Glen Haven Elementary School
First Grade Eagles
Great Beginnings!
Welcome to the 2009-2010 school year!
We hope you all had a wonderful and relaxing summer. We anticipate a year full of learning and fun.
The first grade team will send home
newsletters once a month to keep you informed of
things going on in your child’s classroom. Feel free
to come to us with any questions or concerns you
may have about your child. You can contact us at
the school by calling (301)649-8051.
September 2009
Special points of interest:
 Reading and Writing
We would like to welcome two new
teachers to the first grade team. This year, our
team includes Mrs. Damaris Encarnacion, Ms. Gloria Han, Ms. Brittany Hoover, Ms. Jennifer Martin, and Ms. Stephanie Talley. Our grade is supported by Mr. Eric Lynn and Ms. Karen Lovejoy.
 Math
The first grade team looks forward to a
successful year!
Reading and Writing
As the first quarter begins, we will
review before, during and after reading strategies that will help your child better understand
the text that they are reading. We will then
concentrate our learning and instruction on
story elements. These elements include the
characters, setting, problem and solution in a
story.
This month students will take the
MClass Primary Reading Assessment to will determine student’s reading levels. Testing will
begin on September 1st. We are looking forward
to the many gains the students will make during
this quarter in reading.
In writing, we will focus on writing for
personal expression. We will begin this quarter by
providing the students with a variety of strategies to begin writing. Throughout the year, we will
focus on the writing process. In addition to these
strategies, you will also see a variety of BCR’s
(Brief Constructed Response) coming home. Your
child will work on these assignments in addition to
other free writing themes. We are looking forward to the progress they will make in writing.
In order to help your child at home, you can
continue reading with them as much as possible.
Make sure your children read 20 minutes daily.
Inside this issue:
Reading and Writing
1
Math
2
Calendar of Events
2
September 2009
Sun
Mon
Schedule of Events
 September 7-No School, Labor Day
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
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 September 9-Back to School Night
 September 28- No School, Yom Kippur
Math
In Mrs. Encarnacion and Ms. Talley’s classes, we
will begin our quarter one math unit with a brief review of addition strategies. We will then explore place value. Your child will
use place value to read and write numbers to
1,000. In class we will use blocks to model numbers. We will also identify the place value of
digits in a 3-digit number. We will focus on two
essential questions in September. These questions are How does the position of a digit in a
number affect its value? and In what different
ways can numbers be grouped?
In Ms. Han, Ms. Hoover, and Ms. Martin’s classes, we will focus on number sense in
unit 1. Students will solve addition and subtraction word problems using pictures, identify
missing numbers, count by 1’s, 2,’s, and 5’s and
determine whether numbers are greater than,
less than, or equal to one another. Students will also have to
identify and create patterns.
tive that your child master his or her basic facts in order to be
successful in his or her academic career. We are going to work
on harder concepts in class and having the foundation of basic
addition and subtraction facts will make understanding and applying their knowledge
much easier. We use a variety of methods to
reinforce these facts at school. Flash cards
are wonderful to help practice at home.
In order to help your child with this
unit, you could ask questions about place value
at home. Ask the students what number is in
the ones, tens and hundreds place of 3-digit
numbers. Another wonderful way to help
them at home is to review their homework
with them. If you ever have any questions
about the homework, please feel free to contact your child’s teacher at school.
With everyone working together it is sure to be an exciting and enriching year.
We will focus on the basic facts this year. The year will begin
with addition facts and end with subtraction facts. It is imperaPage 2
First Grade Contact Information
Glen Haven Elementary School
Glen Haven Elementary School
10900 Inwood Ave.
Silver Spring, MD 20902
Phone: 301-649-8051
Fax: 301-649-8054
Email:
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]