October 2025

October 2nd - Yom Kippur - NO SCHOOL

October 13th - Italian Heritage/ Indigenous Peoples' Day - NO SCHOOL

October 14th - September Student of the Month

October 17th - PTA Movie Night - 4:30pm

October 20th - Diwali - NO SCHOOL

October 24th - Hoedown - 4pm

October 25th - PTA Fun Run Prospect Park - 9am

October 27th - Picture Day

October 28th - Tiger Family Morning (Upper)

October 31st - Spirit Day! - Character Parade

Book of the Month 📚

Ordinary Mary’s Extraordinary Deed by Emily Pearson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpAvRVgsfds

Hispanic Heritage Month! Mes de la herencia hispana

Hispanic Heritage Month is September 15th to October 15th.

Here are some resources you can use to teach your child about Hispanic Heritage Month:

https://www.pbs.org/parents/hispanic-heritage-month

En español: https://www.pbs.org/es/parents/hispanic-heritage-month

Global Diversity Awareness Month 🌎

October is Global Diversity Awareness Month, a month to celebrate and increase awareness about the diversity of cultures and ethnicities and the positive impact diversity can have on society.

Fundations

First Graders are using their letter sound skills to begin to build CVC words (examples: mat, sip, let, rug, top). Students will use their 'tapping' skills to help build these new words. Students will also be learning about sentence structure with capital letters at the beginning of the sentence and periods at the end.

Sound Drill

Estrellita (CLASS 103 ONLY)

Dual Language students will continue reviewing letter names and sounds in Spanish. They will also start syllables with a. (ma, ta, sa..) They will also start blending syllables with a to form words.

Sonidos iniciales

Reading

First Graders will be focusing on the essential question: How does everyone in my family and community make them special?

First graders will be reading and analyzing texts about communities and how the people who live there, including family members, work together to make it better for everyone. Some reading skills they will be practicing are text organization, retell, setting, summarization, as well as text features.

Writing

First Graders will be learning how to write descriptive essays about various places they know in their community using sensory words; the five senses. Students will continue to brainstorm their ideas, draft their writing piece, edit their written work, as well as publish a final essay.

Math for Classes 102, 104, and 105

First Graders will be starting a new unit in math; How many of each? How many in all? We will be working on developing strategies for adding and subtracting numbers by counting on or back, solving problems that involve adding more than two numbers, and finding many different combinations for the same number. We will also begin to work with tens and ones as we represent the teen numbers as a group of ten plus a group of ones.

Math for Classes 101, 103, and 106

First Graders in 101, 103, and 106 will work with story problems. Story problems will include addition, subtraction, and comparison problems. Near the end of the unit, ask your first grader to solve the following word problems:

Clare has 8 pencils. Andre has 10 pencils. How many more pencils does Andre have?

Diego has 6 pens. His mother gives him some pens. Now he has 9 pens. How many pens does Diego's mother give him?

Read at home!

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!

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

Wear sneakers from gym!

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

Try at home

Talk with your child about the things they do in school. Have them speak in a complete sentence, "In school, I _________."

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

Count forward and back 1-20.

Mr. Schorr (Music): First grade musicians will be introduced to the rhythm instruments (drums, triangles, cymbals, tambourines, rhythm sticks. They will learn to play a steady beat on them. They will learn simple music reading. They will learn about the idea of dynamics: music can be soft, medium, and loud. We will continue our community building through singing favorite songs for young people, and exploring the joys of dramatic movement to music.

Ms. Gursoy & Mr. Meehan (Physical Education): This month students will get their spots in the gym and learn the rules so they can play safely. They will also learn several locomotor skills. These skills will be practiced through a variety of group games. Such skills are: walking, jogging, hopping, jumping, sliding and galloping. To be successful at the games, students need to listen, follow directions and be aware of their surroundings. Children can practice different skills while playing in the park, going to the store and even at home. We will also be taking the students' height and weight. You can find this on the NYC Schools Account.

Mr. Hanratty (Art): In October, first graders will be looking at and making art that portrays families and communities. Students will learn to portray people in different materials and will make their own family or community scenes.

Ms. Brill (Art): First grade artists will learn about being part of the school art community. We will talk about sharing, being kind, and using materials responsibly. Artists can help their community by making it more beautiful! To do this, we will create decorative art for the Annual P.S. 230 Hoedown.

Ms. Bakalac (Science): 1st graders are getting familiar with the science classroom. We are establishing safety rules and routines. We started talking about what a scientist does and some of the different tools they use. Students will be reviewing the 5 senses and how scientists use their senses to help them observe. To support your child at home, please review the 5 senses and what their senses are used for. Please join the Science Google Classroom using the code: qiax67rz.

Mrs. Birshtein (Technology): In Technology, we will be learning about screen time and how to balance the use of our devices and free time.

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

October 2025