What’s Groovin’ in First Grade?

We will be going on a field trip to the Detroit Parade Company on Thursday, November 5th! We will leave school around 9:15 a.m. and return around 12:00 p.m. We will have lunch when we return to school.

The permission slip is coming home today and needs to be returned by Monday, October 19th. The cost of the field trip is $11.

You can pay in one of the following ways:

• Cash or a check made out to Pierce School— please send it to school in a labeled envelope with your child’s name.

• Online payment using the link attached below.

This field trip is for students only, so we will not need parent chaperones.

If you need assistance with the $11 field trip fee, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me. If you have any other questions, please let me know. We are looking forward to a fun field trip!

It has all the directions on how to access and make a payment. It will be listed as Pierce 1st Grade Field Trip “Optional Fee”. It is how it is put into the system.

Will this cost me anything?

There is a small convenience fee associated with each payment: $1.00 for using your checking/savings account information (direct ACH), and $2.65 (per $100) for using your credit/debit card. This convenience fee is charged by e~Funds for each transaction and does not come to Birmingham Public Schools.

All Pierce students will be allowed (and encouraged) to wear their school appropriate Halloween costume to school. There will not be an opportunity for students to put on their costumes at school. Please make sure your child's costume falls within our costume guidelines. The don'ts of Halloween costumes for the Pierce Parade and Party are as follows:

• No masks

• No blood or gore

• No weapons (real or fake)

*Students who have purchased a costume that does not fit the appropriate school costume guidelines often wear a dressed down version of the costume to fit into the Pierce Halloween Parade and Party guidelines or wear something different to school (eg. sports uniform).

Irene will be organizing our Halloween Party!

Parent Party Volunteers: all volunteers need to sign in on your way to the classroom

Donors: If you are donating a game, craft, snack, or party supply, please have the items sent to school ahead of time with your child, or drop the items off the morning of by 9:15 on the table in the school vestibule. Please label all donations with teacher name.

Decorations and Set up- Please report to the classroom at 10:00.

🎃🎃🎃 🎃 🎃 🎃 🎃 🎃

Halloween Agenda

• Half Day of School

• Students come to school dressed in costume

• Drop off supplies on the tables outside before 9:15am. Please label your Halloween donations with the teacher name.

• 10:00 Parents volunteers can enter to decorate/set up for party

EVERYONE IS WELCOME AT THE 10:20am PARADE!

10:20 Parade begins and students will exit through the Pierce street door, proceed to the sidewalk and walk north on the Pierce St. sidewalk around the perimeter of the school grounds and will enter back in through the main entrance.

Immediately following the parade the party will begin.

*We ask for all party workers to be part of the party clean up crew and stay in the classroom for the duration of the party..

This unit, we are learning all about the power of books and libraries as we explore the question, “Why are books important?”

• We will explore many different kinds of texts, including books, poems, and art, and learn about the daily routines and habits of readers. Students will discover how books can help us learn, imagine, explore new ideas, and understand the world around us. We will also write about what we are learning and share our thinking about why books are so important!

In writing, we are beginning our next narrative writing project! Inspired by our new book, Ready to Fly, students are creating a character who wants to learn something new! Their character will use a book to help them learn and discover something they didn't know before. From there, students will have full creative control over what happens in their story! We are so excited to see their imaginations come to life as they continue growing as writers!

Next week in phonics, we will be learning about digraphs! Students will practice reading and spelling words with sh, ch, th, and ck. We will work on recognizing that two letters can work together to make one sound. Our Super Words this week are go, no, so, and which. Students should be able to read and spell each of these words independently.

✏️ Spelling Test: We will have a spelling test every Friday covering the skills and words we learned that week!

In math, our big focus is solving story problems! Students are learning how to listen to or read a story problem, figure out what they know, and decide what they need to find. We are continuing to build our understanding of addition and subtraction within 10! Students are working on solving a variety of story problems and writing equations to show their thinking. We are learning how addition and subtraction are connected and how we can use different strategies to solve problems, including finding missing numbers in equations. Students are also practicing explaining their thinking and developing a stronger understanding of the equal sign. We are working hard to become confident and flexible mathematicians!

In science, we are learning all about sound and light! We are investigating what makes sound and how sound travels by exploring vibrations and experimenting with bells. We are also learning how different materials interact with light and how shadows are created. As we continue, students will explore how sound and light can be used to communicate and will eventually design and test their own device to send a message across a long distance.

• October 20 - Fire drill @2PM
• October 28 – Trunk or Treat (after school)
• October 30 - Half Day/Halloween Party/Parade

All parents are invited to the parade! It will begin at 10:20AM.