Reading Assessments are finished. Report cards are done. We are starting our 3rd week back after the new year, so homework will be Math Homework, Spelling Homework, and Reading Group books.

• Monday, January 23 – 1/2 day of School – The students will be released at 12:05
• Friday, January 27 – 2:15 is the Core Values Assembly: Honesty

The second quarter report cards are completed. The District will print them on either Monday or Tuesday. Then they will be sent to the school. I will send the report cards home as soon as I get them. Please remember…Exceeding first grade expectations is a 1. Meeting first grade expectations is a 2. (This is our goal.) Making progress with first grade expectations is a 3. A concern is a 4.

Yes, I did see a couple drops from a 1 to a 2 or from a 2 to a 3. Remember, it takes only a few off grades to drop your child’s average grade in the computer program. I did not give the grades. I simply entered your child’s scores into the program. Also, remember that first grade continues to get trickier as the year progresses. We are constantly learning new information.

Things to help your child improve:

• Have your child complete the math homework and send it back to school.
  • It is important that it is written neatly.
    • I notice the most errors on quizzes and summative assessments because their math picture is messy and children miss counts.
• Have your child complete the 4 spelling practice activities.
  • Printing is important. All of the students can write nicely when they are not rushing.
  • If you would like me to model how to have them practice at home. Just let me know.
• Reading Group Books
  • I will start to send book bags this week. It is crucial that your first grader read the books to you. Yes, they should read them over and over again to be fluent.
  • When they read to you, please sign the literacy card.

Geer Park is having a Krispy Kreme donut fundraiser for the school starting on Monday. I believe it is a dollar for each donut. So it would be 12$ for a dozen donuts. Your child would order in advance and there will be a delivery day.

When I get more information, I will forward it to you.

ELA

Reading – All of the reading assessments are complete. I will start up small group reading instruction this week. PLEASE have your child read their books every day. I will send the bag every day. The literacy card will only be in the bag on the day that your child has a reading group with me.

Writer’s Workshop – We just finished our informational writing about a job. We will continue with informational writing. Our goal is to pick up the pace.

Spelling – Ugh! This week is going to be tricky. The patterned words have a soft c and a soft g. A soft c makes an s sound. A soft g makes a j sound. Please start practicing now.

• race
• face
• lace
• brace
• age
• page
• cage
• wage
• try
• give
• far
• too

MATH

We are going to be learning to apply a math drawing to solve lots and lots of number stories. I always read the number story, but your child can start to read them too. This is REALLY good practice. Your child must be able to make a math drawing, write a number sentence, and write a statement. We will also review the equal sign as meaning equivalent expressions.

SCIENCE

We will be learning about Earth and Space during science. We will look at patterns during the day and patterns at night. We will also learn about the Earth, Sun, Moon, and stars.

SOCIAL STUDIES

We will be focusing on Science for a while, but when I return to Social Studies, we will be learning about geography.

Thank you for your support. Remember, if you need to contact me, please just write a note and send it in your child’s take home folder or email me at kortej@dearbornschools.org.

Mrs. Korte