Holiday Fun!!

Dear parents,

Thank you to all the parents who helped and donated food to our party today! We had fun making a snowman ornament, eating and making pancakes and playing "minute to win it" games!

I am so proud of our class. Every day they come to school to learn. The students are kind to each other. They love taking on new challenges, just like today making the 100 cup tower! Below are a few photos from our fun morning!

I hope you have a wonderful holiday with family and friends. Enjoy your children at this special time of year.

Week of December 19-22

Dear families,

We are nearing the end of 2016! Our class is very excited for the holidays and the upcoming winter break!

This week we read the book The Biggest, Best Snowman and practiced retelling the story. We have been focusing on remembering the main events in order, the characters and the solution. After reading the book we wrote a retelling of the story onto a snowman. The students will need to be retelling independently in January.  Please have your child practice retelling stories at home after reading to help them prepare. You can practice retelling with any familiar book.

In writing, we are "Writing for Readers". This week I have been showing students how to make their writing readable for a partner. We have been picking one writing goal each day to focus on. We will wrap up this unit the week after we return from our break.

In math, we have been working on learning rules for facts. Yesterday we discussed the +0, +1 and the doubles rules. We will work today on ways to make 10. We will play the two-fisted penny game and "Fishing for 10." Both are great ways to practice making 10.

In science we will be doing a sink and float experiment tomorrow. We will begin working with solid mixtures after the break. In class last week we discussed matter in the form or a solid, liquid or gas. We learned that liquids take the shape of what ever container is holding it. We watched a short video on the three forms of matter. We also observed water in a bottle and how it moves with the bottle as you tip it.

It is very cold out and we have been indoors for the last two days. Tomorrow looks like it could be warmer! It is best to please continue to send the necessary snow clothes. Hopefully the really cold weather is ending today!

Our party is this Thursday at 10:30-12:00. If you are sending in food for the party, you can send it in tomorrow!

Thank you,
Mrs. Scheck

Friday fun!

Dear families,

It has been a busy week in first grade!

In Science I introduced liquids to the class. We started with discussing what we already know about liquids. Then we explored seven different liquids in bottles. The students rolled, spun, shook and watched each liquid. We learned several new vocabulary words; viscous, transparent, translucent, foamy, and bubbly.  We observed corn syrup in a bottle and discovered it was viscous because it moved slowly. We shined a flashlight on the different liquids and observed which ones were translucent.  Students may come home asking to do some "experiments"!

In reading this week we read the book The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes. We discussed the beginning, middle and ending. We wrote about the story. We learned a new vocabulary word: auditorium.

In Social Studies we read The Story of Ping. We discussed consequences. Ping is a duck who does not listen to his master's call and ends up hiding to avoid his consequence. We used pictures from the story to practice beginning, middle and end.  We wrote using transitional words; first, next, then and last.

In math, we practiced measuring with blocks, paper clips, dominoes, craft sticks and unifix cubes.
We learned that to measure something accurately you need to do these things: no overlapping, use one size object, measure to the end (not past it) and not to leave spaces.

In writing, we have been working on adding descriptive words, reading to check for beginning, middle and ending. Using spaces, spelling the popcorn words correctly and using neat handwriting.
We will continue with Writing for Readers next week!

Today we painted a fun reindeer picture.
It was a busy and productive week!

Have a great weekend,
Mrs. Scheck

Tower Building 

Today we worked like engineers. We used materials from our science kits to build a tower. We tried many ways to make our towers work. We found that materials that were rigid and strong worked best. Others materials that were too flexible were not as good. Many students had to start all over. Some students borrowed ideas from other towers they saw. Last we looked at the leaning tower of Pisa. We talked about what materials were used and how to fix it!
Way to go, Engineers!

Nov. 28-Dec 2

Dear families,

December already! I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. The students came back eager to share all the fun they had celebrating with family and friends.

This week we read the book On Down the Road.  After reading the story students made text to self connections with the main character. We discussed and wrote about a new character trait: cautious. We learned new a vocabulary word: Dillydally.  The book had a strong beginning, middle and end. We will focus more on re-tellings as we get closer to the middle of the school year because in January, I will be re-assessing all students for reading. Along with determining reading levels, I will be assessing comprehension. To help at home, ask this questions after reading:
Who were the characters?
What was the setting or where the story mostly took place?
What was the problem?
What are the main events (in order)?
How was the problem solved?
What connections can you make to the story?

The reading books that are coming home are familiar and it is best to practice retelling with a familiar story.

In writing, we are working on making our writing readable. We wrote for partners this week. Sharing our writing is important, students loved hearing compliments and one suggestion about their work as they read each others stories. We also re-read our stories to see if anything in our story did not fit. We crossed out parts that were not on topic. We also circled popcorn words in our writing and fixed them up. I gave the students another tool to use for writing, a blends chart.

In math, we have completed unit 3. We have begun a unit 4.  Unit 4 is mostly about measurement. Students will learn to measure using non-standard ways (like a paper clip or pencil). I will also introduce tools for measuring. A family letter for unit 4 will come home Monday.
We had a math assessment for unit 3. I will be sending it home next week. Please go over anything your child needs extra practice on. The most difficult parts for many students was explaining the way they solved problems.

In Social Studies we have been sharing the wonderful family trees! If your child still has not completed this project, please turn it in next week. We will read the book The Goodness Gorillas and The Kindness Quilt. We will talk about ways to be kind  and write on lightbulbs how to "light up the world with kindness."

In Science we are imagining we are engineers. We will build towers with different objects. We will compare our towers and tell how we built them. This is always a fun experiment!

I am beginning to plan for the Holiday party on Dec. 22nd. We will have a pancake breakfast. The party will be at 10:30-12:00.  We hope to have volunteers to make pancakes and help with a craft. We will watch a Holiday movie in the afternoon. Look for more information coming soon. If you are wishing to join us or help out, please eamil me and let meknow. I have parents who are already volunteering, but we can always use more hands!

Have a great weekend!
Mrs. Scheck

Week of November 21-23

Dear families,

This week in first grade we went on a field trip to the Ann Arbor Hands-on Museum.  The students were able to interact with all the displays. There were several activities that involved liquids that the students told me were their favorites. In the water room, students were able to build with plastic pipes and divert water in different directions. On the second floor, students could put a bubble around themselves. They learned through trial and error to pull the rope up slowly and to be still inside the bubble so it would not pop! If you are interested in visiting the museum with your child it is a fun experience. There is so much to see and do!

We have begun our Science Unit called "Solids and Liquids." We began today discovering the different properties of solids. We learned two new vocabulary terms: rigid and flexible. We have noticed solids are made from these materials: plastic, wood, metal and rubber. We will work on identifying and grouping solids based on their different properties next week.

In writing, we have been working on Writing for Readers. Students are very aware now of what readable writing looks like. We focused yesterday on zooming in on one small moment and staying on topic.

In math we are toward the end of unit 3.  Today I introduced "Frames and Arrows." Students learned how to look for a pattern and follow a rule for a frame and arrow. A home link is going home today for extra practice.

In Social studies, our family trees are due on Monday, November 28th.  Please let me know if you need more time or further assistance in making a tree. Also note a family tree is more than a picture of your family.  It needs labels for each person and/or a picture of each individual member and a shape to put the tree on, it could be an apple tree or holiday tree, etc.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Mrs. Scheck

Week of November 14-18

Hello Families!

First grade is getting ready to start a lot of new things in the coming weeks!

In reading, we have moved on to a new unit called Digging Deeper: Reading for Meaning. We have been working on being problem solvers when we read. Students have been practicing strategies in their reading groups and during Daily 5.  One strategy we have focused on this week is taking words apart and using a part we know to solve a new word. This is a strategy that will last a long time. Students working on longer words should be taking words apart at the biggest part they know. We read the book Elmer and the Kangaroo this week. We used the book to practice view points. We did a Step Inside and looked at the story from the Kangaroo's perspective and Elmer's perspective.  We learned two new character traits: optimistic and pessimistic.

In writing, we have cleaned out our writing folders. Our new writing unit is called Writing for Readers. We have been working on making our writing readable. We have looked closely at our own writing and came up with a list of things that are needed to make it readable.

• spaces between words
• neat handwriting, using lowercase letters when they are appropriate
• capitals to start a sentence and for names only
• periods, exclamation points and question marks
• popcorn words spelled correctly

We will keep with this unit for about 4 weeks!

In math, we have begun Unit 3. We are practicing hopping on the number line and skip counting. Please practice skip counting by 2, 5, and 10 to help your child at home.

Today and tomorrow we will be using the number line to add and subtract. Tonight we will have a home link to review these concepts.

In Social Studies, we made our time lines and read the book Birthday Presents. We will read more about family trees this week. The family tree project is due on Monday, November 28th. Please let me know if you child needs more time.

Science will start this week! Our first unit is called Solids and Liquids. This is a fun hands on unit. Our first task is sorting objects by their properties and using solids to make a tower.

Monday is our field trip! Chaperones are asked to be at school by 9:15 a.m. Students need to eat a good breakfast, wear walking shoes, and be ready to have fun at the Ann Arbor Hands-On museum!

Thank you and have a great week!
Mrs. Scheck