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