Week of October 1st

Sacred Heart Academy

First Grade Curriculum Update

Dear Parents,                                                                                   September 30, 2012

Please make sure that your fabulous first grader goes over these areas of study with you this week.

Virtue of the Month: *Self-control and Self-discipline

Saxon Math: Lessons 17-20: Write the numbers 16 through 19; Addition and subtraction, Counting up from a random number; More than/less than; Left/right; Ordinal numbers- 1^st, 2^nd, last, etc.; Most/more than; Problem solving – dogs and dog beds; Math assessment #3; Pennies and Math centers in the classroom

History/Geography: *Ocean habitats on a map; *Maps and map legends

                                   

Religion: God Gives Us Peace; Wednesday-Class Mass @ 8:00

Science: *Missing letter Rainforest booklets; *Desert habitat booklets and introduction of *Ocean habitats

Literature: *The Frog Prince, How Anansi Got Stories from the Sky God and teacher “October-themed” selections;  *Poetry- My Shadow by Robert Louis Stevenson

Reading: Reading Centers: Individual and Group Reading with the teacher, SSR – Student Silent Reading, Buddy Reading (with other 1^st graders and with our 4^th grade Reading Buddies) and Listening Center

Saxon Phonics: Worksheets 16-19: Trace/Print consonants Ff (fish), Hh (hat), Gg (goat – hard Gg) and Rr (rabbit); schwa pronunciation of a (/u/); Identify letter sounds and code vowels and consonants; Identify and/or match pictures with corresponding sound of each letter and/or matching letter. 

Spelling:  Spelling List #1; Rainbow words, ABC order; Spelling Pre-Test on Thursday; Spelling test on Friday (IF 100% score on Thursday – free choice silent read or free draw during Friday’s test;) Around the World (sight word and spelling words) and/or Sight word /Spelling word Bingo

Language Arts: Capitals, periods, question marks and exclamation marks – “Oh my!!!”

Art: * October themes art and crafts

News to Know:

First Field Trip (1^st/3^rd grade classes) –

San Diego Natural History Museum - Habitats

Wednesday, October 10^th

*Any outstanding field trip permission slips and/or field trip payments are due October 3^rd.

I will be contacting drivers/chaperones by the afternoon. Of Monday, October 1^st.  Thank you for offering to volunteer. 

ITBS testing: 1st graders will be taking the ITBS this year from October 8^th to the 17^th.  (We will have a break in testing in October 10^th for our field trip.)  PLEASE have your child well rested and fed and to school on time.  These are the best ways in which to prepare your child for standardized testing.  IF a child is late, they will not be able to be admitted into class until a natural break in the testing process – end of a whole class test or for snack/recess.  Parents, please note that any doctor’s appointments, etc. should be not planned during this time.  I appreciate your support.

Continued gratitude for the class wipes.  I think we are good until 2013, or the next request/call out for more! 

A BIG thanks you to the FitzMaurice family for their donation of more Apple computers.  We are hoping these will bring us up to speed with our class computer center. 

I put a request in for the “Sharky Snack Shack” to be stored in 1^st grade after our fun movie night on Saturday!  We will now have a store in which to count out our pennies for Math and for our future practice store for all coins and dollar bills.  Please “Pardon Our Dust” as we make space for our classroom additions!

Last, but not least, MANY heartfelt thanks to all of you for making my birthday so very wonderful!  Your child and your families are the true gifts in my life!  I am sincerely moved by your generosity and warmth. XO