First Grade

FIRST GRADE NEWS

Greetings from the First Grade!

How quickly the first month of school has passed! Students are beginning to feel more at ease with routines and expectations for first grade. We appreciate your continued support in checking your child's homework planner each day. "Losing teeth" seems to be a major event happening in the first grade, but in addition, here are some of our other October happenings.

Our focus in Language Arts has been on re-telling the story and finding the story elements, such as characters, setting, problem and solution in the story. We will soon be exploring character traits in the humorous characters of Kevin Henkes stories. At the same time, we will be doing an Author's Study on Kevin Henkes. Reading groups have started and we appreciate your support in reading with your children the books they bring home, and making sure they come back to school each day. It's so important that your child feels prepared each and every day. Later in the month, we will take our field trip to Sharp's Farm. This extends our curriculum of "reading to be informed." At Sharp's Farm we will be learning about farm crops and farm animals.

In math, students have been using number lines to count back and count on when solving story problems. The story problems pose a great challenge to first graders. Knowing how to start with an unknown and counting on to the find the answer, as well as knowing when to add or subtract is a large focus of our Unit 1 Math. Please practice the story problems with your child when they come home. Your support will be very beneficial to your child's success and is so appreciated. Additionally, students have been taking apart a number and discovering different combinations to make the same sum. Soon they will begin describing and extending patterns.

In social studies we have been discussing why people and communities need laws. We have sorted, classified and role-played rules we follow in school and at home. The purpose of these activities has been to help the students understand why we need rules and why they are important.

Finally, our science unit is an exploration of strong shapes and constructions. We have investigated balance, support, strong shapes and different building materials. An assignment will be going home soon asking your child to create a structure for a mini community. This letter will provide you with guidelines and suggested materials so. We hope you enjoy the building process. We're off to a great start! Thanks for your support.

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 October 15, 2009 by Damon Riley