1. First Grade Homework & Classroom News:
Sept 25th- Sept 29th
Word families
Words that include the short
vowel sound and ending blends
(examples)
nd (hand)
nk (bunk)
nt (mint)
mp (jump)
st (first)
lf (self)
lp (help)
lt (belt)
sp (wasp)
Homework Menu:
Choose one appetizer and one main course to do for homework every night. If you are still hungry for practice, help yourself to some dessert!
Appetizer (5 minutes)
Practice any of the listed Daily Math skills
Write an interrogative sentence ( a question) about something Write some word family words in a fun way (write them on a white board, draw them in sand, build them with playdoh, etc.)
Main Course(15 minutes)
Read a “just-right book” to a stuffed animal or a family member for 13 minutes. Spend 2 minutes discussing the main idea and supporting details found in the text.
Dessert (10 minutes)
Write about sounds that you observed today in your planner
Go on to the class website and explore some of the ELA and Math games linked on the Web Resources page.
Daily Math skills:
Say, show, or write different ways to make numbers within 10.
write subtraction sentences and solve within 10 in the horizontal and also the vertical format
Grab one handful of small items and take some away write a number sentence to match (12 pennies - 5 pennies = 7 pennies)
Create your own story problems using subtraction within 20 and have someone in your family solve them!
STEM focus and Words of the week
Questions:
What are unique properties of light? What kind of human-made products create light? How do our eyes work? Why does light travel in waves?
Words to know: energy, light, refraction, reflection, lens, mirror

2. Homework and Newsletter
Sept 25th- Sept 29th
A note from the teachers…
Hello scorpion families! We are continuing our exploration of light and sound energies this week. We are building a communication tool using cups and sound and transitioning from sound to a focus on light energy. We will also be learning more about how we see and the ways light can travel. Our focus of the week is short vowel u and ending (or final) consonant blends. (A final consonant blend is when two consonants come together and you can hear each letter sound when the word is stretched out junk, sand, champ.) Our math focus for the week will be on subtraction fluency and solving subtraction story problems. As always, please contact us with any questions or comments. We love teaching your kids!
Sincerely, Mrs. Swartz and Mrs. Watson.
Upcoming Events:
October 5th- STEM extravaganza night 6-8 pm
October 10th-13th-Parent teacher conferences and 1:30 dismissal each day
October 11th- PTO event at Oro Valley Panera (Yum)
October 16th-20th- Fall Break (No school)
Friday, November 3rd-Innovation Academy’s Fall Festival
Star Students: 
Mrs. Watson’s class: Lydia is kind and thoughtful of others and always tries her best.
Jake has been working hard and persevering through difficult tasks.
Mrs. Swartz’s class: Lillian has been participating so much during class discussion and sharing her awesome ideas with others!
Blake did such a wonderful job sharing his circuit board project with our class! He was brave and was patient when our class had lots of questions 
Special Birthdays:
9/20- Wakely (Mrs. Watson)
10/1-Dazyln (Mrs. Swartz)

3. The following pages are NOT REQUIRED but are here if you would like to use them with your child 

5. You can use this page to record the answers of the subtraction flash cards