Hello parents and first graders! The countdown has officially begun.... We only have 20 days left of 1st grade!! I am going to miss these kids SO MUCH. This year has been better tha I could have ever imagined. I hope every first year teacher is as blessed as I have been. Thank YOU, amazing parents, for making it oh so wonderful!
The next few weeks are jam-packed with fun events, and things will be coming up before you know it! So, here is a list of everything we will be doing over the next 20 days.....
*April 24th-26th: This is the last week of Small Groups! Thank you to every one of you who have been able to volunteer this past year. The kids and I have loved every minute, and I hope you all have too! :)
*May 1st (Tuesday): Field trip to the Atlanta History Center. Please remember to have your child wear an SRS t-shirt, and pack a sack lunch.
*May 2nd (Wednesday): This field trip has been canceled.
* May 4th (Friday): Field Day!
*May 10th (Thursday): Music Performance 12:10-12:40
*May 11th (Friday): Mother's Day Brunch 9:00-10:00
*May 14th-18th (Monday-Friday): International Travelers Week to INDIA!!
*May 21st (Monday): Class Party!! 12:15-1:00
*May 22nd (Tuesday): Last Day of School
** Please remember to send in your child’s proof of residency documents by May 4th. I know there are several requirements this year but we need an accurate count of how many students will be attending Sarah Smith next year.
IMPORTANT NEW NEWS
**We have begun our I.B. Unit "My Country, My World". Last week the class 'took a trip' to South America, where we visited Brazil, and to Australia! They enjoyed it so much. The kiddos did some Aboriginal paintings that turned out amazing! I can't wait to see how they like our 'trips' to Europe and Asia, where we'll visit The Netherlands and Japan! They will be doing watercolor paintings of Holland's windmills and tulips, and of Japan's famous Koi fish! I am also looking forward to our surprise visit from Sandy Hyman. She will be coming in to teach our class about Ecuador!
* I also have a special surprise for the kids- My Aunt, who is a retired High School Music teacher, is coming down from New York with her dear friend, who happens to be an elementray Art teacher. They will be here while we are learning about Africa. They will be visiting our class one day, and have some fun activities planned!!
**Please make sure your child is practicing the 1st grade sight words, and I will be giving them 2nd grade sight words to practice as well! You can find these words on our SIGHT WORDS page.
**Remember to read all the way to the end of our newsletter for the secret questions of the week!!
Here is a break down of the curriculum from this week and for the weeks to come.....
MATH: We will be taking our Unit 9 test tomorrow and then beginning our FINAL Unit, #10! Please review the following skills with your child
*Making change up to $1.00
*Fractions
*Symmetry
*Fact Families
*Practice addition facts
*Telling Time (HALF HOUR PAST_ O'CLOCK, QUARTER PAST _ O'CLOCK, etc.)
PLEASE reinforce the following concepts at home.
Counting by 2’s, 5’s and 10’s and writing the numbers down.
Telling time (on the hour, half-past, quarter-past, quarter-till, etc.)
Counting backwards. (Give your child a random number and have them tell you what # comes before and after.)
Identifying coins, their worth and practice counting collections of coins. (Always start with the coin that is worth the most.)
Identifying odd and even numbers.
Drill basic math facts to 20
Reading:
*Main idea and details
*Retelling stories (beginning, middle, end)
*Summarizing
*Visualizing
Language Arts:
*Pronouns
*Synonyms and Antonyms
*Proper Nouns
*Contractions
*Present and Past tense verbs (run/ran, look/looked, etc.)
Writing:
C-capital letters
O- organization (Does your sentence make sense?)
P-punctuation
S-spelling/spaces
AND Main ideas and supporting details
*We are working on writing at least 5 sentences on a topic. This is an important goal for the end of 1st grade.
Social Studies: My Country, My World
*Similarities/differences among countries
*How countries influence each other
*Elements of a culture
Phonics:
*Closed Syllables- chil/dren, hun/dred, un/til, etc.
*Open Syllables- by, try, e/ven, etc.
*Please review Red Words with your children! These are words that do not follow the phonics rules.
***KIDS--- Here are the secret questions this week!!! If you can tell me the correct answer in the morning you will earn points for your table, 1 for each right answer!
1. What is the capital of Australia?
2. What famous festival takes place in Brazil?
:) See you in the morning!!***