Congrats to the Chicago Cubs on their World Series Championship! There has been a lot of buzz around Ivy Hall regarding their win :) Please take a few minutes to read some updates on what's going on in First Grade...
Thank you!
Thank you to all the volunteers who donated and spent time in our classroom on Halloween to make our party a huge success. The kids had a blast!
Follow Us on Twitter!
Our class is on Twitter! Please follow our Twitter handle @MissSchuttKCSD to get a closer look into our classroom. I will be posting pictures of day to day classroom activities.
Parent-Teacher Conferences
Please don't forget to schedule your parent-teacher conference. I am looking forward to discussing your child's progress and sharing ways you can help your child at home. If you can not attend conferences on the dates provided, please contact me and we can set up another time to meet.
Papa John's Fundraiser
Our PTO has partnered with Papa John's Buffalo Grove for a month long fundraiser. Every Wednesday in November, mention Ivy Hall when you order pizza and you can earn money for our school! It's as easy and tasty as that! A flyer is available in the Virtual Backpack with more details.
Writing
We will continue to work on informative/explanatory writing through the end of the trimester. This past week we connected our writing to our science unit and read about living and non-living things. We used the TAK model to analyze the prompt and brainstormed all we learned about living things. From there we organized our writing into a t-chart and looked back into the text for additional information that could support our big ideas. The kids are really starting to understand the WriteTools writing process and are becoming excellent writers!
Word Study
Thank you for continuing to work on your child's word sorts each week. Don't forget to have your child say the word/picture, lay it down, and explain why it belongs in that category. Many children are able to sort and identify spelling patterns in isolation, however, our goal is that they are able to transfer those spelling patterns into their writing. If they are able to explain their thought process, it will help them internalize the spelling pattern quicker.
Reading
We have finished Unit 2 in our ReadyGen curriculum. In this unit we've read literary and information texts together. While reading literary texts we've focused our attention on the following targets; using key details from the story to ask and answer questions, being able to retell the story, understand the central message or lesson, and also being able to describe the characters, settings and major events. While reading informational texts, we've set goals to be able to use key details to ask and answer questions, identify the main topic, retell key details, and describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas or pieces of information. In both types of texts we've been working on determining or clarifying the meaning of unknown words and multiple meaning words and phrases. Please continue to work on mastering these skills at home with your child. You can do this while reading texts at their level, or complex texts that you may be reading to them.
Don't forget that October reading calendars were due last week. Every child should be reading for 15-20 minutes a night at home. The best way for your child to become a better reader is to read! This can include independent reading or listening to reading as well.
Math
We are continuing to build our understanding of word problems in math. Students have been exposed to a variety of word problems including addition, subtraction, and comparing situations. When reading and solving word problems students should first analyze the problem and identify what kind of problem it is and what kind of math strategy would help them solve it. They should also be able to draw a picture and write a number sentence to match. At the end of next week students will be given their Unit 2 math test. The test will cover adding and subtracting within 20 using various strategies, adding and subtracting within 20 to solve word problems, and fluently being able to add and subtract within 20.
Social Studies
We are wrapping up our Social Studies unit. Students should be able to identify the current president of the United States and name at least three US symbols. We have also discussed the many jobs of the president.
Science
We are wrapping up our life science unit as well! This past week we discussed how parents take care of their young to help them survive. We watched short videos of parents and their offspring and then determined if they were protecting them from danger, feeding them, cleansing them, or teaching them important survival skills. Students also created their own scenarios of an animal parent and it's offspring!
November 8 - NO SCHOOL (Election Day/Institute Day)
November 11 - Reporting Period Ends
November 17 - Family Reading Night
November 21 - Early Release Day - 2:00PM Dismissal
November 21 - Parent/Teacher Conferences 5:00PM - 7:00PM
November 22 - NO SCHOOL
November 22 - Parent/Teacher Conferences - 2:00PM - 7:00PM
November 23-25 - NO SCHOOL (Thanksgiving Break)
November 29 - PTO Papa John's, Special Lunch (Pre-Order Required)
