First Grade Blog: February 2025

2 / 21 / 2025

📣 ANNOUNCEMENTS

Students need to bring a water bottle with name on a daily basis for proper hydration!
Please make sure they have utensils in their lunchboxes.
Reminder about lunch drinks - please no glass bottles, soda cans, Kool-Aid, or fountain drinks. Thank you.

💡DATES TO REMEMBER

February 23rd: PSO Mother/son kickball

March 5th: Half Day Dismissal (1st Grade Athletic Field Day)

March 7th: Half Day Dismissal (12:30pm)

March 10th - 14th: NO SCHOOL (Spring Break)

March 22nd: Daddy/daughter dance

💡REMINDERS:

1. Please double check your child's uniform to make sure they still have the right length.

2. The scholars should bring the following daily:

Water bottle with name
Healthy and dry snacks in front pocket
Take Home folder (please make sure it is emptied out at home)

*Your child may use the small backpack-shaped checklist of the things they need to bring to help them pack their things.

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

All first-grade classes are in need of reading volunteers! Please use the sign up located under your teacher's page. If you have any questions or would like to volunteer at a different time, please contact your teacher.

💡WHAT WE ARE LEARNING THIS WEEK:

📕LITERATURE: We finished the Beatrix Potter tales with "The Tale of the Two Bad Mice", who learned from their mistake of handling their anger. We also read the first two chapters of My Father's Dragon, and learned how the boy's father began his rescue mission of the dragon.

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

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 1: q is always followed by u, and together they say /kw/. (queen)

rule 2: c before e, i, or y says /s/. (cent, city, cycle)

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

rule 5: I and y may say /i/ (si lent, my)

rule 6: y, not i, is used at the end of an English word. (try, fly)

rule 8: /er/ can be found in "Her first nurse works early".

rule 9: 1-1-1 rule: One syllable words with one vowel followed by one consonant need to double its last consonant before adding an ending beginning with a vowel. (hop + p + ed)

rule 11: Words ending with a silent final e are written without the e when adding a vowel ending. (come - com + ing)

rule 13: sh is used at the beginning or end of a base word

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

rule 18: "ay" is used to say a at the end of a base word

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

rule 20: s never follows x.

rule 25: ck is used after a single vowel that says its short sound.

sick
block
rock, back, neck

rule 26: Capitalize proper nouns.

rule 27: Words beginning with the sound /z/ are always spelled with z never s. (zoo)

rule 28: ed has three sounds and is added to form the past tense of regular verbs.

rule 29: divide words between double consonants

📕 SAYINGS:

Never leave 'til tomorrow what you can do today.

The more the merrier.

Land of Nod

An apple a day keeps the doctor away.

Sour grapes

Do unto others what you would have them do unto you.

It could always be worse.
Let the cat out of the bag.
Wolf in sheep's clothing
Practice makes perfect.
If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.
Fish out of water

📕POETRY:

Washington by Nancy Byrd Turner

He played by the river when he was young.

He raced with rabbits along the hills,

He fished for minnows, and climbed and swung,

And hooted back at the whippoorwills.

Strong and slender and tall he grew -

And then, one morning, the bugles blew.

Over the hills the summons came,

Over the river's shining rim.

He said that the bugles called his name,

He knew that his country needed him,

And he answered, "Coming!" and marched away

For many a night and many a day.

Perhaps when the marches were hot and long

He'd think of the river flowing by

Or, camping under the winter sky,

Would hear the whippoorwill's far-off song.

Boy or soldier, in peace or strife,

He loved America all his life!

📕MATH: This week, we practiced how to add two-digits with regrouping / renaming. For first grade, we stress on adding the ones place first. If it's more than ten, we regroup and rename it to the tens. (Nine or less, let it rest. Ten or more, move the tens up next door). The children should also be familiar with adding by decomposing numbers (making a ten to add). This is a good foundation for mental math. Reinforcing the skill of making a ten at home would really go a long way too.

📕HISTORY: We reviewed how the American Revolution started with the Battle of Lexington and Concord, and made a sequencing accordion book of the timeline of those events. We learned that the colonial leaders finally wanted to be free from Great Britain, and declared their independence. We pretended we were like Thomas Jefferson making our own Declaration of Independence.

📕SCIENCE: This week for our Ocean unit, students learned about the jellyfish, seahorse, and starfish. They learned the jelly fish is an invertebrate creature, and that seahorse is considered a fish.

The annual parent survey went out via email to families on February 17th. The survey helps us know what we are doing well and what we can improve. The grade level with the highest participation percentage will win an extra 30-minute recess and popsicles. The survey will be open until March 4th. Thank you for your participation.

You may also use this QR code.

Have a great weekend

1st Grade Teachers

2 / 14 / 2025

📣 ANNOUNCEMENTS

Students need to bring a water bottle with name on a daily basis for proper hydration!
Please make sure students have utensils in their lunchboxes.
Reminder about lunch drinks - please no glass bottles, soda cans, Kool-Aid, or fountain drinks. Thank you.

💡DATES TO REMEMBER

February 17th: NO SCHOOL (President's Day) R&R weekend

March 5th: Kindergarten/First grade Athletic Field Day - Half Day Dismissal

March 7th: Half Day Dismissal (12:30pm)

March 10th - 14th: Spring Break - No School

💡REMINDERS:

1. Please double check your child's uniform to make sure they still have the right length.

2. The scholars should bring the following daily:

Water bottle with name
Healthy and dry snacks in front pocket
Take Home folder (please make sure it is emptied out at home)

*Your child may use the small backpack-shaped checklist of the things they need to bring to help them pack their things.

3. 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 ARE LEARNING THIS WEEK

📕LITERATURE: We read a story of "The Rainbow Fish", learned about friendship, wrote a letter to a friend, and made a fun paper plate fish craft. We also read more of Beatrix Potter's tales with "The Tale of Benjamin Bunny", who learned an important lesson while in Mr. MacGregor's garden. We will start on the first chapter of "My Father's Dragon" on Thursday, February 21st. Please send a copy of this book to school if you haven't done so.

rule 1: q is always followed by u, and together they say /kw/. (queen)

rule 2: c before e, i, or y says /s/. (cent, city, cycle)

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

rule 5: I and y may say /i/ (si lent, my)

rule 6: y, not i, is used at the end of an English word. (try, fly)

rule 8: /er/ can be found in "Her first nurse works early".

rule 9: 1-1-1 rule: One syllable words with one vowel followed by one consonant need to double its last consonant before adding an ending beginning with a vowel. (hop + p + ed)

rule 11: Words ending with a silent final e are written without the e when adding a vowel ending. (come - com + ing)

rule 13: sh is used at the beginning or end of a base word

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

rule 18: "ay" is used to say a at the end of a base word

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

rule 25: ck is used after a single vowel that says its short sound.

sick
block
rock, back, neck

rule 26: Capitalize proper nouns.

rule 27: Words beginning with the sound /z/ are always spelled with z never s. (zoo)

rule 28: ed has three sounds and is added to form the past tense of regular verbs.

rule 29: divide words between double consonants

📕 SAYINGS:

Never leave 'til tomorrow what you can do today.

The more the merrier.

Land of Nod

An apple a day keeps the doctor away.

Sour grapes

Do unto others what you would have them do unto you.

It could always be worse.
Let the cat out of the bag.
Wolf in sheep's clothing
Practice makes perfect.
If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.
Fish out of water

📕 MATH: This week, we learned different ways to add two-digit numbers: a) counting on; b) getting a ten; and c) adding them vertically with renaming and without renaming. We will have a check up test on addition next Friday.

📕 POETRY:

My Shadow
by Robert Louis Stevenson

I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me,
And what can be the use of him is more than I can see.
He is very, very like me from the heels up to the head;
And I see him jump before me, when I jump into my bed.

The funniest thing about him is the way he likes to grow—
Not at all like proper children, which is always very slow;
For he sometimes shoots up taller like an India-rubber ball,
And he sometimes gets so little that there's none of him at all.

He hasn't got a notion of how children ought to play,
And can only make a fool of me in every sort of way.
He stays so close beside me, he's a coward you can see;
I'd think shame to stick to nursie as that shadow sticks to me!

One morning, very early, before the sun was up,
I rose and found the shining dew on every buttercup;
But my lazy little shadow, like an arrant sleepy-head,
Had stayed at home behind me and was fast asleep in bed.

📕HISTORY: For this week, we continued to study about how the colonies united and made a letter to King George III. We pretended to make our own letter too in class and signed our names on it. We also learned about how the patriots came together in the Battle of Lexington and Concord, and how the American Revolution began with "the shot around the world". We learned a song about the revolution, and pretended we were patriots.

📕SCIENCE: This week students learned about dolphins and sharks. They learned about how dolphins use echolocation and that they live in the sunlight zone. They learned that sharks have been around for millions of years and that they are the top predators in the ocean. They also learned about the unique predator in the Abyss, the Angler Fish.

Have a great week!

1st Grade Teachers

2 / 7 / 2025

📣 ANNOUNCEMENTS

Students need to bring a water bottle with name on a daily basis for proper hydration!
Please make sure they have utensils in their lunchboxes.

💡DATES TO REMEMBER

February 7th: Half Day Dismissal (GHA In-Service)

February 17th: NO SCHOOL (President's Day) R&R weekend

March 5th: Kindergarten/First grade Athletic Field Day - Half Day Dismissal

March 7th: Half Day Dismissal (12:30pm)

March 10th - 14th: Spring Break - No School

💡REMINDERS:

1. Please double check your child's uniform to make sure they still have the right length.

2. The scholars should bring the following daily:

Water bottle with name
Healthy and dry snacks in front pocket
Take Home folder (please make sure it is emptied out at home)

*Your child may use the small backpack-shaped checklist of the things they need to bring to help them pack their things.

3. 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 ARE LEARNING THIS WEEK

📕 LITERATURE: This week, we learned the values of responsibility and wisdom from the Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies, the Tale of Jeremy Fisher, and the Tale of Tom Kitten.

rule 1: q is always followed by u, and together they say /kw/. (queen)

rule 2: c before e, i, or y says /s/. (cent, city, cycle)

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

rule 5: I and y may say /i/ (si lent, my)

rule 6: y, not i, is used at the end of an English word. (try, fly)

rule 8: /er/ can be found in "Her first nurse works early".

rule 9: 1-1-1 rule: One syllable words with one vowel followed by one consonant need to double its last consonant before adding an ending beginning with a vowel. (hop + p + ed)

rule 11: Words ending with a silent final e are written without the e when adding a vowel ending. (come - com + ing)

rule 13: sh is used at the beginning or end of a base word

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

rule 18: "ay" is used to say a at the end of a base word

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

rule 25: ck is used after a single vowel that says its short sound.

sick
block
rock, back, neck

rule 26: Capitalize proper nouns.

rule 27: Words beginning with the sound /z/ are always spelled with z never s. (zoo)

rule 28: ed has three sounds and is added to form the past tense of regular verbs.

rule 29: divide words between double consonants

📕 SAYINGS:

The more the merrier.

Land of Nod

An apple a day keeps the doctor away.

Sour grapes

Do unto others what you would have them do unto you.

It could always be worse.
Let the cat out of the bag.
Wolf in sheep's clothing
Practice makes perfect.
If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.
Fish out of water

📕MATH: This week, we finished up our chapter on Numbers 1 to 120 and had a test. We have another test on counting money next week. We also introduced our new chapter on addition and subtraction within 100. Kindly see the letter about this chapter that was sent home today, Friday, February 7th.

📕POETRY:

My Shadow
by Robert Louis Stevenson

He hasn't got a notion of how children ought to play,
And can only make a fool of me in every sort of way.
He stays so close beside me, he's a coward you can see;
I'd think shame to stick to nursie as that shadow sticks to me!

One morning, very early, before the sun was up,
I rose and found the shining dew on every buttercup;
But my lazy little shadow, like an arrant sleepy-head,
Had stayed at home behind me and was fast asleep in bed.

📕HISTORY: We read the story, "The Other Side" by Jacqueline Woodson and discussed how we can move past being different. We studied why the Boston Tea Party happened and how it is important in our unification as America. We had a fun coloring page where we pretended to "dump the tea" like how the colonists did it in protest. We also read and talked about Benjamin Franklin's political cartoon, "Join or Die".

📕SCIENCE: This week - in our Ocean unit - students started learning about whales. On a mini "field trip" outside, students were shown just how long dolphins and whales are by using a string and rolling it out, which showed in feet how long different whales can be. They also started a foldable on whales.

Have a great week!

1st Grade Teachers

Pages

2 / 21 / 2025

2 / 14 / 2025

He hasn't got a notion of how children ought to play,And can only make a fool of me in every sort of way.He stays so close beside me, he's a coward you can see;I'd think shame to stick to nursie as that shadow sticks to me!

One morning, very early, before the sun was up,I rose and found the shining dew on every buttercup;But my lazy little shadow, like an arrant sleepy-head,Had stayed at home behind me and was fast asleep in bed.

2 / 7 / 2025

He hasn't got a notion of how children ought to play,And can only make a fool of me in every sort of way.He stays so close beside me, he's a coward you can see;I'd think shame to stick to nursie as that shadow sticks to me!

One morning, very early, before the sun was up,I rose and found the shining dew on every buttercup;But my lazy little shadow, like an arrant sleepy-head,Had stayed at home behind me and was fast asleep in bed.

He hasn't got a notion of how children ought to play,
And can only make a fool of me in every sort of way.
He stays so close beside me, he's a coward you can see;
I'd think shame to stick to nursie as that shadow sticks to me!

One morning, very early, before the sun was up,
I rose and found the shining dew on every buttercup;
But my lazy little shadow, like an arrant sleepy-head,
Had stayed at home behind me and was fast asleep in bed.

He hasn't got a notion of how children ought to play,
And can only make a fool of me in every sort of way.
He stays so close beside me, he's a coward you can see;
I'd think shame to stick to nursie as that shadow sticks to me!

One morning, very early, before the sun was up,
I rose and found the shining dew on every buttercup;
But my lazy little shadow, like an arrant sleepy-head,
Had stayed at home behind me and was fast asleep in bed.