We are 100 Days Smarter!

Monday the 11th is our 100th day of school!!  

The children do not need to bring in anything

for this special day.  I will have all we need

here to celebrate 100 days of learning and fun!

Thursday the 14th is Valentine’s Day.  

We will have a little classroom celebration

at the end of the day.  I sent home lists

of names today.

Friday the 15th is our first field trip.

 We have our 5 classroom chaperones all

lined up and we are ready to go.  Please send in

Mc Donald’s order form and money by the 12th.  

Kiddos are so excited about this :)

February 18th is the start

of February vacation…..ENJOY!

January News From First Grade

Important Dates

*January 8th K-4 assembly theme is inside out

….so students can wear some clothing inside out

           *No School on Monday January 21st

                * January 29th early dismissal

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 2019 be a year full of fun

and learning for all first graders!

First Grade News

Important December Dates to Remember

December 6th -  PJ Day for assembly

December 7th - PTG Kids Shop

December 7th - Report cards sent home

December 13th - Book Day Celebration

December 20th - K-4 Holiday Concert - 1:00 p.m.

December 21st - Classroom Christmas party

December 21 - Early release and start of Christmas Break

January 2, 2019 - Back to School! - Happy New Year!

    The month of December is going to be a busy one!

The children are going to be learning so much!

In our reading program we will be working on

drawing conclusions, comparing and contrasting,

and sequencing events. We are also going to be

working on reading, writing and spelling words

with r clusters, l clusters, and s clusters. We

will continue to add more words to our Word

as the month of December goes on. Our short

vowels will continue to be a focus, too.

    In our Lucy Calkins writing program the

children will continue to write teaching books,

choosing topics they are experts in to teach

others. Soon they will begin writing chapter

books, learning how to make a table of contents

to introduce each of the topics in their chapter

book. The children will learn how to write

introductions and conclusions for their

chapter books, finding ways to keep their

readers engaged and interested.

In Math we will continue to work

with addition and subtraction

equations in topic 5.  We will begin

topic 6 this month. In this unit we will

collect, organize, and represent data.

 We will talk about surveys, tally marks,

different types of graphs, and comparing data.

    In December the first graders will

be doing a  ‘Christmas Around the World’

unit in social studies. The children will

learn about the Christmas traditions in

6 different countries - England, Australia,

Scandinavia, Wales, Russia, and Italy.

They will also make a project that shows

the Christmas tradition of each country.

It will give the children the opportunity

to learn how children around the world

celebrate at this special time of the year.

     We want to wish everyone a safe and happy

holiday season. Enjoy this very special time of

the year with your child. Merry Christmas

and Happy New Year!

**Just a reminder...please bring/wear

appropriate clothing to play outside in at recess time**

                                       Thank you

I wanted to quickly thank you for your ability to meet with me to discuss your child.  Collaborating between school and home is a vital relationship that ensures a successful year. So, thank you for coming to Parent Teacher Conferences.  If for any reason you have questions or concerns throughout the year, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Happy Halloween!

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)

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

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 29th - November 9th

Parent Teacher Conferences  November 8th Noon Dismissal

Parent Teacher Conferences November 9th  No School

Veteran’s Day November 12th No School

Thanksgiving Break November 21st to 23rd