Welcome May!
The first grade continues to work hard on all of their skills in reading, writing and math. Every day we practice being respectful, responsible and ready to learn. The last few months of first grade are very busy and we appreciate your support at home to keep your child focused on learning. Thank you for helping them to be responsible by completing and returning all of their homework.
Our Fundations phonics practice has helped the children to improve on reading and writing. We continue to practice the rules of punctuation and capitalization along with “tapping” our unknown words. We also continue to practice our trick words. Students should be able to read those words on sight and should also be writing them correctly.
We have been learning many math concepts such as telling time and interpreting circle graphs as well as halves and fourths. We will begin to work more with money and two-digit addition in the next math unit. Cool math for kids is a great website for children to practice their math concepts!
First grade has begun their experiments on balance and motion from our science kits. We have practiced balancing objects using counterweights and we will be making our own spinners!
Who? Where? What? How? These are the questions that we engage the children while reading either with a whole group read aloud, or in their independent reading groups. These elements are beneficial for your child to show comprehension of a story, and will aid them in their upcoming reading tests. Any time you are reading with your child, please ask them about the story elements. We continue to read both fiction and non-fiction texts and cross share our texts among our reading groups.
The weather is beautiful and we understand that it can also be distracting. Please try to get your child outside as much as possible. It will prove to be a great break after school before they sit down to read or do homework. They may also enjoy going outside to complete their work. Find a reading tree in your yard and read in the shade!
There are several places around the state for a fun family day of learning. We hope that you can take advantage of these exciting places , but if travel is a problem the Bill Memorial Library, and the Groton Public Library offer many programs year round.
Please keep these reading strategies in mind when working at home with your child:
(1) Look at the picture for cues (2) Get your mouth ready. (3) Sound the word out - tap the letter sounds. (4) Look for chunks - or smaller words inside larger ones. (5) Ask what would make sense. (6) Cover up part of the word. |
