First Grade Newsletter October 19th- 23rd 2015 Mrs. McCarthy and Mrs First Grade Newsletter October 19th- 23rd 2015 Mrs. McCarthy and Mrs. Frost A good night’s sleep, hearty breakfast, and healthy lunch will help fuel the body for learning! MARK YOUR CALENDARS! Oct. 16th Glass jars were due Oct. 27th Field trip to Cherry Crest Farm Oct. 29th Leaf Collection Projects are due Oct. 29th Halloween Parade and Party Oct. 30th Book It reading logs are due Please check our school website for additional news and events. Batty Good! We are so proud of everyone’s hard work and positive attitude! Fluency practice Rereading poems and short stories helps to build fluency, expression, and confidence. Read everyday! Science Project Exploring the fall season The Leaf Collection Project is due on or before Oct. 29th. Be creative and have fun collecting, labeling, and organizing this project. Don’t forget to include the five senses poem! Please let me know if you need an additional copy of this project. Thank you! Happy Fall!!! into a good book! HELP OUR SCHOOL Don’t forget to save your Boxtops for education. I have a collection box in our classroom. Let’s see what class will collect the most!!!  Addition Practice Please continue to play the math games that have recently been sent home. Math Game Ideas! Fast Facts with Dominoes – Turn a set of dominoes face down and take turns selecting a domino. Whoever says the sum first, wins the domino. Whoever has the most dominos at the end of the game, wins! Roll it, Say it and Score a Point – Roll two or three dice and add them together. The first person to say the sum aloud, scores a point. The first person to score ten points, wins! Letter and Number Formation Hands on Learning Make reinforcing correct letter and number formation at home fun! Drop the pencil and have your child use their finger to practice writing letters and numbers in shaving cream or sand. Construct letters, numbers, and even sight words using play dough, clay, stamps, or magnetic letters. Go outside and practice writing using sidewalk chalk. Thank you for practicing this at home.

Spelling Words red jet step sled ten wet saw your Curriculum Notes Math: This week, we will complete Chapter Two, Addition Strategies. Please let us know if you have any questions pertaining to the touch/dot addition math strategy. We are on a counting roll! Continue to review counting by 2s, 5s, and 10s. Also, practice counting backwards by 10s from 100 and by 1s from at least 20. Thank you! Reading & Spelling: Focus: Short e. Our whole group story this week is, Get the Egg! Our spelling words will be generated from this story. Our spelling test will be on Friday. The spelling words below were sent home on Friday. Practice the list of short e sight words that are attached. It is important to practice them daily. Continue to practice your Dolch sight word booklets. We will focus on fall poems to improve reading fluency. Please have your child practice reading these poems aloud to you. Grammar and Writing: We will continue to focus on sentences. We will discuss types of sentences, the parts of a sentence, word order, and correct punctuation. We highly encourage you to have your child practice writing complete sentences at home. Keeping a journal at home or writing a letter to a friend or family member are great ways to make writing fun while also practicing handwriting!  Religion: We will complete Chapter Three, Jesus Grew Up in a Family. We will discuss how God chose Mary to be the Mother of Jesus. We will also discuss that Jesus was born in Bethlehem and lived in Nazareth with Mary and Joseph. Finally, we will discuss how the Holy Family obeyed the Father and prayed to him. Social Studies: Our focus will continue to be on the fall season as we prepare for our upcoming field trip to Cherry Chest Farm. Students did an excellent job on last week’s unit study of Christopher Columbus. Science: With Halloween right around the corner, we will begin to learn all about bats! EEK!  Don’t forget…Leaf Collection Projects are due on or before Oct. 29th. Spelling Words bed net men leg red jet step sled ten wet saw your Challenge Words: shin backpack drop that

Complete when you have time this week. Word Sort – Short e word families Read each list of words. Cut out words. Mix words and then sort into word families. Enrichment Activity Complete when you have time this week. __ed red bed fed fled shed sled __en den hen Ken men pen Jen yen when then Ben ten __et bet get jet net met let pet yet vet fret __eg Meg peg leg beg

Monitoring Comprehension Below are the story connections that we are currently working on. Please find time to have a book talk with your child on a regular basis. As your child becomes an independent reader, it is important to discuss with them what they are reading. This will enable you to monitor their comprehension and help them with book selections. Story Connection: Please select one of these questions to discuss each evening. Setting - Where does the story take place? Who is/are the main character(s) of the book? What was the problem and/or solution of the story? What was your favorite part? Why? Write down 2-3 words that were challenging to read and add them to your sight word practice. Rate the book. Tell me why you liked or did not like the story. Text–Self connection – This story reminds me of… A time when I… A person I know… A book I read… Story Retell – Retell the story to an adult. Then, draw a pencil sketch of your favorite part of the story.

shin backpack drop that Spelling Words Short e Please practice spelling these words each evening. Our spelling test will be on Friday. High-Frequency Words: *Challenge Words: Review of short vowels shin backpack drop that bed net men leg red jet step sled ten wet saw your --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Words to Read saw tree your small