January 28th, 2017

I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend! Below are some school and classroom updates :) 

MAP REPORTS
In your child's backpack yesterday you should have found their MAP (Measures of Academic Progress) reports. The MAP test helps us determine your child's instructional level and measures their academic growth over time. For an informational Parent Letter on reading the MAP Report and a digital copy of the MAP brochure, click here. If you have addition questions about your child's MAP report, please contact me, Mrs. Gluck, or Jeanne Spiller, the Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning at (847)459-4260. 

       VALENTINES DAY REMINDER

Valentine's Day is approaching! Our Valentine's Day classroom party will be on February 14th in the afternoon. We welcome Valentines to be passed out as long as your child has a Valentine for each student in our class so that feelings are not hurt. We have 20 students in our class. There is a class list linked on our website, however addressing individual valentines is not necessary. Feel free to have your child simply fill out the "from" line. You may also choose to include a small item with your child's Valentines. If this is the case please note that only non-food items such as pencils, tattoos, stickers etc. are allowed. Candy, snacks or any other food items will be sent home with your child. Many of our students have medically based dietary restrictions and some students follow specific family chosen diets such as vegetarian, low cal/sugar, etc. Monitoring the individual needs and requests is nearly impossible so we appreciate your support and understanding with this issue. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email me. 

                                            READ TO SUCCEED

Our school is once again participating in an exciting program that encourages students in grades K-6 to read for fun. Read to Succeed is a free program sponsored by Six Flags. Every student who completes and logs six hours of recreational reading is eligible for a free admission ticket to Six Flags Great America. Reading logs are due by February 24th. You can download more information and the reading log in the Virtual Backpack.

                      PIZZA BINGO NIGHT

The PTO is hosting a Pizza Bingo night on February 9th from 6:00-7:30! This is a combined event with families from Ivy Hall and Prairie schools. Join us for a night of friends, fun, and the chance to win "Principal for a Day" or Lunch with your favorite teacher!
Pre-Orders are due by Friday, February 3rd. Pre-Order Bonus: 1 free raffle ticket per package. Download the order form here. 

                                Writing

We are wrapping up our imaginative narrative study this week. We've worked on creating stories that have made up characters, settings, and sequenced events. Children wrote an alternate ending to a story we read in Reading titled The Family Tree. They also recently completed a story about a character who lost something. Throughout our writing, our little authors focused on adding details regarding what happened and using temporal words such as first, next, last to signal event order. We are continuing to reinforce conventions using the CUPS model C=capitals, U=Usage (does it sound right?) P=Punctuation and S=Spacing and Spelling. Children are gaining a secure foundation of the writing process. They are learning to analyze prompts, brainstorm, draft, revise, edit, and publish. We have been publishing our stories on an app called Write About This. Follow our classroom Twitter account, @MissSchuttKCSD, to see some pictures of us publishing! Our next unit of study will be informational writing. 

                                             Reading
We've worked hard this past week to dig deeper into fictional texts to identify the central message. We read two new stories, Knuffle Bunny and The Red Pajamas. After reading, we looked closely at the characters and key details to gain an understanding and then put the pieces together to think about the central message. The central message is the lesson the author wants us to learn from reading their story. We've also worked on comparing and contrasting characters adventures and experiences in stories. In both of these stories the characters had lost something, but their experiences and adventures were still different. 
Over the next few weeks we will dig deeper int informational text. Our focus while reading informational texts will be to identify the main topic and details that support the topic, use various text features to support our understanding, and to work more with challenging vocabulary to clarify meaning. We will continue our conversations on how fictional stories are different than non-fiction information.

                       Math

We're continuing to build our understanding of place value with tens and ones. Understanding that 38 is composed of 3 tens and 8 ones is a crucial foundation in your child's number sense. 
This past week we've used that foundation to introduce the value of coins. We've begun by introducing dimes and pennies to reinforce the idea of place value and counting by 10's and 1's.
 Next week we will introduce the value of the nickel. Being able to skip count by 10s, 5s, and 1s is a crucial piece in being able to identify the value of a group of coins. Work with your child at home - can the count by 1s to 100? Can they count by 5s? Can they count by 10s? If they can, are they able to count to a certain number by 10s, and then stop and continue counting by 5's or 1s? Please see my previous blog post from January 17th for additional fun ways you can help at home. 

Science
This past week we investigated sound and how sound travels. Students found out that sound from a tuning fork can travel through yarn. Then they formulated their own science questions about what else sound might be able to travel through. Each child tested whether or not sound can travel through different items and materials. Ask your child what they chose to test and if sound was able to travel through it!

                      Social Studies

Leading up to Black History Month, we've discussed important Americans such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks. With President's Day around the corner, we will take a closer look at George Washington and Abraham Lincoln and the impact they made on our country.

January 31 - Special Lunch - Culvers (Pre-Order required)

January 31 - Early Release - 2:00PM Dismissal

February 4 - Chicago Wolves Family Night (Pre-Order required)

February 9 - Pizza Bingo Night 6:00-7:30PM

Februar 14 - Classroom Valentine's Parties 

February 20 - NO SCHOOL - President's Day

February 21 - Cafe Zupa's Fundraising Night

February 24 - End of Trimester 2

February 28 - Early Release - 2:00PM Dismissal

January 17, 2016

Welcome back! It's been awhile since our last blog post. Please take some time to review some friendly reminders and check out what's been going on in our classroom!

                  

                 Valentines Day Information!

Valentine's Day is approaching! Our Valentine's Day classroom party will be on February 14th in the afternoon. We welcome Valentines to be passed out as long as your child has a Valentine for each student in our class so that feelings are not hurt. We have 20 students in our class. There is a class list linked on our website, however addressing individual valentines is not necessary. Feel free to have your child simply fill out the "from" line. You may also choose to include a small item with your child's Valentines. If this is the case please note that only non-food items such as pencils, tattoos, stickers etc. are allowed. Candy, snacks or any other food item will be sent home with your child. Many of our students have medically based dietary restrictions and some students follow specific family chosen diets such as vegetarian, low cal/sugar, etc. Monitoring the individual needs and requests is nearly impossible so we appreciate your support and understanding with this issue. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email me. 

Student Council is hosting another spirit day, on January 27th - Color Day! 1st graders are encouraged to wear the color red to show their school spirit.

The PTO & Student Council have joined together to host a Movie Night on January 27th at 6:00pm for our 1st and 2nd graders! They will be showing The Secret Life of Pets for an admission cost of $5. Additional snacks and drinks are available for purchase. Parent pick-up will be at 7:45. For additional details please see the flyer in the Virtual Backpack.

The PTO will be hosting Family Night at the Chicago Wolves Game on February 4th. If you are interested in attending, ticket orders are due no later than January 20th. Please see the PTO Blog for more information.

                                  Writing

Since returning from winter break, students have been focusing on narrative writing. We've discussed how narratives are stories and they can either be personal stories or make believe. We currently have been working on imaginative narratives. Our goals while working on narrative writing are to stay on topic while having sequenced events using temporal words that signify a clear beginning, middle, and end. We encourage students to include details that tell more about each event to make their stories clear to the reader. We are also working on including a closing that is related back to the "heart" or topic of their story. Students have been introduced to revising and editing as part of the writing process. It is our goal that students have capitals, punctuation, and grade level appropriate spelling in their writing. 

                                               Reading

Students have started two new stories, Arbor Day Square and The Family Tree. After reading these stories we are working using details from the text to not only name the characters and setting, but to describe them to someone who has not read the story. We have also been working on finding connections between two individuals and their experiences while reading these texts. Students are striving to use key details from the texts to identify the main topic and central message as well. 

Math

Students have finished up Unit 3 this week which focused on telling time to the hour, identifying even and odd numbers, adding and subtracting within 20 and number stories with up to 3 addends. Students are building their fact fluency as well. Don't forget to use xtramath.com for extra practice!

We will begin Unit 4 this week where students will build on their knowledge of time time to the hour by now telling time to the half hour. Students will also build their understanding of place value in Unit 4. They will practice counting by 1's, 5's and 10's as well as read and write numbers up to 120. Students will learn and understand place value of 2 digit numbers by representing numbers with tens and ones and showing expanded form (For example: 28 = 20+8 / 2 tens and 8 ones). Students will also use skip counting to be introduced to counting coins and showing their value up to $1.00. We will begin with dimes and pennies (10's and 1's) and then add nickels (5's). Quarters will not be introduced until the following unit. 

What can we do at home?

**Number Grid Race - Print the number grid as your game board. Partners take turn rolling a die and hopping along the number grid. You must read the number you land on. The first to reach 120 wins!

**Coin Grab - Place a pile of coins in the center of the table. Each partner grabs a handful and counts their totals. The person with the highest value wins!

**Penny-Dice Roll - Partners take turns rolling a dice and picking up pennies for each amount (5 on the dice = 5 pennies) Players can trade pennies in for nickels and dimes. The first person to a dollar wins!

                                    Social Studies

In the next few weeks students will study and learn about important Americans. We recently discussed Martin Luther King Jr.'s role and influence to our country. We will also learn more about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln and the impact they had on our county.

                                   Science

We have just finished learning about light and shadows and have begun our investigations about sound. This week students worked together to investigate how vibration causes sound. They worked in teams to create and perform in garage bands! We will wrap up our unit on sound by exploring how we can use light and sound to send messages. 

January 16 - NO SCHOOL - Martin Luther King Jr. Day 

January 27 - Spirit Day (Color Day) - 1st graders wear red!

January 27 - 1st/2nd Grade PTO Movie Night - 6pm

January 31 - Special Lunch - Culvers

January 31 - Early Release - 2pm Dismissal