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First Grade
Mrs. Mary Jo Bokuniewicz
Dear First Grade Families: Welcome back from a "Springlike" weekend! I hope everyone was able to get out on Saturday and enjoy the beautiful sunshine. As the weather is getting warmer our hibernating friends are getting ready to wake up! In fact, next we will be having our Spring picnic to celebrate our friends waking up from hibernation. As the season is getting ready to change we are starting to see some changes in our busy bees. In fact, I can see many signs that we are getting closer to being second graders. I was very proud of our class participation in the Mass on Friday. Their singing and joy was contagious and they definitely behaved like second graders. The children were also complimented on their wonderful behavior on the Field Trip! This will be a busy week in the hive as we begin our preparations for International Week. We will be devoting next week's Social Studies lessons to learning more about life in Madagascar and Science will be devoted to learning more about the environment and animals there. More details on costumes and other details of the week will be coming home later this week. The weather interruptions and extra activities over the last two weeks caused a slight disruption in our homework schedule. As you know homework is reinforcement of what is taught and worked on in class. Due to these interruptions our schedule was effected and therefore some of the planned homework was not assigned on the days listed in the newsletter. As this might happen from time to time please be sure to review your child's planner each night This week we are bringing back the Daily Practice Packet. There will be several different packets; your child will receive a packet based on the area they would benefit getting extra help in or for enrichment purposes. The packets each focus on a specific area, either Math, Spelling or Grammar. Please remember that the packet is intended to be done throughout the week. Please do not have your child complete the entire packet in one day. We have had some confusion with lunches recently. Please remember that hot lunch is served on Wednesday and Friday only. Please make sure to send in a lunch with your child on the other days or days that they have not signed up to receive hot lunch. Concerns regarding hot lunch should be directed to Mrs. Pincus. Another round of applause is in order for our busy bees! As of last Friday we have read over 1,200 books!! As our class goal is 2,500 we are almost at the half way point. It wouldn't surprise me if we don't reach this goal by middle of the week. We will be having a special celebration to mark this amazing reading achievement! We began our journey with Jesus with the Stations of the Cross last week. We will be talking about several of the Stations each week through Holy Week. We will continue to talk about ways to walk in Jesus' footsteps through our Christian acts of love. Thank you for your support of our missions. God bless you during this Lenten season! Mrs. Bee
Congratulations! Our busy readers have now read over a total of 1,200 books! We will be having a special celebration when we reach the half way point...which will probably be this week!! Details will be sent home in advance. Friday D.E.A.R. Bring your stuffed friend to school.
Homework and Classroom Highlights
Monday...Math and Spelling Tuesday...Reading Comprehension and Math Wednesday...Grammar and Study Religion Thursday...Study Spelling
Don't forget 100 book club! (Read at least 15 minutes each night).
DAILY PRACTICE this week... Each child will bring home a daily practice packet this week. Packets will focus on one of the following skills...Math, Spelling, or Grammar.
Religion... We continue our focus on Lent this week. We will be working on Chapter 19 that encourages Jesus' Church to help the world. This goes on along with our Lenten lessons. We will be learning about how Jesus calls all church members to love and serve others, to support the missionary work of the Church. We will be doing a special project to help remind us to think of others during Lent. Math…This week we will be working on Time and Calendar skills. We will finish up the week with a review and then take a test on our Money, Time, and Calendar skills next week. We then start working with Geometry. Please remember that we continue to work with our Math Facts. Reading... .We will be reading "Me on the Map". We used this story as a read aloud earlier in the year when we began working with maps in Social Studies. The children will be doing some cross curricular activities in Social Studies related to this story. Our focus skill for this week will be classifying and putting information into categories. This will complicate our writing skills, especially as we do more report writing. We will also continue our salute to Dr. Seuss. Don't forget each student is invited to bring a small to medium sized stuffed friend to read with on Friday afternoon. Grammar, Phonics and Spelling…This week we focus on the long /a/ sound and the spelling rule of "Magic Silent e". Our words will have the ending "e" which will tell the "a" to say its name in our spelling words. In Grammar we will focus on writing using I and me. This week's spelling words are: came, game, gate, late, lake, take, me, feet, know, also. Social Studies…This week we will finish up our unit on communities. We will also be focusing on our map skills. We will be working with reading and creating maps. Science…We will be moving on to the unit about the Earth. This will take us through the celebration of Earth day in April. First Grade Sayings and Wisdom “Knowledge is power, but enthusiasm pulls the switch."
Supplies Three PRIMARY (D'Nealian) ruled writing tablets Four Sturdy Folders with bottom pockets (no trapper folders)--any design **(Label these "Homework", "Classwork", "Specials", "Projects") Four Sturdy Folders with bottom pockets (no trapper folders)--solid color, no design **(Label these "Parent Review", "Centers", "Writing Workshop", "Reading Workshop") One Package of 3 x 5 ruled index cards One Package of 5 x 8 or 4 x 6 unruled index cards One Letter Size Clipboard One Small (5" x 7") Clipboard One Plastic Supply Box (inside of desk is 4" tall and 18" deep) One Box Crayons--24 Count Standard Colors (no metallic, smelly, or glitter) One Dozen Sharpened #2 Pencils (standard yellow, no decorative pencils) Two Sharpened Red Pencils Two Pink Pearl Erasers One Pair of Primary Scissors One 8 oz. Bottle of Elmer's Glue Three Large Glue Sticks One Thick Highlighter (Yellow, Blue, or Pink) One package of 12 count Colored Pencils, Sharpened One package of Thick, Washable Markers One package of standard Watercolors with brush One 12" Ruler (standard and metric) One 6" Ruler (standard and metric) One small bottle of antibacterial, waterless soap One large solid Navy T-shirt (to be used as smock for art and science projects) One Backpack (no wheels...these do not fit in lockers) One Lunch box/bag PLEASE LABEL ALL SUPPLIES WITH YOUR CHILD'S NAME (Not all supplies will be kept in the supply box for daily use. A separate container, labeled with your child's name, will be kept in a cabinet. This container will be used to keep "extra" supplies, such as the extra pencils, glue sticks, eraser, etc. We ask for all the supplies at the beginning of school so that they are readily available when your child needs them.) Classroom Supplies Donation--Thank You!! Boys 1 Container of Antibacterial Wipes 1 Roll of Paper Towels 1 Box of Tissues 1 Box of Ziploc Bags (Quart Size) 1 Package of Brown Lunch Bags A few brown grocery bags
Girls 1 Container of Antibacterial Wipes 1 Roll of Paper Towels 1 Box of Tissues 1 Box of Ziploc Bags (Gallon Size) 1 Package of Colored Tissue Paper A few plastic grocery bags
When shopping back to school sales you might want to consider purchasing the following items to have at home for homework and practice.
* Addition/Subtraction Flashcards (or index cards to make your own) * Index cards (to make spelling, vocabulary, etc. flashcards) * Pair of dice and/or set of dominoes (for math games and math fact practice) * D'Nealian Writing Tablet * #2 pencils and erasers * crayons, color pencils and/or markers * glue stick; small bottle of glue * Student Dictionary (to help with writing later in the year) * folder to keep newsletters, homework tips, etc.
Mrs. Bokuniewicz’s First Grade Summer Reading List
Favorite Authors –These will be found in the Picture Book section of a bookstore or library (alphabetical by author’s last name). Stories, by the authors listed below, make great read aloud books for family members.
Aesop Aliki Mem Fox Don Freeman Ezra Jack Keats Bill Martin, Jr. Mercer Mayer William Steig Harriet Ziefert Rosemary Wells Joy Cowley Kevin Henkes Max Lucado Eric Carle Frank Asch Tomie dePaola Lois Ehlert Dennis Fleming James Herriot Steven Kellogg H.A. Reys Robert Munsch Patricia Polacco Laura Numeroff Robert McCloskey Syd Hoff Arnold Lobel Cynthia Rylant
Favorite Characters – Stories for these characters will usually be grouped together.
Arthur by Marc Brown Clifford by Norman Bridwell Franklin by Paulette Bourgeois Little Bill by Bill Cosby Curious George by H.A. Rey Frog and Toad by Arnold Lobel Berenstein Bears by Stan Berenstein Little Bear by Maurice Sendak Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parish Henry and Mudge by Cynthia Rylant Nate the Great by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat Mr. Putter and Tabby by Cynthia Rylant Poppleton by Cynthia Rylant
Stories to promote character education/values:
RESPECTStellaluna by Cannon Chrysanthemem by Henkes Big Al by Yoshi Frederick by Lionni HONESTY Too Many Tamales by Soto A Birthday for Frances by Hoban The Berenstein Bears and the Truth by Berenstain A Big, Fat, Enormous Lie by Sharmat
COMPASSIONNow One Foot, Now the Other by de Paola Nana Upstairs, Nana Downstairs by de Paola Be Good to Eddie Lee by Fleming Through Grandpa’s Eyes by Machlachlan
GENEROSITYThe Giving Tree by Silverstein The Doorbell Rang by Hutchins The Wednesday Surprise by Williams The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear by Wood
ACCEPTANCEThe Berenstein Bears’ New Neighbors by Berenstain The Big Orange Splot by Pinkwater Arthurs’ Tooth by Brown What is the Sign for Friend? By Greenburg
FRIENDSHIPGeorge and Martha by Marshall The Berenstein Bears Get In a Fight by Berenstain Best Friends by Kellogg Frog and Toad Are Friends by Lobel Ira Sleeps Over by Waber
COOPERATIONA Chair for My Mother by Williams Frederick by Lionni The Little Red Hen by Galdone Swimmy by Lionni
PERSEVERANCEAmazing Grace by Hoffman The Carrot Seed by Krauss Mirette on the High Wire by McCully Brave Irene by Steig
RESPONSIBILITYArthur’s Pet Business by Brown The Berenstein Bears and the Messy Room by Berestain Just A Mess by Mayer
SELF-DISCIPLINEArthur’s Teacher Trouble by Brown King Midas and the Golden Touch by Hewitt The Berenstein Bears and the Bad Habit by Berenstain I Was So Mad by Mayer
CLASSICS for Ages 5-8Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Viorst The Cat in the Hat by Seuss Harold and the Purple Crayon by Johnson The Story of Babar, the Little Elephant by de Brunhoff The Velveteen Rabbit by Williams Where the Wild Things Are by Sendak
These books can be found at the C.H. Booth Library in Newtown (to make your search easy I have included the “call number” for each book). Would You Rather… John Burningham E BUR Frozen Noses Jan Carr E CAR Dad and Me Peter Catalanotto E CAT I Hate to Go to Bed Katie Davis E DAV Alphabet Under Construction Denise Fleming E FLE Little Dog and Duncan Kristine O’Connell George E GEO Nicky and the Big, Bad Wolves Valerie Gorbachev E GOR Cat Up a Tree John and Ann Hassett E HAS Katy No Pockets Emmy Payne E PAY Henry and Mudge Cynthia Rylant E RYL Mr. Putter and Tabby Cynthia Rylant ER RYL Poppleton Cynthia Rylant ER RYL Lionel Stephen Krensky ER KRE Alphabet Roger Pare ER PAR The Kite Mary Packard ER PAC Elephants Jo Ann Early Macken ER MAC Pig Picnic Patricia Hubbel ER HUB Minnie and Moo Cazet ER CAZ Apples Here! Will Hubbel E HUB Ten Red Apples Pat Hutchins E HUT Fall Is Not Easy Marty Kelley E KEL It’s My Birthday Pat Hutchins E HUT There’s Nothing to D-O-O-O! Judith Mathews E MAT All for One Jill Murphy E MUR My Freight Train Michael Rex E REX My Race Car Michael Rex E REX My Fire Engine Michael Rex E REX Grunt John Richardson E RIC A Book of Letters Ken Wilson-Max E WIL A to Z Summer Tracy Nelson Maurer E MAU Rookie Readers and Welcome Books are two great series for beginning readers. These are just a few (there are also Rookie Readers Read About Holidays and Geography) that can be found at the C.H. Booth Library under the following call numbers (author): ER ABR (Abraham) ER AMA (Amato) ER BRI (Brimmer) ER BRE (Bredeson) ER DOU (Douglas) ER BUR (Burke) ER FOL (Foley) ER ECK (Eckart) ER HUG (Hughes) ER HIL (Hill) ER MIL (Miller) ER KOT (Kottke) ER WIN (Winne) ER WAL (Walker) ER THO (Thomas) ER OTT (Otter) ER PIC (Pickering) ER SNY (Snyder) ER SAL (Salzmann) ER MOL (Molter)
Other Series to try, also available at the Booth Library—Phonics Readers, A Compass Point Early Reader, Weekly Reader, My First Reader and Brand New Readers, listed by call number (author):
ER BAL (Ballard) ER FLA (Flanagan) ER ROO (Root) ER SCH (Schubert) ER HEN (Hennessy) ER FRI (Friend) ER MAC (Macken) ER PAC (Packard) ER PAR (Pare) ER RAU (Rau)
If you will be traveling this summer or just keeping busy around Newtown, here are a few activities students will enjoy. Have your child take pictures of their favorite vacation spots, friends and family that they visit or might come to visit them. When the pictures get developed let your child create their own vacation picture book complete with captions. Have your child keep a travel log. Using a journal or notebook, let your child create a page for each letter of the alphabet. As they enjoy summer activites, let them keep a list of things they do and see. See if they can come up with at least one item for each letter of the alphabet by the first day of school. Even a trip to the mall can provide learning fun this summer. Why not go shopping for words? Before going to the mall, make a list of five easy-to-find words for your child to look for while shopping. Words can include: entrance, push, pull, exit, shoes, parking, etc. Read the list out loud and give it to your child as you enter the mall. Challenge your child to find each word before you leave. Cross off or highlight each word as they find it. Can't visit a favorite relative or friend? Have your child create a phone list. Let them write the numbers and dial the phone to make the calls. This is great for practicing number formation and number order. Make sure to remind them of your rules for using the phone. Have your child keep a weekly calendar. Let them write in the days of the week and then draw/write the activity that is planned for each day or let them record a favorite activity from the day each evening. This is great practice for learning the days of the week.
Summer is a great time to enjoy God's many, awesome creations. Take a visit to the library... ...select a book about insects or animals. Then take a discovery walk through your backyard or visit a park. See how many different insects you can find. Talk about what special job each insect has. Take a trip to the zoo. Talk about how God made each animal special and unique. Which animals do you think Noah took on the ark? ...select a book about weather. Keep a weather log for a week. Draw/write about the weather each day. Share a Bible story, like Noah's Ark. ...select a folktale from another country or a book about children from another country. Talk about how God made us all unique, and each one of us is special. Have your child draw/write about what makes them special. How does God want us to treat people who are different from us? After enjoying the beautiful world God has given us, don't forget to celebrate Mass each week this summer and say a prayer of thanks. There are some wonderful children's Bibles and Bible story books available. Read stories from both the Old and New Testament. This is a good time to have your child practice the Sign of the Cross, Our Father and Hail Mary. A rainy day is a good day for a Veggie Tale movie. Stop by your local video store and pickup a Veggie Tale video. Don't forget to learn the Veggie Tale song, we like to sing this in first grade!
Math fun... Practice skip counting by 2s to 20 and 5s to 50. Have your child tell you numbers that are missing in a sequence. Start with numbers to 20. Make a number line on the driveway. Hop forward as you count to 10. Hop backwards as you count back to 0. Ask your family to save their extra pennies and nickels. Practice counting them and make exchanges. Write your numbers from 0 to 25. While taking a walk or riding in a car, see how many different shapes you can find. Make a grid of numbers from 0 to 25. When riding in the car, cross off each number as you see it on a sign, license plate, mailbox, etc. see how fast you can get all 26.
The summer reading list for incoming first graders will be distributed at the end of the current school year. In addition to reading suggestions, here are a few resources that are good for practicing skills acquired in Kindergarten and learning a few new skills to prepare for First Grade. These are available at the local bookstores and/or The Teacher-Parent Store in Danbury. Summer Bridge Books by Rainbow Publishers...*Transition Workbook for *Kindergarteners going to 1st Grade. *This publisher also makes small individual workbooks that focus on one skill area. Summer Smarts by Evan Moor. This is also a good transition workbook. Getting Ready for First Grade by Scholastic. There are many small individual workbooks available through various publishers. Many of these are available at The Teacher-Parent Store in Danbury, Barnes and Nobles has also recently published their own individual books. These cost between $2.00 and $3.00 each and are highly recommended for those students who need to focus on a specific skill.
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