Transcript Slide 1

WELCOME TO
FIRST GRADE
2013 - 2014
Immaculate Conception School
Annandale, New Jersey
WELCOME TO FIRST GRADE
We can’t wait to meet you in just a few
short months. We hope you have a really great
summer vacation. You worked so hard in
kindergarten and now you’re officially a first grader!
Hooray for you!
In order to be ready in September, this
packet is filled with activities for you to do over the
summer. Please follow directions carefully and
return the packet to your first grade teacher during
the first few days of school in September!
,
Mrs. DelGaizo and Mrs. Pepperman
Parents, if your first grader is not already
doing so, please make sure, prior to entering first
grade in September, your child can dress himself or
herself, including buckling a belt, buttoning buttons,
zipping zippers (including coat zippers), and tying
shoes…yes, tying shoes!
Also, the bathrooms are no longer in your
child’s classroom. Please make sure your child can
go to the bathroom by himself or herself, can wipe
himself or herself, can clean his or her hands, and
clean up after himself or herself (put paper towels in
garbage)! In the “big school” we do this by ourselves
right from the beginning of the year! It is imperative
that your child work on these personal grooming and
hygiene skills over the summer so he or she is ready
for our wonderful first grade adventure as he or she
steps into school on the first day!
We are so excited to meet you and get
started on our journey!
Mrs. DelGaizo and Mrs. Pepperman
Prayers to Know
BEFORE You Come to First Grade
The Sign of the Cross
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and
of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
(Your child should also know hand gestures that accompany prayer.)
The Our Father
Our Father, who art in
Heaven, hallowed be
thy name; Thy
kingdom come, Thy
will be done, on earth
as it is in Heaven;
Give us this day our
daily bread, and
forgive us our
trespasses, as we
forgive those who
trespass against us;
And lead us not into
temptation, but
deliver us from evil.
Amen
ICS
Afternoon Prayer
Be our shining light,
O, Lord; During the
rest of this day, and
all through the night;
Show us the good
that surrounds us, so
that we might praise
you; Protect us from
all dangers, so that
we might give you
thanks; Through
Jesus, who is Lord
forever and ever.
Amen.
Summer Reading
It is important that your first grader
continue to practice reading over the summer!
Please encourage your child to read at his or her
“end of kindergarten” reading level, for at least
ten minutes a day. Additionally, you are
encouraged to read to your child for ten to fifteen
minutes a day (or at least in place of his or her ten
minutes of reading!)
When your child reads independently, it
reinforces the decoding process and adds to his
or her “reading vocabulary.” When you read to
your child, it aids and models the decoding
process and adds to his or her “listening and
reading vocabularies”.
Consider providing your first grader with
a variety of reading experiences. Books are
wonderful and very entertaining, however, also
consider providing magazines, computer
generated reading opportunities, and even nontraditional opportunities, such as road and
retailer signs on trips, and cereal boxes found
right in your kitchen!
Math
The summertime is the perfect time for you to review skills s/he already learned!
Think about papers that have come home from kindergarten, or even skills that your kindergarten
teacher recommended your child practice! Those are the skills you should be reviewing for the
majority of the summer.
If you can’t think of any, (and even if you can) consider this. Like kindergarten, first grade is a
building block year. We introduce and practice the skills that your child will need to understand
more complex skills in the future. We teach the tools of math. In order for your child to have
strong, reliable tools it’s important that these building block skills are mastered before we add new
ones.
How can you help? Over the summer make sure your child can identify and write
numbers (1-20) automatically (without prompting) . Here are some suggestions for accomplishing
this task:
•Invite your child to write numbers using sidewalk chalk, water and a paintbrush on the driveway,
or a finger in the sand, (or in shaving cream).
•Have your child build numbers using cookie dough or jello cubes. Maybe your child can eat the
numbers s/he forms correctly!?!
Additionally, make sure your child understands the value of each number. Here are
some ways you can do this:
•Pick a number of the day. Have your child point out whenever he sees that quantity of something.
For example, if the number of the day is 5, your child may see five ducks in a pond, or notice that
five peas fall on the floor at dinnertime. Have him/her point this out!
•Each day put a secret number of items in a container. Have your child count them. You may even
have him/her keep a journal each week and compare the value of the items counted each day.
(Which had the most? Which had the least? Put them in order from least to greatest/greatest to
least.)
How easily can your child identify basic shapes, like circles, squares, rectangles, and triangles?
•Have him/her point out these shapes when s/he finds them in the real world, or show him/her
family photos, and have him/her pick shapes out in the photos.
•Have him/her draw a picture entirely out of a particular shape. Have him/her draw the same
picture using a different shape. Explore which was easier/more difficult.
•Keep a “shape scrapbook”. Collect media (photos, drawing, pictures) of each shape and
scrapbook them on the same page or section of your book.
Journaling
Expressing himself or herself in writing
will permit your first grader to apply encoding
skills, which partner with decoding skills in the
acquisition of language and language skills.
The kindergarten teachers worked very hard to
teach your children how to hold a pencil
correctly and form letters correctly. Please
follow through at home, and make sure your
child is holding his or her pencil correctly as he
or she writes in the journal!
Please encourage your reflect on each
week and pick one thing to write about and
illustrate. Journal entries need be one or two
sentences. Remind your child to write neatly
and use a capital letter and an endmark (. !).
For the final entry please have your child tell his
or her first grade teacher about himself or
herself. Please do not wait until the end of the
summer, or even August to catch up. This
sounds easy to us, but is very difficult for most
new first graders.
Week One
Week Two
Week Three
Week Four
Week Five
Week Six
Week Seven
Week Eight
Week Nine
Week Ten
Tell your new teacher about you!