Third Quarter of First Grade!

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

Congratulations to every member of our class for meeting their 100% AR reading goal for the second quarter!  We celebrated with ice cream and story time with Mr. Robert from the Rowan Public library.  Students meeting 150% of their goal also received a week homework pass and an additional recess time! 

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

Third Quarter Curriculum

As you can see below, third quarter curriculum is very demanding! Students must follow classroom procedures, pay attention, and stay on task in order to meet academic expectations.  

Phonics - Long vowels sounds with silent e; contractions; compound words; soft c and g; final blends -nd, -ng, -nk, -ft, -lk, -nt; vowel pairs ai, ay, ea, ee, oa, oo, ow, ue; and base words with endings -s, -ed, -ing. 

Reading - Reading and spelling high frequency words 51 through 75 (will, up, other, about, out, many, then, them, these, so, some, her, would, make, like, him, into, time, has, look, two, more, write, go, see).  Developing reading comprehension skills, such as monitoring/clarifying, summarizing, noting details, making predictions, problem solving, sequence of events, fantasy vs. realism, and categorizing/classifying.  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 - Your child's third quarter reading level and point goals have been sent home, as well as their STAR reading test results.  (The STAR reading test determines your child's reading level.)  In addition to meeting the point goal, reading comprehension must be at least 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.  New for Third Quarter:  Parent signature will not be required prior to students taking tests.  Discuss this with your child and encourage him/her not to take a test until he/she has read the book several times!  AR reports will be sent home on Fridays.

Writing - During the third 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.  By this time of the school year, students should be using elaboration when writing, which means longer sentences with more details.  For example, instead of writing "I saw a cat.", students should be able to write "I looked out my window and saw an orange cat sitting on the fence." 

Math - Comparing and ordering numbers to 75.  Knowing numbers and number words to 75.  Understanding place value (ones and tens).  Estimating quantities to 75.  Counting by 2s, 5s, and 10s.  Developing FLUENCY with single-digit addition and subtraction.  Solving word problems that require addition, subtraction, and fair shares.  Measuring length, capacity, and mass with nonstandard units.  Identifying, naming, and building geometric figures.  Collecting, organizing, and describing data using line plots and tallies.  Describing events as certain, impossible, more likely, and less likely.  Sorting and classifying objects by two attributes.  Using Venn diagrams to show similarities and differences in two sets.  Creating and extending patterns and identify pattern units. 

Science and Social Studies - Understanding balance, motion, and weighing of objects.  Applying basic economic concepts to home, school, and community.  Understanding solid earth materials.

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