1. First Grade Newsletter September 26th -30th 2016 Mrs. Frost
We ♥ Math
This week, we are jumping into addition. Attached are some math games to play together to encourage learning. Please try playing a few of these games this week. Have fun! 
Mark Your Calendars
September 26th - Happy Birthday Jonny Appleseed!
September 27th – Chapters One and Two Religion test. Please review your study guide this evening.
October 3rd – Reading Logs are due
October 14th – No School for students. Teacher retreat.
Into good study habits!
Art Project
We have a special art project planned to celebrate Halloween. For this project, each student will need to bring in a glass jar (a spaghetti sauce jar is preferred). Please clean it thoroughly and remove the label. Put your child’s name on the bottom. Thank you!
Jars are due on or before Monday, October 10th.
Planning Ahead
October is national fire prevention month. Please check your smoke detectors and have a family meeting to discuss and practice your emergency exit process.
Friendly Reminders
We are very busy in 1st grade! Please make sure your child is getting an ample amount of sleep. A nutritious breakfast and healthy snacks fuel the body for focused learning!
If you have not already done so, please label your child’s belongings such as: their lunch tote, water bottle, jacket, sweatshirt, etc. Thank you!
Please remember to check our school’s website for upcoming events and school news. For your convenience, my webpage contains an additional copy of the newsletter (which includes the weekly spelling and sight words), our reading strategies, and the first grade handbook.

2. Curriculum Notes
Math: This week, we will be diving into addition! We will focus on addition strategies and facts to 12. Encourage your child to circle the largest number in an addition problem and then count on to add the smaller number.
Reading: Our word focus will be on short o. We will read our third whole group story: The Big Blue Ox. Our spelling words will be generated from our weekly story. Our spelling test will be on Friday. The below spelling words were sent home on Friday. Practice the list of short o sight words that were also sent home on Friday. When time allows, go back and review previous week’s sight words to ensure mastery. We will also focus on fall poems and stories to improve reading fluency.
Grammar and Writing: We will continue to focus on sentences. We will discuss types of sentences, the parts of a sentence, word order, and correct punctuation. I highly encourage you to have your child practice writing complete sentences at home. Keeping a journal at home or writing a letter to a friend or family member are great ways to make writing fun while also practicing handwriting! 
Religion: Students will complete the Chapter One and Two assessment on Tuesday. A study guide was sent home last week. We will begin Chapter Three, Jesus Grew Up in a Family, on Wednesday.
Social Studies and Science: All About Fall!!! As a whole class, we will celebrate Jonny Appleseed’s birthday. We will also begin to learn about pumpkins. In addition, we will discuss why leaves change color in the fall. It’s going to be a fun-filled week!
Always make your bed! If your child is commonly reversing their b’s and d’s, try having them write the word bed on the top of their paper to serve as a visual reminder Or… Think honey bee. Remind your child that they have to make the letter h first when forming the letter b. I hope these tricks come in handy!!
Short o Spelling Words
mom ox hot lock hop
mop pot got pop rock
High-Frequency Words:
help use
Challenge Words:
clock frog stop job

3. Family Game Ideas!
Fast Facts with Dominoes – Turn a set of dominoes face down and take turns selecting a domino. Whoever says the sum first, wins the domino. Whoever has the most dominos at the end of the game, wins!
Roll it, Say it and Score a Point – Roll two dice and add them together. The first person to say the sum aloud scores a point. The first person to score ten points, wins!
Fast Facts with Cards – Use a set of playing cards, remove all face cards, and split the deck in half. Each player gets half of the deck. At the same time, each player will flip over a card to reveal the number. Whoever says the sum of the two cards first, wins the cards. Whoever has the most cards at the end of the game, wins!
Beach Ball Fun! – Write addition facts on a beach ball, pass the ball and answer the addition fact your right hand lands on. This game could also be a great way to practice sight words!
B. Frost 2016

4. 2 + 5 = 7 Counting Patterns Practice
Please practice the following counting patterns with your child. Try reviewing them each day in the car on your way to/from school or activities. Thank you! 
Counting by 5s to at least 50
Counting by 10s to 100
Counting backwards from at least 20
Math Vocabulary Addition
Common language:
Addend + Addend = Sum This is a descriptive math sentence that illustrates the concept of addition.
Addend – a number to be added.
Sum – the answer in addition.
Plus (+) – the word (and symbol) that means to add.
Altogether – in all
Part + Part = Whole This is also a descriptive math sentence that summarizes the concept of addition.
Encourage your child to circle or say the largest addend in an addition problem. Then, count on to add the smaller addend.
= 7
Example: I would say “5” aloud and circle it. Then, I would count on.. “6,7”.

5. High-Frequency Words:
Happy Fall!
Short o spelling words
mom ox hot lock hop
mop pot got pop rock
High-Frequency Words:
help use
Challenge Words:
clock frog stop job
Friendly Reminder…
Don’t forget to complete your reading log. Reading logs are due on Monday.
Please practice the attached short o sight words. 

6. ___ ot
dot
got
hot
lot
not
tot
plot
knot
pot
___ock
dock
lock
rock
flock
knock
block
clock
sock
____og
bog
dog
fog
frog
clog
smog
hog
jog

7. ____ob ___op drop flop cob crop hop job plop knob shop prop mop sob
More -op
drop
crop
plop
prop
___op
flop
hop
shop
mop
cop
chop
top
stop
____ob
cob
job
knob
sob
rob
glob
slob
mob
___ox
box
fox
lox ox