First Grade

FIRST GRADE NEWS

November is a busy month in first grade!

In language arts, we are getting ready for Thanksgiving by doing an informational study on Native Americans of long ago and where they lived. This unit incorporates social studies (physical and man-made features of different regions in the United States, map reading, cardinal directions using a compass rose, oceans and continents, natural resources and conserving them), science (constructions), and reading and writing. It involves reading a piece of informative writing (focusing on text features of informational text) then retelling the main idea, and adding details to create a writing piece. The end product will be a beautiful booklet just in time for the holiday! We will also learn to follow a procedure as we follow recipes to make dishes for our delicious Thanksgiving feast. Thank you, in advance, to all for helping to make this wonderful feast possible!

Our focus in math is: basic addition and subtraction facts, problem solving, patterns and pattern units, measurement (standard and non-standard), and telling time. Please continue to reinforce the math skills at home. It makes such a difference! Remember to keep up with your Study Island practice!

The Construction (constructing a shelter) projects were beautiful, and each one so different. Thank you for all your hard work in helping your child with their project. The children were very knowledgeable about where their shelter would be found and loved sharing how they were made! Thank you, also, for helping with our field trip to Sharp’s Farm. We braved the mud and had a great time! Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

We look forward to seeing each of you at your parent conference.

Partnership

I dreamed that I stood in a studio and watched two sculptors there.

The clay they used was a young child's mind, and they fashioned it with care.

One was a teacher; the tools she used were books, music and art;

One was a parent with a guiding hand, and a gentle, loving heart.

Day after day, the teacher toiled, with a touch that was deft and sure,

While the parent labored by her side and polished and smoothed it o'er.

And when at last their task was done, they were proud of what they'd wrought.

For the things they'd molded into the child, could be neither sold nor bought.

And each agreed that he'd have failed, if he had worked alone,

For behind the parent stood the school, and behind the teacher, the home.

Last updated on November 12, 2009 by Damon Riley