F A L L

2 0 1 5

First Grade
News!
Room 120
Ms. Morgan

Welcome!!

Welcome to Ms. Morgans First Grade Classroom! This year, we will cover topics from the alpha

Extra! Extra! Read All

About It!
Every child is given certain things in the classroom,
but each child will also need to bring in a few things.
Each child should bring in their own book bag
everyday to be sure that all important papers such as
homework and notes home have a safe place to
travel! Each child will also need to bring in one pack
of 24 crayons, a pack of glue sticks, a pack of pencils,
a pocket folder, and a plastic pencil box to stay

Save the Date!

Open House

Picture Day

Conferences

September 28

October 15

All families are welcome

and encouraged to
attend a night in their
childs classroom to see
where they learn and
what exciting things are
planned for the year!

Wear your best smile

and outfit! Order
forms will be sent out
at a later date closer
to the day!

November 19
One-on-one
& 20
conferences to talk
about your child and
their progress
throughout the year
so far!

MISS MORGAN

FALL 2015

Content Areas
The main content areas we will be
addressing this year are science, math,
reading, and social studies. The children will
also have special days where they attend
music, gym, computers, library and art

Science
Science classes are usually looked over in terms of
education, but they can greatly impact childrens lives.
This content area allows children to explore the world
around them and do experiments but also allows them to
learn during the process. This is especially helpful for the
hands-on learners since the experiments require them to
pour, mix, and explore different things. Science also
includes math so we will be able to look at how all our
learning is connected to each other.

Math

Social Studies

Math may not be a subject your child likes because most

children like it or hate it, but the fact is, we use math in
everyday life! This year, we will explore adding and
subtracting, telling time on analog and digital clocks, and the
comparison of numbers using <, >, and =. Math may not
seem the same from when you were growing up in school, so
we will introduce math night(s) for our parents to come and
learn how math is being taught so you can help your children!

This year, we will explore social studies in a variety of ways.

We will learn about our community and how small our
community is within our county, our state, our country, and
even our world! We will also start to talk about our history
starting with the people who started it all, George Washington
and Abraham Lincoln. During our social studies units, your
children will begin to understand chronological order and
placing events in the correct order. Finally, we will have
Cultural Days where we will be learning about a culture and
act as if we lived as a citizen in that culture!

Reading

Reading is another content area that we use in everyday life.

This year, your children will learn how to read and what it
means to sound out words. We will work on knowing the
sounds the letters make and the rules about vowels and
consonants. We will also start to learn about the writing
process and learn what a good sentence contains. Your child
will also learn book handling skills, what way we read, and
where to find the author and the illustrator of the book. This
year, we will read books inside the classroom, but I also
encourage every child to find books of their interests and read
them to friends and family or even to themselves. The more
the child likes what they are reading about, the more they will

MISS MORGAN

FALL 2015

Why Play, Music, and Art Are Important to

Your Childs Learning
Play, music, and art are seen as something wasteful in the classroom. Why? In my
eyes, play, music, and art should never be seen negatively and should be provided
to every child. Not every child likes music or art, but it provides them the outlet to
use. It allows children to use their imagination, something that too many children
grow out of too quickly and it allows them to be creative! This time also allows
children to develop skills in their fine motor area, language skills, and social
interaction. This year, I will allow my students to have as much time as possible to
have recess and free play when it is too cold outside. I know they have art and music
as specials, but in my classroom, we will bring those into our everyday learning as
well during reading and writing. It is said that listening to classical music helps kids
study, so if I find that my students learn better by listening to soft music; we will also
incorporate that into the day as well! Just keep in mind the next time your child is
just playing, they are more than likely teaching themselves something and
learning!

Tie-Dye Cookies

Get active with your child and bake

something fun! They can learn in the
process
What you need:

Mixtoo!
the cookie mix according to the
1 package of your favorite
Food Coloring

package
Separate dough into 4-5 bowls
cookie
mix
Add 8-10 drops of different food
coloring to each bowl and mix well
Take a nickel-sized amount of each

sugar

between your hands to make a

snake form.
Lay it on the counter and roll into
a spiral
Cut into bite size pieces
Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10
minutes

MISS MORGAN

FALL 2015

Books, Books, Books!

Book Orders

Book orders will be sent home once a month. If a family decides to purchase books, the orders are due one week later. All

Reading to Your Child

Reading to your child is crucial in their reading. It all starts when they are babies and builds to when they learn to read. Since your child

Read Across America

Read Across America happens in schools across the nation on Dr. Suesss birthday. This is an effort to get all children to get more excite

Reading Donts
Dont read to your child if they are obviously uninterested in
the book. Instead, try a different book because if they are no
interested, they will not listen and you are then reading to
yourself. This is why it is key to let them pick the story. Also,
dont use reading as a punishment. They are already mad and
upset that they dont get what they wanted and if you use it
as a punishment, they will resent reading even more. Finally,
dont read too fast to your child or go through a book too fast.
Let them do some activities that go with the book and talk to
hem about what is going on in the book to make sure they

MISS MORGAN

FALL 2015

Classroom Parties
Halloween Party
Dress up and go trick-or-treating! On Halloween, all the
students will be encouraged to wear their costume to
school. Of course, it will have to be school appropriate and
not have any excessive parts on it. All children are also
asked to bring in some type of bag for all their treats!
Some of our teachers have decided to go trick-or-treating
around the school so they will have lots of treats coming! If
the family would like, they may also send in a treat for the
class. Please send in enough for 30 children.

Christmas Party/Gift Exchange

This year, we will celebrate Christmas and the spirit of the holiday in my classroom. We will also be participating in a gift exchange. Eac

Valentines Day Party

All students will be encouraged to bring in a box that they have decorated and created to put their Valentines in. We will even h

St. Patricks Day Party

St. Patricks Day is not as big of a party as some of the
other days. However, we will talk about where this day
comes from and what it means to others. We will also be
reading about leprechauns and we will even go on a
scavenger hunt from clues that our leprechaun leaves us!
At the end, we will even get a special treat from our
leprechaun. During the day, we will eat green treats; so if
you would like to send in a treat that day, feel free to do
so! Just be sure that there are enough treats for everyone
in the class.

MISS MORGAN

FALL 2015
All the information provided came from
http://www.baltimorecityschools.org/cms/lib/MD01001351/
Centricity/domain/8818/pdf/BullyPrev_Parent_Guide_2011.
pdf

Say NO to Bullying!
What is bullying?

Bullying is when children or adolescents harm others on

purpose. This includes thing physically, emotionally, or
even verbally such as hitting, name-calling, lack of
inclusion, and even cyber-bullying. These actions are very
harmful, severe, and are usually repeated because the
bully knows it makes the bullied feel hurt or upset. Some
of the most common reasons children bully are wanting
to be in control or feel power, wanting attention from
others, poor adult supervision, adult acceptance of

Things to NOT DO if someone is

being bullied:

Blame the child

Use the word tattletale

Tell the child to ignore it

Tell the child to retaliate

Expect the child to work it out alone

Allow mediation, if the child is reluctant

Demand apologies

Helpful Hints from Kids Who Have

Been Bullied

Say something or let it

go?

Tell an adult at home

Tell
a friend
If you ever
see
bullying or suspect a child is being bullied, please help the child! Tell an adult, a teacher, find them help, something! DO
Make a joke about it instead of reacting with emotion
Tell an adult at school
Remind yourself that it was not your fault

Tips For Parent Whose Children Are

Bullied

Talk with your child

Work with teachers, counselors, and principals

Identify an adult at school who trusts your child

Document and report continued bullying

Help you child develop new friendships

Help your child learn how to react to bullying

Work with other parents

MISS MORGAN

FALL 2015

Web 2.0 Tools and Apps

Throughout the school year, your children will learn how to navigate Web 2.0 tools and apps on iPads. We are so grateful t

Funbrain.com
Education.com
Readingeggs.com
Brainzy (app)
iDiary for Kids (app)
Lolas Math Train (app)

Rules, Regulations, And Practices

In my classroom, my students will decide most of the rules and regulations as a class. Of course I will
oversee these, but I am a firm believer that if a child has the opportunity to create some of their own
rules, they will be more likely to follow them. However, I do believe there are still some base rules
that the children will need to follow that they may not think of themselves. We do also have
consequences for their bad behavior. In the past, I have used a behavior chart for children, but this
year we will start off with just our consequences and see how our year progresses.

Rules

Consequences

1. Use quiet/inside voice

2. Stay in your seat until told
to move by the teacher
3. Be kind to others
4. Raise your hand to talk
5. Dont talk over your
classmates
6. Listen to your teacher and
other adults

1. Warning/note or call home

2. No recess/free play
3. Lunch by yourself (lunch
detention)
4. Detentions after school

MISS MORGAN

FALL 2015

Calendar
The calendar will be sent home monthly. It will tell you what days we have what specials. It
will also tell you if we have any special party days, assembly, or special test days. We will
have a morning snack since we have a late lunch so every child will have to bring in a snack.
Please bring in a healthy snack so our children can grow big and strong. NO junk food! This
calendar will also tell you when we have birthday in our class because I ask that the family
provide a snack that day for the class. The children get a big sense of happiness when they
get to have a day all to themselves and get to pass out snacks to everyone because it is
their special day! I like to make them feel extra special on their birthday as well! When we
have a birthday, your child doesnt need to bring their own snack (unless they are the
birthday boy or girl!) This calendar will not have lunch options on it. That calendar will be
sent home separately. If something is added to the calendar after it is sent home, a letter will

Gym

Art

Library

Gym

Art

Library

Gym

Art

Music

Computers

Music

Computers

Music

Computers

Book
Order
Sent
Home

Library

Gym

Music

Art

Book
Order Due

Library

Gym

Art

Open
House

Computers

MISS MORGAN

FALL 2015

Farewell for Now!

I cant wait to get this year underway with each of your children and see how they are going to learn a

Love,
Miss Morgan

Miss Kiley Morgan

719 Entry Drive
North Huntingdon, Pa 15642
(724) 861-3020