1st Grade January 2025 Newsletter

Please remember that it is important for our first graders to dress in layers during the cold, winter season. This way they are comfortable with temperature changes both inside and outside. Having your child's name written on each item ensures that any missing items can easily find their way back.

Our winter break will be from Monday, December 23rd - Wednesday, January 1st. School will resume on Thursday, January 2nd.

We want to wish you and your loved ones the best and we look forward to seeing everyone in 2025!

Sincerely,

Dr. REMES 1st-Grade Team

• Monday, December 23rd- Wednesday, January 1st - WINTER BREAK - No School for Students and Staff
• Thursday, January 2nd - School resumes
• Tuesday, January 7th - PTA Meeting
• Thursday, January 16th - Yearbook Photo Day
• Monday, January 20th - No School - MLK Jr. Holiday
• Thursday, January 23rd - Hearing & Vision Rescreening (if absent or missed in December)
• Friday, January 24th - S.T.E.M Expo
• Monday, January 27th - PTA Spirit Night at Dave and Busters
• Tuesday, January 28th - End of Second Marking Period
• Wednesday, January 29th - No School for students - Professional Day for Staff
• Thursday, January 30th - First Day of Third Marking Period

Upon returning, we will continue our learning in Skills 3 for the first 2 weeks. We will show our understanding on the assessment by recognizing words read aloud and then decoding words in a story and answering comprehension questions.

In the middle of the month, we will begin our learning in Skills 4. There is a lot of new learning with this unit!

We will learn about r-controlled vowels:

• /er/ spelled ‘er’ as in her
• /ar/ spelled ‘ar’ as in car
• /or/ spelled ‘or’ as in for

We will also learn about multisyllabic words. It is important to know that every syllable has a vowel sound and we will first begin with listening for the syllables. We will encounter the following types of words:

• Compound words (foot-ball)
• Root words and suffixes (point-ed, jump-ing)

Weekly spelling tests will continue in Skills 4, so please continue to look out for the spelling lists and practice the words at home.

Writing lessons continue teaching descriptive writing. Students will practice thinking about the five senses to describe objects, and they will then describe and write informational text.

Knowledge

In January, we will begin Knowledge 6: Astronomy. In this domain, students will explore the sun and learn about the basics of astronomy. They will also have the opportunity to learn about the history of space exploration as they read about NASA and the missions to the moon.

When we come back from our break, we will review module 2 before taking the End of Module Assessment. The following week, we will start module 3. This module begins with ordering and comparing lengths of objects.

Students will explore light and sound this month. They will plan and conduct investigations to help them understand how light and sound travel.

• Discuss with your first grader some things they want to accomplish (could be this year, this month, or any time length that you wish) and tie in with goal setting.
• Have your first grader write a letter to themselves to open in a year or before going into second grade. They can see how far their writing skills have come and read a note from their past selves!
• Head over to the library and search for a snowy day read aloud.
• If there's any snow on the ground, practice writing addition and subtraction facts.