You can reach me at school: 772-3223 Ext. 308 or you can send me an email from this web page--see box above.
SPECIAL SCHEDULE- we are on an 8 day rotation.
Day 1 = Science Day 3 = Music Day 5 = Guidance Day 7 = Art
Days 2-4-6-8 = PE ** Please be sure your child wears sneakers on PE days
LUNCH: 12:21-12:46
The number of words your first grader can read and spell increases dramatically during this year. Children can achieve this through lots of practice, at school and at home. Through talking with adults, listening to books read aloud, and discussing everyday experiences, they continue to develop the language skills that help them learn to read and write. Most importantly, your first grader starts to "crack the code" of written language, as he sounds out words, learns to identify them, and understands their meaning.
First graders develop the tools for reading the printed word. They learn to recognize many common words by sight, and they develop strategies for "decoding," or figuring out, words as they read. By the end of the year, most first graders are able to read easy books all by themselves. Writing daily helps your first grader learn to read by reinforcing the relationships between sounds and letters. At the same time, through talking and listening, she continues to develop new vocabulary and knowledge about the world that will help her understand what she reads.
First graders spend a large part of their day at school reading and writing. However, parents still have a huge effect on a child's literacy development. When you talk to your first grader about new words, listen to him/her read books aloud, and communicate with his/her teacher on a regular basis, you take simple but important steps in supporting her reading and writing. Learn more ways you can encourage and inspire your first grader as she learns to read and write.
READING:
We are starting a brand new Reading series this year. There are a lot of really fun stories in this book that I am sure the kids will enjoy.
We will also be doing Dolch Word sets. These words are the 220 most commonly used words in the English language. Your child should spend some time (10 minutes) each day studying these words with an adult. The amount of time will vary according to the ability of each child. I will be monitoring the progress of each student about twice a week.
Reading Activities
Fry's 500 Most Frequently Read Words This program systematically increases a student’s ability to recognize the words which most frequently occur in written English. Students must gain the ability to recognize these words very rapidly in order to become fluent readers.
Word Families This activity introduces 20 word families, with six examples provided for each word family. Learning word families is a fast way to increase a students reading vocabulary. It also helps the student learn that the ability to decode one word can assist in decoding other words with similar alphabet letter patterns.
Letter Recognition The letter recognition activity provides students an opportunity to practice learning both the capital and lowercase letters of the alphabet. Voice assistance is provided for those students who are unable to name the letters independently. Five to six letters are covered in each lesson. After the student is taught the letters with voice assistance, they move to the practice list to independently name the letters.
Consonant Digraphs Consonant digraphs are consonant letters that appear together and represent a single sound that is different from the sound of either letter.
Vowel Digraphs Vowel digraphs are two vowels together, the first is pronounced and the second is silent.
Consonant Blends – Reading Words Three letter blends are three consonant letters that appear together in words and represent sounds that are smoothly joined. Each of the sounds can be heard.
Vowel Diphthong - Reading Words Vowel diphthongs are two vowels, both are spoken with the stress placed on the first vowel...
LANGUAGE ARTS:
In kindergarten the students learned 54 out of the 70 phonograms. We will review the 54 from Kindergarten and then introduce the last 16 phonograms. Some of them are a little difficult and we will be practicing them everyday in class. We will also be doing daily phonogram and spelling word practice. I have found this really helps the students get ready for their weekly tests. There are 10 spelling words each week. 8 are new words and 2 are review words from previous weeks. As the year progresses we will be adding more spelling words. Phonogram tests will be given on Wednesdays and Spelling tests will be given on Fridays.
WRITING
First-graders write daily across all subject areas. Your child may write independently, in small groups, or with the whole class. Students are likely to write creative stories, letters, poems, and riddles. Your child will learn that there are different reasons for writing.
First-graders typically write in a journal several times a week. This helps your child to build writing skills and develop ideas for stories. Children may write in their journals about any subject. Journal writing allows children to take risks where they do not need to worry about spelling, punctuation and other aspects. It is used to allow children to express themselves in a non-threatening venue where they can also watch their growth through the process.
Your child is encouraged to connect writing to their daily life and write about things that are important to them. Children may write about what they do after school — writing events in the order that they occur — or write about their pet.
Your child learns the mechanics of writing, such as spelling and handwriting, as he writes. The teacher will model appropriate writing techniques and strategies such as how to use descriptive words in writing or how to use correct punctuation.
MATH:
Children will work on addition and subtraction facts on a computer program called Math Facts in a Flash. Addition/subtraction problems appear on screen, along with 4 answers in multiple choice format.
All students begin at Level 1 - adding 0's and 1's. When they complete 40 math facts with 100% accuracy within 2 1/2 minutes, they move on to the next level. Students track their progress on a graph.
Progress reports are sent home with Interims and Report Cards. Flash cards will be sent home with those having difficulties. This program can be checked out from the Skyline library for your child to practice at home.
Throughout the year, we will be working on addition & subtraction facts to 20. Counting money can be very challenging so it is important to practice this skill at home from the beginning of the year to give your child extra practice. An easy way to do this is to allow your child to count out the money needed for the toll booth or to buy a pack of gum. By giving them this hands on experience they will be able to grasp the concept of money much quicker.
PARENT LINK/GRADES
oUser name is the StudentID of the eldest child in the School District and your first and last initial. oPassword is your eldest child's birth date in MMDDYY format. *For example: Jane Doe's eldest child's StudentID is 12345678, her user name would be 12345678JD Jane Doe's eldest child's birth date is January 1, 1965, her password would be 010165.Please remember to change your password to something unique, that you can remember after logging on for the first time.
Grades should be updated weekly on Wednesday and are reflective of the previous week's grades.
If you have a question about your child's grades or attendance, or are concerned about a specific grade or assignment, please contact me for the most up-to-date information
Ways to help your child be a better reader:
READ TO YOUR CHILD…We have a tendency to have our children do all the reading, but it is good for them to have an adult model, too. Select books that are above his/her reading level to build their listening vocabulary and increase background information. This helps them when they are decoding (sounding out) more difficult words on their own. You can use this READ TO time on the Daily Reading Log, also. Select books of interest to your child—both fiction & non-fiction.
Work on READING FLUENCY…this is the rate at which your child reads. Students should work towards reading as they would talk—not word by word. As they become more skilled at instantly recognizing words they will become more fluent.
Here’s how to build fluency. Select a section of a book at your child’s independent reading level (see STAR report). Time your child reading for 1 MINUTE noting the # of errors. Then count how many words read in that one minute. Words per minute (WPM) score is the number of words read minus the number of errors. Record the WPM each time you work on it so you can see growth. Over several days, work on the same passage until they reach at least 80 words per minute with 0-1 error. If he/she self corrects a word, it is not counted as an error (but it does cost them seconds in their time).
IDEAS TO HELP YOUR CHILD STUDY SPELLING or READING VOCABULARY WORDS
--Have Magnetic letters? Your child can create the words on the refrigerator.
--Get some chalk & write the words on the driveway.
-Cut pieces of paper. Write one letter of a word on each piece of paper. Your child then unscrambles the letters to spell the word correctly.
--Write the words with bright colored markers or paint the words with water color paint.
--Put sand or salt in a box. Then as you quiz your child on the words, he/she writes them in the sand/salt. Shake the box & do the next word.
READING LOGS: Your child should be reading at least 30 minutes each week. The reading log page is marked with a red tab in your child's planner. Please be sure to sign it daily. These are due on Monday EACH week.HOMEWORK REMINDER: It is assigned each night, Monday-Thursday. HOMEWORK FOLDERS should come home each night and be at SCHOOL EACH MORNING!!
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