Friends in First
May/June 2016
Dear First Grade Families,
Happy Spring! As the year comes on an end, I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank you again for all of your support this year. It's hard to believe that our first graders are going to be second graders soon! They are definitely ready. It has been wonderful to see how much they've grown this year both emotionally and academically.
This week we went on a beautiful nature walk. Students were eager to get outside and find evidence of animals around our campus. You can ask your first graders:
What kind of bones did we find?
Were there any animal tracks? What kind?
What evidence was there that a beaver lives, or lived, in the pond?
What animal was resting on the log?
What birds did we see? What did the egg look like that fell out of the nest?
What different kinds of scat did we see?
What kind of plant was on the water of the pond?
I'm going to try something new this year. As a fun way to end the year, each student is going to have a special day to showcase his or her talents/interests. During the last 19 days of school we will try this out in our classroom. I don't think we'll have anyone go on the very last day, as that day can be kind of busy. I'll be sending out more information as the time gets closer. We'll start this the week before Memorial Day.
Please have your students return their homework on Mondays. There has not been one week all year that everyone has handed in their homework. If you have any questions or concerns about the homework your first grader is receiving each week, let me know. Also, you might have noticed that the first grade team added a new section where kids can practice their word ring words. We were noticing that as the word ring words get harder, kids need more solid practice with spelling these "trick" words. So far, I've been seeing some great work!
Please purchase a summer math workbook if you want your first grader to get more practice with the skills we've learned this year. It's a great way to make sure kids don't lose those skills taught during the school year. Ms. Mansfield sent out information about this workbook a couple weeks ago. If you have any questions please let me know.
Reading Day is going to be Monday, June 6th this year. I'm very excited about this day - as kids are always asking for more time to read! We'll be doing some Reader's Theater plays and having fun reading poetry, too. As we get closer, I'll ask parents to send in a towel or small blanket and books/magazines from home.
Enjoy this beautiful weather!