First Grade Weekly Update October 30th-November 3rd
Weekly Syllabus: October 30th-November 3rd, 2023
Reminders
We will celebrate Halloween on Monday, October 31st. The parade will begin at 8:15.
Students may wear their costumes, but are not allowed to bring weapons, wear masks (other than the ones required) and need to be dressed appropriately (when in doubt, please refer to the handbook for free dress guidelines).
Religion
We will continue with Unit 2 We Believe Part Two. In our first unit chapter, Chapter 5 Mary, the Mother of Jesus, students will explore how courage helps us live as disciples of Jesus, discover what the Bible tells us about Mary, discover that Mary had great trust in God, and learn that psalms are prayers in the Bible and pray a psalm together.
Language Arts
Unit 4 Lessons 1-5
Word Work: Identify final er sound, encode er words, recognize er and ed spelling patterns, introduce and spell Memory Words (look, your, the, was, are, and for), and understand and use passed tense verbs.
Spelling words: after, never, better, winter, summer, rested, twisted, planted, printed, and acted
Reading: Read and discuss grade level literary text, understand characters, text structure, and sequence, listen to and read complex informational text, understand Words to Know (project, interesting, and constructed)
Writing: Discuss narrative writing, select a topic for narrative writing, plan a personal narrative, write a story based on a plan, and edit
Mathematics
Focus for October Number Corner: Ten is the magic number for October, the tenth month of the year. Students compose and decompose the number 10, practice instantly seeing quantities on ten-frames, and learn about “leaps of ten” on the number line. The Calendar Grid features sets of fall pictures to inspire math stories and during the Calendar Collector workout, students collect and count patterns blocks and make a composite shape picture.
Bridges Unit 2 Module 2-This module maintains a focus on addition and subtraction strategies and emphasizes solving for an unknown. Students use and make double flap cards to discover the relationship between addition and subtraction, to further explore the commutative property, and to learn to solve for an unknown in any position. They generate equation fact families and story problems. The idea that the equal sign describes a relationship between two quantities that have the same value, rather than indicating “the answer,” is reinforced.
First Grade Weekly Update October 23rd-27th
Weekly Syllabus: October 23rd-27th, 2023
Reminders
All are invited to our special session called Setting Up Students for Success in School on October 26, 2023 6:30 pm-7:30 pm.
Religion
We will begin Unit 2 We Believe Part Two. In our first unit chapter, Chapter 5 Mary, the Mother of Jesus, students will explore how courage helps us live as disciples of Jesus, discover what the Bible tells us about Mary, discover that Mary had great trust in God, and learn that psalms are prayers in the Bible and pray a psalm together.
Language Arts
Unit 3 Lessons 6-10
Word Work: Identify final le sound, read decodable stories with ng and le, read and decode words from informational text, recognize and spell memory words (do, have, show, how, me, and a), understand and use antonyms, and rhyming words.
Spelling Words: bubble, little, candle, pickle, do, have, show, how, me, and a
Reading: Develop fluent reading with repeated readings of a story, read with natural phrasing, read and discuss grade level literary text, understand plot, problem, and solution, match story events to pictures, and understand and use antonyms.
Writing: Opinion Writing about seasons.
Mathematics
Focus for October Number Corner: Ten is the magic number for October, the tenth month of the year. Students compose and decompose the number 10, practice instantly seeing quantities on ten-frames, and learn about “leaps of ten” on the number line. The Calendar Grid features sets of fall pictures to inspire math stories and during the Calendar Collector workout, students collect and count patterns blocks and make a composite shape picture.
Bridges
We will begin Unit 2 Module 1 Counting, Comparing & Adding With Dominoes. Module 1 focuses on developing counting and addition skills, using dominoes as a springboard. Students learn games in which they match the dots on dominoes, count or add the dots on the two halves of a dominoes, and write equations and inequality statements for the amounts. They also share and discuss addition strategies beyond counting by 1s, such as counting on, combining small groups, and working from known facts to those less familiar. Two new Work Places are introduced.
First Grade Weekly Update October 16th-20th
Weekly Syllabus: October 16th-20th, 2023
Reminders
Tuesday, October 17th is October birthday free dress.
Religion
We will begin Chapter 4 Jesus the Son of God. Students will explore the birth of Jesus, discover that Jesus is truly God and truly human, learn that Jesus was raised in a human family, decide a way to live as a disciple of Jesus through kindness, and pray by singing a prayer.
Language Arts
Unit 3 Lessons 1-5
Word Work: Identify the final ng sound, read and decode words with ng, recognize and spell memory words (do, have, show, how, me, and a), understand and use verbs are and is, and complete a pattern poem.
Spelling Words: king, sing, thing, hang, bang, sang, long, song, hung, and sung
Reading: Develop fluent reading with repeated readings of a poem, read a poem rhythmically, read and discuss grade level literary texts, compare and contrast two poems, identify key details of grade level poems, and listen to and discuss a complex informational text.
Writing: Discuss the difference between a fact and an opinion, identify opinions, write about an opinion, use synonyms for good and bad, write opinion with supporting reasons, and share opinions and reasons respectfully.
Mathematics
Focus for October Number Corner: Ten is the magic number for October, the tenth month of the year. Students compose and decompose the number 10, practice instantly seeing quantities on ten-frames, and learn about “leaps of ten” on the number line. The Calendar Grid features sets of fall pictures to inspire math stories and during the Calendar Collector workout, students collect and count patterns blocks and make a composite shape picture.
Bridges: We will start Unit 1 Module 4-The number rack explorations in this module involve part-part-whole relationships, particularly missing-addend and subtraction problems. Students also engage in “quick look” activities to help them subitize quantities to 20, and they add 1 and subtract 1 from those totals. The final session features a post-unit assessment.
First Grade Weekly Update October 9th-13th
Weekly Syllabus October 9th-13th, 2023
Reminders
Monday, October 9th is Indigenous Peoples’ Day-No School
Some parents were wondering if peanut butter is ok to sent to school. The answer is yes. You may send peanut butter with your child to school.
Religion
We will begin Chapter 3 God Our Father and Creator. Students will learn that the God is our creator, how God created us in his own image, ways to care for God’s creations, and ways to use pictures to help us pray
Language Arts
Unit 2 Lessons 6-10
Word Work: Associate th with the sound and spelling, read and decode words with th, encode words with th, sh, and ch, and use capitalization and exclamation points.
Spelling Words: this, that, thin, think, thank, bath, path, math, cloth, and moth
Reading: Develop fluent reading with repeated readings of a story, listen to and read both literary and information text, identify main topic and key details, give and support opinions, recognize text structure, understand and describe characters, and use the words choices, carefully, and decision.
Writing: Write answers to a question about a story, generate and write research questions, find answers to research questions, write and illustrate facts, and edit sentences for capitalization, end marks, and other errors
Mathematics
Bridges
We will begin Unit 1 Module 4-The number rack explorations in this module involve part-part-whole relationships, particularly missing-addend and subtraction problems. Students also engage in “quick look” activities to help them subitize quantities to 20, and they add 1 and subtract 1 from those totals. The final session features a post-unit assessment.
Number Corner for October
Focus for October Number Corner: Ten is the magic number for October, the tenth month of the year. Students compose and decompose the number 10, practice instantly seeing quantities on ten-frames, and learn about “leaps of ten” on the number line. The Calendar Grid features sets of fall pictures to inspire math stories and during the Calendar Collector workout, students collect and count patterns blocks and make a composite shape picture.
First Grade Weekly Update October 2nd-6th
Weekly Syllabus October 2nd-6th, 2023
Reminders
Tuesday-Friday of this week students will be dismissed so that teachers can meet with all of the parents. Thank you for signing up for a time. I look forward to meeting with all of you.
Wednesday the 4th is the feast of St. Francis. We will have the blessing of the animals at 8:00 AM during our morning assembly. You are welcome to bring your pet to be blessed. Students may also bring a stuffed animal or picture of a pet as well.
Religion
We will begin Chapter 3 God Our Father and Creator. Students will learn that the God is our creator, how God created us in his own image, ways to care for God’s creations, and ways to use pictures to help us pray
Language Arts
Unit 2 Lessons 1-5
Word Work: Work on words with wh, memory words (who, where, what, which, and why), the -ash spelling pattern, recognize and understand question marks, pronoun I, and use appropriate questions words to begin questions.
Spelling Words: where, when, why which, who, what, cash, dash, crash, trash
Reading: Develop fluent reading with repeated readings of a story, observe dialogue, punctuation, speech balloons, and question marks while reading, understand characters and events, describe setting, identify topics of an informational text, and identify main topic and key details.
Our Author Study for this month will be Arnold Lobel
Writing: Generate and write questions, write answers to questions, and write interview questions
Mathematics
Number Corner for October
Focus for October Number Corner: Ten is the magic number for October, the tenth month of the year. Students compose and decompose the number 10, practice instantly seeing quantities on ten-frames, and learn about “leaps of ten” on the number line. The Calendar Grid features sets of fall pictures to inspire math stories and during the Calendar Collector workout, students collect and count patterns blocks and make a composite shape picture.
Bridges: We continue to work on Unit 1 Module 3: In this module students engage in “quick look” activities intended to help them subitize, or recognize the quantity of objects in a set without having to count each individually. Students also explore part-part-whole relationships with numbers to 20. These explorations include work with equations in which an unknown variable might be in any one of three positions. The last session introduces length measurement with nonstandard units.
Social Studies
We will continue with Being Good Citizens in our homes, schools, and communities.
First Grade Weekly Update September 18th-22nd
Weekly Syllabus: September 18th-22nd, 2023
Reminders
Tuesday, September 19th is September birthday free dress.
Saturday, September 23rd is the Fun Fair-hope to see you there!
Religion
We will start Chapter 2 God Loves Us. Students will explore how followers of Jesus are generous, discover people who help us to know God, learn about God from Jesus and our families, decide on ways to be a kind and generous follower of Jesus, and learn to pray the Sign of the Cross.
Language Arts
Unit 1 Lessons 1-5
Word Work: Phonics and spelling for ch and tch, spelling memory words, grammar and spelling with pronouns, comprehension check, and spelling test and phonics review of ch.
Spelling Words: chip, lunch, inch, chop, bunch, ranch, branch, pinch, chick, and check
Reading: Read and discuss grade level literary text, listen to grade level informational text, determine the meaning of key vocabulary words, practice reading fluently.
Writing: Writing a list of things we have done, selecting a topic for a personal narrative, drawing and writing about something we did, and editing for capitalization and end marks.
Mathematics
Number Corner for September: The workouts in the first month of school focus on counting and recognizing numbers from 0-30, with a special emphasis on understanding that teen numbers are made of 1 ten and some more. Students will use a variety of models this month that will help them work in groups of 2, 5, and 10. Students review the concept of unitizing; that is, thinking of 10 items as a single unit called a ten.
Bridges: Unit 1 Module 3: In this module students engage in “quick look” activities intended to help them subitize, or recognize the quantity of objects in a set without having to count each individually. Students also explore part-part-whole relationships with numbers to 20. These explorations include work with equations in which an unknown variable might be in any one of three positions. The last session introduces length measurement with nonstandard units.
Social Studies
We will continue with Being Good Citizens in our homes, schools, and communities.
First Grade Weekly Update: Sep. 11-15
Weekly Syllabus: September 11th-15th, 2023
Reminders
Tuesday, September 12th is picture day!
No School on Friday, September 15th-Faculty and Staff will be attending the Cathedral of Light Eucharistic Revival.
Religion
We are learning about the parts of the mass and what each part means.
Language Arts
Review Unit
Word Work: Letter and letter sounds in addition to writing the letters for: Qu, Jj, Xx, Yy, and Zz, associate ck with the k sound, work on all short vowel sounds, use and understand verbs and plural s, and use beginning capitalization and end marks in sentences.
Reading: Read and discuss grade level literary text, listen to grade level informational text, determine the meaning of key vocabulary words, practice reading fluently.
Memory Words: for, you, like, to, of, and no
Writing: Write verbs to complete sentences, write different types of sentences (declarative, exclamatory, and interrogative), and use adjectives and prepositional phases to add details to sentences.
Mathematics
Number Corner for September: The workouts in the first month of school focus on counting and recognizing numbers from 0-30, with a special emphasis on understanding that teen numbers are made of 1 ten and some more. Students will use a variety of models this month that will help them work in groups of 2, 5, and 10. Students review the concept of unitizing; that is, thinking of 10 items as a single unit called a ten.
Bridges: we will be focusing on Module 2- working with the Number Rack. The five sessions in this module are designed to solidify students’ number sense to 10 and provide early work with facts to 10. Students explore number combinations for 5 and 10 in contexts that help them become familiar with fact families and also elicit higher forms of mathematical thinking The models support students to visualize numbers, number relationships, and number combinations. They also promote development of strategies that will eventually lead to mastery of basic addition and subtraction facts.
Social Studies
We will continue with Being Good Citizens in our homes, schools, and communities.
First Grade Weekly Update: Sep. 4th-8th
Weekly Syllabus: September 4th-8th, 2023
Reminders and News: We have had another great week of school. We are continuing to work on rules and procedures, but are getting the hang of being back at school. We have enjoyed having the half days, but are looking forward to being in school full time this upcoming week. Thank you for all of the support you give your child at home!
No school on Monday, September 4th in observance of Labor Day.
Religion
We will continue with Chapter 1 in our religion books: The Bible. Students will learn to discover what the Bible tells us about God, the Bible helps us follow Jesus, how to be followers of Jesus, and reflect and pray with Scripture.
We are also learning about the mass and the mass parts.
Language Arts
Review Unit
Word Work: Letter and letter sounds in addition to writing the letters for: Qu, Jj, Xx, Yy, and Zz, associate ck with the k sound, work on all short vowel sounds, use and understand verbs and plural s, and use beginning capitalization and end marks in sentences.
Memory Words: for, you, like, to, of, and no
Reading: Read and discuss grade level literary text, listen to grade level informational text, determine the meaning of key vocabulary words, and practice reading fluently.
Writing: Write verbs to complete sentences, write different types of sentences (declarative, exclamatory, and interrogative), and use adjectives and prepositional phrases to add details to sentences.
Mathematics
September Number Corner: The workouts in the first month of school focus on counting and recognizing numbers from 0 to 30, with a special emphasis on understanding that teen numbers are made of 1 ten and some more. Students use a wide variety of models this month that will help them work in groups of 2, 5, and 10. Students review the concept of unitizing; that is, thinking of 10 items as a single unit called a ten.
Bridges: Module 1-Unit 1-We are working to count and organize popsicle sticks. Students are practicing counting forwards and backwards by 1s, 2s, and 5s on the number line and then exploring simple counting patterns on a hundreds grid. They will also express personal preferences as data on a chart and discuss patterns in the data.
We continue to focus on communities and how rules and laws keep us safe.
Social Studies
We will begin to focus on communities and how rules and laws keep us safe.
First Grade Weekly Update Aug. 28th-Sep. 1st
Weekly Syllabus: August 28th-Sep. 1st, 2023
Reminders and News:
We had a wonderful first week of school!!! We played some games and got to know one another and worked on some reading, writing, and math.
Next week continues to be noon dismissal days for the first grade class! We will begin our normal routines and procedures.The first couple of weeks of school are mostly review. I will be sending homework home on Tuesday, September 5th after Back to School Night.
Thursday, Aug 31 – Back-to-School Night
- Session 1: 6:00-6:15
- Session 2: 6:20-6:35
- General Session in O’Brien Hall: 6:40-7:00
Religion
We will begin with Chapter 1 in our religion books: The Bible. Students will learn to discover what the Bible tells us about God, the Bible helps us follow Jesus, how to be followers of Jesus, and reflect and pray with Scripture.
Language Arts
Review Unit
Work Work: Handwriting and phonics: Dd/d/, Cc/k/, Gg/g/, Oo/o/,Ll/l/, Ss/s/, Tt/t/, Aa/a/,Ff/f/, Ww/w/, Nn/n/, Ii/i/, Mm/m/, Pp/p/Vv/v/, Kk/k/, Uu/u/
Phonics: Read and write short vowel words
Memory Words: Read and write I, a, the
Reading
| Develop fluent reading with repeated reading of a story, use beginning and ending capitalization when reading, understand and use singular and plural nouns, retell key details of a literary text, understand characters, describe and compare characters, connect ideas: compare and contrast, understand events, recognize problem and solution, know the meaning of vocabulary words (cabin, proud, loose, tied, hollers, ranger, lend a hand, blast, set, vet, mend, and clinic), and know our Words to Know (adventures) WritingDrawing and labeling self portraits, drawing and labeling a picture of something important in their life,using temporary inventive spelling, reviewing types of sentences, and adding nouns to completesentences. |
Mathematics
September Number Corner: (we will begin this in September) The workouts in the first month of school focus on counting and recognizing numbers from 0 to 30, with a special emphasis on understanding that teen numbers are made of 1 ten and some more. Students use a wide variety of models this month that will help them work in groups of 2, 5, and 10. Students review the concept of unitizing; that is, thinking of 10 items as a single unit called a ten.
Bridges: Module 1-Unit 1-We are working to count and organize popsicle sticks. Students are practicing counting forwards and backwards by 1s, 2s, and 5s on the number line and then exploring simple counting patterns on a hundreds grid. They will also express personal preferences as data on a chart and discuss patterns in the data.
Social Studies
We will begin to focus on communities and how rules and laws keep us safe.
First Grade Update-Welcome Back!
Dear Parents,
Mrs. Ratto and I are so excited to begin the new year! We just wanted to send you an email to say “Hi,” and remind you of a few things coming up and what you need on the first day.
Our first day is Monday the 21st! The school yard opens at 7:40AM.The first grade line will be marked, and Mrs. Ratto and I will be out on the yard so that students know where to go! All students should be in line by the 8:00AM bell. Students should please bring the following on the first day:
- 1-pair of headphones, wired, clearly labeled with your child’s name
- 1-spare uniform, including shirt, pants/shorts/or jumper, undergarments and socks, in a Ziploc bag, clearly labeled with your child’s name. These will stay in their backpacks.
- 2-boxes of facial tissue, large size
- 2-containers of baby wipes (NO refills, self-sealing packs only)
- 1-container of Clorox Wipes
- Please clearly label all items with the child’s first and last names.
- Please note that some supplies may need to be replenished throughout the year.
During the first couple of weeks of school, we will be focusing on developing our first grade classroom community and getting back into routines (both in the classroom and on the yard). Please see below for important dates, including Back-to-School Night, where I will provide a lot more information about what to expect this year in first grade!
The first two weeks of school will be noon dismissal times. The first full day of School for the first grade students will be Tuesday, September 5th.
Dates to Remember:
- Monday, Aug 21-Friday, September 1st –Noon Dismissal
- Friday, Aug 25 – Ice Cream Social, 6PM
- Tuesday, Aug 29 – Free dress for Jul/Aug birthdays
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Thursday,
Aug 31 – Back-to-School Night
- Session 1: 6:00-6:15
- Session 2: 6:20-6:35
- General Session in O’Brien Hall: 6:40-7:00
- Monday, Sep 4 – No School-Labor Day
- Tuesday, Sep 12 – Picture Day (students need to wear white uniform shirt/blouse)
We are looking forward to a wonderful year! Please feel free to reach out to me at anytime.
Blessings,
Mrs. Russi