Mrs. Descoteaux's page

First Grade News

        Well, the holidays are behind us and we are slowly getting back into routine.  Of course, the activities during Catholic Schools Month are making getting back into routine a little harder

        Speaking of CSM, I am proud to announce that the first grade came in 3^rd place in the locker decorating contest.  The students were very enthusiastic about the contest and displayed a great deal of creativity and originality.  They had a lot of fun and all the cool decorations have helped to brighten up the hallway.  The faculty won the volleyball game against the students.  I really don’t know how we accomplished that!  We are now collecting candy that will be used to fill decorated Valentine’s boxes for our veteran’s.  The boxes will be decorated in the student’s art classes.  Still to come…Science week and Multicultural week.

        Don’t forget the CSM children’s mass at 10:00 am on January 29^th, followed by the Pancake Breakfast.  All students are expected to attend mass in uniform with their class.

        Academically we are making excellent progress in all subject areas.  The children are becoming good readers.  It is exciting to listen to them read orally now that they are reading fluently and with lots of expression. 

        In math we have just completed units on geometry and patterns.  The students really seemed to enjoy these two units.  Maybe it’s because they didn’t have to do any adding or subtracting.

        We have just begun long vowels in Phonics.  We started with long a.  Ask your child how these long a rules work; a_e, ai, ay.

        We’ve been doing a lot of writing.  The student’s stories about winter are now on display on Mrs. Wirkus’ Writers Bulletin Board in the hallway. 

        The children have been doing a lot of different activities on the computers.  They have been proofreading sentences and making necessary corrections.  Also, they’ve been writing their own sentences, taking practice spelling tests, and reading.  Their favorite activity is SPLAT!  They have to splat the spelling words that are misspelled as quickly as they can.  Each week their scores improve.

        Reminder – Look through your child’s reading folders when they bring them home and return them to school when you are finished.

        So far, we have students who are on their way Book-It Star Readers.  They have completed all three months.  I hope that all the students will do Book-It at least some of the months.  Reading at home helps children to become strong independent readers.

        Reminder – I would like all the students to do the Birthday Project I outlined at Open House in September.  So far, two students have done their project.  They both did a great job and their projects are displayed in the hallway outside our classroom.  They loved showing and talking about their projects to the class.  Sean, you’re up next.

        Lastly, we were lucky to have Mrs. Byrne as a substitute when I was out for my dad’s funeral.  She did an excellent job and kept things running smoothly. 

        I would like to thank everyone for your cards, words of sympathy, and the Edible Arrangement you sent to my family and me.  Your thoughtfulness was greatly appreciated.