FUNdamentals of First Grade

Mrs. Desrochers’ January 2020 Newsletter: 5th Edition

Happy New Year, Room 3 families! I hope 2020 is off to a great start for all of you.
Here in the classroom we recently acknowledged the 80th day of school and are in the
thick of Term 2! The students are now well-aware of their routines and expectations.
We created New Year Resolutions and Affirmations together. One way we kicked off
the New Year with something new and exciting is that the students now have individual
colored carpet squares for when they sit in rows and columns on the rug during lessons,
read-alouds, and activities. They know their exact spot and are practicing whole-body
listening and maintaining their personal space. This system is working out well so far!
Our class-wide affirmation is: “I will follow Directions the First time.” We repeat this
mantra daily and have also enjoyed near daily movement breaks and stretches 😊

Shout Outs- A big thank you to our Room 3 Parent and Grandparent volunteers who
were able to join us for the Grade level Cookie Bake last month. The students had a
ball preparing the ingredients for all the cookie recipes and learned the true spirt and
meaning of giving without the expectation of necessarily receiving. They enjoyed
making holiday cards to go along with the tins of cookies that were delivered to the
Foxboro Discretionary Fund. Thank you also to our wonderful Room Mothers for always
dedicating their time, talents, and energy for our classroom celebrations. The
students thoroughly enjoyed themselves during last months’ holiday room party.

Recess Reminder: As previously stated in my Dec. newsletter and handout that went
home, we will be going out for recess throughout the winter as long as the temperature
is not too cold. Please make sure your child comes to school daily with a warm coat, hat,
gloves, and scarf. Snow pants and boots need to be brought in a separate bag with
their name clearly marked, only on days that snow is on the ground. They will have to
stay on the pavement during recess if they do not have these items, in the event snow
is on the ground. Please remember to send your child in wearing sneakers or pack
them on Days 1 and 3 when they have Wellness.

Classroom ‘Wish-List’ items: Especially during the winter months, it is always

appreciated if families donate a box of tissues, container of Lysol or Clorox
antibacterial wipes, or a roll of paper towels. We currently need plastic spoons too
during snack time for those students who forget to pack a spoon to go with their
snack. Thank you in advance for all of those that have contributed already this year or
plan to this month or in the following months! I truly appreciate the gesture.
 Grade 1 Curriculum Updates:

Reading/Fundations: This month, we learned 4 new glued sounds that have the NG ending-
“ang”, “ing”, “ong”, and “ung”. And 4 new sounds that end with NK- “ank”, “ink”, “onk”, and
“unk”. We have been working on recognizing these chunks in words when we are reading
and writing. We continue to work on fluency by scooping sentences too. We are continuing
to use our Word Wall as a visual aid when students are reading and recognizing trick words
(sight words). Additionally, students are working towards using nonfiction text features
to help them further comprehend and pull the main ideas and supporting details of
Nonfiction articles that we’re reading; especially in our weekly Scholastic readers.

Writing: Students have enjoyed dabbling with the Expository writing genre. Students are
proving a claim with evidence that they’ve acquired from a recent Science catapult launch
STEM experiment. They used collected data to reflect on their most successful catapult
launch out of 3 stations and used transition words to develop their writing. They’re
starting to understand that a good writer starts with a strong topic sentence and
concludes with a strong clincher that echoes the prompt. We’ll also be using sensory
writing this month. Students will be taught how to use more robust nouns and verbs, (and
adjectives) to further enhance writing a coherent paragraph.

Math: Along with Place Value, we have been working hard on understanding Number
Problems/Story problems, and using multiple strategies to solve, including various models.
The students are frequently using number bonds, number lines, ten frames, and base ten
blocks to find the solution. When practicing fact fluency we continue to work on +2/-2 and
difference of 2 both in class and at home. I hope you’ve been enjoying the hard copy
double-sided yellow laminated games that were sent home at the beginning of the month!
We’ve also been working within 120 and using several skip-counting strategies. The
students enjoy their once a week “fast facts” when they work on Math Sprints. Please
ensure your child is preparing for the end of term fact fluency test, by having them review
their math facts addition to ten and subtraction from ten on a routine basis to help foster
automaticity.

Social Studies/ Science: We are learning about different holiday traditions and when
applicable discussing similarities and differences. We’ll learn the importance of why we
celebrate upcoming Martin Luther King Jr. day as a nation. In Social Studies we’ll also
discuss basic needs vs. want. In Science we began our lessons on Light and Sound. I’ve
started our unit specifically geared around Sound Energy. Students are learning such key
vocabulary terms as sound, vibrate, pitch, volume, energy, matter, and waves; often in a
hands-on way. Our Science program uses a great online platform that often allows me to
deliver my instruction using an interactive Power Point that appeals to a variety of student
learning styles.
Technology: Redbird is going well both during Math Workshop and our Technology blocks. I
encourage students to log in at home when they can which counts towards their Math
homework expectations. If a student uses Redbird in a given week, be sure to have them
record a mathematical “I Can” statement on their HW log. You can assist them with this so
they can reflect on the standard/skill practiced. Under the Gr. 1 Resources tab on my
classroom Weebly, student can click on the Redbird link to access the program. Any
questions- let me know! They have a unique 3-character passcode.

January Dates to Remember: Fri. 1/17/20: Spirit Day- Backwards Day. Students
will wear shirts backwards or a mismatched outfit to help reinforce the message that
“once you say something mean/hurtful you can’t take it back.”

Mon. 1/20/20: No School~ Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday

Fri. 1/24/20: No school for students: district-wide staff PD Day.

1/27/20-1/30/20: First week of BEAP Begins. How exciting!

1/31/20: Spirit Day (Pajama Day) Wear PJs and slippers to reinforce our school-wide
“dream to put a stop to bullying.”

*Thinking ahead to February, a friendly reminder that the Gr. 1 and Gr. 4 Music
Concert is being held from 9:45-10:15 in the Burrell Auditorium on Wed. 2/12/20.
The Gr. 2 and Gr. 3 Concert is being held later that same morning. Kudos in advance to
Burrell Music teacher, Ms. Kerner and all her preparations!

As always, in the event you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact me.
Email is preferred, as I can typically respond in a timelier manner; however, if you’d
like to set up a phone call, don’t hesitate to reach out.

Respectfully Submitted,
Mrs. Brigid Desrochers

Email: desrochersb@foxborough.k12.ma.us
Weebly website: https://mrsdesrochersgradefour.weebly.com/