The days will be getting colder.

Please be sure to send your

child with the appropriate outerwear for the day.
Wow, what a fun time we had at the Father-First Grader Pump-
kin Carving night! Thank you to all the dads, grandpas, uncles, etc. for
coming!
Soon we will be getting ready for our Thanksgiving Play. We
will be presenting it for your enjoyment the morning of November
24th. More information will be coming home soon.
Please check out our class website
www.mrsdonohue.weebly.com . I try to keep it up to date with news-
letters, homework, and pictures. You will also find Mastering Math
Facts sheets. We will start that after Christmas.
I just want to tell you that I am having a won-
derful year and it is because of your children and all
your support. I feel very blessed.
Have a safe and wonderful weekend with your
family.
Blessings, Kelly
This week in Science we discussed what it means to measure
the volume of something. We had fun comparing different volumes.
Next week we will have fun with Pumpkin Science. We meas-
ure the height, weight and diameter of a pumpkin. We also name the
parts of the pumpkin and count how many seeds it has.
In Social Studies we will begin discussing how to re-
solve conflicts. This week we talked about what it means to
be a good citizen.
Look for information coming home, at a later date,
about our Thanksgiving play.
Science/Social Studies
Fantastic First Graders
October 24, 2014
First Grade Newsletter
HP
Important Dates
Oct. 24 1st Quarter
Ends
Oct. 27 Non-Uniform
Day
Oct. 31 9:55 all school
Mass
Oct. 31 Report Cards
Posted
Nov. 4 Evening Confer-
ences
Nov. 6 Evening Confer-
ences
Nov. 7 11:00 Dismissal
Afternoon Conferences
Fishers of Men
Next week we will begin a new story in our reading book. The story is called
Popcorn. Just think of the fun we can have with this story! We
will be comparing the story from our reading book to another story
about popcorn that I will read to the class.
In phonics, we have been busy blending letters to make words.
We have learned about the short a, short i, short o, and short u
sounds. We are also working on word families and listening for the ending sounds
in words. Many of us are working on fluency, comprehension or accuracy when we
read.
In writing we are having fun making some class books. You will see some of
our handy work when you come to conferences.
We continue to work on using capital letters to begin our sentences and
the appropriate punctuation at the end of our sentences.
We continue to work on reading strategies and comprehension in our read-
ing groups.
In religion we discussed the words and meaning of the Lords
Prayer. We also talked about how we must trust God because He loves us
and He knows what is best.
The students are doing a nice job learning to pray the Rosary. We spent the
day on Thursday going into the church chapel, two at a time, for adoration. They
all came back to the classroom saying how much they enjoyed that time alone
with God.
Page 2
Religion
First Grade Newsletter
Reading/Writing

Wow are we working hard in first grade to become critical think-
ers in math! This week in Math we were working on developing addition and
subtraction strategies, particularly doubling, counting on, and counting back
to solve combinations within 12. Next week we will start focusing on
counting by 5s and 10s to become more efficient at counting amounts
larger than 10.
Math
INFINITE CAMPUS
If you have not set up your Campus account using your GUID number
that St. Thomas provided for you, you must immediately contact Suzanne
VanderZee via e-mail (suzannevanderzee@stthomasgr.org) in the school
office. If you dont, you wont have access to your students report
cards. If you have no internet access, you have to contact Suzanne and
she will send you a hard copy.
ARTICLE ON SLEEP
I have shared a couple of articles on the importance of sleep that Mrs
Lake found. I found them very interesting so I decided to share them with you.
I know my oldest son is 24 and he still needs 8-10 hours of sleep or else he is so
grumpy and he even gets physically ill until he gets caught up on his sleep. Be-
lieve me, as a parent, I know how difficult it can be to get your child into bed at
times. We do notice at school the importance of getting plenty of rest and be-
ing able to concentrate and be successful.

http://www.scholastic.com/parents/resources/article/parent-child/sleep-
better-better-behavior

http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/features/fixing-sleep-
problems-may-improve-childs-grades-and-behavior
Thank You!
Thank you for all your support at home with the
homework and daily reading! I know that it can be
frustrating sometimes, for everyone involved, to get
that homework done. Believe me, I have gone through
it in my own household. I have talked to the first grad-
ers about the importance of homework. I have also
discussed with them that they are not to make a big
fuss, but they need to take responsibility and do their
homework. It was also mentioned in our discussion
that one of the Ten Commandments is Obey your
Mother and Father. Youve got smart children!