FIRST GRADE FOOTNOTES

10/23/09

Dear First Grade Families:

What a hectic week in First Grade! We hope all of you are taking care of yourself and your families. Thank goodness for the long weekend ahead of us! We’ve spent the last part of our afternoons outside getting fresh air.

MATH: This week the students have been practicing exchanging nickels for pennies and adding various amounts of money. Some of our First Graders really get the money concept and may turn out to be great entrepreneurs! We’ve played many fun money games such as Penny Plate, Penny Grab, Penny Dice, and Penny-Nickel Grab!
The students are doing much better finding page numbers in their textbooks. Keep asking your child, “What number is one more/less than X? I have seen a lot of improvement in number writing and number order. The students enjoy writing their numbers as high as they can when we have spare time in between our different subjects. Some are in the 100s and the numbers are facing the right direction and very legible!

LANGUAGE ARTS: Our story this week was “Todd’s Box.” It was great to hear the children read to me and to partner read with a friend. Continually encourage your child to sound out unfamiliar words. It’s great to see the look on their faces when it “clicks” and the words begin to flow. This class is great for volunteering to read out loud. We are offering plenty of practice in school and encourage you to continue reading with them at home. I’m happy to report that a majority of our students scored well on the Unit Pretest for this theme unit! Way to go First Grade!

READING TESTS: Please be aware that right now the reading tests are being read to the students. Beginning at the end of October, the students will be required to read the tests on their own. Of course, Mrs. Johnson and I will be available to assist with sounding out words.

SPELLING: This week we learned about short /o/ words and introduced the concept of conjunctions. Next week’s words are: all, call, fall, wall, ball, tall, on, not, so, of.

ART: This week the students were treated to two different crafts. Mrs. Leonetti (Justin’s Mom) was brave and got the children to paint their own pumpkin. Although we were a bit messy, the students enjoyed the chance to express themselves with paint!
Mrs. Carman (Jenna’s grandmom) taught the children how to make a beautiful flower arrangement. She was an excellent teacher and Jenna was an excellent helper. Who knew we had such talented family members in First Grade! Thanks to both Mrs. Leonetti and Mrs. Carman for making our days a bit brighter!

UPCOMING DATES:

10/26 – School Closed – County In-Service
10/28 – Very Important Parent Day – 1st grade - 11:00 am – 12:50 pm
10/30 – Halloween Parade
11/2 – 1:00 day – Parent/Teacher Conferences
11/3 – 1:00 day – Parent/Teacher Conferences
11/4 – 1:00 day – Parent/Teacher Conferences
11/5 & 6 – School Closed – NJEA Convention
11/12 – School Closed – Veteran’s Day

We look forward to seeing a lot of you during our VIP day and the upcoming conferences. Enjoy your weekend and stay healthy!

Mrs. Mahoney/Mrs. Johnson