1st Grade News

Looking Back: In math, the children have been very busy learning about number models to represent number stories.  They have been learning how to count nickels and pennies, skip count by 2’s, 5’s, 10’s, find complements of 10, read and write tally marks, tell time to the hour, find and make patterns and use a number line and hundreds chart.  They have been reinforcing these skills through math games such as “Penny-Nickel Exchange” and “Rock, Paper, Scissors”.   This week, the children will be creating Halloween addition and subtraction book with rubber stamps.
In language arts: The children have been learning about nouns, adjectives and possessive nouns.  They have been practicing spelling by building words with letter tiles and writing dictation in their workbooks.  They have practiced their writing skills while logging in their daily journal entries and composing personal comments, poems, and stories.  Reading teams have been going very well.  Please continue to listen to your child read each evening and to monitor your child’s practice on the word lists that are sent home daily.  Learning to read these words helps your child to increase fluency and accuracy in reading.  This week, the children will be reading and illustrating Halloween themed stories.
In social studies: The children recently completed their first unit of study, which was all about school, long ago and present.   Currently, they are learning about animal habitats and what characteristics make up various environments.
Just a Reminder: As the weather gets cooler, please make sure your child has the appropriate outerwear.  Label everything please!  We know morning routines can be difficult, but please try to make sure your child is in the classroom at 8:00.  When a child arrives even 5-10 minutes late, he or she may miss out on an activity his/her peers have already completed.  Children are welcome to come into the classroom at 7:50.
Parent-Teacher Conferences: By the time you read this, the children will have completed two math assessments and several Imagine It! (core reading program) assessments.  Ellen and I are looking forward to meeting with you and sharing lots of information about your child’s progress at school.

Roselyn Morris

9/14/09

We are off to a good start here in first grade!  We’ve been reviewing some of the things taught last year in kindergarten, assessing individuals to see what skills need to be learned next, becoming familiar with the routines and expectations of first grade, singing songs, playing games, socializing, and experiencing much success and lots of smiles throughout the day.

Student of the Day:

Beginning next week, each child will have a chance to be the “Student of the Day”.  The schedule below will identify the day when your child will be honored.  During his/her special day, your child will have about 10 minutes to share photos and other memorabilia which illustrate how he/she is “special”.  Examples might include photos of your child’s family members, pets, home, friends, a special vacation, etc.  Memorabilia might include awards, team uniform, musical instrument, favorite book, special game or toy, etc.  Your child is bringing home a poster, which can serve as a guide for the two of you in preparing for the presentation.  Feel free to use it, or start from scratch with another poster of your choice.  Your child’s poster will hang in our classroom area until after Grandparents and Special Friends Day.  Please discuss with your child which things might be appropriate to share, keeping in mind that the presenters and the audience are mostly six-year-olds.  Those first graders with older siblings, who have done this before, will present during the first week.  If you find that the date for your child’s special day will not work for some reason, please let me know so I can work toward an alternate solution.  Thank you in advance for your help on our first exciting project of the year!

First Week:
Mon / 9-21        Sophia    &    Payton
Tues / 9-22       Darcy    &    Teghan
Wed / 9-23        Margo    &    Emily
Thurs / 9-24      Patrick    &    Juliana
Fri / 9-25           Bennett
Second Week:
Mon / 9-28        Orla   &   Grace
Tues / 9-29       Christos   &   Talia
Wed / 9-30        Joey   &   Isabella

Please feel free to contact me by phone or email whenever you have a question or concern.

Roselyn Morris
849-5970, extension 322
rmorris@smcds.org

Hello, First Grade Parents,

Here at St. Michael’s, we are very excited about beginning the school year with your children, and I just want to answer a few questions that you might have about first grade.

School Begins at 8:00
That’s right, school really begins at 8:00 so dropping your child off at 7:45-7:55 will be perfect!  This will give your child time to get in the building, put that backpack and homework away, and get out the materials needed to settle in with a stress-free beginning to the school day.  Whitney Slade and Lauren Abraham will be out front to assist your child in getting into the building at that time.

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Dress Code
The dress code for first – fourth grades is more structured than it was in kindergarten.  As much as we like t-shirts, sweat pants, and cargo pants with plenty of pockets, they are NOT proper school attire except on Dress Down Days.

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Snack and Lunch
Please pack your child a nourishing snack each day along with his/her lunch.  It’s quite a long morning for young children and most of them will be hungry by mid-morning.

If your child brings lunch from home, please make sure that it contains healthy foods which your child will actually enjoy and eat.  It’s hard for a child to concentrate on schoolwork if he or she is hungry an hour after that “yucky” lunch was thrown into the trash.  Your child might actually help to choose what goes into his or her lunch box.

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Dressing for p.e. and art class
Please have your child wear pants on the days that he/she has p.e.  Also, send an extra pair of sneakers that can be left in the gym for your child to use only during p.e. class.  The sneakers can be old or new, as long as they fit well.  They will be kept in the gym for the entire year and returned to you in June.  Also, please be sure your child dresses appropriately on the day that he/she has art, for it can sometimes be quite messy!

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First Graders Need to Tie Their Own Shoes
Please help your child learn to tie his or her shoes, or else buy ones with buckles, zippers, or Velcro fasteners.  The children must change into their sneakers for p.e. and afterward slip back into the shoes they wore to school.  Also, in snowy weather, they have to slip out of their boots and back into the shoes they wore from home.  They are not allowed to walk around with their shoes untied, for it’s not safe.

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Backpacks, Toys, Labels, and Lost-and-Found Bin
Each child should have a book bag or backpack to carry belongings back and forth to school.  No toys should be brought to school, though, unless they are related to our curriculum.  A lot of effort goes into providing your child with organizational supports because first graders are especially prone to losing their belongings very easily.  Therefore, PLEASE PUT YOUR CHILD’S NAME inside all outerwear, backpacks, lunch boxes, gym shoes, etc.  When you do find that something is lost, have your child check the front office, and if it’s not there, you might want to stop by and go through the large (often over-flowing) Lost-and-Found bin which is located in the lunch room.  It’s wise to check the bin periodically because sometimes lost items are not always discovered and placed in there right away.  After a few weeks, first graders don’t always recognize their own lost items when they do see them again.

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Back-to-School Night—September 17th
Please make every effort to attend Back-to-School Night on Thursday, September 17th, at 6:00 pm for Lower School.  I want to tell you about the first grade curriculum and what a typical first grade day is like, as well as prepare you for first grade homework.  All of your child’s specials teachers will give short overviews of what goes on in their classes.  There will be no homework for the first graders before Back-to-School Night so please come and find out what to expect.

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Where to Find First Grade News
In first grade we work on taking care of our environment.  Therefore, I promise to be better this year and post more regularly to avoid sending home those paper notes and, yet, keep you informed. J  Please check our first grade website regularly at http://smcds.org/1stGrade/ for news and information about what’s happening here in first grade.

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If you have a question or concern, contact me.
I look forward to working with you and your child this year and hope you will feel free to call me or email me whenever you have any questions or concerns.  I try to check my voice messages and email a couple of times a day and will respond to you as soon as I can.  If your message needs immediate attention, though, dial extension 300 for Claire Coombs in the front office.  It’s very important to all of us here at St. Michael’s that you and your child have a great year!

See you on September 1st!

Roselyn Morris
rmorris@smcds.org