9 / 19 / 2025


💡ANNOUNCEMENTS

We are into the final stretch for our first quarter. We are only 2 weeks from marking the year as a quarter done. This means students need to ensure that they are finishing out the quarter strong, which means keep studying phonograms, continue to turn in neat homework, and work hard to obey classroom rules. If each scholar shows such dedication, they are guaranteed to succeed in first grade. 

💡DATES TO REMEMBER

  • October 1st - Kingdom Meeting (wear Kingdom colors)
  • Friday, October 3rd - Early dismissal at 12:30
  • October 6th - October 10th - No school (FALL BREAK)
  • Monday-Tuesday, October 13th-14th - Parent Teacher Conferences
  • Monday, October 20th - Egypt Party (organized by room parents)
  • October 25: Trunk or Treat (4:30–6:30 pm)
  • October 29th - Classical Character Day
  • November 15: Mother Son Kickball (12 pm)
  • November 25th - Field Trip at the Phoenix Zoo (We need 10 parent chaperones for each class. Sign up coming on October 20th.)

💡REMINDERS:

1. The scholars should bring the following daily:
  • Water bottle with name
  • Healthy and dry snacks in front pocket
  • Take Home folder (please make sure scholars empty it at home)


2. Please review the Driveline procedure here: directionsforparentsdrivelin.docx We have also attached the file in the resources on the right side of this webpage.



💡WHAT WE LEARNED THIS WEEK 

📕 LITERATURE / GRAMMAR: We've just finished The House at Pooh Corner. We learned a lot about friendship and little lessons about life from those friends! After Pooh and his friends, we met Owl at Home. We will find out more about him next week!

 

In Grammar, we have been studying how to write proper nouns of places specifically our cities, the different states of America, and our street names. 

📕 SAYINGS: 

  • Wolf in sheep's clothing 
  • Practice makes perfect.
  • If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.
  • Fish out of water

  

📕 POETRY: Next week, students will recite one of these poems in front of the class with a group. We will check for memorization, tone, clarity of voice and stance.

 

What are Heavy?
by Christina Rossetti

What are heavy? Sea-sand and sorrow;
What are brief? Today and tomorrow;
What are frail? Spring blossoms and youth;
What are deep? The ocean and truth.
 
Flint 

by Christina Rossetti 


An emerald is as green as grass,

A ruby red as blood;

A sapphire shines as blue as heaven;

A flint lies in the mud.


A diamond is a brilliant stone,

To catch the world's desire;

An opal holds a fiery spark;

But a flint holds fire.


Work (Work While You Work) 

by Anonymous   


Work while you work,

Play while you play,

This is the way 

To be happy each day.


All that you do,

Do with your might,

Things done by half 

Are never done right.



Hearts Are Like Doors 

by Anonymous 

Hearts, like doors, will open with ease,

To very, very little keys,

And don't forget that two of these

Are "Thank you, sir" and "If you please!"



Hope 

by Langston Hughes

Sometimes when I’m lonely,

Don’t know why,

Keep thinkin’ I won’t be lonely

By and by.



Don’t Worry if Your Job is Small (Mighty Oak)

by Anonymous

Don't worry if your job is small, 

And your rewards are few. 

Remember that the mighty oak, 

Was once a nut like you.


📕 READING: Thank you to our parent reading volunteers! We appreciate you giving up your time to help out. We still have open slots for the month. We need volunteers every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 11:10 - 11:45. Check your teacher's page on top for the reading volunteer signup. 

Sight Word Bookmarks will be on a ring in your child's reading bag or in a binder sleeve. We will be testing for sight word knowledge once a week. During this time, we will be moving students to the next sight word list if they have mastered the previous one. (Please do not mark off sight words at home- we will do this in class). 



📕 SPALDING: Continue practicing at home the phonograms your child hasn't mastered yet. Check out the Spalding resources on this website to review letter formations, spelling/Spalding rules and phonogram list.

 We practiced jobs of silent final e:

                Job 1: Silent final e jumps over the consonant and makes the vowel say its name.

                Job 2: English words don't end in u or v.

                Job 3: c and g will say their second sound.

                Job 4: Every syllable needs a vowel.

                Job 5: No job (silent final e does not do anything, it just has to be there).

       

                 rule 4: Vowels say their name at the end of a syllable

                 rule 5:  i and y may say /i/ (long sound) 

                 rule 6:  y, not i, is used at the end of an English word

                  rule 17: Double f, l, s after a single vowel that says its short sound

                  rule 18: Use 'ay' to say /a/ at the end of a base word, never /a/ alone. 

rule 19: i and o will say their name if followed by two consonants

📕 MATHEMATICS:  We started our unit on subtraction and discussed when to use them to take away and take a part. You may continue the discussion at home. They will have a check up test next week.

 
📕 HISTORY: We opened our unit on Ancient Egypt, studied its geography--and the fact that it's home of the longest river in the world! We created a foldable of the Nile. Have your child use the crocodile cut-out to tour you along the Nile! We also learned about Ancient Egyptian Farming. 

📕 SCIENCE: We began a new unit learning all about plant and animal survival. We talked about what different parts animals have and how animals use these parts.


Have a good weekend!

1st Grade Team