May 2026

MAY IS ASIAN AMERICAN AND PACFIC ISLANDER HERITAGE MONTH

May 7th - Evening Parent Teacher Conferences

May 21st - Tiger Family Morning US

May 22nd - Red White and Blue Day (wear these colors!)

May 25th - Memorial Day SCHOOL CLOSED

May 27th - Eid al-Adha SCHOOL CLOSED

Book of the Month 📚

Blue Sky White Stars by Sarvinder Naberaus

English: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDGe7WhWmy0

Español: https://youtu.be/n0yoFN-MTUc?si=KWhsxFIBtWgJA7I8

Fundations

First Graders will continue working with initial and end blends. Students will also be adding the suffixes -s, -ed, and -ing to words with blends. (examples: slings, squinted, and spending).

First graders will also start learning about long vowels like in cape, these, lime, hose, tube.

Trick Words that will be introduced:

any, many, how, now, down, out, about, our

friend, other, another, none, nothing

Reading

First Graders will be focusing on the essential question: What lessons can we learn from stories?

Over the next three weeks, our class will discover that we can learn

lessons from the stories we read and hear. We will read a variety of literature, and we will discover that all over the world and throughout time, people have enjoyed listening to and telling stories.

Try to incorporate questions like these into everyday conversations:

• What kind of literature would you like to get at the library?

• If you were to entertain your class, would you dance, sing, or say a poem?

• Why do you think authors like to write stories that amuse children?

Writing

Students will learn about Personal Narratives. Students will write a personal narrative that includes:

characters
setting
dialogue
beginning, middle, and end
a problem and a solution

Math for Classes 102, 104, and 105

Students will build numbers up to 100 using cubes. Students will be able to add tens in preparation for adding and subtracting double digit numbers with tens. At home, practice counting by 1s and tens up to 120 and have number talks with your child. For example, you can ask your child "how many tens are there in the number 50" and they should respond 5.

Math for Classes 101, 103, and 106

In this section, students use indirect comparison to order three objects by length. Students will also learn the conventions of length measurement and represent length measurements with a number and a unit. They understand that the length measurement of an object is the number of same-size length units that span it without gaps or overlaps. Students use manipulatives (connecting cubes, paper clips, and base-ten cubes) as length units. They use base-ten cubes to measure lengths that are

longer than 99 units as they expand their counting and number-writing skills to 120.

Students will also revisit all kinds of story problems involving addition and subtraction.

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 a time they had a problem and how did they solve or fix the problem. Ask them what they did first, then, next, and last.

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

Count forward and back 1-100. Count by tens and fives.

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

May 2026