First Grade Newsletter September 12th - 16th 2016 Mrs. Frost Welcome! I would like to thank you and your child for a smooth back-to-school transition. We are off to a great start, and I am confident that we are going to have an excellent school year! We made it through the heat wave and this week, we will really dive into our curriculum. It was so nice to have the opportunity to speak with many of you at our back-to-school night. Please read through my handbook and let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Room Parent(s) If you are interested in becoming my room parent, please email me. Room parents organize classroom parties and serve as the liaison with our Home and School organization. Please let me know if you are interested by Thursday. Thank you! Volunteers I will be emailing out a sign up sheet for mystery readers. In October, I will be sending out a sign up sheet for science experiments. I look forward to having lots of visitors throughout the year. Star Student I will be starting our Star Student program next week. Each week, I will select a student to be our shinning star. All students will have the opportunity to be our star for the week. When your child is selected, a letter explaining the daily star activities will be sent home. MARK YOUR CALENDARS! October 14th – No School for students, teacher retreat. Please remember to check our website for upcoming events and school news. Reminders Please return your child’s park permission form and technology permission form asap. Thank you! Please remember to pack healthy snacks and a water bottle for school each day. Make sure to put your child’s name on their water bottle. Having water available in the classroom helps to decrease the time away from instruction. Our daily lunch time is at 10:55am. Our morning snack/recess is at 9:10 and our afternoon snack/recess is at 2pm. A good night’s sleep, hearty breakfast, and healthy lunch will help fuel the body for learning! Read with your child every day! “Children are made readers on the laps of their parents” -Emilie Buchwald

Curriculum Notes Spelling Words at 2. can 3. cat 4. back 5. dad Math: Our objective this week in math is to identify and correctly write numbers. Please practice reading (digit and word form) and writing numbers at home. We will also review counting patterns and missing numbers within a counting pattern. Reading: We will begin our first story in our reading series called Sam, Come Back. Our focus in phonics will be on short a. Our spelling words are generated from our weekly story. Please see the list of spelling words below. Our read alouds last week focused on story elements and specific reading connections. For example, we read the series If You Give A Mouse A Cookie by Laura Numeroff. Through this series, students will learn about cause and effect relationships and sequencing. Grammar and Writing: For the next few weeks, we will be focusing on sentences. We will discuss types of sentences, the parts of a sentence, word order, and correct punctuation. Religion: Chapter One. This week, we will be learning that God created the world and all the people. We will also discuss that God gives us special gifts and promises to always love us. Handwriting: A large amount of instructional time will be spent on reviewing correct letter and number formation. When time allows, students should continue to practice writing both their first and last name. Please be mindful of letter reversals, capitalization and correct letter formation. Students should also practice writing their address and telephone number. These important pieces of information need to be memorized. On Friday, students wrote their first journal entry. Our writing prompt was “If you could have any animal as a pet, what would it be and why?” I encourage you to have your child keep a journal at home to write stories in. Social Studies and Science: As a whole class, we will be reading and discussing the first edition of our Scholastic News magazine. This is a nonfiction news magazine centered around current social studies and science events. Spelling Words at 2. can 3. cat 4. back 5. dad 6. am 7. bat 8. mad 9. ran 10. sack Bonus Words: These words will not be graded. Please practice these words if you feel that your child is up for a challenge. 1. plan 2. that 3. glad

cat ban back hat Jan Zack sat can Jack bat man lack mat Dan pack fat Short a sight words. Please have your child practice reading these words aloud to you. Thank you! cat ban back hat Jan Zack sat can Jack bat man lack mat Dan pack fat pan tack Pat van sack chat fan rack that tan track flat ran black

dad Sam pad yam fad ham mad Pam sad jam bad ram tad slam glad swam Short a sight words dad Sam pad yam fad ham mad Pam sad jam bad ram tad slam glad swam gram