The resource we use for our English Language Arts is called Benchmark. The first 20 days are a review for success. We are finishing up this review in the next 2 weeks. We will pause our review on Monday and Tuesday, because we are going to take our Reading and Math NWEA. Please encourage your first grader to take their time. I will do the same. Remember, I cannot help your first grader, but we can use the results to guide our learning this year.

By the way, if a form for free lunch came home in the blue take home folder, please send it back as soon as possible. Thank you.

We get to go to the library this Monday. To check out a book, your child must have all their borrowed books returned. There are a few first graders with books out from the summer. Please take a peek around your house. These are the titles checked out by a few families.

• Dirty Larry
• Geronimo Stilton
• Star Wars: The Force Awakens
• Plant A Rainbow
• Splat and the Cool School Trip
• Madeline
• Snowballs
• Creepy Carrots
• Only You
• I Spy Little Animals

• Monday, September 19 – NWEA reading and we go to the Library to check out a new book.
• Tuesday, September 20 – NWEA math
• Wednesday, September 21 – LATE START – School begins at 9:55
• Thursday, September 22 – Parent Education Meeting at 9:30 in the Media Center. Please consider attending.

English Language Arts (Reading, Writing, Spelling)

We will be taking the Reading NWEA on Monday. We will try our best on this fall assessment.

We will be reviewing the letters Kk, Hh, Bb, Uu, Rr, Gg, Ee. We review the sounds and how it is written. We also connect the letter and sound to a real item.

We will be learning about syllables or word parts. Understanding how many syllables a word will help your child when reading and writing longer words.

We are working on writing without worries. I am modeling how to write about a topic. My goal is to get the kids to start writing about a topic without worrying about “how to spell” a word.

Math

Math Vocabulary:

• sum = The sum is the answer to an addition sentence. It is the total or whole.
• addend = The parts in an addition sentence.

We will be analyzing number stories (word problems) and deciding how to solve them based on the information. I call them number stories, because calling them word problems can make them seem hard. They are not hard if you can then about them in a positive way and work out the answer step by step.

We will also be working on unknown or missing addends. We will know the sum and one of the addends.

Thank you for monitoring the math homework. It makes a huge difference in your child’s understanding of math. Remember, it must be written by your child.

Social Studies

We will start Social Studies this week. We just learned about the Constitution of the United States because Constitution Day was on Saturday. The Constitution is the highest law of the land. We wrote our own Classroom Constitution. It is the rules for our classroom. Our rules are to be respectful, responsible, and safe. We do that with integrity and honesty.

This week we will learn how rules help us get along with one another. We will also learn about power with authority and power without authority. We will learn about the different people who have power with authority (mom, dad, grandma, babysitter, principal, teacher) and the people who try to have power without authority (bully, strangers)

Thank you for all of your support. Mrs. Korte