To Mrs. Brown's First Grade News
updated 1-10-2010

  Dear Parents,
Happy New Year to all of you. This is the most important time of the year for school children. They should be settled into their classroom routines, well rested, and ready to work very hard. There was a bit of opposition to work this week as many had a hard time shifting from vacation to school. I trust next week will be better. You can help your child by making sure he/she has plenty of rest, eats healthy, and gets fresh air and exercise. Practice reading with your child nightly and check his/her math homework for accuracy.

Another Scholastic book order is coming home. I will order the books on Wednesday, January 21. If you miss that date, you will have to wait for the next book order. It is too much work to keep putting in late  orders. Please remember to make your check out to Scholastic or send cash. We cannot cash checks made out to me or to the school.

 Thank you for sending in snacks and drinks for your child. It is a long morning before they get lunch (12:40). Snacks are usually between 9:15 and 10:15. If your child does not have anything and does not have access to the cafeteria program, I will usually have something on hand and water is always available for a drink. We have access to fruit or veggies on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Thank you to all  who are taking the time to help your child with math homework. The homework reflects the lesson of the day. Once I introduce a concept, it is very helpful for you to follow-up with the homework assignment. Children needs lots of practice and this reinforces important skills and concepts.

Your child should be taking home a book he/she has read in guided reading group. The book has been read at least twice during the week with me and at least twice independently by your child before going home. If the book belongs to the school or me, it will be in a plastic bag and is expected back at school the next day. If it is a paper copy, your child may keep the book for their home library.

We are studying some geography throughout the year. This will go along with our study of day/night and the sun, moon, and earth. If you go on a trip or have a relative that lives in another state or country, we would love to receive a post card from that place. We do not want post cards that have been collected on trips. We would like to see the postmark for the state or country it is being sent from. Post cards will be displayed on a bulletin board in the hall around maps of the world, the USA, and the State of Maine. The children will find the place the cards were sent from. If we get too many from one place, we will read them, find their origin and then send the extras home with the child whose relative sent them. Please make sure to have the sender identify the child they are connected to and please make sure the message is appropriate for first grade children. I have had to put some post cards away and not share them because the content or pictures have been inappropriate for six and seven year olds. Please send the post cards to: Mrs. Brown's First Grade, Dike Newell School, 3 Wright Drive, Bath, ME 04530.  We want to receive the mail at school.


We have now prepared three recipes for nutritious snacks. Each time we cook, I give your child a recipe card to take home. We read the recipe as part of our reading instruction. Did you know that as adults, we read for instructions/directions more than we read for pleasure? We are learning strategies for reading for instructions/directions. Please help your child find a place to collect recipes and encourage him/her to cook with supervision. Children love to cook and it does not have to be difficult. The "Ants and a Log", the "Graham Cracker Snack", and the "Chicken Vegetable Soup" have been big hits.  We also had exotic fruits just before our holiday break. One of my reading groups recently read directions on how to assemble a grow light stand. I handed them the written directions and left them on their own to figure it out. They put it together and delivered it to Mrs. Henrikson's class so they could grow an amaryllis. I am very proud of those young readers!

As always, please send a note, email, or call and leave a message with Mrs. Burgess if you have questions, need to come in for a conference, or just want to communicate something important. I want you to feel a part of our classroom and your child's education. Parents are the first and most important teacher a child has.

wb 


  




 
Last updated
1-10-2010