Mrs.

Aguiars

First Grade News

September 2016
From the Teachers Desk
Welcome! I hope everyone had a
great summer and is looking
forward to the beginning of the
new school year. The children did
a great job on the first day of
school. I am looking forward to
getting to know all 19 students
even better in the days to come.

Each month I do my best to

write a newsletter to parents. I
hope that these newsletters will
provide you with classroom
updates and school information.
An information packet was sent
home with your child on the first
day of school. These forms are
very important. If you have not
already done so, please fill them
out and return them to school
as soon as possible. If for some
reason your phone number or
address changes over the school
year, please let me know and I will
pass the information on to the
office.
Each year, parents are always
eager to help out in some way at
school. Volunteers are needed
throughout the school year in
and out of the classroom. The

Vol. 1

paperwork for school volunteers

will be sent home soon. Please fill
out the information and return
it to school. Please remember
that ALL volunteers need to
have a CORI check before they
can volunteer in the classroom,
chaperone a field trip or help out
with a special school activity.
CORI checks are good for three
years. Mrs. Sevigny will be in the
office during Open House to
collect CORI form information.
There is time set aside each
morning for a bathroom and
snack break. Please remember
to send in one snack (including a
drink) with your child each day.
Please make sure water bottles
have a tight lid. The pop-up lids
tend to open in backpacks L. The
students are also welcome to
bring in a small empty water
bottle and fill it at the classroom
bubbler.
If you have any questions
throughout the year, please feel
free to write me a note or call
the school office at 508-7582521 and leave me a message. I

will do my best to respond to you

within a 24-hour period.
As another way to keep the lines
of communication open between
school and home, you can also
reach
me
via
email
at
jenniferaguiar@oldrochester.org.
Please note that I will do my
best to respond to your emails in
a timely manner. However, there
are times when our school
internet is down or that I may
be out of school due to family
matters/illness or attending a
workshop and will not be able to
open my email and respond to
you for a day or two.
Please send any bus/pick-up
changes to school via a written
note or by calling the school
office as early as possible.
Please do not fax bus notes to
the school. Thank you!
I look forward to working with
you and your child this year!

Mrs. Aguiar
Curriculum News
Reading/Language Arts:
All three first grade classes will
be using the 2013 Scott Foresman
Reading Program: Reading Street.
During the first six weeks of
school, the students will be
working on reviewing skills, which

involve alphabet review, letter

recognition, letter formation and
handwriting,
phonemic
awareness, consonant lettersounds, and high frequency
words. We move at a slower pace
at this time of year to set the
foundation. Please do not think
that things are not being
accomplished. You will notice that
the paperwork that comes
home is quite simple (again
setting the foundation and
learning how to following the
directions). We will be doing a lot
of whole group instruction and
discussion during this time.
The first six weeks is also a time
to review the high frequency
words from Kindergarten. Each
week, the students will be taking
home a list of high frequency
words to review. These lists will
usually come home on Mondays.
It is very important for your
child to know how to read and
write these words.
I would
suggest making flash cards for
each word to make studying
easier. All the high frequency
words can also be found on my
website. Thanks for your help
and assistance.
Handwriting:
Starting this year, we will be
introducing a new handwriting
program at Center School. We will
no longer be teaching DNealian
(no more monkey tails!). The
school has adopted the Zaner-

Bloser
Handwriting
program.
More information regarding the
program
and
the
letter
formation will be coming home
soon.
Flex Time:
All first grade classes will have a
Flex Time from 11:15-11:45AM
three times a week. During this
time, we will review, reinforce,
and expand key concepts that
have already been taught in the
curriculum. The students may
work with their first grade
teacher or travel to another
first grade classroom to work
with other peers working on the
same
skills.
Our
reading
teachers, Ms. Camacho and Mrs.
Maloof, and our Title One math
teacher, Mrs. Mendes, will also be
working with students during this
time. Flex Time will begin in
October. Prior to that time, the
first grade teachers will be
assessing students.
These
assessments will allow us to
group the children based on the
target skills that we will be
reviewing.
Teacher Read Aloud:
Each day after lunch, there is
time set aside for our daily read
aloud. I have found over the
years that the children enjoy this
quiet time after lunch. Our first
chapter book this year will be
Charlottes Web by E.B. White.

Math:
This year we will continue to use
the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
mathematics program, GO Math!
We will start with Chapter 1,
Addition Concepts. The Essential
Question for this chapter is: How

can you model adding within 10?

Our math vocabulary for this
chapter is: add, addends, addition
sentence, is equal to (=), order,
plus (+), sum, and zero.
There will also be a lot of math
concepts taught this year during
our Morning Meeting and calendar
time.

Science:
We will learn about the weather
and the four seasons. Over the
next three months, we will also
be learning about the Earths
place in the universe. We will be
observing the phases of the
moon and will be discussing the
amount of daylight during this
time of year and the changes
that we see.
Social Studies:
We will learn about being part of
a school community and Johnny
Appleseed.

Specialist Schedule
Mon. Computer with Ms. Lourenco
Tues. Library with Mrs. Johns
(Please remember your library books)

Wed. P.E. with Mr. Cabeceiras

(Please wear sneakers!)

Thurs. Music with Mrs. Dowling

Fri. Art with Mrs. Anderson

Daily Schedule
8:25-8:35 = Morning Activities
in the gym
8:35-9:00 = Morning Meeting
9:00-9:50 = Specialists
Monday - Music
Tuesday Library
Wednesday P.E.
Thurs. - Art
Friday - Computer
9:50-10:10 = Bathroom & Snack
10:10-10:30 = Journal Writing
10:30-11:15 = Math
11:15-11:45 = Flex Time
11:45-11:55 = Bathroom Break
11:55-12:25 = Lunch J
12:25-12:45 = Teacher Read Aloud
12:45-1:50 = Reading
1:50-2:10 = Recess
2:10-2:35 = Science/Social Studies
2:35-2:40 = Pack up for Dismissal
2:45 = Dismissal

**The daily schedule is subject to

change at the discretion of the
teacher.

Room Parent Needed

We are need of a Room Parent
for the year. J The main job of
our Room Parent is to organize
and contact other parents for

our
classroom
parties
(Halloween,
Winter
Holidays,
Valentines Day, and the End-ofthe-Year).
If you are interested in being our
Room Parent (or you would like
to work with another parent and
Co-Room Parent) for the year
or have any questions regarding
this job, please send in a note with
your child as soon as possible or
email me and I will get in touch
with you. Thanks!

Wish List Items

The following items are always
needed in the classroom. Thanks!
Kleenex
Paper Towels
Napkins
Clorox Wipes

Scholastic Book Orders

Throughout the school year I will
be sending home Scholastic Book
order forms. Attached to this
newsletter is the September
issue. You are under no obligation
to purchase books. However, I
find that the Scholastic Books
are reasonably priced and that
the selections are quite good.
Please know that for each order
I receive, the class earns bonus
points towards free books and
other school materials. If you
would like to order books this
month, please return the order
form to school by Friday,
September 9th. Checks need to

be made out to Scholastic Book

Clubs.
At this time, I do not have an
account for parents to place
orders online. Thank you for your
help and support!J

Parent-Teacher
Conferences
Just a reminder, that ParentTeacher Conferences will be held
on October 27th and 28th.
Parents will have the opportunity
to sign up for a conference
during our annual Open House on
Thursday, September 15th.
I will send home a reminder
letter at the beginning of
October
regarding
your
conference date and time.
However,
if
you
feel
a
conference is needed before
October, please let me know.

Dates to Remember
8-30= First Day of School
9-2 = No School J
9-5 = No School, Labor Day
9-9 = Scholastic Book Orders Due
9-15= Center School Open
House, 5:30-7:00 PM
9-22 = Autumn Begins
9-26 = Johnny Appleseed Day
9-29 = Picture Day
10-4 = PTA Meeting, 7PM, CS
10-7 = No School for Students
Prof. Development Day
10-10 = No School,
Columbus Day
10-24 = Pumpkin Palooza Week
10-27 = Early Release Day,
Parent-Teacher Conf.
10-28 = Early Release Day,
Parent-Teacher Conf.
10-31 = Halloween Party

Welcome Back!

September Birthdays
Happy Birthday to
Linda A. 9th
Charles H. 16th
Nina C. 23rd

For more classroom

information, please visit
www.mrsaguiarsfirstgrade.weebly.com