Grade 1 News
Welcome Students and Parents
I want to start off by saying welcome to all parents, guardians, and students.
I am so excited to have the pleasure of working with you this year.
It is that exciting time of year again. School has started and students are
nicely settled in their new classrooms and into the swing of things.
This year the Grade Ones are really lucky to have three teachers covering
different subjects. The students will be taught the core subjects (Language,
Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, and Religion) by me. French, Music and Gym
will be taught by Mr. Discenza and Health will be taught by Mr. Carreiro.
We will have a very exciting year filled with many opportunities to learn new
things, and work together in the classroom to achieve various goals.
Curriculum at a Glance
Here is a brief overview of the major strands that will be covered this month.
In Langauge we will be working on our sound and letter relationships, as well as
practicing our writing skills. Please encourage your child to practice their letter
sounds at home. Students will also have an opportunity for independent reading and
exploring varieties of text features. Grade Ones on a weekly bases will have words
of the week, these words will be a variety of blends, diagraphs, compound words,
contractions and more. This helps your child with their reading and their writing.
Every Monday there will be a mini spelling quiz based on their words of the week.
▪ Number Sense and Numeration, is the first strand in Mathematics to start us off
this year. We will be focusing on recognizing and forming various numbers. We will
also be practicing counting to 100, counting backwards from 20, counting by twos,
fives and tens. Grade Ones will also be focusing on problem solving questions that
they will have to compare numbers, looking at who has more, less or the same.
▪
For our first unit of inquiry, we will be looking at the transdisciplinary theme “Who
We Are”. Focusing on the central idea “Discovery of self and personal
characteristics” and taking a closer look at our lines of inquiry “Seeing myself as an
IB Learner, My Potential and Personal Characteristics”. Our first inquiry ticket has
gone home. For each unit of inquiry there will be a pre inquiry ticket sent home, this
is to see the student’s prior knowledge of the topic and a post inquiry
ticket/reflection, shows what they have learned and what they want to continue
learning, this will go home at the end of the unit.
▪
Virtue of the Month: Faith
In September, we celebrate the virtue of Faith, God wants us to do what we know
and feel is right. A faithful person:
•
•
•
Prays regularly
Learns from Scripture stories
Knows there is good in everyone
September 2015
Sun
6
Mon
7
Tue
We
Thu
Fri
Sat
1
2
3
4
5
8
9
10
11
12
17
18
19
BBQ Night
P.A. Day
Gym
13
14
15
16
Pizza Day
Gym
20
21
22
Happy
Pizza Day
23
24
25
Gym
Gym
26
Birthday Ava!
27
28
29
Picture Day
30
Pizza Day
As school events are currently being discussed and scheduled, more information will
follow. Please check the schools website and also our Grade One website.
Agendas
Thank you very much to all parents for reading and replying to my Welcome Package. I love to
keep the lines of communication open. Agendas have gone home with your child last Tuesday.
Students will be filling out their agenda every day and I kindly ask that you please initial the
agenda every night to let me know if messages are being relayed at home.
Allergies
Just a reminder, St. James is an allergen aware school. There are students in who suffer from
peanut and other nut allergies, some which can be life threatening. Please exercise caution
when packing your child’s lunch and snacks. We thank you for your understanding in this matter.
Indoor Shoes
We have asked the students to bring in a second pair of shoes which can be worn indoors.
During recesses students are playing in the field and tracking in dirt. To keep the classroom
clean, especially carpeted areas where students gather, please send your child in with another
pair of shoes. Please do not feel pressured to go out and purchase a new pair solely for this
purpose, rather, if another pair of running shoes is not available, other
comfortable shoes are acceptable.
Phys-ed
On Thursdays students will have phys-ed. We ask that the children come
dressed in comfortable, athletic clothing. They will not be changing at school, however,
require proper running shoes with non-marking soles to participate.