Miss Fuchs' Weekly Updates

Friday, January 12 - Middle School Award Ceremony, 1:45pm

Friday, January 12 - High School Award Ceremony, 2:45pm

Monday, January 15 - Martin Luther King Jr. Day (No School)

Monday, January 15 - STEAM Video Contest Video Submission Due

Tuesday, January 16 - Boys Basketball Game vs. ND Academy, 5:30

Thursday, January 18 - Boys Basketball Game AT Atlanta Jewish Academy, 5:30

Friday, January 19- Homework #14 due, spelling test, reading test

Friday, January 19- 100th Day of School!

Friday, January 19 - 3rd Annual STEAM Video Contest Award Ceremony, 1:45 pm

Monday, January 22 - Boys Basketball Game vs. Cherokee Christian

Wednesday, January 24 - Boys Basketball Game AT The Cottage School, 5:00 pm

Tuesday, January 30 - Boys Basketball Game AT ND Academy

Thursday, February 1 - Drama Club Presents Opening Night of Why Do We Laugh, 5:00

Friday, February 2 - Drama Club's Why Do We Laugh, 5:00 pm

• Homework Packet #14
• Math Homework Packet #14
• 100th Day of School snack

Want to see your child become and AUTHOR!?

Well then download the SeeSaw app and see our awesome writing!

This year we are using Seesaw to share and communicate with families! Your child will post to Seesaw to share their learning. Seesaw is private; you'll only see posts created by your child.

Please Sign Up Now

1. Click on this link: https://app.seesaw.me/s/882-047-642
2. Choose your child from the list
3. Create your account
4. Once I approve you, you can see content from your child

After you sign up, download the free Seesaw Family app and sign in. You can also access Seesaw from a computer at https://app.seesaw.me.

Thank you for supporting your child's learning!

We have worked very hard on our own version of the Gingerbread man. We followed the steps of the writing process and created a story! I have recorded most of the students reading their story on the SeeSaw app, however there were a few who did not want to share their stories. The stories took a couple of weeks, but the hard work was worth it! They have some very creative Gingerbread man stories! I hope you enjoy! :)

Also, we have been learning about the famous American Martin Luther King Jr. this week. Students participated in a STEAM Challenge using the design process to create a "Freedom Flag". Check out what your child has created and what it means to them! I am so proud of their hard work!

As we are halfway through our school year together and our first graders have grown so much, I wanted to make you aware that you will notice some increases in the rigor of our classroom. I want to take a moment to put you at ease and give you some practical ways to help your child succeed this semester. I will start by saying the biggest change is I am holding them more accountable for things we've been talking about all year, so it's a matter of our students putting into practice through positive habit reinforcements.

1. Behavior: My expectations for the behavior and participation of our class have always been high, but of course there is always room for growth. I've told my class that it may be a bit more difficult than last semester to get up to pink on our behavior chart. Our green portion of our behavior part where students start each day is called "ready to learn." Students are expected to exhibit these kind of behaviors, and behaviors that are above and beyond are rewarded with move-ups on our chart.

2. Names on papers: This is a great habit to get in now to make sure your child is getting the grade he or she deserves. I have explained to students that I will be deducting a few points from papers with no name, as it is a routine that is highly important to practice in all subjects!

3. Writing in complete sentences: This is the number one thing I have my eye on this semester, and it occurs in every subject. We've discussed how a sentence is a group of words that form a complete idea. Every sentence starts with a capital letter and ends with a punctuation mark. We are working on answering all questions with complete sentences. this can be a great thing to keep your eye out for when they are doing their homework packets at home.

4. Using the correct spelling for words from prior spelling tests: Because reading and language arts are aspects of education that continually need to be built upon and strengthened each year, it's important that our first graders retain the spelling words we have covered this year. If you notice your child is struggling with words we've covered in the past, I would recommend taking some time to practice them together at home. This can be done with flash cards as well as more experiential practice, like writing them in a sentence. To look at words covered previously, you can always check the "language arts" portion of FSAConnect. I have the spelling words posted for each week in the description section of each spelling quiz.

With these components having reinforcement at home and school, students will be much more able to articulate ideas and understanding across the curriculum in first grade. Our first graders are very bright and quick to grasp new concepts, and mastering these concepts will only further benefit their work here at FSA!

On Friday, January 19th, we will be celebrating our 100th day of school! We are planning some awesome activities for this day! We are asking that our students dress up as if they are also 100 years old! Please feel free to get creative and really show your "elderly" side. Our teachers are going to be aging very quickly this day! :)

• One of our fun ways to celebrate is to create a 100th day snack. Students each bring in requested ingredients and we put 10 groups of 10 items into a 100-piece trail mix for every student! All ingredients will be nut-free and halal kosher.
  

In your child's folder, you will find a bright pink cardstock flyer detailing what your child needs to bring in. Please send this with them by Friday, January 19th!

We have a bunch of students needing to go to the prize box however, we are in low supply! If you are able to, please send in some small items that can be contributed to our treasure chest. Please feel free to send in items that your child is excited and interested about...this will be a great motivation for good behavior!

Here are some example of appropriate prizes:

Small Toys

Pencils

Small Puzzles

Coloring Books

Erasers

Stickers

Notepads

Pencil Grips

Small Books

**PLEASE NO FOOD OR CANDY ITEMS!

Thanks for your help in motivating your child's behavior! I look forward to many "star students"!

We are excited to announce our new sideline store! You can use this online store to purchase many different kinds of apparel and accessories from polos, to t-shirts, to caps, and back packs, etc. all FSA themed! The site allows the user to select the item, color, logo, and team whether it be academic or athletic; even different sayings! The possibilities are endless! There is everything from cotton shirts to Dri-Fit Nike or UA workout shirts! Any type of apparel you can think of, it has!

Now until November 18th, use the promo code TURKEYDAY and save 20% on all purchases of $80 or more!

Click the link below to begin shopping!

http://sideline.bsnsports.com/schools/georgia/alpharetta/fulton-science-academy

Dear Parents,

Happy New Year!

We would like to send you information about one of the best scholastic tournaments of the year.

MLK Tournament will be on Monday, January 15th. Here is the link to register http://www.georgiachess.org/event-2744282

Coach Carlos will be at the tournament. Feel free to send us an email if you have any questions.

We would like to remind you that registrations for spring semester are open. Classes are filling up quickly, so make sure you register soon in order to secure your spot.

FSA Chess Club for elementary students begins this coming Friday, January 12th https://www.chessatlanta.com/fulton-science-academy

Please register online before Friday.

Warm regards,

Coach Carlos

Chess Atlanta

Elementary students can participate in an exciting program that encourages children to read for FUN! Read to Succeed is a program sponsored by Six Flags. Every student who completes six hours of recreational reading before our deadline of Friday, February 23rd will receive a free admission ticket to Six Flags! Your child is bringing home their 2016-2017 Reading Log today. Work on filling up your child's log and return it to me by Friday, February 23rd to receive a Six Flags ticket. Happy Reading!

If you are looking for reinforcement of skills we are learning in class or extra practice for your first grade student - please consider using Study Island resource at home this year. This is a great resource we will be using this year where students can practice Math and Reading/Language Arts skills at home. This will help your child feel more confident during our MAP assessments this year. It is designed to help them practice the areas they are having difficulty with. Your child's username and password is the same as your FSA Connect login. If you need this information, please send me an email.

You can access the website at http://www.studyisland.com/

Reading/Language Arts: We will be using r-controlled er/ir/ur in words, using linking verbs, distinguishing between fact and opinion, reading informational texts and identifying captions for pictures, and writing a personal narrative.

Spelling Words: her, first, bird, girl, burn, were, shirt, fur, hurt, sir, done, know, push, visit, wait

Science: We will begin our unit on Weather! Students will learn about the seasons, and different types of weather tools next week.

Social Studies: We will begin our unit on economics next week. Students will distinguish between wants and needs and will also learn about trade-offs (deciding to buy one thing over the other or knowing that if you do one thing, you'll have to give something else up).

First Grade Teacher

Email: kfuchs@fultonscienceacademy.org
Website: Fultonscienceacademy.org
Location: 3035 Fanfare Way, Alpharetta Georgia 30009
Phone: (678) 366-2555