September 12-September 16

Hello everyone,

So good to see so many of you at Open House night. Thanks for stopping by.

This past weeks GTD Resource direct and push-in services began. Push-in services are for kids in K-2 in which I go into the classrooms and work with the kids on "Thinking Skills". I provided different activities which requires the kids to use logic and problem-solving, and teaches them strategies for using these skills. Direct services for students in 3-5 are for students who meet District 97 Guidelines for services and are in the area of Math and Reading.

K-This past week and upcoming week in Kindergarten I am getting to know the kids and letting them get to know me by going into the classrooms and observing and participating in the activities that the class is working on that time. I go into the Kindergarten class 1/2 hour a week.

1st Grade-This past week I went into the classes and introduced the kids to my friend DOT. DOT is just that, a DOT, who goes on adventures and requires the children to use observation, prior knowledge, and logic to answer questions regarding the situation that DOT is in. Currently "DOT Goes to School" and we are working orally.

2nd Grade-Building on skills learned in 1st Grade last year, we reviewed some of the characters we met (Dudley the Detective, Isabel the Inventor, and Sybil the Scientist) and what they taught us about problem-solving. I then introduced a problem to the kids call "Zooley". Zooley requires logic to solve.

3rd Grade-
Math-we began working on geometry skills, working on vocabulary, and doing activities with line segments and triangles.
Reading-getting to know the kids, we worked identifying literature we liked and disliked and we began to talk about Folklore and read "How the Leopard Got Its Spots" by Rudyard Kipling.

4th Grade-
Math-we reviewed concepts like square numbers and square roots, looking for and identifying patterns.
Reading-we are working on "If I Were a Book" books. Some very fun and creative ideas coming out of this.

5th Grade-
Math-working on Unit 1 (Data Collection and Organization)
Reading-same as 4th Grade

That's all for now until next week.

All my best,
Mr. Packer

September 5-September 9

Hello everyone,

I hope this Labor Day finds you well.

Now that the students have finished taking their MAP tests in Math (Grades 2-5), I can organize the data, see which children meet GTD criteria, and create groups. Scheduling is done for the upper grades (3-5) and I will be working with the Kindergarten through 2nd grade teachers to create a schedule for me to push into their classes.

Groups should begin next week the 12th. Hope to see many of you at Open House night on Thursday September 15.

All my best,
Mr. Packer

August 29-September 2

Hello everyone,

Welcome back to another school year. I am looking forward to once again working with all students in Grades K-2 as I push-in to the classes and work on thinking skills and problem-solving and pulling out small groups of students who qualify for services in grades 3-5.

5th Grade Math
Students in Mr. Packer Math for 5th grade are working a grade level ahead with EVERYDAY MATH for 6th Grade with Transitions Algebra as one of many supplements that will be used. This past week we took a pre-test for Unit 1 which focus on data collection and organizationl. Parents should have received a letter describing the class, as well as the first of the groups weekly Math update.





Don't forget, OPEN HOUSE night is Thursday September 15. Mark it on your calendars.





All my best,


Mr. Packer

April 25-April 29

Hello everyone, here is what's happening in the world of GTD Resource at Irving School

1st Grade
Continuation of Primary Education Thinking Skills, students are finishing up with Sybil the Scientist and comparing attributes of "creatures", discussing alike and different, and creationg Venn Diagrams to visually represent likes and differences.

2nd and 3rd Grade Math
Students in 2nd and 3rd grade math group are working on fractions, identifying and comparing, as well as creating equivalent fractions

2nd Grade Reading
We continue with our novels about Benjamin Franklin as well as working on creating our own inventions

3rd Grade Reading
Students in 3rd Grade Reading will start reading the novel "The Invention of Hugo Cabret" and working on activities to go along with the story. They will create sketches each session we meet and then create a story out of the unrelated drawings.

4th Grade Math
Continuing to work on area and perimeter problems, particularly as it relates to irregular polygons.

5th Grade Math
We continue to work on Unit 7, dealing with probability, percentages, and fair vs. unfair games.

I hope everyone enjoyed the 3 day weekend. Don't forget the Academic Fair is this Wednesday and Family Math Night is Thursday evening. Until next week.

All my best,
Mr. Packer

April 11-April 15

Hello all, Don't forget: IRVING's 100th ANNIVERSAY OPEN HOUSE-FRIDAY April 15 from 6:00pm-8:00pm. Here's what's going on in the world of GTD Services at Irving School 2nd Grade Math Students are being tested for our next unit and grouping. Currently we are working on the underestanding of multiplication and representing multi-step multiplication problems with pictures and writing the number sentences that accompany 2nd Grade Reading Students are working on "Inventions". We have seen 3 really good prototypes. We are continuing to read up on Benjamin Franklin with the books "Ben and Me" and "What's the Big Idea Ben Franklin". Encourage students to watch Shark Tank to see how ideas/inventions can be profitable 3rd Grade Math We just switched groups and are working on fractions, idenifying equivalent fractions by mulitplying by 1 and ordering and comparing fractions. 3rd Grade Reading We are sharing our summaries of "Just So Stories" in forms of comic strips, puppet shows, and skits. 4th Grade Math In honor of Irving's 100th anniversary we are measuring the area and perimeter of the school and comparing it to that of the original building. 5th Grade Math We are finishing up Unit 7 and getting ready to take the Unit test and begin Unit 8 (Ratios and Probabilities)

February 6-February 11

Hello all,

Now that we have survived the blizzard of '11 and the great freeze, hopefully we can get back into the swing of things and our regular routines.

2nd Grade Reading
We are finishing up our novel "Half Magic" and writing our own "Half Magic"stories. This are a work in progress and we will continue to work on them and edit them as we move into our next novel.

2nd Grade Math
Students have been exploring the world of 3-dimensional shapes and using Geoshapes to create different polyhedron while exploring the terms faces, edges, and vertices. As well as discovering how shape affects structures and construction.

3rd Grade Reading
We have finished up "Dear Mr. Henshaw" and talked about Main Idea and the difference between Main Ideas and detail.

4th Grade Math
We continue to work on division and coordinate pairs and graphing.

5th Grade Math
We are continuing to work in Unit 5 (Geometry) and using the percentage circle to make graphs. We have been exploring geometric constructions using straightedges, protractor's, and compasses.

The next MATH OLYMPIAD will be TUESDAY February 4. This is the 4th out of the 5 tests.

Have a great Valentine's Day.

Until next week,
Mr. Packer

Oak Park Education Foundation SUMMER Opportunities

DON'T MISS OUT!

OPEF's summer BASE Camp is offering LEGO Engineering, Architecture Adventure, Vex Robotics, Science & Art (including mural painting under the "L" tracks), and Dissection and Medical Illustration.

Programs vary from 2-4 hours/day and 2-4 weeks, but all begin on June 8.

Offerings for students who will be in grades 3-8 in 2011-2012. Camps take place at Julian and Brooks Middle Schools.

For detailed information and registration forms go to http://opef.org/basecamp/register/

Online registration begins February 14, but you can register by mail or fax now.