January 2026

January 5th - Welcome Back!

January 13th - December Student of the Month Assembly

January 19th - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day NO SCHOOL

January 21st - WaCkY WedNesDaY!!

January 23rd - Upper School Tiger Family Morning (8:15am-8:45am)

January 23rd- Report Cards are going home

Upcoming Trips:

Pizzeria (dates vary)

Habitats and Their Inhabitants at Brooklyn Bridge Park (dates vary)

Strictly No Elephants by Lisa Matnchev

First Graders will be introduced to two new glued/welded sounds /am/ and /am/. Students will also be introduced to the concept of a baseword and suffix. We will be focusing on the suffix -s. Examples of a baseword with a suffix includes shops, bugs, fans, and bags.

Trick Words that will be introduced:

-were

-are

-who

-what

-when

-where

-there

-here

This section focuses on developing students’ fluency with addition and subtraction within 10. Students need to have fluency with addition and subtraction facts within 10 by the end of grade 1. Students are encouraged to think about addition facts that can help them figure out subtraction facts.

For example, given 9 – 4, students may say “I know that 5 + 4 = 9, so 9 − 4 = 5. Students will also explore the base-ten system and place value as they learn that ten ones are put together to make a new unit, a ten.

Make sure your child reads for 20 minutes a day. Ask your child about the stories they read; who are the characters, what is your favorite part, what was the story about?

Students in class 103 should be reading in English and in Spanish!

Check your child's homework folder every day for important notices.

Students should be wearing sneakers for gym. If you're not sure, double check with your teacher(s) which day your child has gym.

Talk with your child about things you do together at home. Think about the steps you take from beginning, middle, to end.

Have your child practice writing sentences, remembering to capitalize the first word and end the sentence with punctuation.

Count forward and back 1-100.

Mr. Schorr (Music): First graders will learn two new pitches: fa and sol. We will make patterns with do, re, mi, fa, and sol on our Boomwhackers. We will learn when melodies step and skip. We will learn about tempo, which is the speed of music.

Ms. Gursoy & Mr. Meehan (Physical Education): This month students will practice their manipulative skills. We will focus on hand and eye coordination by throwing and catching objects. We will practice throwing underhand, overhand, rolling, and sliding objects through a variety of group games! The activities will also enhance their locomotor skills we practiced from September!

Mr. Hanratty (Art): In January, first graders will be learning about Lunar New Year and celebrating the Year of the Horse. We will be creating a horse as a shadow puppet. Please consider donating a package of baby wipes.

Ms. Brill (Art): First grade artists will participate in art activities requiring them to work in collaboration. We will also begin preparations for Lunar New Year early, so in Februry we can focus on Black History Month. This year's Zodiac Animal is the horse. We will create horse and other Lunar New Year projects. We are out of tissues and baby wipes. Please consider sending in some. Thank you.

Ms. Bakalac (Science):1st grade scientists have taken or will take the end of unit assessment for unit 1. Once it is graded, I will send it home. Please sign and return it to school. The next unit is called, Light, Sound, & Waves. Students will learn about light and shadows. To support your child at home, please discuss things that give us light. (ex. lamp, flashlight, sun)

Mrs. Birshtein (Technology): In technology we will be learning how to log into in chromebooks and working on Waggle.

Mrs. Randazzo, Mrs. Palanca, Mrs. Kalin, Mr. Díaz, Mrs. Messineo, Mrs. Groll, Ms. Harrilall, Ms. Cai, Ms. Mainolfi