It is hard to believe that our first graders have almost completed the first twelve weeks at Rockdale Elementary School. We were so excited to start the year as close to normal as possible.
The year began with reviewing school rules, creating classroom social contracts and learning to become responsible for our own behavior. Each class spent time reviewing letters, sounds and sight words, but now our students are focused on the process of learning to read. First grade is an exciting year that will show so much growth. Students start out knowing basic sight words, but become reading machines by the time they head to second grade.
First grade is also when students are introduced to the Accelerated Reading Program. Once students can read books independently, they are able to earn points by taking quizzes on their library books and books they have read with their teacher.
The most important thing parents can do to help their child is to practice reading every night at home. By meeting their reading goal, students will be able to attend Accelerated Reading parties at the end of each six weeks. This is such a motivator for beginning readers. We will also honor our top readers at the end of the year. We cannot wait to see who will have the most Accelerated Reading points.
Although reading is a very important part of first grade, our students still focus on math, science, social studies and writing. We learn about place value, skip counting, addition, subtraction and money. Much of this is learned through activities and games in the classroom, but parents can help by practicing weekly math facts at home. Our students have also participated in several science experiments this year. We enjoyed building ice sculptures and expanding Ivory Soap in our heating and cooling experiment.
We appreciate the support and cooperation of our community, parents and students as we work hard to provide the best education possible for all first graders and all students at Rockdale Elementary School.
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