September 8-12

Hello First Grade Families!

This past week we reviewed the short i and short o sounds. In math we used bead counters to find different ways of making 5 and 10. In PBL (Project-based learning) we learned about solids, liquids, and gases! Ask your student what the molecules in a solid are like!

Scroll down for some photos of our "Hopes and Dreams" artwork, and more of our class photos by the school sign!

ANNOUNCEMENTS: 

**HOME LEARNING comes home today in your student's backpack! Scroll down for more instructions. (Instructions can also be found in the Friday email, and tucked in the front pocket of your student's binder. )

**Please make sure your student has a complete set of weather appropriate, extra clothing to keep in their lockers. Spills happen!

**We do have snack time in first grade! You may send along a peanut-free snack with your student every day. 

SPECIALS SCHEDULE:

Monday 9/15--A day--Movement

Tuesday 9/16--B day--Art and Music

Wednesday 9/18--C day--Gym and Rug Routines

Thursday 9/19--A day--Movement

Friday 9/20--B day--Art and Music

Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Shimenetto

HOME LEARNING:

Students will be sent home Friday, September 9th with their first taste of home learning (or homework). This red Home Connections math journal will become a familiar sight as it will be sent home about every other week. Please know that the time and effort helping your student with home learning goes a long way! Your child will come to understand that parents can be teachers too and learning is not just something done at school! Also, the work they are expected to do at home will help to prepare them for what's to come in 2nd grade and beyond!

Home learning is not always an independent task. This means you will have to find about 20 uninterrupted minutes to sit down with your child and help them through this learning. You have a week at the most to bring the journal back. Split up the work however you want. This could be a page a night before dinner. Completing it all Friday night. It is really up to you and what fits in your schedule.

Rather than just telling answers, the purpose is in the process of guiding your child to the correct answer. Each time there is home learning, I will provide you with guidance on helping your child through the home learning tasks. We learn different strategies at school that I will try my best to describe to you through these emails.

This week, pages 1 through 6 are to be completed. The beginning page will always be marked with green and the stopping point is marked with red along with a due date at the top of the page. 

Most of this week's pages have to do with adding to make 10. 

Helpful terms include:

Count on - a faster form of counting which involves starting at a number other than 1 (usually 5 or 10)

10 frame - a rectangle with 10 boxes to help students quickly identify an amount of dots

• 1st graders should be straying away from counting 1 by 1. We instead learn many strategies for counting quickly. One of these ways is to count by 5s. You will notice on pages 1 and 2 that there are groups of 5 in either gray or white. Rather than counting to 9 one by one, we first say 5 since there are 5 gray lady bugs before counting the rest by ones (5, 6, 7, 8, 9). 

• This is also true for 10 frames which you will see on pages 3-6. A full top row means you have 5 so count on from 5 by ones when needed. If one is missing from the top row, think "what is 1 less than 5?" to get the answer of 4. Quickly identifying groups of 5 or 10 is a main strategy taught in 1st grade as it is much quicker to start counting from 5 or 10 than from 0.

• Pages 3 and 4 will be the hardest part of this home learning. It is okay for students to count the dots 1 by 1 for these pages. The point of these tough pages is for your child to notice the difference between the 2 items and identify the amount added or taken. Crossing off dots or adding dots to the ten frame could help your child visually understand the solution.

Photos of completed pages can be found in this week's Friday email. This should be brought back to school no later than Friday, September 14th. Once again, this process helps your child tremendously so please find the time to complete the home learning. Please send any questions my way! Good luck and have fun!

Hopes and Dreams:

Work Time!