Mrs. Eichbergers’s
First Grade Newsletter

Volume 1 Issue 13
December 12, 2003

Language

Our stories of the week included The Snowman, the classic story by Raymond Briggs. A little boy builds a snowman and it magically comes to life. The snowman takes the boy on an adventure to the North Pole. In the morning the boy awakes to find that the sun has melted his snowman. Students wrote what happened after the snowman melted. Other stories included The Lady with the Alligator Purse, A Snowman just Named Bob, and The Little Matchgirl by Hans Christian Anderson.

Reading Strategies

As I listen to each child read individually, we use the following reading strategies. These strategies can certainly be used when your child reads to you at home. It is important to read with your child every night. The more experiences they will have with reading the more they will want to read.

Does it make sense?
Does it match the picture?
Does it look right?
Find the parts of the word you know. examples: herself.
Skip the words you don’t know and go back.
Get your mouth ready.
Sound it out letter by letter.

PLEASE LABEL SNOWPANTS
It’s a good idea to label your child’s snow pants. It seems the most popular color is black, and they tend to get switched, misplaced or lost amongst the students.

Christmas Program

The music department will present their elementary Christmas program on Tuesday, December 16 at 7:00 PM. All students are to “dress up” for the event. Nice dresses or skirts, slacks, and shirts are all appropriate. All students should report to our classroom by 6:45 PM for line up.

Math

Students have been learning to add and subtract using the number line, as well as counting with a calculator. Next week they will be introduced to dimes. We have begun to make our school store part of our weekly routing. The store is open every Wednesday during math time. Thank you to all parents who generously contributed items to the school store. Students earn money to spend in the school store by saying a nice compliment to a classmate.

Vacation

Holiday Break begins after dismissal on Friday, December 19. School will resume on Monday, January 5, 2004. Have a happy and healthy holiday season!

STAYING HEALTHY

The flu season is upon us and I’m sure if you’ve been staying tune to the national news, you’ve heard of the outbreaks scattered around the country. Please make sure your child comes to school dressed appropriately for the weather. Long sleeves shirts and socks are essential for winter weather. Drinking plenty of fluids and getting enough sleep is also very important. Our class has a rule that we must wash hands before eating, after going to the bathroom, and blowing our noses.