1st Grade

First Grade Newsletter 2025-2026

Reading Summary of Module 7 The Big Outdoors: Over the course of Module 7 (we will not be doing module 6) we will read texts that will help us answer the following

Essential Question: How do things in nature change? We will develop and work on the following reading skills and strategies: Ideas and Support, Text Organization, Make Inferences, Point of View, Setting, Monitor and Clarify, Topic and Central Idea, Summarize, Synthesize, and Content-Area.

 

                                                              

Home Connection: Have your child read nonfiction books at home and look for areas that give an author’s opinion. What evidence supports their opinion? Additionally, use context clues to define words they do not know and go back into the reading to clarify confusing parts. Have your child also read fiction books and identify the point of view and setting in a story.    

Reading Summary of Module 8 Tell Me a Story: Over the course of Module 8 we will read texts that will help us answer the following  Essential Question: What lessons can we learn 

from stories?  We will develop and work on the following reading skills and strategies: Theme, Synthesize, Central Idea, Character, Setting, Elements of Drama, Point of View, Text & Graphic Features, Connections.

 

                                                                

Home Connection: Have your child read fiction books and identify the point of view and setting in a story. Also, have them identify any text and graphic features they notice. How does that help them understand what they are reading?

Summary of Module 7: Informational Writing   

Writing: Over the course of Module 7 we will refer to this focus statement: Take a walk in Nature! We will read the focus text: Ask Me to help us write a poem about nature. We will learn about elements of poetry and different nouns that we see and like in nature. Students will write a poem that is either free verse or rhyme about something in nature that they like. We will start by creating a class poem together. After, students will brainstorm a topic in nature and begin to gather ideas together to create their poem. Students will use nouns, action verbs, and describing words that relate to their topic to create their poem. We will follow the writing process: pre-write, draft, revise & edit, publish, and share our writing.

Home Connection: Have your child pay attention to things in nature when you are out and about (trees, clouds, birds, flowers, etc). Have them write details to describe those things in nature using their 5 senses. Have your child think of action words that may go along with certain things in nature (bees - buzzing, butterflies -fluttering). Have your child create their own nature poem at home using the ideas they came up with. Challenge your child to include rhyming words in the poem.

Summary of Module 8:  

Writing: Over the course of Module 8 we will read the focal text: The Kissing Hand to help us write a personal narrative.  A personal narrative is a story a person writes about something that really happened to them. We will be drafting a personal narrative about someone who helped us solve a problem. The students will work on brainstorming different experiences in their life that they can write a story about. They will think about who was there, where it happened, what happened (events) and their feelings throughout the experience. We will work on developing our writing skills and strategies by using the elements of a narrative. We will follow the writing process: pre-write, draft, revise & edit, publish, and share our writing.

Home Connection: Have your child use a prompt from their homework to write a personal narrative.  Then, have them write a paragraph (at least 5 sentences) about something that happened to them.  You can then review their work to make sure they have capital letters at the beginning of each sentence and punctuation at the end of each sentence.

Math Curriculum: 

Module 3 

In this unit, students will build on what they learned in Module 2. They will use place value to help them add and subtract within 100. Students will begin practicing how to add and subtract tens with cubes/base ten blocks to represent tens before learning how to draw quick tens. Students will also utilize the hundreds chart as a tool to demonstrate ten more or ten less; students will be able to visualize how numbers grow as they apply the “counting on” strategy to greater numbers. Students will compare two digit numbers based on the meanings of the tens and ones digits using greater than, less than, or equal to. In addition to the new strategies, the students will continue to solve problems in multiple ways to ensure that they understand the concept. They will use their strategy chart to help label their work and take a step forward to explain how they came to their answer. 

Home Connection: As your child is working on math at home, please have your child try their best with the new strategy being taught. For example, if the lesson target is focusing on place value; direct your child to use the place value chart and any other hands-on tools that are given during this module. Our goal is for your child to be able to use multiple strategies to foster conceptual understanding. Also, guide your child to use the strategy chart that is presented in the math slideshow to help label all the strategies that they are using during the problem of the day. This way, your child will become more aware of the math vocabulary and be able to speak on how they solved the problem in various ways. In addition, encourage your child to explain their work to someone in the home. They can practice by saying “ the steps I took were,” “my answer is,” “ I know because ___.” 

Also, students can practice mastering their skills following their individualized Skill Plan on IXL.

Science: Light and Sound

In this exciting unit, your child will explore the fascinating world of light and sound! Through hands-on activities and experiments, they’ll discover how light helps us see and how sound lets us hear the world around us. They'll investigate how light travels, how shadows are made, and how different objects produce sounds. By the end of the unit, your child will have a deeper understanding of these essential forces and how they affect our daily lives. Get ready for a fun, engaging journey into the science of light and sound!

 

Scientific Skills Developed:

In the "Light and Sound" unit for Grade 1, students will develop a variety of important scientific skills, including:

1. Observation: Students will observe how light and sound behave, noticing patterns like how light creates shadows and how sounds change based on different objects.
   
   
2. Prediction: They will predict outcomes, such as how different materials will affect light or sound, and test their ideas through hands-on experiments.
   
   
3. Exploration and Investigation: Through activities, students will explore how light travels, how sound is produced, and how both affect the environment around them.
   
   
4. Data Collection and Communication: Students will collect information from their experiments and share their findings, building skills in how to record and communicate scientific observations.
   
   
5. Problem-Solving: They will solve simple problems, like how to make a sound louder or how to block light, developing critical thinking skills.

 

Home Connection: 

Shadow Play: Use a flashlight at home to create shadows on the wall. Experiment with different objects to see how they change the size and shape of the shadow. Discuss how shadows are formed when light is blocked.

Sound Exploration: Listen for different sounds around the house, like the ticking of a clock, the ringing of a doorbell, or the sound of a spoon tapping on a bowl. Talk about what makes these sounds and how sound travels through the air.

Create a Sound Band: Use everyday objects (pots, pans, rubber bands, cups, etc.) to make different sounds. Explore how tapping, rubbing, or plucking the objects changes the sound. Discuss how vibrations cause sound.

Light Walk: Take a walk outside at different times of day (morning, afternoon, evening) to notice how the sunlight changes. Talk about the importance of light for seeing and how the angle of the sun affects shadows.

Sound Scavenger Hunt: Go on a sound scavenger hunt in your neighborhood or home. Make a list of different sounds you hear, and talk about whether the sounds are loud or soft, high or low.

Vocabulary: 

• Light: The energy that helps us see things, like sunlight or a lamp.
  
  

• Sound: A noise we hear, made when things move or vibrate.
  
  
• Shadow: A dark shape made when something blocks light.
  
  
• Vibration: A quick movement back and forth that makes sound.
  
  
• Reflect: When light bounces off an object, like a mirror.

            Pitch: How high or low a sound is.

 

Social Studies "Communities and Citizenship"

In this unit, your child will explore the concept of community and learn about the roles and responsibilities of citizens. They will discover what makes a community, how communities work together, and why it's important to follow rules. Through engaging activities, your child will understand how individuals contribute to their community and how they can make positive choices. This unit will help foster a sense of belonging and responsibility while encouraging active participation in their own communities.

Key Concepts:

Community: A group of people who live or work together in a specific area and share common interests and goals.

Roles and Responsibilities: The different jobs or tasks people do in a community, and how they help make the community work well.

Rules and Laws: The guidelines that help keep people safe and ensure fairness in the community.

Citizenship: The rights and duties of being a member of a community, including following rules, helping others, and participating in activities.

Helping Others: How individuals can contribute to their community by being kind, helping neighbors, and working together.

Making Choices: Understanding how the choices we make can affect our community and how to make positive decisions.

Home Connection:

Community Walk: Take a walk around your neighborhood and talk about the different types of people who help make the community work, such as teachers, police officers, or grocery store workers. Discuss the roles they play.

Family Rules: Discuss the rules your family has at home, like cleaning up after yourself or sharing. Talk about why these rules are important for keeping the home happy and safe, just like rules in a community.

Help a Neighbor: Encourage your child to help a neighbor with something simple, like watering plants or picking up trash. Discuss how helping others is an important part of being a good citizen.

Create a Community: Have your child draw or create a small "community" with blocks or toys, and assign different roles (e.g., teacher, doctor, baker). Talk about how each person’s role helps the community function smoothly.

Positive Choices: Discuss how making good choices can help everyone in the community. Talk about examples of positive choices, like sharing or being kind to others.

 

 Vocabulary:

Community: A group of people who live or work together and share common interests.

Citizen: A person who belongs to a community and has rights and responsibilities.

Rules: Guidelines that help keep people safe and ensure fairness in a community.

Responsibility: A duty or task that a person is expected to do, like following rules or helping others.

Leader: A person who guides or helps others in a community by making decisions or giving advice.

Cooperate: To work together with others to achieve a common goal.

 

Music Curriculum: 

Students in first grade music will be learning the song “Clean Up Our World” which discusses the importance of recycling. The students will be discussing the lyrics of this song and drawing connections to their HMH unit about “The Big Outdoors.”

Bollywood and Creative Dance Partnership with Lotus Music and Dance: Students will be participating in a three workshop residency with a teaching artist from Lotus Music and Dance to learn about the fundamentals of Bollywood and Creative Dance. This residency will begin in April.

 

Art

1st grade artists will connect to their HMH module by creating art that relates to nature. Students will create artwork of different animals, plants and flowers. Students will also create artworks to make connections to weather and seasons.

Parent & Student Voice

Class 101,102,103

Students shared their favorite parts about each of our Units.

Parent & Student Voice

Class 101,102,103

Students shared their favorite parts about each of our Units.

  

Aaliyah: My favorite thing I learned is tens and ones because it helps me add.

Valerie: My favorite thing I learned is tens and ones because I learned to add tens and ones and subtract tens and ones.

Manha: My favorite thing I learned is folktale and dialogue.

Martina: My favorite thing I learned is light sources.

  

Shiloh: I like to learn about rhyming in poetry.

  

Manal: “ In reading, I learned verbs. In math I learned how to add tens. In writing, I learned what quotation means.” 

Kaylee: “In reading I learned about the natural world. In math, I learned about how to tell time. In writing, I learned about quotation marks.”