Newsletter for March 4, 2012

Dear Family,

Spelling:

We will be reviewing the red words that we have learned this year. All of these words have to be memorized because they can’t be sounded out.  Tapping the words out on their arm, writing them with colored pencils or crayons, writing them on a surface in shaving cream with their finger are all great ways to practice these words at home.

Math:

Students will learn two-digit addition, how to tell time to the Half Hour, dividing shapes into fourths, and adding 10 to a number.

Social Studies:

Students will be learning the symbols of America this week. We will read about our symbols and talk about the importance of each one. We will focus America’s Flag, The Statue of Liberty, The Bald Eagle, and The Liberty Bell.

Art:

This week we will be doing a directive draw of the Statue of Liberty. We will also be working on a book, America the Beautiful.

Save the date!

We will be going to the Monterey Bay Aquarium for a fieldtrip on April 26. You can go to www.morntereybayaquarium.org/ to see live web cams of the animals.  

 Father-Daughter dance will be Thursday

 * Please send in tissue boxes for our Easter Basket project.

Newsletter for the Week of February 11 - 15

Dear Family,

Grades Postponed:

Due to the number of absences, we are going to postpone report cards one week.  This will allow time for students to get well before completing our trimester assessments.

Phonics/ Spelling:

This week we will learn the spelling ‘kn’ for the sound /n/.  The rest of the week will be review of our previous sounds and rules.

Our red words for the week are:

great, where, there, many and any.

Math:

In math we will begin to practice adding two digit numbers without regrouping, identifying how many more using a graph, identifying and making congruent shapes, counting large collections and counting by tens, and comparing two digit numbers for greater than and less than. Wow!  That’s a lot!

Social Studies:

We will read about Abraham Lincoln whose birthday is on Tuesday. 

We will also continue to practice our seven continents. 

Science:

We will continue our study of solids, liquids and gases.  We will read the Dr. Seuss story, Bartholomew and the Oobleck and make oobleck – it isn’t a solid, it isn’t a liquid!  Hmmmmmm...

IMPORTANT NOTES:

Late Start on February 15th

Vacation is coming!  No school February 18 – 22

Father/ Daugter Dance “Fairies and Stardust”  February 28th

Newsletter for the Week of January 28 - February 1

Dear Family,

Phonics:

This week we will be learning dipthongs! A dipthong is when two vowels come together and make a completely new and unexpected sound! We will learn /oo/ as in tooth, and /oo/ as in foot. 

This week’s red words are would, very, does, friend, and great

Math:

In math we will be learning our new math facts, “doubles plus one.”  We will also be focusing on all our math facts to help the students become more automatic.  Math facts should be memorized and be recalled automatically.  We will begin new math fact pages to support this practice.

Social Studies:

Penguins are a-poppin’! We will be reading to learn about penguins and all the different locations they can live.  Did you know all penguins are native to below the Equator?

Science:

Since so many penguins do live where it is cold, (but not all penguins as we will learn!), we will use ice to help us learn about solids, liquids and gas.

Special Days:

Congratulations!  Your first grader is 100 days smarter on Tuesday!  We will celebrate our 100^th day of school.  Please have your child bring in 100 snack items to share, such as 100 Cheerios, 100 gold fish crackers, 100 chocolate chips, etc.

Newsletter for the Week of January 22 - 25

Dear Family, 

Phonics / Spelling:

This week the students will be introduced to new spellings of long vowels:  Long vowel ‘o’ spelled oe and ow, long ‘u’ spelled ue and ew, and long ‘i’ spelled final y and ie.

The red words for this week are should, would, could, does, and very,

Ask your child to sing the song we sing to help us spell should, would and could!

Math:

On last Friday’s math test many students struggled with the question, “How many socks, vs. how many pairs.”  This has been taught intensely in class , however it is still difficult for the students to understand.  This is an easy concept to reinforce at home with laundry placing shoes away in the closet, etc.

This week we will practice adding 2-digit numbers together (without regrouping) using dimes and pennies as if we were buying items in a grocery store.

Social Studies:

We will read about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. We will also introduce Ruby Bridges and Rosa Parks.  Ruby Bridges was the 6 year old girl who was the first child to attend an all-white school in New Orleans in 1960.  The students should be able to relate to Ruby since she was their same age at this time in her life.

Science:

Although we had the best intentions, we have not begun penguins.  We will begin this unit at the end of the week.

Important Notes:

The Christmas Program DVD’s are ready for purchase in the office! 

This Friday is a delayed start day!  School begins at 9:25!

January 29^th – 100^th Day of school!  

Newsletter for the Week of January 14, 2013

Dear Family,

:

This week in spelling we will focus on: the vowel teams ee and ea.  In phonics students will learn that ay and ai say a; igh says i. Our red words for the week are:

could, should, would, give, live

Math:

Students will continue to work on writing number words. They will be counting coins and reviewing even and odd numbers.  Students will work on time to the hour.

Science:

We will continue to learn about penguins and their different habitats. Students will learn that penguins live all over the world below the equator! They will also learn that there are several different kinds of penguins ranging in size from 12 inches to 4 ½ feet tall!

Social Studies:

This month students will learn about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. We will read about M.L.K. and learn how important he has been to our world.

Reminders:

No school Jan. 21^st- MLK Holiday * Late Start Jan. 25^th

We will not send book bags home this week. Look for paper books in their folders.

 

 

Newsletter for the Week of January 7, 2013

Welcome Back! We hope all of our families had a wonderful and restful vacation!  January is a exciting month for learning!! The students return ready to learn in the new year! 

A look at our week...

Phonics/ Spelling:

This week in spelling we will repeat lesson 13. The focus is: the letter g makes the /j/ sound when followed by e, i, or y. Our red words for the week are:

once, who, from, give, live

Math:

Students will work on writing number words, counting by pairs, and reviewing even and odd numbers.

Have your child help put pairs of socks together and count by twos. Students should be able to identify how many pairs and socks there are all together.

Science:

This week we will dive into Winter! In the next few weeks we will be learning about penguins and their different habitats. Students will learn that penguins live all over the world!

Social Studies:

We will be learning a fun song about the seven continents.

Art:

Friday we will be doing a fun snowman art project to go along with a fun snowman story.

Special Dates Coming up:

Progress reports go home this Friday

No school Jan. 21^st- MLK Holiday * Late Start Jan. 25^th

Newsletter for the Month of December 2012

Dear Family,

Due to our very busy December schedule, we are sending home one newsletter with important information and dates so you can mark your calendars.

Important Dates:

December 10^th- Secret Santa’s workshop and the Salvation Army food drive begins. We will send home reminders when your child’s classroom is scheduled for Santa’s workshop.

December 14^th- Foothill students will travel by bus to Sierra High School to watch the S.H.S.  Winter Program. Students will load the bus at 8:45 and will arrive at 9:15. A slip will be sent home for you to sign if you don’t want your child to go on this trip.

December 19^th- The K-1 Winter Program was changed to this Wednesday. The program will begin at 7:00. Our classroom doors will open at 6:30. Please bring your child to his/her classroom at 6:30. You will be required to pick your child up in our classrooms after he/she performs. Please do not pick them up in the cafeteria after they sing. It gets very busy and we want to make sure your child is safely returned to you and checked out with us.

December 20^th- This Thursday will be our last day of school before vacation.  It is a late start day. First Grade will wear pajamas to school and have breakfast in our classrooms for our party. We will be reading the book Polar Express. More information will be coming home regarding our parties.

January 7^th- Back to school!                             

Math: This month we will be learning and practicing even and odd numbers.  Students will be practicing time to the hour. We will be introducing adding and subtracting 2. Students will also be learning about pairs. Ask your child to help you with sorting socks at home to reinforce pairs. Students will be using the word symmetry and symmetrical in math lessons to describe objects that are the same size and shape.

Science/Social Studies: Due to our busy schedule this month with learning our Christmas songs and working on gifts and art projects we will continue science in January. We will be talking about different Christmas traditions which are part of our Social Studies curriculum.

Some parents have showed interest in IPAD and IPHONE apps. Here are some suggestions we have for you: Splash Math, Mathmateer, Hangman Math, Pocket Zoo (This supports our science standards), and Storybuilder.

A fun website on the computer is Starfall.com. This is a great website for reading at different levels.

Our First Grade Team, mrs. Badella, mrs. Cunningham, and Mrs. Dunn, would like to wish all of you a wonderful and loving Christmas filled with happiness and blessings.  Thank you for the joy your children bring to us every day.  Merry Chrismas.