Welcome to First Grade
by Dory Olsen
Welcome to First Grade
I’m so looking forward to the school year and having your child in my classroom. So much growth happens in first grade.
Phonics and reading are a vital part of first grade. Most students go from non-readers to readers. We have an intense phonics program. Saxon phonics is a systematic and sequential approach to better help your child decode words. The skills your child learns in class is carried over with homework that evening. It is very important to check their work before your child returns it to school the next day. Your child will learn such things as: macrons, breves, blends, digraphs, diphthongs, final stable syllables, schwas, and cedillas.
Your child will be involved in Saxon Math as well. It is also a sequential and systematic program. Among some of the things your child will be learning are strategies to help with their math fact skills. They will learn doubles, doubles plus one, adding one and two, and combinations. They also graph the weather, look for patterns, and learn problem solving strategies. The material covered is done in class, and they will also be responsible for homework that has been learned in class. Again, it is important to check their homework before it is returned to class.
I also have home reading. The children choose a book to read at their level and bring it home to read to parents. I usually start this after the first two weeks of school.
In science we learn the seasons and the changes that take place. We also are involved in IDL’s. ( Interactive Distance Learning) and do hands on activities which are viewed on the smartboard.
Throughout the year your child will participate in DIBELS testing. It is a timed test that follows your child’s growth in phonemic awareness, nonsense words, and fluency. MAPS testing will be given two times during the year to monitor math and reading skills.
I look forward to the coming school year. See you there!!!
