May 1st Newsletter

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Wow!  We were so surprised to see our fabulously decorated door this morning!  We definitely feel appreciated!  Thank you so much to Mrs. Meldman.  We also saw lots of red and received many high fives from our favorite first graders!  

As our texts get more and more challenging at this level, we are starting to see students face some new challenges with reading at this point of the year.  As words become less regular and are made up of more syllables, they also tend to be words that aren't in our first graders' vocabularies.  The good news is that reading is one really great way to build that vocabulary.  

Our students need to know what to do when they either don't know the meaning of the word, or they can't even tell what the word is.  First, they need to slow down and think about it, and the context of the sentence or the paragraph.  Pictures or photographs can often be helpful.  Thinking about what is going on is also very helpful.  If the book has a glossary, checking that is a great idea!  Looking for a familiar part of the word, or even the base or root word helps a lot.  Lastly, sometimes asking an adult, or even a sibling/friend can work.  We always want to emphasize that the point of reading is to understand the author's message.  This week, we are working hard on noticing when something doesn't look right, sound right or make sense, and then what to do about it!   

In math we will be working on solving number stories dealing with money.  Additionally, we will continue to work on making change for amounts up to one dollar.  Example:  Have your child draw their favorite snack.  Tell them it costs any amount under one dollar and have them draw the coins they would need to buy the snack.  Next, tell your child that they have one dollar to spend on their snack.  Ask them how much change they would get back.  We are teaching them to count up from the amount they spend to a dollar.  Counting with real money is encouraged.  Look for Home Link 10.3 and a double sided problem solving sheet to come home this week.

This week we will continue to learn about different types of animals.  We will learn about amphibians and birds, then we will be doing activities and writing about all of the different types of animals that we have learned about.

Special Points of Interest

• First grade music program is Friday, May 19th in the Thorson gym
• Our final Scholastic Book Order of the year is due this Friday, May 13th. Shop Online: scholastic.com/readingclub Class Activation Code: JBVLX