Monday the 10th is not only the 100th day it is also
our k-4 assembly.  Please encourage your child to
 wear their core value shirt.  It is also crazy hair day.
 Should be a very fun day!

If we have a snow day on Friday....the 100th day
will be on Tuesday the 11th.  The assembly WILL
 still be on Monday. (core value shirt & crazy hair)

February News from First Grade

                                                           IMPORTANT DATES

February10th   is the 100th day......if we have no snow days :)

February 10th is crazy hair day for our spirit theme for the assembly

February 14th is Valentine's Day....a class list is being sent home with this letter

February 17th to 21st is February Vacation

We will be celebrating the 100th day of school.  Please have

your child bring in a collection of 100 items.  We will do some

sorting, counting, describing, writing, and sharing with this collection.

  Some ideas could be stickers, pennies, buttons....or any other idea

you and your child come up with.

In our 9th math unit the focus is on comparing number.

We will work on finding a number that is one more, one less,

ten more, ten less than a given number.  Practice with the greater

than, less than, and equal to symbols will be a focus. Students will

compare and write two-digit numbers that are greater than or less

than other two digit numbers.  When we begin topic 10 the focus

will be on adding a 2-digit number to a 1-digit number. They will

use models and strategies to add tens and ones. Please continue

to practice those basic addition facts.  

Read, Read, Read....we have been doing lots of that.

I love it! Our comprehension focus will be on

story structure (characters, setting, problem, events to

solve problem, and solution)  You can practice these at

home when reading together. Making predictions and

summarizing are also key elements of our reading work.

Knowing those first grade sight words is such a benefit. 

If you need another copy of the 100 words let me know.

Spelling words are becoming a little more challenging as

the weeks go on, and the students are rising to the challenge.

Thanks for studying with them at home.  

In Writing we are finishing our book and will begin the

writing review unit.  

In Science we are still learning about the moon,

sun, and the planets. 

February is a short but very busy month.  Let’s hope the

Groundhog’s prediction was correct.

Each student is bringing home a letter from our Pearson
 Realize Math Program.  It has the steps to follow for
 you or your student to access the program from home. 
The letter also has their username and password.
The first letter of the username and the first letter of the
 password are the only capital letters. If you have any
questions let me know, and I can try to get you the answers. 

January News From First Grade

Important Dates

          *No School on Monday January 20th

In Reading we will be focusing on the comprehension

skills of…compare and contrast, making generalizations,

cause and effect, and summarizing.  We will continue

to work on building fluency. Our spelling strategies

will be short e, short u, and digraphs sh and ch. 

In grammar we will work on telling, asking and

exclamation sentences and using I or me correctly

in sentences.

Our unit on teaching chapter books will be wrapping

up soon.  In our next writing unit the focus is opinion

writing. We will be using the vocabulary words

persuade/persuasion LOTS. They will be given

the opportunity to “debate” on certain topics.  

In Math we are extending the counting sequence. 

We will be counting to 120 by tens and ones, reading

and writing numbers to 120.  We will also need to

represent a number of objects with a written numeral.

Counting by tens and ones builds an understanding of

place value.  Once we finish topic 7 our topic 8 will focus

on place value. 

Our Science topic is seasonal patterns. 

We will discuss how the amount of daylight

changes at different times of the year.  

Just a reminder to have a pair of shoes for inside

the classroom, and to have appropriate winter clothing

for outside recess….if we can get out there :)

Happy New Year & may 2020 be a year full

of fun and learning for all first graders!

                                                       December News

Important Dates    

*December 6th report cards go home

*Book Day -

                Dec 16th and snow date Dec 18th

*December 19th K-4 Holiday Concert @1:00

*December 20th Noon Dismissal

We are still very busy reading and working on reading skills daily.  

We are working on building fluency and gaining comprehension 

as we read.  It is very important for children to read each evening.

  As your child reads to or with you have them retell what they have

 read, or answer questions you may prompt them with during/after 

reading.  We are working a lot with story elements (characters, setting,

 problem and solution).  You can also practice grammar using simple 

sentences.   We have been talking about nouns (person place o

r thing) and verbs (the action word a thing you can do).  We also

 are finding the naming part of a sentence( the who or what).

We are busily writing and working in our nonfiction unit.

  We are writers who teach with our words and pictures. 

 We are really working on handwriting and the correct 

formation of letters.  Using the lines and spaces correctly

 to form neat and appropriate letters.

Adding and subtracting and story problems ...Oh My! 

Students are working on strategies for solving addition

 and subtraction problems.  We are working on writing

 number equations.  In topic 6 we will be representing and

 interpreting data.  We will talk about surveys, tally marks,

and picture graphs.  To interpret the data the students

 will compare data and they will solve word problems

 to find the “unknown” data.

    Holiday Celebrations Around the World

Each and every student has different holiday traditions

 and ways to celebrate the season.  We are planning a journey

to see how children from Russia, England,Italy, Scandinavia.

 Australia, and Wales celebrate.  

It is getting colder outside and winter

 weather is approaching.  Please send your ch

child to school with the appropriate winter attire. 

 Also please talk to them about “keeping track” of

 their hats, mittens, etc.  We do our best to help

 with this process. Please encourage them to

 keep a pair of shoes here at school, or

remind them to send a pair daily. 

Thank you:) 

Looking ahead....The Holiday Concert is on Thursday
 December 19th.  It will be here before we know it ;)

November Newsletter

It is very hard to believe that we are entering the

month of November already.  Our first grade

friends have been super busy learning.

Just a reminder (if you have not signed up already)

we have parent teacher conferences coming up. 

The link to sign up is

https://www.ptcfast.com/schools/Center_Drive_School

As we enter the new month we will also be starting

our theme 3 reading unit.  In this unit our reading

strategies are phonics and decoding words, evaluating

as we read, predicting/inferring, and questioning. 

For comprehension we focus on main idea and details.

This leads into summarizing what we have read.

We work on reading fluency daily, and have seen

much improvement. For grammar we are focusing

on what is a sentence, and the naming part of the

sentence or the who, and the action part of the sentence.

We begin Spelling words and tests in this unit.

Be on the lookout for a spelling list to come home.

The first graders will also bring home a Spelling

Contract each week. They will be responsible for

choosing 5 different activities to help them practice

the words on their spelling list. The children are

very excited to start having spelling tests…….just like the big kids!

We are beginning Topic 4 in Math…..Subtraction facts

to 20.  In this topic the students are introduced to

several key strategies for solving subtraction facts. 

These strategies include counting to subtract, making

10 to subtract, and using addition to subtract.

Please continue to practice those basic addition

and subtraction facts:)

  

Ask your child what a small moment story means

to them. The finishing touches (editing and revisions)

are being made to their favorite small moment story

as these blossoming writers are becoming published

authors.  Information writing is coming up next.

The students will be writing to teach about topics

that they are “experts” about. 

In Science we will explore sound.  The key learning

is that sound is caused by vibrations.   For Social

Studies we will discuss and read about the pilgrims

and how life was then.  We will also compare it to life now.  

**As the weather begins to cool down please dress

appropriately for recess.**

IMPORTANT DATES

Book Fair October  October 28th to November 8th

Parent Teacher Conferences  November 7th Noon Dismissal

Parent Teacher Conferences November 8th  No School

Veteran’s Day November 11th No School

Thanksgiving Break November 27th to 29th