HAPPY NEW YEAR 2020

First Grade January Newsletter

We hope that your family enjoyed the winter break and that your child came back to school ready to work and learn! It is hard to believe that we are halfway through the school year! Our students have learned so much already and there is much more to learn and do! Report cards will be coming home in about a month. Please remember that the expectations change each quarter and it becomes more challenging to achieve MEETS or EXCEEDS expectations as we progress through the year.

Word Study/Foundational Skills

We will be working with suffixes, or word endings, such as –ed and –ing. We will work with long vowel sounds and spellings. We’re reviewing blends, digraphs, and spelling high-frequency vocabulary words correctly. The correct spelling of high frequency words is expected not just for the test, but for all writing and follow-up work as well.

You may notice that your child will be using more interesting vocabulary words. We will read some Fancy Nancy books and are trying to increase our word power in speaking and writing. You can encourage this at home. If your child says, “That was a good movie.” You can ask them to think of a “fancy” word to replace good, like wonderful, amazing, terrific, awesome or fabulous.

We continue to have rich classroom discussions and expect all of our students to be able to share in meaningful discussions with a partner and in groups. We are listening for ideas on topic, questioning, and also for complete sentences and correct grammar.

Reading

During the next month or two we will be reading fairy tales and folktales. There are great multicultural fairy tales and folktales that you may want to read to your child. Many have also been made into movies that would be fun to watch. Discuss the elements of these stories as well as the traits of the characters. Please remember to return reading books to school daily.

We are also working on determining the difference between facts and opinions. When stating opinions, we are asking for supporting reasons. For example, if you ask which restaurant is your child’s favorite, have him/her tell you reasons why it is a favorite.

Writing

We will be finishing our unit on nonfiction “expert” books and will be moving into opinion writing. We’re expecting students to elaborate (add details) and proofread their writing to correct mistakes. We’re also looking for that descriptive and interesting vocabulary mentioned earlier. In the second half of the year our expectations for correct spelling of sight words and words found in the text will be increasing. It is also important for your child to proofread and correct errors in capitalization and punctuation.

Math

We have worked on story problems in which students need to read, represent, and solve problems. Students need to be able to explain strategies used and justify answers. Keep practicing addition and subtraction facts. We’d like our first graders to improve their fact fluency and accuracy. We are also working on the concepts of greater and less. Your child should be able to count by 5, 10, and 2. Your child should be able to work with the numbers to 120.

Science

We have enjoyed learning about space, particularly patterns we see in the day and night sky. Continue to observe the changes in the moon. Also observe changes in the weather as we enter deeper into Winter. Monitor Find Out First for possible delays and closings if and when wintery weather strikes.

Social Studies

We enjoyed learning about cultures and celebrations during December. It was a wonderful way to learn about our own traditions and to celebrate the diversity in our community. We will continue to learn about holidays and celebrations as they occur in the year. We will revisit maps and globes when it applies to out other units.

Other

During the Winter months we spend more time inside for recess, so if you would like to donate play-doh, board games, puzzles, Lincoln Logs or Legos, we’d appreciate a variety of activities!

We could also use donations of tissues and zip-lock bags, if possible. Ask your child’s teacher if she needs any other donations.

Please continue to make sure your child is dressed appropriately for the cold, in case we do get to venture outside for recess. Keep working on independent zipping, tying, and buttoning as well.

There is no school on the 20th as we will be celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Discuss what we learned about this important person in our history.

There is no school for students on the 29th due to a teacher work day.

Thank you for your help and support!

Team One