutsch. Help us reach our goal  of $10,000 for the Rory David Deutsch Foundation by bringing in dollar bills.

Wednesday-We’re Making Change…And So Can You!

This is the last week to donate to Ragnar for Rory! Bring spare change tomorrow to donate.

Thursday- Dollars for Deutsch

Donate dollar bills for Rory Deutsch Foundation

Friday- Hats “On” for Rory!

Bring in a dollar bill to wear a hat. Don’t forget to dress in running clothes and hydrate for your Ragnar Run in PE!

Online donations can be made here.

Visit Ragnar for Rory Facebook page.

Dear Indian Trail Community,

Today information was sent home with your child about Indian Trail’s new charity, The Rory Deustch Foundation (http:// www.roryd.org/welcome). Rory is a former Indian Trail student and beloved member of our community.  At the young age of seven-years old, he died of a brain stem glioma, a type of pediatric brain tumor. His courage and optimism in the face of inevitable death was an inspiration to all who knew him. The mission of The Rory David Deutsch Foundation is to eradicate pediatric brain tumors and other devastating childhood diseases as well as to make a difference in the lives of afflicted children and their families. It accomplishes these purposes by:

• Funding medical research and programs.

• Increasing public awareness of the Foundation’s mission.

• Creating opportunities to engage young people and adults in activities that can make a positive difference in their lives.

During the week of April 30th – May 4th, Indian Trail School will host it’s first “Ragnar for Rory” school-wide fundraising event to support the Rory Deustch Foundation. In order to make this fundraiser meaningful for students, they will participate in a week-long distance running program that fosters the importance of exercise, teamwork, and goal setting during P.E. Additionally, six Indian Trail teachers will be running the official Ragnar Relay on June 8th.

Our goal is to reach $10,000.00 in donations this year and we need YOUR help! The Rory David Deustch Foundation is a non-profit organization and all proceeds benefit their mission.

All fundraiser links can be found on our physical education department blog: (http://blogs.nssd112.org/jfunke/) or on our school website (http://www.edline.net/pages/Indian_Trail_ES)

Show your support and “like” Ragnar for Rory on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ragnarforrory

We are looking forward to the Indian Trail community coming together to support the Rory Deustch Foundation.

Thank you for your support,

Coach Funke and Ms. Henkel

Happy Spring!  

Here is a look at some of the projects and topics we have been working on…

Literacy:  Our newest reading strategy is ‘Questioning’.  We use this strategy: before reading, during reading, and after reading.  Students really have a grasp of this important comprehension skill and can be heard making ‘I wonder’ statements frequently.  Wondering about the text is important, but finding the answers to our questions shouldn’t be forgotten.  Students learned that the answers can be found by reading on in the text, inferring the answer, or going to an outside source.  Questioning is a great strategy to practice at home during family read alouds. 

We will be moving on to ‘Synthesizing’ next.  When using this strategy students will try to discover the themes of the stories and fables that we are reading.  Students will also try to retell the story using a few important events.

Math:  We are in the middle of our Geometry unit.  Students are learning about the solid figures.  We are describing each figure using their attributes and hunting for real life versions of each.  Students should be familiar with the following math vocabulary:  face, vertex, edge, cube, cylinder, cone, sphere, pyramid, and rectangular prism.

Social Studies:  We are in our study of South America.  We have been focusing on the Amazon Rainforest.  Students are learning and writing about this habitat: the animals, plant life, climate, and dangers.

Writer’s Workshop:  After a long winter of nonfiction writing, our All About Books are near completion.  The writing, attention to detail. and editing that the students have done is wonderful.  We will celebrate our accomplishment with a publishing party where we share our books with our 5th grade buddies.  The second graders are very proud of all the hard work they put into these books.

We have also been working on writing 3 paragraph essays, using a graphic organizer to plan the writing.  

graphic organizer for writing a 3 paragraph essay

Students are brainstorming and writing an essay about the rainforest this week.  Each paragraph is organized in the following way:  

1.  Topic Sentence

2.  Detail

3.  Detail

4.  Detail

5.  Conclusion/Closing Sentence

Next up is Poetry.  We will begin to see the world through a poet’s eyes.  I can’t wait for the creativity to explode in the classroom.  

That’s pretty much what we have been up to.  It is hard to believe that we have only about 7 weeks left in this school year.  I am extremely proud of all the accomplishments and successes we have experienced so far.  

Hopefully the sunshine and warm temps will return.  Have a wonderful week.  

Mrs. VanRavenswaay

Thank you to everyone who participated in this year’s Read-a-thon.  I can’t wait to see how many minutes each of the students has read.  Please turn in all forms and donations by tomorrow, Wednesday, April 11th!

Author Sarah Weeks is coming to Indian Trail on Tuesday, April 17^th
She will be presenting to all students K-5. You can read about her and about the books she has written here: http://www.sarahweeks.com. Book orders are being sent home on Tuesday. Please return any pre-orders by Thursday, April 5th. Books will also be available the day of the visit. This visit is being brought to you by The 112 Foundation and Indian Trail School.

I am looking for mystery guest readers to join us on Friday, March 23rd for our Camp Read-a-Lot reading day. To celebrate this year’s Read-a-Thon we will be spending the day “camping out” with books! Please check the times below and (secretly) get in touch if you are able to join us. Email me with some times that you are available and five clues so the students can guess who our mystery readers are! Thanks.

9:30

9:45

10:00

10:15

12:30

12:45

1:00

1:15

1:30

1:45

2:45

3:00

Good Morning,

Just a reminder that conferences are this week.  I am looking forward to seeing all of you.  This time, second graders will be at the conferences to share their successes and goals.  Please check the schedule below for your conference time.  

Thank You!

Mrs. VanRavenswaay

Spring Conferences 2012

Wednesday, March 14
6:00 Stasz
6:30 Emma
7:00 Carlos
7:30 Ella

Thursday, March 15
12:00 Liliana
12:30 Amanda
1:00 Haley
3:00 Shimi
3:30 Jacquelyn
4:00 Samantha
6:00 Jolyn
6:30 Levi
7:00 Jack

Friday, March 16
9:00 Andrew K.
9:30 Brady
10:30 Andrew N.
11:00 Estella
11:30 Daniel