FIRST GRADE GAZETTE
Mrs. Froncillo, Mrs. Kovolyan, Mrs. Seadale and Ms. Periera
December Newsletter
December is a magical month in first grade! The children are exploring the many different cultures and traditions around the world including Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa. We continue to be impressed with the progress students are making with their reading, math, and writing and we look forward to the joyful holiday celebrations with the students this month. Warm wishes for a wonderful holiday season and a happy vacation!
Important Dates
December 8-12 Nayatt Gives Back
December 19th School Store 11am-1pm
December 22nd Town Meeting
December 24-January 5 Holiday Vacation
Reading
In reading we are working on developing our reading strategies and working to apply them independently. First graders are looking for chunks of words they know, finding words inside bigger words and using their knowledge of vowel sounds. Students are working on monitoring their own comprehension by asking themselves "Does it look right?", "Does it sound right?" and "Does it make sense?" Good readers simultaneously use a variety of cuing systems to decode words. We are also working on deepening our understand of stories by discussing author's purpose, author's message and the main idea. Keep up the great work with nightly reading!
Writing
Throughout the day, first grades practice their work through journal entries, Writer's Workshop stories, creative stories, and/or responses to specific writing prompts. Students love the opportunity to choose Work on Writing during Daily 5 where this might be a writing of their choice i.e. a letter to a friend, a creative story, a list of things to do, a research report, etc. However, during Writer's Workshop, students are taught a specific lesson then return to their seats to practice what they've just learned with the stories in their Writer's folders. The past few weeks, students have been learning how to take a small moment and add detail, punctuation, capitalization, and word choice. The next time your child is sharing one of their wonderful stories, have them give you more details as they go along. This will help them to naturally transfer a story from a verbal retelling to writing it with details.
Math
Module 2 serves as a bridge from problem solving within 10 to work within 100 as students begin to solve addition and subtraction problems involving teen numbers. Now students are encouraged to move beyond Level 2 to learn Level 3 decomposition and composition strategies, informally called make ten or take from ten. Students focus on the standards for mathematical practice when they look for and make use of repeated reasoning. Students realize that when adding 9 to a number 1-9, they can complete the ten by decomposing the other addend into "1 and ____." They internalize the commutative and associative properties, looking for ways to make ten within situations and equations.
Social Studies & Science
First graders are enjoying many activities to explore holiday traditions this December. We are learning about Hanukkah, Christmas, and Kwanzaa. We are reading non-fiction text while collecting and learning facts, playing holiday games, and making crafts that celebrate each holiday. It is so exciting to celebrate each and every holiday. The children are so excited to learn about the different cultures and traditions. In science we are finishing up our Balance and Motion science kit. The children were "rolling" with joy learning about how an object stays stable and balanced. We are also continuing to explore our Weather science kit. How fun it will be to explore snow when it arrives!
First Grade Team
Email: nayattschool@bpsmail.org
Location: 400 Nayatt Road, Barrington, RI, United States
Phone: (401) 247-3175