First Grade Newsletter, Volume 6
YG First Grade Newsletter
October 1, 2007 Volume 6
Parents, Thanks for Coming to Curriculum Night.
Twenty stalwart families attended curriculum last Thursday night. The highlight was definitely Sayaka Sensei’s brochure featuring children’s artwork adorning her classroom.
Students have been learning patterning in Math. They have made striking bulletinboards featuring their happy smiles at their “desks”, handprint leaves on a floor to ceiling tree, along with origami morning glory flowers gracing the hallway outside the class. In Nancy Sensei’s classroom, parents were shown the class website on the 4j /YG school website. Featured pages included a calendar of events, homework assignments, curriculum, a class blog site as well as featured technology links. Several pages of first grade activities can be viewed in a slide show format. Families can feel free to copy and print photographs of their children. The headings of the other pages will give you an idea of activities to expect during our 2007-8 school year. Outside Nancy Sensei’s classroom, parents saw a game board completed by first graders featuring their favorite colors, pizza topping, animals, subject in school and holiday. The game involved finding other students with similar favorites and asking them to sign their gameboard. Black and white photographs were framed with the students’ favorite colors. Homework Credit.
Students receive their homework packets on Mondays in their homework folders. Also included in the folder are a parent instruction sheet, Reading Record sheet, and sometimes a Family Math Homelink. Completed English homework is due back on school on Friday. Incomplete work can be turned in on Monday. Please send a note on Friday letting Nancy Sensei know when we can expect it. Japanese Homework will be kept over the weekend, starting this week, and turned in on Mondays. If your child is having difficulty with the level or amount of homework, we can make accommodations to meet their rate and level of learning.
Yellow Slips and Blue SlipsMissed work due to absences or unfocused work habits during class time will be yellow slipped and sent home to be corrected and completed in a timely manner and returned to school with the yellow slip attached. Yellow slipped work that is not returned to school in a timely manner will result in students missing one of their technology or P.E. periods to work on unfinished work in class. P E. time is increased by 50 minutes this year from last year. Students all will have a minimum of an hour of P. E. a week. As far as technology, that also has increased from 35 minutes last year to 70-110 minutes this year. Students are working on reading and math concepts. which are pre-taught or reinforced in the computer lab to support our reading & math program.
Blue slips will be brought home daily by students since there is new work to be done each day. Starting from this week, some students are asked to use their phonic lessons words in creating original sentences and poems. Capitals, periods, and correct D’nealian penmanship will be encouraged. Please congratulate your child for bringing home those blue slips which they are to share with you what they did/learned in class each day. We value students completing work neatly and accurately each day. Don’t forget to add those sharing minutes to the monthly reading record.
Houghton Mifflin Reading Program
It is good to be done with the Kindergarten Review. The First Grade Theme 1 Week 1 had “Cats” as it’s organizing feature. Students had available to read up to sixteen books/stories this week for the theme. Vocabulary books, Phonics Books (5 stories), Leveled Books (4), Anthology stories (3), the Big Book and two Independent reading stories made the sixteen story selections. It was a challenge to keep track of which teacher; Jeanne, Ruby, Marilyn, Nancy or a parent was leading which of our four groups per classroom. Week 2 letters are included in this week’s homework packet. Dogs, school and poetry are the featured themes. Thistledown Farms
Parents, please check your calendars for your availability. 
Thanks to the Seno, Wu and McCool Family, we have available 14 seatbelts for the field trip. Sayaka Sensei and Nancy Sensei will add seven or eight more seatbelts. We require 24 more seatbelts for everyone to be able to go. We would like to save our bus trip allotment for longer field trips to which both classes attend (Mt. Pisgah, UO Natural History Museum, Public Works). Single class field trips without enough drivers will have some students remaining at YG and learning with the other class while part of the class represents the first grader, attends the scheduled trip and reports back to the rest of the class. In such cases, students will take turns attending trips. Driver’s children will be invited to attend trips for which their parents are available to drive. We welcome grandparents as field trip drivers as well.
Thanks to the Seno, Wu and McCool Family, we have available 14 seatbelts for the field trip. Sayaka Sensei and Nancy Sensei will add seven or eight more seatbelts. We require 24 more seatbelts for everyone to be able to go. We would like to save our bus trip allotment for longer field trips to which both classes attend (Mt. Pisgah, UO Natural History Museum, Public Works). Single class field trips without enough drivers will have some students remaining at YG and learning with the other class while part of the class represents the first grader, attends the scheduled trip and reports back to the rest of the class. In such cases, students will take turns attending trips. Driver’s children will be invited to attend trips for which their parents are available to drive. We welcome grandparents as field trip drivers as well.
Room ParentsThank you to Tammy Goss (Tyler) and Pam Quan (Claire) for being our room parents. Please support them when they call..If you have ideas for our Halloween Party, please contact them.
Monday, October 1, 2007
