January 5-9

Hello First Grade Families!

Happy New Year! I hope your break was filled with fun!

This week we are back at it! In literacy we are worked on the phonics rules for --ce and --ge at the end of words. In math we started Unit 4, which focuses on using number lines. We continue to explore the workings of the human body in PBL with the ciruculatory system. We learned a new song about the heart--ask your student to sing it to you!

Scroll down for photos of our "bring a toy to school day" and of classroom playtime!

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Home Learning  will be sent home today. Pages 45-50, along with any enrichment, will be due back on Friday, January 16th. 

Extra clothing still needed! Please send a complete set of weather appropriate clothing for your student to keep in their locker.

Winter Weather is here! Please send boots, snowpants, jacket, hat, and gloves or mittens to school each day! 

Our classroom wishlist: Consider a purchase from our wishlist in honor of your first grader's birthday or a holiday. You can find it here.  

Send a peanut-free snack to school with your first grader every day:)

MARK YOUR CALENDARS:

Monday, January 19--NO SCHOOL, Professional Development Day

Thursday, February 12, 12:15-2:15--Field Trip to the Art Preserve

Friday, February 13--Class Valentine Exchange

Monday, February 16--NO SCHOOL, Professional Development Day

Monday, March 2 and Tuesday, March 3--Presentations of Learning (PoLs)

SPECIALS SCHEDULE:

Monday, 1/12--C day--Gym, Rug Routines

Tuesday, 1/13--A day--Movement, Library

Wednesday, 1/14--B day--Art, Music

Thursday, 1/15--C day--Gym, Rug Routines

Friday 1/16--A day--Movement

Have an awesome weekend!

Mrs. Shimenetto

Hey 1st grade families,

Pages 45 through 50 will need to be completed over the next week.  Please take the time to sit down, be involved, and help them enhance the math skills they have been learning at school.

Helpful terms this week include:

counting by - counting by 2's, 5's, or 10's is sometimes used to solve a problem or count quicker than counting by 1's

ten facts - adding 10 plus a single digit number

• On page 45, your child will need to count by 10's when counting dimes and count by 1's for pennies. It can be tough to switch in the middle of counting which is why writing the number above the coins is visually helpful. Here are a couple of poems your child recites at school that help us remember coin values:

  • Penny, penny _ easily spent _ copper brown _ and worth one cent

  • Dime, dime _ little and thin _ I remember _ you're with ten

• Your child could be able to complete page 46 independently. Simply trace the numbers and words. On the right side, they will need to complete the ten facts and draw a line to the matching answer.

• Pages 47 and 48 involve more ten facts. If your child starts counting each dot one by one, encourage them to point to the whole ten-frame and say 'ten' before continuing with 11 and so on. This quick strategy is important to help students be more efficient. 

• On page 48, students should use a different strategy when adding ten facts. Counting on is not encouraged as it will take a frustrating amount of time to complete the page.They should eventually notice the pattern that 10 plus a single number always equals a 1 plus that number. This is the beginning of understanding tens and ones places. 

• Page 48 also includes counting by different numbers. Students should have a strong sense of numbers through 120 by 2nd grade so this is great practice. Counting by 1's, 2's, 5's, and 10's is vital as your child's math skills progress. I consider question 11 on the bottom of page 48 a challenge for first graders. It is not required and will be challenging for most students.

• Pages 49 and 50 involve facts adding to 7. At this point in first grade, students should not have to use their fingers very much. They should have a decent mental number line that they can imagine and count from. For strategies, students should count on from the bigger number while adding. While subtracting, your child may need to count backwards.

This should be brought back to school no later than Friday, January 10th. Please send any questions my way!