Greetings from 1st grade
by Sarah Morris
August 14, 2007
Greetings from the First Grade classroom. Can you believe school is starting again? Oh how time flies! I hope everyone has had an enjoyable summer. As many of you already know, child number three was added to our household on June 20. Three children is certainly more than two! James Christopher is a blessing that our family is grateful for.
This will be my tenth year teaching first grade. My first class that I taught at Bronaugh are now tenth graders. It seems like I just started teaching yesterday. When they graduate, does that mean I am officially old?
During first semester, First Grade will have a student teacher from PSU. Her name is Jody Henegar from Liberal, MO. We look forward to having her in our classroom.
First Grade is always a busy learning year for children. I would like to share some of the things we will be doing in our classroom.
In Math we will cover many topics. We will be learning about more than and less than, the number grid, practicing writing our numbers, counting by 2’s and 5’s, tally marks, thermometers, working with money, telling time, number sentences, fractions, place value, number stories, measurement, and basic facts. Please watch the Math Homework that will come home in your child’s folder most days in order to practice with your child what they have learned at school. Your child will feel special when you ask them to share their learning day with you and the reiteration of a little more practice in the evenings can help your child immensely in their retention of learned information. Everyday Math (our Math curriculum) is a spiral learning method. That is that one topic or piece of learned information builds on another piece of information. A few minutes of practice at night can make a huge difference for your child the next day.
In our Science class we will be exploring a Weather Kit, a Balancing Kit, a Solids and Liquids Kit, then the most loved kit for my students each year, Organisms. We will have some live critters in our classroom the last few months of school to study and observe!!!
In Social Studies we will cover many topics. The areas discussed will range from Schools of the Past to Government Officials. We have had our new Social Studies curriculum for two years now and enjoy it very much.
Now for our most important topic in First Grade, Reading and Phonics. Beginning a few weeks after school starts on Monday through Thursday evenings, your child will have Phonics homework, a list of spelling words to study and test on, and a reading story to practice reading. As in Math, helping your child finish their Phonics Homework, practice their spelling words, and practice reading their reading story each evening is essential in their retention of learned information. Your child reading to you each evening will make a major difference in your child’s success.
Reading is made up of five major components: Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Fluency, Vocabulary, and Comprehension. Phonemic Awareness and Phonics is the basic knowledge and understanding of letters and sounds, and how those letters and sounds come together to make words. Fluency is being able to read in a fluent manner that is not choppy, but has a good rhythm and pace to it. Reading Fluency has many levels and can only get better when reading is practiced. Having your child read to you every day for a few minutes is a key to his or her reading success. In the First Grade classroom, nothing is more important. Vocabulary is expanded when children read, are read to, are talked to, and are exposed to as much literature as possible. Children are natural born learners. It is a lot of fun for them to simply learn a new word and use it. The last, but not the least important is Comprehension of reading. Comprehension of reading is when children understand and remember what they have read. The best way for a child to improve their Comprehension skills is for them to be asked questions about what they have just read. This skill will also get better with practice.
I am looking forward to a wonderful year of learning in first grade. Stop by our classroom at your convenience to see what we are learning about. We would love to have you. I do appreciate all of the wonderful family support that we have at Bronaugh. Your support makes our school a success. Thank you for all that you do. You are the key to your child’s education.
Sincerely, Mrs. Morris
