Second Quarter of First Grade!

Millbridge's Theme for 2009-2010:  Be A Seed, Read!

Thank you to the parents that attended our First Grade Curriculum Night!  As you learned, the curriculum we cover in first grade is demanding and rigorous!  Thank you also for attending our Parent/Teacher conferences.  We had 100% participation!

Class Birthdays:

•   Felicia    Aug. 6
•   Kayla     Sept. 16
•   Seth      Sept. 20
•   Lillian     Oct. 13
•   Allison    Nov. 1
•   Jason     Nov. 4
•   Kaydee    Nov. 7
•   Elizabeth Nov. 21
•   Jared     Dec. 13
•   Jacob     Dec. 24
•   Kelsey     Dec. 31
•   Jordan    Dec. 31 
•   Addison   Jan. 31
•   Josh       Feb. 1
•   Tyler      Feb. 16
•   Gage       Feb. 22
•   Logan      Apr. 2
•   Haley      Apr. 27
•   Skylar     May 14
•   Carson     May 19
•   Eli         June 15
•   Hayden    June 16 
•   Sydney    July 1

Second Quarter Curriculum

We will be learning many new skills this quarter.  Students must follow classroom procedures, pay attention, and stay on task in order to meet academic expectations.  

Phonics - Long vowels sounds; possessives with 's; verb endings -s, -ed, and -ing; blends -ch, -sh, -th, -wh; blends with -r and -l; double consonants -ck, -ff, -gg, -ll, -nn, -ss, -tt; plurals with -s; and review of short vowels sounds.

Reading - Reading and spelling high frequency words 26 through 50 (or, one, had, by, word, but, not, what, all were, we, when, your, can, said, there, use, an, each, which, she, do how, their, if).  Developing reading comprehension skills, such as predicting, recognizing parts of the story, summarizing, and retelling in sequence.  Please work on retelling at home after your child has read with you!  Ask them to close the book and tell you the characters and the setting.  Then tell what happened first, next, and next until the ending.  Remind them to include as many details as possible.

Accelerated Reading - All students met their AR goal for the first quarter and are participating in our First Grade First Quarter AR Celebration on November 10, 2009.  During Parent/Teacher conferences, your child's second quarter reading level and point goals were reviewed.  Comprehension must be at 80%.  Please read library books nightly with your child.  Use the discussion questions listed on the AR reading log inside the Take Home Reading folder to review the book with your child.  Initial when your child is ready to take an AR test.  AR reports will be sent home on Fridays.

Writing - During the second quarter, we will continue to focus on writing small moment stories with at least five sentences.  Complete sentences should include proper capitalization and punctuation, a naming part (noun), an action part (verb), and describing words.  Students should begin writing extended and combined sentences.  High frequency words should be spelled correctly.  Encourage your child to stretch out the sounds of unknown words to spell on his/her own.  First graders also using drawings to help tell their stories.  Drawings should match their stories and contain settings and true to life details.  

Math - Comparing and ordering numbers to 50.  Knowing numbers and number words to 50.  Understanding place value (ones and tens).  Estimating quantities to 50.  Counting by 2s, 5s, and 10s.  Subtracting from sums of 12 using strategies such as the number line, crossing out, and counting back.  Adding to sums of 12 using strategies such as the number line and counting on.  Creating and extending AAB, ABB, and AABB patterns.  Solving word problems.

Science and Social Studies - Special Holidays and Celebrations, including Thanksgiving and Pilgrims and Indians; Symbols of American and North Carolina;  Changes from the Past to the Present; and Animals and Their Needs

Thank you for your support!  If you have any questions or concerns, please e-mail me at dixonlm@rss.k12.nc.us.