Word Study & Spelling Practice

We are studying bonus letters in word study.

The bonus letters in our language are f, l, s, and z. Bonus letters are letters that double up at the end of a word when the word contains a short vowel sound.

Here are some sentences you can dictate at home to encourage correct spelling and punctuation.

Did Chet get the red shell?
Beth sat in the den with Bill.
Tim will fill up the dish with fish.
We had to mop up the mess.
The bug fell in the web.
Jack had to sell his pig.
The hall is a mess.
Mom did not miss the mud at all.
I fell on the path.
Toss the ball to Kim.
Can you call the pup?

Meet our New DOE Chancellor - Carmen Farina

De Blasio Names New DOE Chancellor! (click the text to read NYTimes article)

We are quite excited that a career educator is finally in an important leadership role. Carmen Farina makes us proud to be NYC public school teachers - let's hope she'll be able to make some changes!

Welcome back!

We hope everyone had a restful and enjoyable break.  It was so great to see the first graders today - some with new haircuts, some who grew a few inches, some with newly missing or grown-up teeth, yet all with the same sweet smiles!

As of now, we have school tomorrow and it is most likely that schools will remain open. You can check the NYC Department of Education website for updated information. (Most of the first graders are hoping for a snow day tomorrow!)

We will have library tomorrow, so please remember to send in any library books!

Neighborhood Share - tomorrow!!

Just a friendly reminder that our Neighborhood Share is tomorrow (at 8:45 am)! The first graders are so excited to show you their work.


During the first part of our share, the first graders will share their building and non-fiction book (do not be surprised if some students need help reading their work - this is a big goal for some students in first grade - and that's OK!).


During the second part of the share, the first graders will go around interviewing you all about the neighborhood you lived in when you were in first grade (time to start jogging that memory!).


We look forward to seeing you all tomorrow! Cheers!






PS: If you arrive early, please check out our students' published How-To books (hanging outside on our bulletin board) from last month's writing workshop. These are the books we shared with Roberta's class- but we know many of you did not get a chance to read them. Check them out tomorrow - they are fabulous!

Spelling Practice

For extra spelling practice at home, you can dictate one or two sentences a week to encourage correct spelling, punctuation, and using an uppercase letter only at the beginning of a sentence or for someone's name.  Read the sentence twice, and have your child write the sentence down.  When your child is finished writing, go through the sentence and make corrections together.  Here are some sentences we recommend this month.

The fish is hot.
Rick is not back yet.
Tim sat on that big rock.
Beth had a wig and a hat.
Dad met Bev at the shop.
A big moth is in the pot.
Did Rick hop on that bus?
He had a nap on the rug.
Did Tom nab the fish?
Did Jack rush to the bus?
Beth had to get the pup.
Mom sat on the deck.
Did Chet wish for a pup?
The fish is for the cat.

Math & Literature

Here are some great counting books you can find in your local library.  Have your child count the objects on each page.  These books can also provide a good context for posing simple addition or subtraction problems such as "There are 7 birds on this page. How many would there be if 4 more birds came along?"

Ten in Bed, Penny Dale
Fish Eyes, Lois Elhert
12 Ways to Get to 11, Eve Merriam
Uno, Dos, Tres, One, Two Three, Pat Mora
From One to One Hundred, Teri Sloat
Math-Terpieces, Greg Tang
Count on Your Fingers African Style, Claudia Zaslavsky

Festival of Lights

Join us on Wednesday, December 18th, at 9:30 am in the auditorium for the Festival of Lights!