April will be AMAZING!
First Grade News
It is sometimes hard to believe we are almost in the last quarter of the school year! We will be working and learning through the last day of school. You can help by maintaining a regular schedule, offering encouragement, and continuing to read and complete homework daily. We are hoping not to have an outbreak of “Spring Fever”. Symptoms include not completing homework, lack of focus and effort in class, and a tendency to forget the school rules. Even though many students are involved in Spring sports and other warm-weather activities, it is important that we keep school a priority.
READING
We will be applying the decoding and comprehension skills that we have previously learned. We are also focusing on reading with fluency and expression. Many assessments are given at the end of April and during the month of May to determine your child’s progress in phonics, fluency, reading level and comprehension. This data will also help to determine groupings for second grade.
WRITING
We are continuing to work on elaboration and proofreading. First graders should be familiar with those terms and should be able to tell you what they mean. Many first graders are still struggling with using correct capitalization, punctuation, and letter formation. High-frequency words should be spelled correctly and words that need to be sounded out should be recognizable. We have enjoyed writing opinion pieces in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter we will be focusing on narrative writing, which is writing stories with interesting characters that have to solve problems. More information about what you can do to help your child with writing stories will be sent home later. In addition we will review opinion writing, nonfiction writing, and sharing small moments when it fits with what we are doing in other content areas.
WORD STUDY
We will continue to practice reading and spelling the high-frequency words with automaticity. We will review concepts such as antonyms (opposites) and synonyms (words that have similar meanings), compound words, contractions, and vowel sounds. We have recently tested students on generating rhyming words and clapping out syllables in words.
MATH
We will be working on telling time, collecting data, and measurement. These are fun areas to practice at home! We will also continue to practice two-digit addition and subtraction and story problems. We continue to practice expressing math ideas by explaining and justifying answers and explaining strategies used. Please keep practicing basic addition and subtraction facts! Remember to try Xtra Math and there are many other fun games on the computer that can help build math skills.
SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES
We have enjoyed our science unit on Light and Sound! Your child may be wanting to make musical instruments or devices that communicate with light and sound at home. Our next science unit will be on Organisms. It is always fun to learn about plants and animals! You can enhance this unit by looking for different types of plants and animals in your backyard habitat, by planting a garden, and even by going to the aquarium or zoo.
Earth Day and Arbor Day are both celebrated this month. Perhaps your family can plant a tree or find other ways to help our planet.
We are working on our social studies unit called Long ago and Today. As part of this unit, your child will make a short timeline and you’ll help them interview someone about their life in the past. You may be impressed with the content-specific vocabulary your child is learning in science and social studies!
OTHER
These are the recess rules that we need to follow. Please go over them with your child:
* Keep hands (and other body parts) to yourself.
* Use the equipment safely.
* Share.
* Teasing is never allowed.
* Do not throw mulch or rocks.
* Do not bring toys/balls from home outside.
* Stay off of the fence and stay where the teachers can see you.
* Line up as soon as the whistle blows.
* Demonstrate good character.
Our guidance counselors are providing problem-solving lessons for all first graders to help them learn to distinguish between big and small problems and how to handle some situations on their own. We hope that they learn and apply strategies to become independent problem-solvers.
Please have your child check his/her school supplies to see if anything is needed to get through the rest of the school year. Some items are dwindling. If you could send dry-erase markers, Clorox wipes, sidewalk chalk, boxes of tissues and/or pencils, we would appreciate it!
Our weather has been changeable, which is actually normal for this time of year. Please watch the forecast help your child dress appropriately for the weather. A light jacket or sweatshirt may be needed inside, even if it gets hot outside.
Report cards will be coming home soon. Remember that with each quarter, the academic and behavioral expectations increase as we prepare the students for the next grade level. After looking over the report card together, discuss what is going well and set goals for the end of the year. Discuss strategies for how to accomplish those goals. Focus on effort and improvement. Remind your child that grades are not “given” by the teachers, but are “earned” by the student.
We hope you enjoy your short spring break and that your child will have a chance to relax, recharge, and get ready for more learning!
Sincerely,
The First Grade Team