October 2024 Newsletter

The first graders are off to a great start this school year! We spent time during the month of September learning school rules and routines. We also spent time learning about our classmates and establishing relationships.

It was so fun getting to see families at the Back to School Night on September 11 as well as at the PTA Back to School Picnic on September 20. We always love getting to see everyone!

We are looking forward to learning new things in October and our field trip to Summers Farm on October 30!

• Tuesday, October 1st: General PTA Meeting at 6:30
  

• Thursday, October 3rd: No School, PTA Spirit Night at We Art Fun

• Thursday, October 17th: PTA Spirit Night at Paisano's Pizza

• Friday, October 18th: No School - Professional Day for Teachers

• Wednesday, October 30th: 1st Grade Field Trip to Green Meadows Farm
• Friday, October 25th: PTA Trunk-or-Treat
• Thursday, October 31st: Halloween Parade and Classroom Parties

In October, we will continue with Module 1. Students will understand the meaning of the equal sign and determine if equations are true or false. Students will also learn to add doubles facts and doubles plus one. Then, we will understand the meaning of subtraction by solving word problems that relate to taking away. We will begin to use a number path (pictured below) to help solve addition and subtraction problems.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS

The month of October will include multiple Skills and Knowledge units of our Core Knowledge Language Arts - CKLA curriculum.

Skills 1

This month, we will conclude our learning of Skills 1, the review of kindergarten concepts, such as handwriting/letter formation, sounds of all letters to build words, and tricky words. For writing and grammar, we have started writing sentences and will work on including capitalization and punctuation. We have used our decodable readers to practice our skills when reading a text.

Skills 2

Toward the middle of the month, we will begin our learning of Skills 2. We will learn 5 sound/spelling correspondences for:

-/ee/ spelled 'ee' as in seed

-/ae/ spelled 'a_e' as in cake

-/ie/ spelled 'i_e' as in line

-/oe/ spelled 'o_e' as in hope

-/ue/ spelled 'u_e' as in cube.

We will practice our understanding of decoding words through reading a new decodable reader, answering questions about the stories by writing sentences focusing on new tricky words, and learning about proper nouns.

Knowledge 2

In Knowledge 2, The Human Body, we will learn all about the organs and systems inside our bodies and the jobs they do as well as how to take care of our bodies and keep them healthy. We will explore informational writing and identify important information shared in the Read-Alouds.

Knowledge 3

Toward the end of the month, we will begin our learning of Knowledge 3, Same Stories, Different Lands. We will work to identify story elements, including characters, setting, plot, and conflict. Writing will focus on retelling the stories that we listen to.

In Science, students will use observations of the sun, moon, and stars to describe patterns that can be predicted. They will make observations of the sun and moon's position in the sky, analyze patterns, learn about how we can see objects in the sky, and why/how the seasons change.

This month, students will be able to identify something they would like to learn and practice applying a growth mindset, describe student-led learning and will practice leading their learning through questions, learning targets, and hand signals, and last, they will be able to notice emotions in their bodies and name emotions they feel.

• Keep up the great work on tying shoes! Keep up the practice.
• Encourage scholars to use complete sentences and include the unit when talking about math and other topics. Q: How many pumpkins did we get from the patch? A: We picked 5 pumpkins from the patch.
• Continue practicing respectful conversations and having discussions with your scholar about what being a good listener and friend looks like.