Dear Parents and Students:
Welcome to grade one for the school year 2023-24. As we begin our journey together, we are establishing some important routines and rules in our classroom. During the next few weeks we will be focusing on “Our 3 Rs”: respect, responsibility and reverence. As we discuss and explore our units of study, we want to establish a learning environment that is open to everyone’s ideas and thoughts. We can all learn from one another! Our Catholic Schools Theme this year is: Living Our Faith! As a loving family, let us support one another so that our children grow in faith, hope, and love as Jesus taught us. Wishing everyone a happy and successful year in grade one!
As a team, we can help each child succeed this year.
Mrs. McKenna
We have been working on sorting and patterning. The children were expected to sort and re-sort a set of objects. They also needed to state the sorting rule. Creating, stating, and completing a pattern were reinforced. Furthermore, the pattern core needed to be identified.
Our next unit is numbers to 20. The students must be able to count orally forwards and backwards 1 to 20 and 20 to 1. As well, all students must be able to recognize, name, and print the numbers to 20 without reversals. Watch that students are printing the teen numbers correctly. Often the digits are reversed (e.g. 16 is written as 61). During this unit, the students must be able to count out a set of objects correctly to match the numbers to 20. The students should touch, move, and count accurately when creating a set of objects. We will also work on ordering the numbers to 20, estimating groups of objects using groups of five or ten as a reference, and recognizing simple arrangements for the numbers to 10. We will practice counting forwards and backwards to identify 1 or 2 less and 1 or 2 more than a given number. At home, do a brief review of the numbers or count out sets of objects for extra practice. Thank you!
Reading
We will begin using the first grade one reader very soon. The reader is called “Sun Up”. This reader introduces the children to beginning sight words. The children will be given a set of sight word cards which they should practice every night. Please look at the back of the reader to see the order in which these words are introduced. Study a few words at a time so that the children do not become discouraged or overwhelmed with the prospect of remembering so many words. Sight words should be identified automatically before moving on to new words. However, reading is not identifying words but rather the meaning of the story in which the words are found. It is not enough to learn the words. Students must be able to discuss the events of the story and identify the main idea (what is the story about). As well, students should be able to identify the feelings of the characters and what caused the characters to feel this way. When reading and discussing stories, we ask the students to draw on their own experiences and make connections to what has happened in their lives that may be similar to the events in the stories they read. The Bookmark Reading Series lessons include phonics, word recognition, and comprehension questions and activities. These activities include: identifying the main idea, making inferences (finding answers based on the clues in the story), sequencing (putting events in the correct order to match a story or a logical order), and cause and effect. Please help your child read at least one reader story a night. As well, continue to read aloud to your child/children from books that interest them and books that are above their own reading level. Introduce them to new vocabulary and explain any words they do not understand. Reading is essential! Reading is fun! We help instill these important attitudes by demonstrating them ourselves. Enjoy watching your child/children grow and improve!
The Home Reading Program will hopefully begin in November. This year I hope to implement an online levelled reader program. I will be assessing each child’s reading ability and establishing his/her level. At home, you will be able to record your child’s reading of a story. As your child builds their sight vocabulary and oral reading fluency, they will be able to access books that will challenge and expand their reading experience.
Reading is the KEY to student’s learning and success!
In phonics, we are now reviewing the alphabet letter names and sounds. When phonics tests are sent home, please look carefully at the letter names or sounds your child had difficulty with. After our review of the letter sounds, we will begin studying the short vowel sounds for a (cat), i (sit), u (up), o (not), and e (pet). Knowledge of the short vowel sounds is essential for sounding out simple words.
Spelling is integrated with phonics. Tests are on Friday. During the week, word study activities which include oral sound segmentation and visual memory are provided. Thank you for supporting your child in learning to read and spell these words. It is crucial to them becoming confident readers and writers!
WRITING
GETTING USED TO EACH OTHER
GOOD WORK HABITS
