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

December 3rd

Thank you to all the families who attended Parent-Teacher Conferences. 15 minutes never seems like enough time to catch up! It always amazes me when I reflect back to the beginning of the year and then think about where we are at now. If you ever want to schedule a time before or after school to discuss your child's progress, don't hesitate to contact me. 

Please take a few minutes to catch up on some friendly reminders and see what's going on in our classroom!

Please remember to dress your child appropriately for the weather! The entire class goes out for recess every day unless the windchill is below 0. It is helpful to label hats, gloves, scarves, etc. We have a large collection already in the lost and found!

MAP (Measures of Academic Progress) testing will begin next week. Both math and reading assessments will be given during this time frame. We will use MAP results as another data point for planning instruction for your child. 

Ivy Hall's Wildcat WOW Committee is hosting Toys For Tots this year. Toys for Tots is a program that provides new, packaged toys for children who are less fortunate. If you would like to donate, please send in new, unused toys in the original packaging to the office labeled "Toys for Tots" by December 14th. Any toys, books, arts and craft supplies are fine. Please do not send any weapons or food products. Thank you for giving this holiday season!

Ivy Hall's Student Council is hosting a Food Drive. You can help by donating canned or boxed goods beginning Monday, December 5th. Items can be brought into the office. All food items will be donated to the Vernon Area Food Pantry as we head into the winter holiday season. 

Student Council is also hosting an after school field trip to Belmont Village Assisted Living Facility on Thursday, December 15th from 3:30-4:30pm. Students from Ivy Hall will visit Belmont Village to entertain it's residents. Due to limited space only 30 students will be able to attend. If more than 30 students want to participate, names will be drawn. Transportation will be provided both to and from Belmont Village. Students must be picked up from Ivy Hall when the performance is over at 4:30. Permission slips are available in the Virtual Backpack. Please print and return permission slips to school by Wednesday, December 7th. 

Our winter party will be on Friday, December 16th in the afternoon. Thank you to all the parents who are busy planning and organizing! Please remember if you are donating snacks for our holiday party, they must be from the Approved Snack List. Please have any items to school on Friday, December 16th before 10am. We appreciate your generosity :) 

Don't forget to check us out on Twitter! Follow our Twitter handle @MissSchuttKCSD to see pictures of what's happening in our classroom!

                                                                                          

                                                                                          Writing

In writing, students are finishing up their narrative stories. Our first grade goals are to have an introduction, at least two sequenced events, details that tell more about what is happening, and a concluding sentence. Students are also working on including transition words to signal change in their stories. Words such as "first," "next," and "last," help move their stories along and sequence what happens throughout their story. Moving forward, students will be introduced to CUPS (capital letters, verb usage, punctuation, and spelling) to edit their writing. 

How can you help your child with writing at home?

The best way to help your child with writing at home is to give them the opportunity to write. Have them help you write a grocery list, write out their wish list for the holidays, or address holiday cards. Another fun thing to do is to have your child keep a journal. Once a week have your child write about something they did. It could be about something small like going to the park or playing with a friend or it could be about something bigger like going to the movies or trip they took. Have your child sequence the events. For example, "We went to the movies. We watched the movie. We went home." Then ask them to tell you what else happened. For example, when you arrived did you order and snacks? Did someone take your ticket? Where did you sit? Did you like the movie? Even starting with one journal entry a week is great practice for your child at home!

                   Word Study

After discussion amongst our team and district, we have decided to discontinue sending home Words Their Way homework. Words Their Way is a program that is designed to work with students in class in order to study the different patterns in words throughout their reading and writing. While sending these sorts home throughout the week gives them additional practice, it is just repetition of an activity they have done in class. 

Please remember, this is NOT a spelling program and our students are not taking spelling tests each week. Therefore, bring the words home to practice is not necessary. We understand that you may still be interested in the words they are working with and may want to work at home with them. Therefore, students will continue to bring their completed sorts home so that you can see what they've practiced and studied. If you would like to continue word study at home here are some great practice ideas you can use after receiving your students completed sort. 

*Look for their word patterns in books you are reading at home 

*make a list of rhyming words for each pattern

*Use a few words to create sentences with their word patterns

*Say a word in their sort and ask them which pattern it belongs to 

*Ask them to explain why each word belongs in the sort

Please let us know if you have any other questions. Sorts can also be found here on the KCSD website. 

                                                                                         Reading

This past week we begun reading an informational book titled Goods and Services. In this text students are working on identifying the main topic and supporting details. We learned that there is a main topic of the entire book but their can also be a main topic of a specific section within the book, too. We are paying close attention to text features such as headings, captions, and photographs that can deepen our understanding of the topic. In this text, students are exposed to a wealth of unfamiliar vocabulary words such as producer, consumer, income, and taxes. We are learning various strategies to helps us determine the meaning of these words to support our comprehension. Next week, students will begin a new informational text titled Supermarket. We will compare ideas between this new text and Goods and Services. We will compare and contrast topics and make connections as well!

                         Math

In math, students have been working on determining weather a number is odd or even. It is explained to students that if a number is even, counters can be perfectly paired up. If there is a leftover, we call that odd. Students should be able to look at any given number and determine if it's even or odd.                                                                                                                                         This week students have also begun telling and writing time to the hour. We have looked at analog and digital clocks and determined that time can be written in numbers (8:00), in words (eight o'clock), or in number and words (8 o'clock). Students have been exposed to all ways and will begin looking closer at time to the half hour and elapsed time in the next few weeks.

Students have become very successful at using hands on strategies to add and subtract. i.e. using their fingers, drawing a picture, using counters or a number line. Our next step is building mental strategies that will help us find our answer more quickly, or fluently. Counting on from the bigger number is the first step in becoming fluent in addition facts. Knowing +0 and +1 facts are quick and easy ways to find an answer as well. We also encourage students to memorize their doubles facts (2+2, 5+5, 8+8, etc.). Once they have memorized doubles then they can look at double +1 facts such as 5+6. If we know 5+5=10 then we can quickly find the answer to 5+6 by adding 1 more. 

Students have begun timed tests this week. Our goal is to take 2 timed tests per week. Students will start with +0 facts and move down the number line to +1, +2, +3 facts, etc. They will have 2 minutes to answer 30 addition facts (within 10). Once they fluently answer the facts with 90% or higher accuracy, they will be given the next test. Please work on building fluency strategies at home. Flash cards are a great tool! Having a solid foundation of number sense and understanding the relationship between numbers is essential as your child builds and develops their math skills!

Social Studies

In Social Studies we have been discussing the differences between wants and needs. We will discuss how clothing, food, and toy drives help those in need. We are also excited to begin learning about famous Americans! Some of the Americans include George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. We will be using different texts to learn facts about their lives. 

                                          Science

We have begun our uint on light and sound. Students had a lot of fun using flashlights this week to investigate how light travels. we learned that light can travel through some materials and not others. We looked at how light moves in a straight line and how it's path can be changed using a mirror. Next week we will begin investigating shadows!

December 5-9 - MAP Testing (during school hours)

December 13 - PTO Special Lunch: Real Urban BBQ (Pre-Order Required)

December 16 - Winter Holiday Party

December 19-January 2 - NO SCHOOL (Winter Break)

January 3 - Welcome Back!

November 6th, 2016

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)

October 25th, 2016

Go Cubs Go! 

Today we are celebrating the Cubs first World Series game since 1945! Such an exciting time for our city and Chicago sports :) Please take a minute to read a few important updates and take a look at what's going on in our classroom.

Parent/Teacher Conferences

Thank you to everyone who has signed up or contacted me regarding parent teacher conferences. If you have not signed up yet, please visit our classroom SignUp Genius Account to schedule your time. am looking forward to meeting with you to discuss your child's progress thus far. Please remember that each conference is scheduled for just 15 minutes and many conferences are back-to-back. At the end of 15 minutes if we feel we have more to discuss we can schedule another time to meet. We appreciate your help and understanding in making sure we have enough time to meet with each family.

Halloween Information

Please see my previous blog posts regarding Halloween Information. Also, please be sure to read the Principal's Message for school guidelines around appropriate costume attire for our Halloween festivities. If you are unsure about whether or not something in your child's costume is appropriate, please contact me. Also included in Mrs. Gluck's blog are the guidelines around students going home for lunch on Halloween. If you plan on picking your child up for a costume change, please be sure to review the procedures. Thank you.

**Please note that due to recent events with clowns, clown costumes will not be allowed at school. We appreciate your cooperation in making the Halloween fun and safe for everyone!

Dressing for the Weather

With fall comes chilly temperatures! Please make sure your child is dressed for the weather. Students will be going outside each day. As the temperatures get colder, you may also want to send hats, gloves, and other items to stay warm. It's helpful to have everything labeled as things fall out of pockets and backpacks easily!

Writing

This past we we wrapped up our opinion writing unit and have moved onto informational writing. We independently listened to a story on PebbleGo about the Statue of Liberty and read a short non-fiction text together. We were given a writing prompt and analyzed it with the TAK model and brainstormed important information. We came up with our topic and conclusion by using the Core 4 sentence types and will continue to plan by organizing our writing with a T-chart this week. We will also be looking at our writing for conventional pieces such as uppercase letters at the beginning of our sentences, finger spaces, and end marks at the end. 

Word Study

Please remember to have your child sort their word sort each night. It is important that they say the word first and then lay it in the correct group and explain why it belongs there to really internalize the spelling patten. As mentioned in my previous blog post, I will not be collecting any word study homework until the beginning of the following week. Some families choose to use the weekend to complete homework and this helps me stay organized. Also, please remember to have your child put their names on the blue paper! Many children have turned in their word study homework without names on it and there's no way to identify who it belongs to. 

                                   Reading

We recently began a new text titled Going to School. This is a non-fiction informational text about how children around the world go to school. We will focus on identifying important text features that deepen our understanding such as labels, captions, and photographs. We will also identify the main topic and supporting details while asking and answering questions. Students are encouraged to go back into the book to answer questions. Answering questions may include making inferences as well - using the text and background knowledge to make an informed conclusion. During the next few weeks we will continue to differentiate between fiction literary texts and non-fiction informational texts. 

**Don't forget to be reading at home each night! It is expected that each first grader reads for 15 minutes a night. It may be independently, with a sibling, with a parent, or even on RAZ-kids. October reading calendars will be due next week and the November reading calendar will be sent home. 

                             Math

We have been building our numbers sense with addition and subtraction! We are continuing to work with fact families and number bonds to deepen our understanding of the relationships between numbers. We have also recently revisited word problems. We are looking closely at the situations and looking for key words that help us identify whether to add or subtract when given a situation. We also have been looking at a new type of number story - comparing. When we look at comparing number stories we are being told one part is greater or less than the other, but we need to find out by how many. When solving for these types of problems we can choose to subtract the parts that are the same or think addition and fill in the missing part to reach the greater number. See the example below:

Sam has 4 action figures and Jim has 1 action figure. How many more action figures does Sam have than Jim?

I can choose to subtract:

or I can choose to think addition:

 In either situation, we are comparing the two numbers. We will continue to work with number stories this week and identifying key words to determine what kind of problem solving steps we should take. In the coming weeks we will being working with multi-step word problems.

Social Studies

We have talked more in depth about the roll of our president and the important jobs he has to keep our county safe. We will continue to talk about what kind of character traits leaders should have and how we can be responsible citizens.

Science

This week our science focus was on how animals protect themselves and how engineers use nature to design things that humans use. For example, turtles have a shell to protect themselves. A bicycle helmet was designed to protect our heads with a turtle's shell in mind.

           Please check the IH School Calendar for other events that may not be listed.

October 25 - Early Release - 2:00PM Dismissal

October 27 - Literacy Night 6:30PM

October 31 - Halloween Parade and Class Party

November 8 - NO SCHOOL (Election Day/Institute Day)

November 17 - Family Reading Night

October 10th, 2016

I hope everyone is enjoying their long weekend! Please see some updates and friendly reminders below to see what's going on in our classroom!

MAP testing reports were sent home on Friday. Please make sure to check your child's take home folder for their reports. For additional information you can visit the Parent Letter from the district and the MAP Parent Guide. 

Picture retakes will be Thursday, October 17th. If you would like your child to have their school picture retaken, your child will need to return the entire original package to school on or before that date.

Our first Scholastic Book Order was sent home on Friday! Scholastic Book Order is a great resource where you can find a wide selection of quality children's books that are just right for your child's reading level and interests. Many of these books are at a lower cost than you would find in a book store too! If you would like to purchase books for your child, please see the attached note on the flyer for more information.

Halloween is approaching! Please see my previous blog post regarding Halloween
information. If you'd like to pick up your child to help them into their costume, it must be during our lunch time (11:00-11:40). Please send a note to school that you plan to pick up your child.

Our classroom is still looking for a few volunteers for our classroom parties. Please visit this link to sign up. You can visit the PTO Blog for additional volunteer opportunities as well.

Parent/Teacher conferences will be held November 21st and 22nd. This year we will be using an online program called SignUp Genius to push out our conference sign up sheets. You will be receiving an email in the next few weeks which will allow you to pick a time that works best for you. 

                                               Writing
We are continuing to build our foundations in opinion writing! With a new season upon us and the weather changing, we discussed the pros and cons to each season. Each child then chose their favorite season to write an opinion piece about. We began our planning by analyzing the prompt using the TAK model and then brainstormed using a circle map. We took our ideas and organized them into a T-Chart. Students were introduced to a color coding system to help them keep their ideas organized. This planning process helps ensure that students are staying organized with their thoughts. In the coming weeks we will look closely at our paragraphs and analyze our writing for interesting words, word choice and number or words in each sentence. 

Word Study

We have been working hard with in our word study groups! I sent an email last week regarding Words Their Way homework. While sorting, it's important to have your child say the word or picture first and then lay it in the correct group and explain why it belongs in that group. Please remember to only send the blue homework sheet back at the beginning of the week. With a shortened week this week, we will not be getting new sorts. 

                                                                                      Reading
We were introduced to a new shared text this week called The Recess Queen. This is a fictional story about a girl named Mean Jean who bullies other kids on the playground. A new kid comes to school and challenges Mean Jean who then realizes that bullying kids is not the right thing to do. As a class we've been analyzing the characters and the choices they make and the lessons they've learned to help us understand the central message of the story. In the next few weeks we will transition back to non-fiction text and work on identifying the main topic and supporting details. 

Math

We have been working on several strategies that help us build fact fluency. Fact fluency is being able to answer a math fact quickly. Counting on from the bigger number is one strategy that helps us build fluency. Here are some other strategies that help us build fact fluency:

• +0 Facts: Anytime you add 0 to a number, the number will not change
• +1 Facts: A quick count up strategy
• Doubles: Doubles facts stand out to us. Memorizing these facts helps us build fluency
• Doubles +1: Once we memorize doubles facts, we can then quickly answer facts like 5+6 by thinking of the double 5+5 and adding 1. 

We are continuing to work with number bonds and were introduced to fact families this past week. A fact family is a collection of addition and subtraction facts made from the same numbers. This will also help us understand the relationship between numbers and build our foundation of number sense. We will use these tools to help us solve word problems with missing parts in the next few weeks. 

Social Studies

We are coming to the end of our symbols study. Students have looked at many different symbols that stand for strength, freedom, and liberty. We also have discussed the president and his role in our country. We will continue discuss our president in the coming weeks.

                               Science

Our hermit crabs have arrived! We were so excited to finally get our class pets! We have been talking about how all living things need food, air and water to survive. Students watched short clips of animals and had to decide what it was that they were taking in to survive. We have also been watching our bean plants grow! Both of these are authentic experiences that help our children understand how living things grow and change. 

           Please check the IH School Calendar for other events that may not be listed.

October 10 - NO SCHOOL - Columbus Day

October 11 - NO SCHOOL - District Holiday

October 12 - NO SCHOOL - District Holiday 

October 13 - Math Night for Parents (1st & 2nd Grade) 6:00PM

October 18 - PTO Special Lunch (pre-order required)

October 25 - Early Release - 2:00PM Dismissal

October 27 - Literacy Night 6:30PM

October 31 - Halloween Parade and Class Party