Mrs. Schares 1st Grade Newsletter
August/September 2015
Welcome Back to School!
Hello everyone! I am very excited this year to be teaching first grade. This will be my third year teaching at Hills Elementary. Every month I will be sending out a class newsletter, where you can find important class information and what we will be learning. If you have any questions or concerns feel free to contact me at schares.salena@iowacityschools.org
What are we learning?
Language Arts
To start the school year off we are going to focus on our handwriting skills. Everyday we will be practicing forming our letters and numbers.
For the first month we will also be working closely with short vowels. Each week our spelling words will have a focus of a short vowel. Spelling tests are new for our first graders this year. On Mondays I give the pre-test, which will go home, along with a list of their spelling words and their spelling homework. The homework will be three pages and is due by Friday. Feel free to do just a little bit each night. Then on Friday we then take our post test.
Math
This year we are adapting a new math textbook. Each student has a workbook, and once we have finished a page they get to rip it out and take it home. This is a nice way to see what your student is doing in math each day. The first topic we are covering will be solving addition and subtraction problems to 10. For example 2+3=5 or 7-4=3
Science: Air and Weather
To kick off our first science unit, Air and Weather we are focusing on what air can do. We will be making parachutes, pinwheels, and kites to observe how they interact with air. We also demonstrate how compressed air (or wrestling air) can be used to move things.
Scholastic Book Orders
Every month I send home a Scholastic Book Order. I usually send it out around the first of the month. This months will be due Friday September 11th. These books are typically a great deal and if you buy something, I get teacher points that I use to buy books for my classroom. So THANK YOU in advance if you every oder from Scholastic Book.
PE
We have PE class on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Be sure you child has appropriate shoes to wear. They can also bring a water bottle to keep at school too.
Library Checkout
We have Library Checkout on Tuesdays. Each student will be able to check out five books. They can keep the books in the classroom or they can take them home to read with their families.