Category Archives: 1st Newsletter

First Grade News for the Week of December 12th to 16th

By Lisa Gearen | Published: December 11, 2011

Religion:  This week the students will continue to learn about the Christmas  season and the symbolism behind the celebrations. 

Reading: We have come to the end of the third book in our reading series.  This week the students will review the skills taught throughout the book.  They will also read Christmas stories and do projects that will enhance the enjoyment.

Spelling and Grammar:  The students will be reviewing verbs, nouns, and pronouns.  As well as identifying words that contain the long vowel sound of e in words.

 Our spelling words this week are: ran, hat, scar, came, grape, name, cake, only, old, and baseball.

English:  The students will be learning about sentence fragments and practicing classifying sentences. 

Math:  The students will be learning to regroup groups of tens and ones to represent large numbers while learning about place value.

Science/Social Studies:  The students will begin learning about Christmas traditions around the world. 

Important dates and facts about the week:

Monday December 12th:  First Grade has dress down day from St. Nicholas.  Please remember to follow guide lines in student handbook concerning dress down policy.

Wednesday, December 14th:  Hot lunch from Little Joe’s.  Don’t forget to send a healthy snack for morning break.  We will be attending a Christmas band concert today.

Thursday, December 15th:  Christmas Concert tonight in the church at 7.  Please follow the dress requirements that were sent home recently.  Please be sure to bring your child to their classroom by 6:40.   Please take your child’s coat with you into church.  All students will be released to you in the church after the program.

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First Grade News for the week of December 5th to 9th

By Lisa Gearen | Published: December 5, 2011

Religion:  This week the students will learn about the Christmas  season and the symbolism behind the celebrations.  We will also talk about the journey that Mary and Joseph took before Jesus’ birth.   

Reading: Our story this week is ” Kids Have Fun”    The skills that  we will be working on are:  Three letter blends scr, spl, thr,  and where they are used in words.  We will be reviewing how to add -ed and -ing to the end of words.  The students will use a venn diagram to compare how things are alike and the ways they are different.    This week we will also be revisiting the concept of nonfiction when reading a story.  Lastly the students will practice rereading stories to work on comprehension.

The vocabulary words for the week are boy, does,any, girl, by, friend and water.

Spelling and Grammar:  The students will be reviewing short vowel sounds in words. 

 Our spelling words this week are: sad, let, trip, blue, orange, gray, black, one, by and color.

This week in grammar we will be working with putting words in alphabetical order.  The students will also be using dictionaries to help them put words in ABC order. 

English:  The students will continue learning about prepositions and object of a prepositions.  Also being reviewed this week is the concept of subjects and predicates in complete sentences.

Math:  The students will review these concepts probability, plotting points on a grid, geometrical shapes, patterning, symmetry, fractions and other skills that we have covered in this chapter. 

Science:  We will continue our unit on landforms.      

Social Studies:  The students will continue learning about the Nutcracker ballet and the music that we will hear at the performance on December 9th.   

Important dates and facts about the week:

This week room 108 is leading school prayer.  Please keep a look out for an email with your child’s part attached.  Please help your child learn to read their parts smoothly.  They do not need to be memorized.  Room 107 will be leading prayer next week.  Mrs. Schaefer will be assigning parts soon. 

Wednesday, November 7th:  Hot Lunch is from Arby’s.  Please remember to send a healthy snack for morning break.  Mrs. Schaefer and Miss Gearen will be out today at a First Grade Conference.

Thursday, December 8th:  Feast of the Immaculate Conception.  The all school Mass is at 9:00.  Please join us if your schedule allows. 

Friday, December 9th:  First Grade field trip to see the Nutcracker.  We will be leaving school at 9:00am and returning around 12:30.  Please be sure that your child dresses in the dress uniform and wear the St. Cletus red sweatshirt. 

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First Grade News for the Week of Nov. 28th to Dec. 2nd

By Lisa Gearen | Published: November 27, 2011

Religion:  This week the students will learn about the season of Advent.   We will talk about Advent being the start of the Church year and that it is also known at the season of waiting for Christ’s birth.   The students will discover what each candle on the Advent wreath represents.  The first purple candle stands for hope that Christ was bringing.  The second purple candle is for Love that God has for us to send His only Son.  The third candle is pink and represents the joy we have in our hearts as we wait for Christ’s birth.  Lastly the fourth candle is purple and represents the peace we feel in our hearts at Christ’s birth. 

Reading: Our story this week is ” Rose Robot Cleans Up”    The skills that  we will be working on are:  reviewing the long sounds of  the vowels o,u, and e when paired with a silent e at the end of a word.  We will be working with the silent letters  at the beginning of words kn as in knight, gn as in gnat, and wr as in write.  The students will begin using inference and conclusion charts to enhance their comprehension skills.  This week we will also be revisiting the concept of fiction when reading a story.  Lastly the students will learn to read a floor plan to find items in a room. 

The vocabulary words for the week are find, after, old, and new.      

Spelling and Grammar:  This week our spelling words contain the blend “ck”.  Students will learn that this blend can be found in the middle and at the the end of words.

 Our spelling words this week are: bed, wet, prod, duck, neck, clock, lick, so, my and backpack. 

This week in grammar we will be working with these initial blends sp, sm, dr, sk, sn, gr, sw, fl, cl, bl, sl, gl, st, cr, tr,  and fr.  Working with these blends will help the students develop their awareness of initial consonants blends for reading and writing.

English:  The students will review what a preposition is (a word that shows the relationship if its object to other words in the sentence.  Ex: The little boy walked beside his mother)   and then they will learn what  an object of a preposition does in a sentence (the noun after a preposition in a sentence.  Ex She rode with her friend.)

Math:  The students will review the  simple fractions they were working with before the Thanksgiving break.  These fractions are 1/4, 1/3, 1/2 and a whole.  The students will also be introduced to the concept of probability.   

Science:  We will begin our unit on landforms.  The class will explore the five different kinds of landforms that make up the earth (mountains, hills, valleys, plain and beaches.).  Also in this unit we will examine the four different kinds of water resources that are available to us (streams, rivers, lakes and oceans.)  Lastly we will find out about the three different things that can cause significant changes to the earth’s surface (flooding, droughts, and erosion) .      

Social Studies:  The students will begin learning about the Nutcracker ballet and the music that we will hear at the performance on December 9th.   

Important dates and facts about the week:

Monday, November 28th:  Welcome back to school.

Wednesday, November 30th:  Hot lunch from Chipotle.  Room 108 will have their dress down day today. 

Friday, December 2nd:  Children’s FSA Christmas Party.  The party starts at 5:30 in the gym.

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First Grade News for the week of Nov 14th to 18th

By Lisa Gearen | Published: November 12, 2011

Religion:  This week the students will be discovering what it means to be a member of a parish family.  They will learn that as a parish we come together to celebrate God’s love for us.    During this chapter we will also be discovering who the people are that run a parish and what their specific jobs are.   

Reading: Our story this week is ” Masks! Masks! Masks!”    The skills that  we will be working on are:  the sounds of the digraphs ch, tch, wh and ph, adding the ending -es to words to make them plural, listing details in a story and determining the main idea from those details this will help us with our comprehension. The vocabulary words for the week are your,into, people, soon, every and from.      

Spelling and Grammar:  This week our spelling words contain the blends “zz and ss”.  Students will learn that when a small word with a short vowel has an s or a z at the end these letters will be doubled.

 Our spelling words this week are: hop, fit, grin, buzz, cross, less, miss, go, no and classroom.

This week in grammar we will be working with these initial blends sp, sm, dr, sk, sn, gr, sw, fl, cl, bl, sl, gl, st, cr, tr,  and fr.  Working with these blends will help the students develop their awareness of initial consonants blends for reading and writing.

English:  The students will review all the jingles for the different parts of speech that they have been introduced to this year.  We will also continue working on labeling sentences and determining if it contains all five parts that make is complete. 

Math:  The students will begin learning about simple fractions.  During this unit the students will learn to identify these fractions 1/4, 1/3, 1/2 and a whole. 

Science and Social Studies:  The students will be learning about pilgrims and Indians and the hardships they faced daily. 

Important dates and facts about the week:

Wednesday, November 16th:  First grade at 8:00 am Mass.  Please bring your child to Church by 7:50 reminding them to enter the building quietly.  Please join us for Mass if your schedule allows.   Hot Lunch will be from Mc Donalds.  Please remember to send a healthy snack for morning break. 

Friday, November 18th,  Room 108 has a dress down day awarded to them for the most MANNA orders placed in October.  GREAT JOB!!

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First Grade News for the Week of Oct. 31st to Nov. 4th

By Lisa Gearen | Published: October 30, 2011

Religion:  The first graders will host an all school Mass on Tuesday, November 1st celebrating All Saints Day at 9:00 am.  Please join us if your schedule allows.  In addition to hosting the Mass we will continue with the Second Step curriculum.  This week we will identify our feelings while dealing with different types of situations.  As a class we will talk about the different ways to communicate how we are feeling. 

Reading: Our story this week is ” On My Way To School”    The skill that  we will be working on are:  the sound of long a when a silent e is at the end of the word, our vocabulary words are away, school, today, way and why,  adding -ed and -ing to the end of words, and retelling events that happen in a story.  The concepts that will be introduced this week are alliterations and rhyming stories.    

Spelling and Grammar:  This week our spelling words contain the blend “ll”.  Students will learn when “l” is at the end of a short vowel word it is ususally  doubled.

 Our spelling words this week are: ox, run, from, will, bell, doll, skull, there, they and windmill.

This week in grammar we will be reviewing the concept of pronouns that we were introduced to in our Shurley English curriculum

English:  The students will create their own sentences and share them with the class.  These sentences will then be labeled by the class. 

Math:  The students will conclude their work with geometric shapes and lines of symmetry.  Then they will be introduced to plotting places on a grid.  The students will learn how to read directions in order to locate places on a grid.  When the students have grasped this concept, they will then learn to write directions so that others can place objects on a grid. 

Science and Social Studies:  The students will be learning how to find places on simple maps after reading directions.  The classes will create town maps using paper buildings and other objects found in the classrooms. 

Important information and dates to remember for the week

Monday October 31st:  HAPPY HALLOWEEN!  The students are encouraged to wear their costumes to school.  Please read the school scoop for costume guide lines below

Halloween Guidelines for Pre-K through 8th Grade: Halloween is always a time for great fun.  For the past few years, all of us at St. Cletus have been dressing up for Halloween in fun costumes.  Halloween parties will begin at 1:50 PM on Monday, October 31st.  Please follow the guidelines below, and come dressed for the day in your costume: 

       1. To promote healthier eating, this year is healthy snacks for Halloween!  Room parents and volunteers: please refrain from bringing in candy, cookies, or cakes and choose healthier snacks such as popcorn, pretzels, fruit, etc.  Thank you.

       2. Pre-school students: please see guidelines and information sent home by your pre-school teachers.

       3. K-8 grade students: costumes must be comfortable for all-day wearing–learning continues throughout the day.

       4. Leave all props at home: wands, gloves, brooms, whistles, etc.

       5. No masks, please–they can block vision; instead, try make-up, hair coloring, or wigs.  Remember, the children will be wearing make-up all day.

       6. Wear comfortable shoes–gym shoes are preferred.  We will still have physical education and recess.

       7. Costumes must be school appropriate.  No violent costumes, such as Freddy, Jason, etc.

       8. Skeletons, witches, Dracula, etc., are fine.

A special thank you to all volunteers for hosting the Halloween parties.  We know a lot of time and effort goes into the planning of these parties and we really appreciate all of you.

Tuesday, November 1st:  First Grade hosts an all school 9:00 am Mass to celebrate All Souls Day.  Please join us if your schedule allows.

Wednesday, November 2nd:  Hot lunch from Pisa Pizza.  Please send in a healthy snack for morning break.

 Friday, November 4th:  Congratulations room 107 for winning the door decorating contest during RED RIBBON WEEK.  Your class had a dress down day today. 

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First Grade News for the Week of Oct 24th to 28th

By Lisa Gearen | Published: October 23, 2011

St. Cletus will be honoring RED RIBBON week.

The activities for the week are as follows:

Monday, October 24th:  Shade out drugs.  The students are encouraged to wear their craziest sunglasses to school. 

Tuesday, October 25th:  All students are encouraged to bring in a red labeled food item for the food pantry.

Wednesday, October 26th:  Red punch will be served for lunch.  (Milk will be served at lunch as usual.)

Thursday, October 27th:  Crazy sock day.

Friday, October 28th:  Bring in a banana to school today and make a banana split.  Ice cream and toppings will be provided.

Religion:  The first graders will be hosting an all school Mass on Tuesday, November 1st celebrating All Saints Day at 9:00 am.  Please join us if your schedule allows.  This week we will be preparing for the Mass.  If your child was given a speaking part last week (These were sent home in homework folders on Thursday, October 20th) please take time each night to read it over with your child.  These parts DO NOT need to be memorized only read smoothly. 

Reading:  This week we will be concluding our work in the first book of our reading series.  The students will work in small groups to re-read the stories contained in the book.  They will review the skills that they learned or reviewed through out the book.  

Spelling and Grammar:  This week our spelling words contain the blend “ff”.  Students will learn that they can remember the difference between of and off by listening to the sound at the end of the word.  If it is a /f/ sound, as in “off”  they must use /ff/, but if they hear a /v/ sound, as in”of ” they only need one /f/.

 Our spelling words this week are:  red, win, drum, off, cliff, stiff, cuff, said, here and puffin. 

This week in grammar we will be learning how to make the plural form of words.  The students will learn the name of a noun when describing one of something is a singular , and the name of nouns which describe more than one is a plural. 

English:  The students will continue to recognize the different parts of speech in sentences.   This week students will begin labeling proper and common nouns in the sentences that they are working with.

Math:  The students will continue working with geometric shapes as they identify their faces, edges, and corners.  They will also be learning about lines of symmetry.

Science:  The students will be learning about the different places where animals make their homes.  

Social Studies:  The students will be learning how to find places on simple maps.  We will also be talking about Halloween safety as we prepare the our trick or treating adventures on October 31st. 

Important Dates to remember for the week from our regular calendar:

Tuesday, October 25th:  All school Mass at 9:00.  Please join us if your schedule allows.

Wednesday, October 26th:  Hot lunch from Dino’s.  Please send in a healthy snack for morning break.

Friday, October 28th:  Mr. Mc Andrew (father of 8th grader Michael)will be visiting room 108 to talk about Fire safety.  Earlier in the month Mr. Crammer paid a visit to room 107.  We appreciate both men spending time with each class. 

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First Grade News for the Week of October 17th to 21st

By Lisa Gearen | Published: October 16, 2011

Religion:  The first graders will begin working with the  Second Step curriculum.  This curriculum, has the class working on their empathy towards others, controlling  impulses, learning to problem solve and anger management.   Much of the work that the class will be doing with this program will be whole class discussion and role playing.

Also this week the first graders will be attending Mass on Wednesday at 8:00.  Please bring your child to Church at 7:50 instead of school.  After Mass we will be meeting with Father Clark to learn about the different items used during the Mass as well as learning when to kneel, stand, and sit.  The First graders are doing this because we will be hosting Mass in November (more information about this will be coming home soon) and feel that the students should have a better understanding of the Mass.

Reading: This week our story will be “Beth and the Band”.  Our vocabulary words will be all, want, under, put, show and together.   The skills that we will be working on this week are the sounds digraphs th, sh and -ng in words, learning about compound words, working on filling out a retelling chart after reading a story.  reading and following direction,

Spelling/ Grammar:  This week in spelling we continue our short vowel sound review.  During grammar we will be learning when to use the words ” a and an”.  The students will learn when a word follows an it begins with a vowel.  If a word follows a it starts with a consonant.

Our spelling words this week are up, man, crab, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, today, come, some and  weekend.

English:  This week the students will be introduced to plural nouns.  The students will learn that a plural noun means more than one.  They will also learn that a plural noun ends in either s or es.

Math:  The students will continue working with geometric shapes.  We will also add working with shapes that are opened, and closed, as well as shapes that are solid.  We will also be determining if shapes can flip, slide and do turns.

Science:  This week we will be looking at leaves.  Added to this we will be learning the different parts of a plant.  We will be learning how to group plants.

 Social Studies:   This week we will be learning our addresses and phone numbers.  As a class project we will be creating a directory that includes this information.  Next week we will be creating a book about our favorite places in the towns we live in.  In preparation for this project, please take a picture of your child in front of their favorite store, restaurant, library, park sign, or any other place they like to go.  Please send these pictures in with your child by Monday, October 24st.

 Important dates for the week:

Wednesday, October 19th:  Meet at Mass at 7:50.  Meet with Fr. Clark to learn about the Mass.  Hot Lunch from Little Joe’s.  Dining for dollars at Chipotle 40 N. La Grange Rd.  Don’t forget to mention that you attend St. Cletus school when you buy your dinner. 

Friday, October 21st:  Dress down day for Breast Cancer awareness. 

Next week is red ribbon week look for more information to be sent home later this week.

Please take time over the weekend to take a picture of your child infront of their favorite store, restaurant, library, post office, park sign or any place they really like going in your town.  Please print these pictures and send them in at the beginning of the October 24th week. 

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First Grade News for the week of October 10th to 14th

By Lisa Gearen | Published: October 10, 2011

Religion:  The first graders wil begin the week attending an all school Mass on Tuesday at 9:00 am.  If your schedule allows pleas join us at Mass.  As the week proceeds the class will learn about those who were followers of Jesus and believed He was the son of God.  We will learn about the different ways these followers were taught to pray.  We will take a closer look at the Our Father. 

Reading:   During the weeks around the holidays and long weekends we do not have  enough time to complete a story in our reading series so we do literature groups instead.  This week we will be reading in small literature groups.  Each group will read a story each day and complete different activities to enhance their comprehension of the story.  Some activities that the students will be completing are filling out a story web, doing a book report and creating a new cover for the book that they liked the most.

Grammar / Spelling:  Our spelling words this week will have us learning to spell the days of the week correctly.  The students will see that each day begins with a capital letter.    The students will also learn that the days are proper nouns and should be capitalized when they use them in their writing.  The first graders will also brain storm words that contain the different short vowel sounds. 

Our spelling words this week are:  it, dog, bran, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, you, your, and   yesterday.

This week in grammar the first graders will learn about putting words in alphabetical order.   

English:  This week the students will be revisit the concept of a complete sentence.  The students will labeling and editing simple sentences.  They will do this by checking sentences for the five items that should always be in them.  These five things are,(1) start with a capital letter, (2)contain a subject/ noun, (3) verb, (4) make sense and (5) have an ending mark.    

Math:  The students will begin classifying, sorting and comparing different objects.  We will be using shapes to examine their different attributes and then group them accordingly.      

Science:  We will  preper for our field trip at the end of the week by learning how a pumpkin goes from a seed to a big orange pumpkin.   Then the  first graders will take a trip to Siegel’s Cottonwood farm where they will feed animals, take a hay ride and learn the history behind the family farm.     

 Social Studies:  We will finish learning about Christopher Columbus and the important discovery he made that effected all of our lives. 

Important dates for the week: 

Tuesday, October 11th:  All school Mass at 9:00.  If your schedule permits please join us in church.

Wednesday, October 12th:   Hot lunch from Arby’s.  Please remember to send a healthy snack for morning break. 

Friday, October 14th.  Field trip to Siegel Cottonwood Farm.  We will be leaving at 9:00 and returning around 12:40.  We will be going rain or shine.   Please remember to send you child in their gym uniform.  Send their lunches in a bag with their names on them instead of their normal lunch box.  Please include a drink as well.  Please do not send your child with any money.  Each child will be given a small pumpkin at the end of our day at the farm.   

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First Grade News for the Week of Oct 3rd to 7th

By Lisa Gearen | Published: September 30, 2011

Religion:  The first graders will talk about the Church Year.  Throughout the Church year each season is represented by certain colors.  Purple for Advent and Lent.   White for Christmas, Three Days and Easter.   Green for Ordinary time which comes two times during the year, after Christmas and Easter.       

Reading: This week our story will be “Too Big For One and The Pigs, the Wolf and the Mud “.  Our vocabulary words will be again, could, make, one, three and then.   The skills that we will be working on this week are the sounds of short u in words such as cup and mud, learning about contractions using -‘s, working on filling out a plot chart after reading a story.  looking at pictures to tell a story, and lastly looking at the cover of a book or magazine to find out what the title is, and who the author and illustrator of a story are.

Grammar / Spelling:  Our spelling words this week will have us beginning to learn about  R vowels.  The first one we will work with is “or”.  The students will see that ”or” can be found in the middle of words.  The class will brain storm a list of words that contain ”or” and then illustrate them. 

Our spelling words this week are:  at, yes, slug, fork,storm, horse, forty, are, all, and morning. 

This week in grammar the first graders will learn about common nouns.  Common noun not as important as proper nouns so they do not begin with a capital letter.       

English:  This week the students will be revisit the concept of a proper noun that was introduced  in grammar last week.  The students will also learn how to edit simple sentences.  They will do this by checking sentences for the five items that should always be in them.  These five things are,(1) start with a capital letter, (2)contain a subject/ noun, (3) verb, (4) make sense and (5) have an ending mark.    

Math:  The students will review and strengthen their knowledge of the  differentostrategies  used for adding and subtracting.   

Science:  The first graders will look at the different ways an animal changes and grows through out their lives.   

 Social Studies:   As a class we will take a look at different customs and traditions that families have when celebrating holidays, birthdays and other important events. 

We will also be learning about Christopher Columbus and the important discovery he made that effected all of our lives. 

Important dates for the week: 

Wednesday, October 5th:   Hot lunch from Chipotle.  Please send a healthy snack for morning break.

Monday, October 10th:  No School in observance of Christopher Columbus’ birthday. 

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First Grade News for the week of September 26th thru 30th

By Lisa Gearen | Published: September 24, 2011

Religion:  The first graders will talk about the many people who wanted to be followers of God.  We will talk about what it means to make new friends and keep the ones we have had for years.  As we do this we will talk about the things we like about these people.    Lastly we will talk about the Commandments that  God gave us to live by.   

Reading: This week our story will be “On the Map “.  Our vocabulary words will be live, many, out and place.  The skills that we will be working on this week are the sounds of r and s blends in words such as grass and crab, learning what a nonfiction story is, adding -ing to the end of words, identifying the main idea in stories as we pick out details and summarize our story, and how to  use a dictionary.

Grammar / Spelling:  Our spelling words this week will have us learning how to read words that contain “qu”.  The students will see that ”qu” can be found in the beginning  of words.  The class will brain storm a list of words that contain ”qu” and then illustrate them. 

Our spelling words this week are:  on, but, plum, quick, quiz, queen, squid, to do and squirrel.   

This week in grammar the first graders will learn about proper nouns.  The students will learn that Proper nouns are give to people, places (stores, roads, schools etc…) and things (holidays, months etc…) to show their  importance.  Because these nouns are proper, they are also capitalized.    

English:  This week the students will be introduced to  words that are article  adjectives.  These words are a, an and the.  They will learn that an article adjective helps  to identify nouns. The students will also be  reviewing the jingles for sentences, nouns, verbs, adverbs and adjectives.  

Math:  The students will review reading different types of graphs such as bar, and picture.  We will also review using tally marks to count by fives. 

Science and Social Studies:  Johnny Appleseed also known as John Chapman was born on September 26th, 1774.    This week we will spend time in both of these subjects learning about his life and the apples he liked to spread around the county.  

Important dates for the week: 

Monday, September 26th:  Johnny Appleseed’s birthday.  Lil Cardinal Night 6 to 7:30pm.

Tuesday, September 27st:  9:00am all school Mass.  Please join us if your schedule permits. 

Wednesday, September 28th:  Field trip permission slip and money are due today.  Please let us know if you have misplaced your copy of the permission slip we would be happy to send a new one home.    Hot lunch from McDonald’s.  Please send a healthy snack for morning break.

Friday, September 30th:  Teacher In-service – NO SCHOOL for students.  Enjoy the long weekend.

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First Grade News for the Week of September 19th to 23rd

By Lisa Gearen | Published: September 16, 2011

Religion:  The first graders will be introduced to John the Baptist.  They will learn that he helped us get ready for God. They will also learn how God wanted to get to know and share His love for all people. 

Reading: This week our stories will be “Who Will Help? and Little Red Hen”.  Our vocabulary words will be who, no, some, of,  and eat.  The skills that we will be working on this week are the sound of short e in words, contractions, comprehension, summarizing, learning what a folktale is, and reading a diagram.

Grammar / Spelling:  Our spelling words this week will have us learning how to read words that contain “ng”.  The students will see that ”ng” can be found in the middle and at the end of words.  The class will brain storm a list of words that contain ”ng” and then illustrate them. 

Our spelling words this week are:  in, leg, glad, ring, sang, strong, lung, be, was, length.   

This week in grammar the first graders will be identifying the capital and lower case letters.  As they do this they will be matching the letter partners.  

English:  This week the students will be introduced to the word adjectives.  They will learn that an adjective helps  describe a noun. The students will also be  reviewing the jingles for sentences, nouns, verbs and adverbs.  

Math:  The students will continue to solve subtraction problems using different manipulatives and strategies. 

Science:  The first graders will be working on a unit involving animals.  While working on this unit they will be identifying the different groups that the animals belong to.  We will also be looking at the changes they make to adjust to their surroundings and the seasonal changes. 

Social Studies:  Our new unit in Social Studies is centered around the community that we live.  We will be learning about  the meaning and importance of the  different signs and symbols that are posted around our community.  

Important dates for the week: 

Tuesday, September 20th:  Picture Day – Please remember that this is a nice dress down day.  Please also remember to return picture envelopes today.  

Wednesday, September 21st:  First Grade will be attending 8:00 am Mass.  Please bring your child to church by 7:50 and remind them to enter quietly.  Please join us for Mass if your schedule allows.    Hot lunch from Subway.  Don’t forget to send a healthy snack for morning break. 

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By Lisa Gearen | Published: September 11, 2011

Religion:  This week we continue to talk about the fact that God’s greatest gift to us was Jesus, His only son.  He sent Him to live among us so that we could learn about God’s teachings.  The students will also learn the correct way to make the sign of the cross.

Reading:  We continue with  the stories “Our Mom and Dad and Animal Moms and Dads.”  The vocabulary words for this week again will be   two, our, her and they.  The skills that we will be working on this week are rhyme, sound of  short o in words, learning about nonfiction stories, adding the ending -ed to words, identifying the main ideas in our stories.  We will also be reviewing the parts of a sentence.   

Grammar/ Spelling:  This week the first graders will be working with the blend /th/ in words.  They will see that this blend can be found in the beginning, middle and end of words.  The first graders will also be correcting mistakes that they find in sentences.  These mistakes will consist of missing capital letters and ending marks. 

Our spelling words this week will be  us, sad, flag, this, with, that, thank, me, we, thinking.

English:  The first graders will be learning about adverbs this week.  They will discover that an adverb is a word that describes or modifies a verb, adjective, or another adverb.  We will also continue to label words in sentences as subject/noun, verb and adverb as a whole class activity.

Math:  The first graders will begin a unit on subtraction this week.  During this unit they will again break problems down into three different parts using the part- part- whole work mats.  While working with subtraction they will have a number in the whole box  and one in a part box.  Their task will be to find out what the missing part number will be.   They will also learn that all subtraction problems begin with the biggest number and that the answer to the problem is called the difference.   

Science: We will continue our work of classifying fruits and vegetables.  Please send your child to school with a small portion of  their favorite fruit and vegetable on Wednesday.  These should already be cut up and sent with the seeds.    

Social Studies:  The students will be taking a look at how things have changed over time.  We will be comparing the ways they listen to music ipods to a walkman, Video games PONG to wii,  skate boards to rip – sticks and razors.  These are just a few of the things that we will be talking about.    Please be prepared to answer some questions about your childhood as a homework assignment. 

Important information for the week:

Tuesday,  September 13th:  All school Mass at 9:00.  Please join us if your schedule allows.

Wednesday, September 14th:  Hot Lunch.  Please remember to send a healthy snack for morning break.

Friday, September 16th:  Homecoming dress down day – students are encouraged to wear jeans or shorts and shirts that are red and white.  Flip – flops are not allowed for safety reasons.  The school will be attending a pep rally at 2:00 in the gym.  Please come and join us if you can.

Sunday , September 18,   Homecoming schedule  8am – 4pm

                        8:00am:   Meet to decorate
                        9:00am:   Parade
                      10:00am:   JV Game
                       12:30pm:   Flower presentation
                          1:00pm:  Varsity game
 
See website for more information as it becoems available: http://www.stcl​etusparish.com/​school/athletic​s/football/

  

 

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First Grade News for the week Of September 5th to 9th

By Lisa Gearen | Published: September 4, 2011

Religion:  This week we talk about the fact that God’s greatest gift to us was Jesus.  His only son.  He sent Him to live among us so that we could learn about God’s teachings.  Also this week the students will learn who the three people named are when making the sign of the cross and the fact that they are known as the Holy Trinity. 

Reading:  This week we begin our reading series.  As we read through this series the students will be reading one or two stories a week and completing workbook pages that introduce new skills and enhance old ones.  Our stories also have vocabulary words that the students will be encouraged to recognize as we read the week’s story and use while doing daily work.  These words are not part of the weekly spelling test.  The vocabulary  words will also be listed on the weekly homework sheet.  We ask that as you and your child are reading each night you also identify the vocabulary words if they appear in the story. 

Our first two stories are “Our Mom and Dad and Animal Moms and Dads.”  The vocabulary words for this week are   two, our, her and they.  The skills that we will be working on this week are rhyme, sound of  short o in words, learning about nonfiction stories, adding the ending -ed to words, identifying the main ideas in our stories.  We will also be reviewing the parts of a sentence.   

Grammar/ Spelling:  This week the first graders will be learning the sound of the blend /ch/.  As we work with this blend the students will see that it can be found at the beginning and ending of words.  The students will become more comfortable with the structure sentences.  They will be working on understanding how sentences are put together to state an idea, express an emotion,  or ask a question.     

Our spelling words for this week are if, chicken, he, she, hot, lunch, blot, chest, chips, much.  Our first spelling test was a great success for the students.  Please continue spending time each night reviewing these words. 

English:  We will be reviewing the skills that were introduced during the first two weeks of school.  These skills were nouns, verbs and the five parts of a sentence.  All these skills were taught through explanations and jingles.  We will then talk about labeling the different words in sentences.  The students  will label the subject/nouns, verbs and tell whether or not the sentence is complete or incomplete to begin with.

Math:  The students will continue to work with addition problems as two parts equaling a whole.  As they become comfortable with this concept, the students will begin to break apart whole numbers into the two parts thus creating subtraction problems using the same three numbers they used to make the additon problems.  The students are working on this skills using workmats that have three boxes labeled part, part, whole, chips to represent the numbers they are adding together and dice to find the numbers they will add together.  All these things can be made or found at home for further practice.

Science:  This week we will be investigating fruits and veggies and classifying them into many different categories (ex… peel, non peel).

Social Studies:  The students will be learning the importance of following rules and routines  in many different kinds of settings.  As a class we will talk about the rules and routines we need to follow at home, around our communities, at school, and  in the classroom.    

 

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First Grade News for the week of August 29th to September 2nd

By Lisa Gearen | Published: August 28, 2011

Welcome to First Grade!  Mrs. Schaefer and I are really looking forward to a year filled with learning and excitement.  Mrs. Schaefer is joined by Miss Cox for the beginning of the year.  Miss Cox is doing a student teaching experience.

Religion:  This week in Religion we will be talking about the fact that God created people and the world around us.  We will also be looking at the special gifts that He gave each of us and ways we can enhance these gifts.  One very special gift that God gave us is our families and friends.  During the week we will talk about these people and why they are special to us.

Reading:  During the first few weeks of school the students will be learning and practicing the correct formation of all letters (both Capital and lower case) and numbers.  The students will be encouraged to start the letters as the top and when called for letter are one piece.  Homework will also involve handwriting practice.  As the homework is being done please encourage your child to start the letters at the top and make them one piece.  Working together through out the year will help the students relearn the handwriting skill in the appropriate manner.

Grammar/Spelling:  This week the students will review these skills the sound of the blend sh, identify where a capital letter belongs in a sentence and words.  The students will also have their first spelling test this Friday.  Our spelling test consists of ten words and three dictation sentences that are posted in the room for the students to see all week.  Our spelling words are  am, get, clap, ship, fish, shut, wish, I the, and shampoo.  Our weekly spelling words will also be listed on our homework sheet that will be sent home every Monday in your child’s folder.

English:  This week in English the students will learn the five pieces of a complete sentence – capital letters, nouns,  verbs, make sense and end with one of three ending marks.  They will also learn about nouns and verbs and their jobs in a sentence.  The students will learn these concepts in a variety of ways the first being by listening to jingles that explain what they are.

Math:  The First graders this week will begin a unit about addition of numbers 0 – 10. The students will learn how to break apart an addition problem into three parts.  The first two parts are the two numbers known as the addens.  The last part is known as the whole or the sum of the problem.  (Ex:  part + part = whole)   To reinforce this concept we will be working with work mats that are labeled part, part, whole.  Along with the work mats, the students will use chips to represent the numbers they are adding together.  We feel that hands on activities in Math help our students grasp concepts quickly.

Science:  The students will be learning about living and nonliving things.  We will be classifying different things into these two sections.  After classifying them we will be talking about what living things need to survive.

Social Studies:  Through out the year the students will be meeting some historical figures.  The first person they will be learning about is Carl S. Toltz.  Along with meeting Carl S. Toltz, the students will be comparing and contrasting family life today with the way families were years ago.

SPECIAL THINGS TO REMEMBER THIS WEEK:

Tuesday, August 3oth:  All school Mass at 9:00 am.  Please talk with your child about appropriate Mass behavior.  We have been doing this in the classrooms as well.

Thursday, September 1st:  Our first book order is due today.

Friday, September 2nd:  Spelling test

Monday, September 5th:  NO SCHOOL – Labor Day   Enjoy the long weekend.

Thank you to all our parents who have signed up to do lunch duty.  We know your time is valuable  and we appreciate you spending it with us.

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