NOVEMBER
NEWS
Brooke Grove
Elementary School
Olney, Maryland
November
First Grade
First Grade Newsletter
Introduction
GET READY! Parent Teacher Conferences
are coming up! We will meet with every
parent on November 11th and 12th. If you
have not set up a time to meet with your
child’s teacher, please do so as soon as
possible. This is a most important time for
you to meet and talk with your child’s
teacher. At this time we will share your child’s
first Report Card for first grade, their reading
level and we will discuss their progress in all
areas of the curriculum.
Additionally, please be sure to check
over your child’s homework each night. Even
if it is done at daycare, you should see it. We
really appreciate those parents who are
reviewing the children’s work, helping them
read all sight words on their papers and to
finish anything incomplete and return it to
their teachers.
Many thanks,
Ellen Herron
MaryKay Hirsch
Kathleen Schwartz
VaRysa Williams
Mindy Oxman
Reading
We will be working to identify the main idea
of both fiction and non-fiction books. We are
also working on other story elements such as
setting, characters, problem and solution. We
will learn about using context clues,
remembering key details and retelling the
story. When we read non-fiction, we use the
various text features to get information about
the topic. The text features we have covered
include: Table of Contents, Index, diagrams,
headings, captions and glossary. Help your
child find these features in the books they
read at home.
Math
In the second marking period the focus will
be on place value, demonstration of
decomposing (taking numbers apart) and
composing (putting numbers together) with
two digit numbers. Ex. 20=2+18
We are also learning how to make
both sides of an equal sign balance. For
example: 4 + 2 = ___ + 3.
Fact families are here too! Given the
fact family of 5,2 and 3 the children need to
write the 4 related facts:
2 + 3 = 5,
3+2=5
5–3=2
5–2=3
Writing
The children are writing on many topics that
relate to our studies in Science and Social
Studies. We will be writing about how people
live, work, and play, around the world as well
as in our own families. We recently finished
writing a book review! We will continue to
work on composing complete sentences, and
adding details. Organization of written pieces
will always be a focus.
First Grade Newsletter Page 2
Science & Social Studies
In Social Studies, We are talking about
cultures around the world. We are sharing
our own family traditions too.
In Science we will make observations of
items in motion and we will write about
what we see. We will be exploring how
different conditions effect the movement of
an object. We will be developing a bank of
words that describe various types of
motion: spinning, zigzag, push, pull, rolling,
flipping etc.
Reminders to Students
 Continue to practice reading and
writing word wall words
 Practice your addition and
subtraction facts
 Go for the gold has begun!
READ! READ! READ!
Help Needed!
Now that colder weather is here coats fill our
coatrooms. Your child should be able to put
their coats on themselves, including zippers,
snaps etc. Be sure to put your child’s
name in their coat. Hats and gloves should
go into pockets! If your child cannot tie yet
please start working on that. We encourage
children to help other boys and girls, but
those who can take care of themselves are
very proud of their self-reliance.
Upcoming Events
No School
Monday, November 2, 2015
Parent Teacher Conferences
*Half day for students*
Wednesday & Thursday, November 11 &
12, 2015
Half Day
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
Days off School

Thursday & Friday, November 26 & 27,
2015
Thank You
Reminders to Parents
Please check to make sure you know the
date of your child’s conference. Feel free
to contact your child’s teacher with any
questions or clarification.
Special thank you to all of the families who
were able to join us at the Halloween Party and
parade! We had a wonderful turn out and it was
great to see you all again! Additionally, thank
you to all for your continual support inside and
outside of the classroom. We wish all of you a
wonderful Thanksgiving holiday full of good
times with your families and friends!