First Grade News
March 2016
Dear Parents,
As you know, February was a very snowy and busy month. We look forward to finally having an
uninterrupted stretch of time to focus on schoolwork and learning. As always, we have many exciting
things planned for the children.
With more than half the year completed, our expectations for the children continue to
increase. We are anticipating our students will proofread their own work, reread directions, and
continue to improve their handwriting and their work’s neatness, as well as take pride in the quality
of their work.
READING/LANGUAGE ARTS
In March, we will return to reading fiction literature. We will work on comparing the
experiences of characters in two different stories. We’ll also look at how characters’ behaviors
change throughout a story. Students will continue to use illustrations to describe the characters,
setting, and events from stories and poems. As students are reading and listening to poems they will
be asked to identify sensory words that describe the settings and characters mentioned in the poem.
We’ll strengthen our vocabulary skills by using context clues to determine the meaning of words and
phrases.
WRITING
During this month, we will be focusing on making our Maryland city commercials and writing
book reviews for our opinion pieces. The children will write recommendations about the titles and
authors that they believe others should read. They will then seek and use feedback from others to
revise their writing pieces. Proper use of capitalization for dates and names of people and places will
be expected. We will conclude the month by returning to narrative writing. The children will
express ideas and feelings using details to describe people, places, things, and events.
MATH
We have several busy and exciting weeks ahead in math. We’ll begin with a focus on operations
and algebraic thinking as we use a variety of classroom tools and online resources to model the
meaning of the equal sign in an equation. Our first graders will practice identifying an unknown
number in an addition or subtraction equation that is needed to make an equation “true.” They will
also use addition or subtraction (within twenty) to solve comparison problems and to create word
problems with an unknown number in different positions. As we move further into the month, our
focus will expand to addition and subtraction (within one hundred). Students will explore a variety of
concrete, pictorial and abstract representations to help them strengthen their reasoning and
problem solving skills. This will be helpful as they practice adding any two-digit number and a twodigit number ending in zero. Classroom manipulatives and online resources will be utilized as we work
on subtraction with two-digit numbers ending in zero. As we near the end of the third marking
period, we’ll refer to our knowledge of place value to help us add a one-digit number and a two-digit
number.
SOCIAL STUDIES
This month we will focus on explaining how people modify, protect, and adapt to their
environment. Students will begin by examining the 3-R’s (reduce, reuse, recycle) and publishing public
service announcements, letters, and posters to convince others to make a difference. They will
identify ways to help the environment at school and home, and create a plan to reduce litter and
pollution or to promote conservation and recycling. Our students will then explore the many ways
people adapt to changes in the environment, such as using less water in a drought or adjusting
plans/schedules due to changes in weather, temperature, and daylight.
SCIENCE
In science, students will use what they have learned about objects and materials in the
environment to plan and design a playground that includes both natural and human-made materials.
Then they will be learning about the importance of taking care of the environment. We will look at
every day activities, such as leaving lights on and throwing away recyclables, which harm the
environment. We will also learn about the effects litter and water pollution has on our community.
We will end the month discussing recycling and identifying which items can and cannot be recycled.
IMPORTANT DATES
March 10- Reading Night at 6:30-8:00 p.m.
March 17- St. Patrick’s Day
March 23- 3rd Marking Period Ends
March 24- No school for students
March 25- April 1 Spring Break- No school
Sincerely,
The First Grade Team