1. First Grade Homework & Classroom News:
Sept 18th- Sept 22nd
Word families
Words that include the short
vowel sound and beginning blends
(examples)
sl (sled)
gl (glad)
bl (blot)
cl (clip)
gr (grin)
dr (drag)
br (brag)
cr (crab)
sm (smog)
sp (spot)
Homework Menu:
Choose one appetizer and one main course to do for homework every night. If you are still hungry for practice, help yourself to some dessert!
Appetizer (5 minutes)
Practice any of the listed Daily Math skills
Write a declarative sentence about something you see.
Write some word family words in a fun way (write them on a white board, draw them in sand, build them with playdoh, etc.)
Main Course(15 minutes)
Read a “just-right book” to a stuffed animal or a family member for 13 minutes. Spend 2 minutes discussing the main idea and supporting details found in the text.
Dessert (10 minutes)
Write about sounds that you observed today in your planner
Go on to the class website and explore some of the ELA and Math games linked on the Web Resources page.
Daily Math skills:
Say, show, or write different ways to make numbers within 10.
Grab one handful of small items and add some. Write a number sentence to match (12 pennies + 5 pennies = 17 pennies)
Create your own story problems using addition within 20 and have someone in your family solve them!
STEM focus and Words of the week
Questions:
What are unique properties of sound? What kind of human-made products help us hear sounds? How do our ears work? Why does sound travel in waves?
Words to know: sound waves, frequency, echo, echolocation, pitch volume

2. Homework and Newsletter
Sept 18th- Sept 22nd
A note from the teachers…
Happy Fall! We are continuing our exploration of light and sound energies this week. We will be working to solve a problem about communication using light and sound inspired solutions. We will also be learning more about how we hear and the ways sound can travel. On our focus of the week is short vowel e and beginning blends. (A beginning consonant blend is when two consonants come together and you can hear each letter sound when the word is stretched out-BL, CL, SM, DR, etc.) Our math focus for the week will be on subtraction and taking away parts from a whole. As always, please contact us with any questions or comments. We love teaching your kids!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Swartz and Mrs. Watson.
Upcoming Events:
September 21st-Dental Health Presentation
October 10th-13th-Parent teacher conferences and 1:30 dismissal each day
October 11th- PTO event at Oro Valley Panera (Yum)
October 16th-20th- Fall Break (No school)
Friday, November 3rd-Innovation Academy’s Fall Festival
Star Students: 
Mrs. Watson’s class: Max always participates and helps others in need!
Jacob is thoughtful in his thinking & planning during STEM projects!
Mrs. Swartz’s class: Ellie has been a wonderful teammate in our classroom and is great at sharing with her table!
Vincent has been a role model at solving problems with his words! He is kind friend!
Special Birthdays:
9/22-Jackson (Mrs. Swartz)

3. The following pages are NOT REQUIRED but are here if you would like to use them with your child 