Dear First Grade Families,                                                                                        4-4-16

I hope everyone had a nice vacation.

On Thursday, April 7, 2016, 9:00 – 11:00 a.m., the First Grade classes are having a Market Day.  Students will be selling products they made as part of our Economics unit of study. Parents are invited to attend our Market Day.  We look forward to seeing you, if you have time.

Students will be having a Math test on Thursday.  I will send home a study guide.  Please help your child study for the test.

On Friday, students will have a Social Studies test.  I will send home a study guide soon.  Please help your child study for the test.

Reminders:  Wear gym shoes on Monday.  Return library books on Friday

Please return the March Reading Log tomorrow.

Have a great week!

Mrs. Dobronski

Dear First Grade Families,                                                                     3-21-16

Spelling booklets will be sent home today.  Please sign and return the booklet.  We will not have a spelling test this week since there is no school on Friday.

Unit 7 Math lessons focus on the study of shapes; addition; subtraction; counting money and story problems.

Our classroom book swap is this Thursday, March 24, 2016.  Students may bring in a new or used book to swap for another book.

On Thursday, March 24, we will have a game day to celebrate our hard work before vacation Students may bring a board game or electronic game to play.  We will also make a spring craft.

On Thursday, April 7, 2016, 9:00 – 11:00, first grade students will have a Market Day in the cafeteria.  Students will sell products they have made as part of our Social Studies unit on Economics.  Parents are invited to attend our Market Day.

The reading log for March is due on Tuesday, April 5, 2016.Students will receive a prize if they have reached the reading goal.  Please continue to have your child read during Spring Vacation.  This really helps them to improve their reading level.

Reminders:  Wear gym shoes on Monday.  Spring vacation begins Friday, March 25 – April 3, 2016.

Have a great week!

Mrs. Dobronski

Dear First Grade Families,                                                                     3-14-16

The Unit 6 Math Test will be sent home today.  Please sign your child’s test and return it to school.

Spelling booklets will also be sent home today.  Please sign the booklet and return it to school.

Wednesday is a Late Start.

Please continue to make sure your child is reading 20 minutes or more for homework each day.

Reminders:  Wear gym shoes on Monday.  Return library books on Friday.

Have a great week!

Mrs. Dobronski

Dear First Grade Families,                                                                                     3-7-16

Spelling booklets will be sent home today.  Please sign and return.

Students will take the Unit 6 Math Test on Friday.  I will send home a study guide soon.  Please help your child study for the test.

Social Studies lessons focus on geography.  Students are studying the different ways we learn about places.  We are practicing using maps to locate places.  For Social Studies homework, please help your child write his or her home address.  Also, have them draw a picture of your house to go with it.

Our previous unit for Social Studies was Economics.  Students learned about goods, services, producers and consumers.  Students have been making craft goods to sell at the First Grade Market Day.  The First Grade Market Day will be held in early April.  I will send more information about it soon.  Students are really enjoying acting as producers and making different items to sell.

On Tuesday, March 8, 2016, all students at Haigh will be reading in the hallway.  Your child may bring a beach towel or blanket to sit on while we are reading in the hallway.

Reminders:  Read 20 minutes or more for homework and complete the book summaries.  Wear gym shoes on Monday.

Have a great week!

Mrs. Dobronski

Dear First Grade Families,                                                                     2-29-16

March is reading month. Students will celebrate the joy of reading in a variety of ways.  I am sending home a Haigh calendar with daily reading activities for students.  I am also sending home a reading log in which students set a monthly reading goal including the number of minutes they will read for the month.  The suggested daily minutes for first grade is 20 minutes.  If students reach the  reading goal, at the end of the month they can earn a prize.

Also, instead of the Reading Response Notebook, students can participate in the Haigh book summary contest.  If students write a summary about a book, they can earn a sticker and their summary is entered into a drawing.  They may earn a prize if their summary is selected during the drawing.  I will send home book summary forms.

We will also have a classroom book swap on Thursday, March 24, 2016.  Students may bring in a new or used book to swap for another book.

I want to invite all parents and guardians to read a book to our class during March.  If you would like to read a book to our class, please complete the form I am sending home with the day in which you would like to read.

Happy Reading!

Have a great week!

Mrs. Dobronski

Dear First Grade Families,                                                                                  2-22-16

Happy 100th day of learning!    We are celebrating our 100th day of school with learning activities and games.  Please continue to make sure your child is doing the reading, math and spelling homework.  This really reinforces everything we are learning in school.

Spelling booklets will be sent home today.  Please sign and return.

Our Haigh positive behavior reward celebration for February will be on Monday, February 29, 2016.  We will be having a camping read-in.  I will send home a note with more details soon.  Please encourage your child to continue to work hard, listen carefully and give their best effort in school.

Reminders:  Wear gym shoes on Monday.  Return library books on Friday.

Have a great week!

Mrs. Dobronski

Dear First Grade Families,                                                                        2-16-16

I am sending home the Unit 5 Math test.  Please sign and return your child’s test.

Unit 6 Math lessons will include addition; subtraction; fact families; story problems and graphing data.

Social Studies lessons will include the study of geography.  Students are learning about the different ways we learn about places.

Science lessons continue to include the study of the sun and weather.

Reading and writing lessons focus on informational text.  Students are reading a variety of informational text.  Writing lessons involve writing facts about various topics.

Reminders:  Students will celebrate the 100th day of school on Monday, February 22, 2016.  Read 15 minutes or more daily for homework.  Wear gym shoes on Monday.  Return library books on Friday.

Have a great week!

Mrs. Dobronski

Dear First Grade Families,                                                                     2-8-16

I am sending home the Unit 5 Math Study Guide today.  The Unit 5 Math test will be on Thursday.  Please review the study guide with your child.

Spelling booklets will be sent home today.  Please sign and return the booklet.

I am sending home another list of websites for NWEA Math and Reading test practice.    I have included your child’s RIT scores from the NWEA Math and Reading tests.  Finding their test score level on the NWEA test practice websites will help them practice skills at their current level.  The websites provide excellent practice for students.

Please continue to make sure your child is reading 15 minutes or more daily and completing the Reading Response notebooks two days each week.

Reminders:  We have a late start on Wednesday.  Valentine’s Day party is on Thursday.  Students do not have school on Friday, February 12 and Monday, February 16, since we have our Mid-Winter Vacation.  Wear gym shoes on Monday. Return library books on Friday.

Have a great week!

Mrs. Dobronski

Dear First Grade Families,                                                                     2-2-16

Report cards will be sent home soon along with the NWEA January test scores.  I am including a list of computer websites that your child could use at home for additional reading or math homework.  The NWEA reading and math tests are taken three times each year using the computer.  We will take the test again in the spring.  Extra practice using the computer really helps to prepare students for the test.  I am happy to report that our class just received three computers for students to use to practice reading and math skills.  It would be really helpful for your child to bring a set of headphones to use during class.

Please continue to make sure your child is reading 15 minutes or more daily and completing the Reading Response Notebooks two days each week.

Reminders:  Students do not have school on Friday, February 12 and Monday, February 16 since we have our Mid-Winter Vacation.  Wear gym shoes on Monday.  Return library books on Friday.

Have a great week!

Mrs. Dobronski

Dear First Grade Families,                                                                 1-25-16

Students will receive their second report card soon.  The second report card marking period ends on Friday, January 29, 2016.

This Friday, January 29, 2016 is a half day of school.  Dismissal is at 11:45 a.m.  On Friday, we will also have our school PBIS Reward Celebration to recognize our good behavior choices.  We will have a game day and students may bring a board game or electronic game to play.

I am sending home a Reading Response Choice List along with a Reading Response Notebook.  I would like students to complete two reading responses each week.  One reading response can be done on Monday and the other one can be done on Tuesday or Wednesday.  After reading their book bag books, students may choose the kind of response to write in their reading response notebook.

Again, please continue to make sure your child is reading 15 minutes or more daily for homework.  This really helps them to improve their reading ability

Reminders:  Wear gym shoes on Monday.  Return library books on Friday.

Have a great week!

Mrs. Dobronski