First Grade News

September 1, 2015

Curriculum Highlights
Student Learning Results Think Creatively, Communicate Effectively, Learn
Enthusiastically, Live Ethically, Reason Critically, Collaborate Constructively
Writing Workshop - Getting Help During Writing Workshop Feedback and
Partner Talk
Word study every syllable in English must contain at least one vowel
Math tallies, data collection, graphs
Reading Workshop Decoding Strategies What do you do when you get stuck
on a word?
Reminders
August 31 No School Merdeka Day
September 1 Open House 6:30pm in the studio, then up to the First Grade
common area
September 7 - After School Activities begin
News from Ms. Tindalls class
Weve been working a lot on friendships, building community and the Melawati Way.
First grade can be a difficult time for students as there is a huge growth in social skills
during the year. This means testing boundaries of friendships and coming up with all
sorts of rules for being (or not being a friend.) Please encourage growth in this area by
talking through situations with your child and sharing stories of how you have felt in
similar situations and what you did to work things out. At school we advocate the
number one thing to do is to talk about the problem directly with the person who is
bothering you and, on the other side, being a good listener and trying to work out a
solution together so that both sides win. (Unless of course its a big problem such as a
physical interaction then help should be sought immediately from an adult.) The
ultimate message is that children (and adults) always have choices. They cannot control
the behavior of another person, but they can decide for themselves how they will react to
it.
In partnership,
Ms. Tindall

Possible Home Activities (that match what were doing in school)

Monday
Reading: Talk with an adult about why you chose your book. What is the Purpose? (EG,
enjoyment, to learn something, to practice reading). You can refer to the IPICK poster at the
end of this letter or the one posted on our blog.

Math: Find number stories in your everyday activities. Tell them as word problems and try to
solve them. EG There are 4 people in our family. Three of us eat one potato each, but big
brother eats 3. How many potatoes do we need to cook for dinner?
Tuesday
Reading: Talk with an adult about why you chose your book. What Interests you about that
book? Do you prefer fiction or non-fiction? What are some topics that interest you? What
type of books do your family enjoy?
Math: Find number stories in your everyday activities. Tell them as word problems and try to
solve them. EG Its big sisters birthday on September 20th. How many days until her
celebration?
Wednesday
Reading: Talk with an adult about your understanding of the book you chose. Even if you can
read all of the words, it doesnt necessarily mean its an easy book for you. Did you
Comprehend? Can you retell the beginning, middle and ending of the book? What information
did you learn from it? What is the authors message/ main idea?

Math: Find number stories in your everyday activities. Tell them as word problems and try
to solve them. EG If dinner is at 6pm, how much time do I have to play until then?
Thursday
Reading: Talk with an adult about how many words you know in the book? Did you know all of
them, most of them or some of them? Ideally, a just right book has mostly words you know,
with just a few to work out.

Math: Play the Before and After Game. Deal 5 cards to each player. Turn over one card from
the central pile. If you have a number in your hand that comes before or after the one turned
over you can put it on top. If you cant go, you have to pick up. The first one to get rid of all
of the cards in their hand is the winner.
Friday
Reading: Talk about how you read the words in the book you chose. Were you smooth? Did you
stop at periods/ full stops? Did you change your voice for speech or question marks? Did you
read just as smoothly as when youre talking?

Poem collection: Recite/ sing to your family and friends some poems from your poem
collection. Put your finger on each word as you read. . Return your poem collection to school
on Monday.