First Grade Newsletter
NOVEMBER 2015
Dear Parents,
November will be a very busy and exciting month. Amidst all the holiday preparations, please
remember that conferences will be held on Wednesday, November 11th and Thursday,
November 12th. We look forward to meeting you at that time!
READING/LANGUAGE ARTS
This month, students will continue to read a variety of texts. As students read poems and
other types of literature they will work on identifying the important message or lesson. They
will also retell stories using key details. When reading information texts, students will be asked
to identify the main idea of the text. They will explore how illustrations can be used to help
identify the main idea. They will continue to ask and answer questions about key details in a
text. Students will look at how adding endings to words affects the meaning of the word. They
will extend their work with word relationships by defining words by category. Students will also
identify syllables in words and look at the connection between the number of syllables and vowel
sounds in words. We will begin to explore verbs and adjectives with varying differences in
meanings (i.e. happy, delighted, thrilled).
WRITING
We will begin the quarter with writing fall poetry and personal narratives. We will then move
into opinion writing where we will learn to write book reviews. The students will select a book,
state an opinion about the book and give reasons to support their opinion. At the end of the
month, we will go back to informational writing where they will write about Life in their
Neighborhood and how they Live, Work, and Play. The students will be asked to gather and
organize their facts and be responsible for correct capitalization and punctuation.
MATH
Throughout the month of November, we will continue to strengthen many of the skills that we
have been working on so far this year. We’ll focus on the meaning of the equal (=) sign and
determine if equations involving addition and subtraction are true or false. We will use place
value to determine what the two digits in a two digit number represent. As we do, we’ll explore
how the number ten (10) can be thought of as ten ones and how the numbers eleven through
nineteen (11-19) are composed of a group of ten and one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight
or nine ones. Our first graders will also practice their addition and subtraction strategies such
as drawing a picture model, counting on, counting back, putting together and taking apart to find
the sum or difference in a variety of word problems. Some of these word problems will even
contain unknown numbers! Toward the end of the month, we will delve into the relationship
between addition and subtraction, which will enable students to recognize that 8 +4 = 12, so 12 8 must equal 4.
SCIENCE
We will finish our Life Sciences unit by observing the differences between living organisms and
non-living objects. Students will be using magnifying glasses to examine non-living objects and
classify them based on what they are made of.
Our Physical Sciences unit will begin with comparing the different ways that objects move.
We will be observing a variety of non-living objects to discover how they move (e.g. in a
straight line, round and back, back and forth, zig-zag). We will then be looking at different
ways to move objects. Students will be experimenting with different strategies to change
the motion of an object. They will also observe how different surfaces affect movement.
SOCIAL STUDIES
In Social Studies, we will explore ways that people improve and maintain personal health, and
the harmful effects of liter. We will study family and community and how different cultural
backgrounds meet their human needs and contribute to the community. We will share customs
and traditions and distinguish between objects and events of today and long ago. We will
discover how groups of people interact and use social skills. Students will work in cooperative
groups and engage in problem solving while sharing concern, care, and respect for group
members. During these activities, students will celebrate similarities and differences among
themselves and their classmates.
IMPORTANT DATES
November
November
November
November
November
2
9-13
11, 12
25
26, 27
No school for students
Scholastic Book Fair
Early Dismissal, Parent Conferences
Early Dismissal
Thanksgiving Break, No school
The First Grade Team 