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First Grade Information

Girl

Whats up in first grade 

Snack Time & Water Bottles
10 minute break for a quick bite to eat
We are an allergy aware classroom.

Snack time:
    We take a break about 9:30 every morning.
    Students use the restrooms and wash hands.
    Students eat one quick snack while chatting with friends.

Snacks should:

    Be healthy
    Be easy to open by your child
    Include a spoon or fork if necessary
    Be something your child can clean up on his/her own

 All day Water Bottles are encouraged and should:

    Be new or thoroughly cleaned every day
    Be easy to open and close by your child

Classroom Routines
A glimpse of a typical school day

Your child needs his/her West Stafford School  Communication Folder every day.  Please be sure to check for news, notes, and classwork every day.  Everything that you send in to school, including lunch and Flutterby Bookstore money, should be in this folder.

Our school day officially starts at 8:15 with attendance, the Pledge of Allegiance, and the cafeteria lunch count.  Our academic day begins with an hour of whole class language arts instruction or integrated science and social studies lessons.  Then, we usually head off to one of our specials.  We return to our classroom to spend an hour working in small differentiated reading groups.  Next we enjoy recess, followed by lunch.  Right after lunch, we spend an hour on math lessons.  We work right up to the very end and do not pack up to go home until 2:40 PM. School officially ends at 2:45 PM.  

What can I do at home to help my child?
Quick ideas to practice skills

    Be sure to look in your child's communication folder every afternoon and return it to school            every morning.
    Read to your child every day.  We are happy to lend books from our classroom libraries.  
         Just ask.
    Practice high-frequency sight words every day.
    Practice math facts every day.
    Have a special homework place and time.  Keep homework tools in a special box or drawer.
    Practice skip counting by 2s, 5s, & 10s to 120.
    Be sure that your child can write his/her first and last name and state his/her complete                 address and telephone number with area code.
    Have your child use invented spelling to write the grocery list.
    Have your child read and check off items from the grocery list as you shop together.

 Our Favorite websites

 
 

Balance and Motion
Explore components of our FOSS science unit

 
Braille Bug
Fun activities by the American Foundation for the Blind

 
Free Rice
Learn challenging new vocabulary and feed the world

 
Fun for the Brain
Engaging Math and Science Games

 
Houghton Mifflin Reading
First Grade Reading Activities for Kids

 
Instant Poetry Forms
Writing poetry has never been easier or more fun!

 
National Geographic for Kids
Have fun exploring fascinating places and animals!

 

 
Patricia Polacco
Check out one of our favorite authors!

 
PBS Zoom Science
You'll never be "bored with nothing to do" again!

 
Reading Rockets
A great resource for parents and teachers!

 
Skippyjon Jones
Engaging Picture Book Character

 

 

Spelling City (Ms. McQuaid's Lists)

 

 

 
Starfall
Fun Activities to Play while Learning to Read

 
Stop the Clock
Race to match times to the hour and half hour.

 
Storybird.com
Storybirds are short, art-inspired stories you make to share, read, and print.

 
Tangram Puzzles
Can you arrange the 7 shapes to solve the picture puzzles?

 
Tons of Web Sites for Learning Fun
Mrs. Reedy is Stafford's Technology Integration Specialist

 
TouchMath
Learn how students can use touchpoints to accurately add and subtract.