Happy New Year! We look forward to a great
2016 with a lots of learning and fun. We have
just two more weeks of Quarter 2, and then
Quarter 3 will begin.
In reading, our first graders are working hard
to become better readers in their individual
reading groups. We have been learning to
comprehend literary books, by identifying
their main story elements -characters,
settings, problems, and solutions and
discussing details from these stories. Please
have our students also identify these four main
story elements in the books that they are
reading at home.
In writing, we are continuingto write personal
narratives. We will write about a special
moment in each of our lives. We will create a
timeline of the special events in first grade,
such as our Gaver’s Tree Farm field trip,
gingerbread houses, and math wristband
assemblies. Each student will choose one of
these events and then describe it in sequential
order, using sensory details as well as an
introductory and a concluding sentence. We
will then move on to informational writing.
Each child will write about a special place and
use facts and details to describe this place.
In math, we are beginning to learn how to add
three numbers together. Our
students
will
use
many
different strategies when
adding these three addends.
We will then work on linear
measurement. Our students
will compare the lengths of various objects and
then use non-standard units to measure the
actual lengths of these objects. These nonstandard objects include items such as paper
clips, popsicle sticks, and Unifix Cubes. Students
will also compare the lengths of two objects
indirectly by using a third object.
In science, we are continuing our unit on
magnetism and observing magnets’ effects on
different metallic objects. We will also study
ways to stay healthy and avoid spreading germs.
This will be very helpful during the winter cold
and flu season! We will then examine materials
that make up the natural features of our Earth’s
surface, such as rocks, sand,
and soil.
In social studies, we will
next be examining and
comparing the similarities and differences of
people and objects from the past and the
present.
We will also learn about physical
(natural) and human-made features by examining
items such as landforms, climate, vegetation,
structures, bodies of water, and animal life. We
will use geographic tools, such as maps, globes,
and compasses, to locate and describe various
places around the world.
Jan. 4 Return after Winter Break
Jan. 4
mClass testing begins
Jan. 5 PTA Mtg. @ 7:00

Regular practice (10-20 minutes per night) is essential
Jan. 5 MAP Window Opens
Jan. 9 Clothing/Book Extravaganza @ 9:00
for the growth of their reading skills.

Heritage Night @ 6:30
Jan. 22
MP2 Ends
Jan. 25 Professional Day/ Report Card
Preparation
Jan. 26
forgot his/her password.

Don’t forget to sign the top page of your child’s
completed homework packet and have your child
return this page every Friday.

If you are sending in money for your child’s lunch
account, please place it in a sealed envelope and write
his/her full name and PIN on the front.

Please be sure that your child wears an appropriate
winter coat, hat, gloves, etc. every day because we
do go outside for recess whenever it is 32°F or higher.

If there is a change in your child’s emergency
contact information, please inform your child’s
teacher of the changes, so that this information can
be can be updated in the main office.

All of our classrooms can use replenishments of
tissues, sharpened pencils, and rectangular pink
erasers. Please keep us in mind when you are out
shopping. Thank you in advance!
MP3 Starts
Sarah Mack: Jan. 6th
Giovanni Coreas: Jan. 21th
Abraham Siddiqui Jan. 26th
Tiara Thomas: Jan. 26th
Kayla Poku: Jan. 31st
Help our children practice their math skills using their
ixl accounts. Please let your child’s teacher know if you
Jan. 18 No School in observance of Martin
Luther King, Jr.’s Birthday
Jan. 21
Our children should continue to read every night!
Thank you for all you do
to support us in helping
your children!
2
Creative Thinking &
Academic Success
Skills
While your children have been
taking intellectual risks and
showing fluent thinking across
all subjects during MP2, we will
be working with new critical
thinking and academic success skills in the third
quarter. Our Quarter 3 critical thinking focus
will be synthesis. Students will be putting
parts together to build their understanding of
a whole concept or to form a new or unique
whole.
Students will integrate ideas,
information, and theories to invent or devise
solutions.
Our academic success skills for Quarter 3 are
motivation, effort, and persistence. Our
students will work diligently and apply
effective strategies to achieve a goal or to
solve a problem. They will continue on to solve
problems when faced with obstacles and
challenges.
Synthesis, motivation, effort, and persistence
will be incorporated into all subject areas and
activities throughout the upcoming quarter.
News from Our Specialists…
Music
Information Literacy
In the weeks after Winter Break, our students will use
“Pixie” and other digital tools to add details to their
personal narratives and publish them.
Art
In January with Mrs. Raker,First graders
will focus on using basic shapes
combined to make images while
looking at how shapes can be put
together to create animals. Student will
use texture plates, crayons and
markers to fill in the color. We will then start off third
quarter with a clay unit by expanding on our pinch pot
knowledge from last year while making pinch pot
animals!
Art with Mrs. Newman…
This past month has seen most of our students learning about
painting. We have learned about use and care of our painting
materials through our friend named Buddy Brush. We clean our
brushes with a chanted technique called “Swish, swish, swich,
Dab, dab, dab, and Pat, pat, pat”. Your child will be delighted to
show you what he or she understands about these. We “Mix and
stir, and stir and mix, till all the streaks and swirls are
gone”….when mixing paint colors. We have been learning much
about color theory. Kindergarten students have been learning about
the importance of including a background in paintings; they
complete the image, and they tell more about where the subject,
birds, butterflies, are. First graders have learned about selfportraiture, how to draw and paint in a large scale (something
which must be taught, it’s not inherent with youngsters), and the
role of a background in painted works. Second graders have
learned about seascapes and landscapes, distance and a horizon
line, the visual and real difference between air and water (water is
much more dense, hence water is darker than air). Third Graders
have learned about mosaic art. Each student made a mosaic picture
of an animal. In this lesson, your students learned about color
mixing, complementary colors, and value.Your students have
enjoyed their art learning, and it is a pleasure to work with them!
Students will work on performing the
steady beat on classroom instruments. First grade will Physical Education
continue to work on identifying musical opposites:
In Physical Education, grade one is finishing up
fast/slow, loud/soft, high/low, and long/short. We
the effects of exercise on the body. Next they
will also start working on reading simple rhythm and
will work on the fundamentals of jumping and
pitch patterns.
landing.
3
4

Have your child write thank you notes, holiday cards, or letters to relatives over the break.
This is a great and fun opportunity to practice our writing and handwriting skills over the
winter break.

Turn off the TV and have some family reading time! Take time to share and discuss your
favorite books with your kids. Read to your children and model fluency, and enhance their
vocabulary by explaining new words.

Take time to visit the library or bookstore over the break and read some great books.
Books make great holiday gifts!

Use the computer for educational activities. Visit some of the math websites included in
this newsletter. Students also can visit www.starfall.com for reading activities.

Make the most out of car rides by practicing addition and subtraction basic facts and word
problems. Have your child locate numbers on license plates and identify the place value of
each number (hundreds, tens, and ones).

Have fun doing some holiday cooking and following recipes with your kids. What a great
opportunity to practice measuring skills and fractional parts of a cup, pint, etc.!

Play some card or board games. These reinforce counting and number skills as well as
making our kids think logically and strategically. This is a great way to feed and stretch
their brains!
Math Web Sites for our upcoming units
Measurement Games:
http://www.pbs.org/parents/earlymath/grades_games_timetomove.html
http://www.funbrain.com/measure/
http://pbskids.org/clifford/games/measuring_up.html
http://pbskids.org/clifford/games/whichclifford-game.html
http://pbskids.org/curiousgeorge/games/how_tall/how_tall.html
http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/length strength4/
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