Franklin Borough School
Grade 1
 

Mrs. Decker, Mrs. Fanuel, Mrs. Kota
sdecker@fboe.org | mfanuel@fboe.org | ckota@fboe.org

First Grade

          February Update       

The month of February is filled with learning about a lot of different holidays and topics. We will cover the following ~ Groundhog Day, Chinese New Year, Valentine's Day, Presidents' Day, 100th day of school, and Dental Health. We will complete our theme units of studying weather and nature’s resources.

Language Arts:

 Theme 8’s concept is “Dressing for Weather,” and Theme 9’s concept is “Nature’s Resources.”  During the month our big book titles are How Should I Dress? and Fox Beware.  Students will learn to make connections by comparing and contrasting information while reading.

©     Learners continue to add entries to their vocabulary journals to build, show, and restate meanings of words.  Theme 8 words include: select, temperature, dress, cloud, and mistake.  Theme 9 vocabulary is: harvested, scent, peaceful, find, splash, and depend.

©     Look for Theme 8 and 9 reading word lists which will be sent home in folders for extra practice.  Children are orally assessed on the recognition of these words at the end of the themes.

©     Please continue to follow the spelling routines homework sheet for suggested methods for word building practice.

©     Children will engage in various methods of writing including problem and solution topics.  They also complete journal assignments and creative writing activities as prompted.

Math:

We continue our Everyday Math program by completing Unit 5. A Mid-Year Assessment will soon occur.   Unit 5 concepts include: Place Value, Number Stories, and Basic Facts. The learning objectives to complete the unit include: solving number stories, investigating sums generated by rolling pairs of dice, introducing turn-around facts, practicing easily mastered addition facts (+0, +1, double facts, & ten facts), introducing the “What’s My Rule?” routine, finding the output for given rules and input numbers, and reviewing and assessing.

Also, during the third marking period, the first graders will work on Unit 6 - Developing Fact Power. In this unit, the children work with on the ability to recall the basic addition facts instantly, without having to take time to figure them out. This unit will also review and extend the topics that were first introduced in previous units, such as measuring lengths in centimeters, counting sets of coins, representing time with digital notation, and finding the range & middle value of sets of data.

©     Keep practicing telling time and counting money.

©     Continue to help our school with our Box Tops collection; the winning class receives a pizza party!!

©     Read each night with your child.  Thank you for your support of our Reading Log Program!

©     Happy Valentine’s Day- class party information will be sent home soon.  Please remember NO CANDY- Thank you!

Mrs. Toepfer
ctoepfer@fboe.org

News from Mrs. Toepfer

February

Wow….the hundredth day of school is fast approaching! I cannot believe how fast this school year is flying by!

In our reading groups we have been working very hard! I hope you can see the progress that your children are making; I know I can!

1^st Grade-We are working on sight words, letter sounds and word families as well as reading fluency. With sight words it is important to practice, practice, and practice.  Most of the words are rule breakers, so it is not easy to try to sound them out.  There are sight word flashcards available at most stores, so if you can, please pick up a set and practice.  If you need a set, let me know and I will photo copy my set for you.  I would love it if you could read with your child for 15 minutes every night.  It is great quality time and just a few minutes each day will help your child in the long run with reading skills.

2^nd Grade-Our fluency is getting much better. Your children are learning how to use sentence clues and phonics skills to break apart those challenging words.  I advise that your children read for at least 15 minutes every night.  It is a great habit to get into and will help to foster a love of reading.  Remember the 5 finger rule…if your child cannot read five words on a page, then that book is too difficult.  Encourage him/her to make another selection.

3^rd grade-Wow! These 3^rd graders are really starting to soar! Their reading is improving day by, day and I couldn’t be more proud! Some of the words they are able to decipher, decode, and read are very hard! It is refreshing and exhilarating to see and hear their progress!  As with the 1^st and 2^nd graders, please have your children read for 15 minutes every night.

Math-In grades 1-4, I remain in the roles of both in-class support and pull-out instruction. The pull-out instruction goes week to week.  If your child’s homeroom teacher sees that your child can use some extra help in a math area, I will take him/her in a small group and work on that skill.  In 1^st grade we are working very hard on money skills-pennies, nickels and dimes.  In 2^nd grade we have started subtraction with regrouping. In 3^rd grade we are working on division and geometry as well as continued practice in subtraction with regrouping.  In my 4^th grade group we will continue to work on measuring, money and geometry.  If I assign homework, your children have until the next week to finish it. They need to complete it!

Computers are great tools! If you have one, use it for educational games as well as work.  There are wonderful web sites designed to help students learn and do it in a fun way!  When your child needs to work on a skill, go to Google, type in that skill and “games,” and a host of websites will come up tailored to that skill. I advise using websites that are .edu and .org before you use a .com, unless you know the name of the site is one of quality such as “scholastic” or “starfall.”

Have a wonderful February…Groundhog Day…..100^th Day….Valentine’s Day…..Presidents Day….Mid-winter recess….and any other special days you have this month!