Week 1

Welcome to First Grade!

I am truly excited to be your child’s First Grade teacher! We are going to have a fun year while learning new things!

First grade is an exciting and challenging grade for students. By the end of first grade most students are able to read at least 150 sight words, use capitalization and some punctuation, recognize the singular and plural forms of nouns, count to 100 by one’s, two’s, five’s, and ten’s, write the numerals to 100, add and subtract numbers up to and from 10, and so much more!!

This task can be conquered if we work together. Let’s make this a successful year for your child!

Student of the Week

Each week a student of the week will be chosen. A student of the week is someone who has excelled in a subject, has had great behavior, or has been helpful with other students and/or adults. Everyone will get a chance to be a student of the week.

The student of the week will bring in something special from home such as a favorite toy, food, book, or anything unique to the student. Each day of the week the student will be asked by the teacher and their classmates some of their favorite things to do, their favorite sport, subject, book, food, or what he/she wants to be when they grow up. Finally, the student of the week will be featured in the weekly newsletter!

What we are learning…

We are beginning homework this week, with the first homework on Monday. Your child will have homework Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday of each week. The reason for homework is to get your child in the habit of homework and studying. It will not be hard and should take 10-15 minutes to complete. Try to make this experience enjoyable for your child so they carry this skill over to future grades.

Also, every Thursday I will be sending home a Weekend Journal. This journal will have a note from myself to your child. Your child is to respond to the note. The journal is due back every Monday. We will begin the journals in Week 2.

Finally, every night your child should be reading 10-15 minutes. This will not be listed on the homework; however it is expected Monday through Friday.

For the first week, I will be lenient on turning it in on time. However; starting in Week 2 homework is due the next morning. Homework is a daily grade (5% of their final grade).

Spelling Words

Your child will be tested on these words this Friday. With it being the first week of school, we are trying to get into the routine of spelling tests. Therefore this week’s test will not count on your child’s grade. Practice, Practice, Practice.

a

are

the

was

is

on

an

in

Weekly Math Facts

We will learn a set of math facts every week. For success in math in first grade and beyond, your child should have a solid foundation of their math facts. Your child is tested on facts through 12 (as part of their grade) near Christmas, then again at the end of the year. We begin with simple facts, and then move into the harder facts. We do practice these during the school day. However; your child will grasp the facts quicker if you’re practicing at home. We will begin with doubles. We will do this set for two weeks.

0 + 0 = 0

1 + 1 = 2

2 + 2 = 4

3 + 3 = 6

4 + 4 = 8

5 + 5 = 10

6 + 6 = 12

7 + 7 = 14

8 + 8 = 16

9 + 9 = 18