St. Michael First Grade
December 9th - December 13th

Important News

• I need to assess each student over his/her ability to recite the Our Father correctly.  I will be doing this on Thursday, December 12th.  Please help your child practice saying the Our Father on his/her own before December 12th.  
• December 11th will be an early release day.  Students will be dismissed at 2:47p.m. 
• The Christmas Program will be on December 12th.  Information about the program and the dress code for the program went home already.
• I am doing middle of the year assessments with the students over the next couple of weeks.  I will send home reports as soon as I have everything finished.
• The students exchanged names in their school family groups on Wednesday.  A note should have come home in their green folders telling you the name of the child to buy a gift for and the grade he/she is in.  The gifts should be around $5 and must be sent to school by December 13th.  Please make sure to wrap the present and put a gift tag on stating the name of the person it is for, your child's name, and the family number.  If you have any questions or did not receive your child's note, please let me know right away and I will take care of it.

What's Happening in Academics?
Reading: On Monday we will read and discuss "Life at Home", beginning on page 74.  This reading book will come home on Monday for you to listen to your child read to you.  Please make sure you send the book back on Tuesday morning because we will need it for class.  On Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday we will read and discuss "Long Ago and Now", beginning on page 74.  This book will come home on Wednesday for you to listen to your child read and discuss the story.  Please return the book the next day.

Comprehension Focus: We will practice comparing and contrasting.

High Frequency Words: ago, old, people, boy, how, girl
Your child will be assessed over these words on Friday.  He/she will simply need to read the words to me. 

Phonics: We will be working on words that have a long "o" and a long "u" sound.  

Math:  We will begin chapter 5, which covers place value.  We are also doing a weekly review to make sure we do not forget concepts learned already this year and in kindergarten.

Writing: We will continue working with present, past, and future tense verbs.

Spelling:  hope, nose, note, rope, cute, cube, ago, people        Our spelling test will be on Friday.  The students will be told a word and then they will have to write it on their paper.  The first six words are based on a phonics skill that will be practiced in our reading book.  The last two words are from our high frequency words for the week.

Religion: We will continue studying Advent and getting ourselves ready for Christmas.  We will also begin chapter 10, which discusses Jesus sending the Holy Spirit. 

Science: We will begin a new unit on Earth and Space science.  We will begin by looking at the changes in seasons and the differences in day and night.

Social Studies: We will continue unit 2, which discusses where we live and map skills.


Important Dates
December 11th - Early Release Day
December 12th Christmas Program
December 13th - Family Gift Exchange presents due