Welcome to First Grade at Goshen!
We had a great first week together, and we are
looking forward to a wonderful year! At the
beginning of each month, we will send home our
grade-level newsletter to keep you informed and
involved in our first grade program here at Goshen.
If you would prefer to receive it electronically, please
indicate so on the little RSVP slip that is attached.
Our curriculum for first grade, which is called
Curriculum 2.0, focuses on an instructional sequence
that maximizes the natural connections among the
different content areas of mathematics, language arts,
science, social studies, health, and the arts. It also
develops critical and creative thinking as well as the
academic success skills that enable our students to
attain the “Seven Keys to College Readiness” by the
end of high school. This curriculum has its basis in
the “The Common Core Standards in Reading and
Math,” which were created by a consortium of 48
states to ensure that all students are well prepared for
the increasing demands in today’s international
workplace.
We look forward to a fun, safe, and productive year
of learning, loving, and laughing  with your
children and working cooperatively with all of you!
Sincerely,
Your First Grade Team
Mrs. Czarnopys, Mr. Clark, Ms. Kim,
Mrs. Luckenbaugh, Mrs. Mutiga, and Mrs. Robeson
Sept. 1 – Labor Day – No School for Students & Staff
2 – Volunteer Orientation 6:30
PTA Meeting @ 7:00 pm in the media center
4 – Back-to-School Picnic @ 5-7 pm on the playground
24 – Half-Day for Students – Dismissal @ 1:00 pm
25 – Rosh Hashanah - No School for Students & Staff
26--PTA Movie Night @7:00
Oct. 2 --PTA Movie Night Raindate
13-- Open House
16-- Student Pictures
Happy
September Birthdays to…
Kylin White 8th
Kamila Diaz Mendez 13th
Henry Giffin 13th
Yvetter Larios 13th
Kailey Adams 17th
Noah Trice 26th
Marcus Kisner 27th
Remember to bring your library books on the
following book exchange days…
Mondays – Mr. Clark and Mrs. Czarnopys’ classes
Wednesdays – Mrs. Luckenbaugh and Mrs. Mutiga’s classes
Thursdays – Ms. Kim’s class
Friday- Mrs. Robeson’s class
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Our first graders will be reading and writing every
day. The model that we follow includes daily whole
group language arts focus lessons, lessons in phonics, Our first unit in math this year deals with number sense. Our
word work, and oral language, small group guided students need to be able to…
 count to 120,
reading lessons, and a writing workshop period. We
 recognize and name all numbers in this range,
present our students with weekly sets of five “Word
 identify numbers that come before, after, and inWall” words, 1-2 poems, and a phonogram family to
between other numbers in this range, and
learn and use in their daily reading and writing. Please
 tell if a certain number is greater than or less
look for these things in your child’s weekly homework
than another number.
packets and then practice them at home.
Later this month, our students will also be focusing
on the works of children’s author, Kevin Henkes.
Our first grade students love both his stories and his
illustrations. Many of his books include characters
that are mice, including Wemberly Worried, Chester’s
Way, Chrysanthemum, and Lilly’s Purple Plastic
Purse. Be sure to ask your child about his or her
favorite. These books also make great gifts for
birthdays and holidays – you may want to consider
buying them for your child!
A great way to practice these skills at home is to play games
with your children. Card games like War and Go Fish, board
games that use dice and spinners like Sorry and Chutes &
Ladders, and games like Dominoes are all fantastic and fun ways
for our kids to practice their math skills at home!
While we are focusing on strengthening “number sense” there
are many games and activities that can help with practicing basic
math facts, but flashcards are still probably the best (not to
mention the cheapest!) way to practice daily. We will be focusing
on fluency with facts during marking period 2, and we will send
home facts for you to practice at that time.
Our students can also log on to the Harcourt textbook website
and practice facts in all four operations on the computer. The
website is www.harcourtschool.com, and the password is
“andrews.” In addition, this site has lots of practice problems,
activities, and games for many different topics in math – fractions,
telling time, counting money, measurement, skip counting,
estimation, graphing, and 2-D and 3-D geometry. Please feel free
In science, we are learning about the living and safe to allow your child to use any of these activities to
things on our planet, particularly those in our local practice his/her skills and strategies in mathematics.
environment. Our students will sort living things
from non-living things and tell how they are similar
to and different from each other. We will list the
conditions needed for life, including water, food,
air, shelter, and space. We will collect some
species from our playground to observe in the
classroom. And finally, we will also discuss the
need for safety and protection when handling living
creatures.
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
Check your child’s white Goshen Grizzly folder
every night, and then please return this to
school every morning.

If you are sending in money for your child’s
lunch account, please place it in a sealed
envelope and write your child’s full name and PIN
on the front.

Be sure to return all three forms sent home last
week – the student information sheet, the
parent-child reunification form, and the optional
student information form for your child’s
homeroom teacher.

Please help us to keep all toys and trinkets at
home.
These types of items disturb our
classroom learning.

All first graders should be reading every night
for 10-20 minutes.
This can be done
independently (silently or aloud) or with an adult.

After he receives it from his reading teacher,
please be sure that your child brings his book
baggie with his guided reading books back to
school every day.

Look at your child’s calendar daily. Ask him or
her if they earned paw prints and for which
behavior expectations.
Discuss any color
changes that occurred throughout the day.
Please contact your child’s teacher if you need
more clarification.
In social studies, we are brainstorming the
rules needed in an orderly, safe, and productive
classroom, and then comparing them to the laws
needed in an orderly, safe, and productive
community. Our students are thinking and talking
about what makes a rule or law fair and just. We
are also discussing the possible consequences for
someone caught not following these rules or laws.
To help manage student behavior in our
classrooms, we are using a variety of materials,
including our daily behavior calendars, various
incentives, green Grizzly Grams, yellow Grizzly
Notes, and weekly Bonus Bucks again this year.
Our students will be able to shop at the Dollar Den
with their earned bonus bucks on Friday
afternoons.
o
We can always use your help! Parent Volunteer sign
ups went home. But if you find that you have more time
to share at any point, please contact your child’s teacher.
In addition, if you are interested in coming in to be a
“guest reader”, be sure to let your child’s homeroom
teacher know. Students love to have their parents come
in to read!
----------------------------------------------(Cut and send back to your child’s teacher)
_______I am interested in receiving a paper copy of these
monthly newsletters.
Name____________________________________
Child______________________________________
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