4 / 4 / 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, if needed. 
• Reminder about lunch drinks - please no glass bottles, soda cans, Kool-Aid, or fountain drinks. Thank you.
• Just a reminder to check lost and found for any of your child's items that haven't made it back home yet.

💡DATES TO REMEMBER

April 12th: PSO Mother's Tea 

April 18th: No School - Spring Holiday weekend (R&R weekend)

April 25th: First grade field trip to Odysea Aquarium

💡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 child's teacher. 

💡WHAT WE ARE LEARNING THIS WEEK 

📕LITERATURE: In this week's story, we read how Elmer and the Dragon (book 2) started their trip to get Elmer home, survived a storm, and found their way out of the sandbar to a tiny island. We learned to give predictions, understand vocabulary words in context, some figures of speech, and figurative language in the story.

📕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 12:  ei is used after c to say long /e/ (receive). Otherwise, we say long /a/ or long /i/.                      

                   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 21:  "All" written alone has 2 l's.

             rule 23: dge is only used after a single vowel that says a short sound. (edge)                                                                   

         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: 

• There's no place like home.

• A.M./P.M. 

• 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:

The Village Blacksmith

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Under a spreading chestnut-tree

     ⁠The village smithy stands;

The smith, a mighty man is he,

     With large and sinewy hands,

And the muscles of his brawny arms

     Are strong as iron bands.

His hair is crisp, and black, and long;

     His face is like the tan;

His brow is wet with honest sweat,

     He earns whate'er he can,

And looks the whole world in the face,

     For he owes not any man.

Week in, week out, from morn till night,

     You can hear his bellows blow;

You can hear him swing his heavy sledge,

     With measured beat and slow,

Like a sexton ringing the village bell,

     When the evening sun is low.

📕MATH: This week, we wrapped up our unit on data. We have learned how to read, analyze and present data. A test was given today about it.

📕HISTORY: We also wrapped up our unit on America: From Colonies to Independence. We compiled our symbols book, and played a puppet game to review this topic.

📕SCIENCE: We began studying the types of rocks and minerals and the process in which rocks are made. Scholars noticed differences in textures, size, shape and color. We learned about the three main types of rocks, understanding they vary based on how and from which substances they are formed from. Next Tuesday, students will be able to act like geologists, and break apart a "rock cookie" to discover what is inside. 

Thank you!

First grade teachers