Mrs. Hackett's Fantastic Firsties

Dear Families,

We absolutely love the energy and community feel of our neighborhood school, and seeing so many of our students ride their bikes and scooters to school every morning is easily one of our favorite parts of the day!

To help us keep our school environment safe and easy to navigate for everyone, we are updating our scooter/bike parking routine. Starting Monday, October 26th, all student bicycles, scooters, motorized scooters, and motorized bicycles must be parked and securely locked outside at the school bike racks upon arrival.

This change brings our campus in line with district feeder school guidelines. With so many wonderful wheels rolling onto campus each day, storing bikes and scooters inside the building has created safety and hallway clearance concerns, and we simply don't have enough indoor space to store them all.

How you can help prepare your student:

• Provide a Lock: Please make sure your student brings a reliable padlock or cable lock to secure their equipment to the outdoor racks each day.

• Label Belongings: Clearly mark helmets and locks with your child's name. Helmets are still welcome inside and can be stored right along with their backpack!

Please rest assured that all of our outdoor bike racks are fully visible to our security cameras, and these areas will be actively monitored throughout the school day.

Thank you so much for your partnership, understanding, and support in keeping our hallways safe and clear for all our students. Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions at all!

Warmly,

Iron Horse Administration

📚 What We’re Learning in Reading!

This week, our first graders are diving into non-fiction literature as we explore the world of biographies! Throughout the week, we’ll be using our Depth and Complexity icons to help us think like expert readers and scholars. Here is a look at how we’re applying these thinking tools each day:

• Day 1: Discovering Biographies (Introduce the Genre)

  We're introducing what a biography is! Using the Language of the Discipline 🗣️ icon, students will learn the special terms we use when talking about non-fiction books and explore how biographies tell the real story of a person’s life.

• Day 2: Becoming Reading Detectives (Determine Text Importance)

  Not every detail in a book carries the same weight! We'll use the Details 🔍 icon to examine specific facts and learn how to separate the most essential information from minor fun details.

• Day 3: Finding the Main Topic (Central Idea & Supporting Evidence)

  Using the Big Idea 💡 icon, children will practice identifying the main topic of a text. Then, they’ll look for clue words and Details 🔍 as supporting evidence that prove what the book is mostly about.

• Day 4: Solving Word Mysteries (Using Text to Determine Word Meanings)

  When readers hit a tricky or new vocabulary word, we'll look for Patterns 🔁 and clues in the surrounding text and illustrations to help us figure out what the new word means.

• Day 5: Comparing Stories (Identify Similarities & Differences)

  To wrap up our week, we will use the Unanswered Questions ❓ and Multiple Perspectives 👓 icons to compare two different texts on the same topic—discovering how different authors share similar facts while highlighting unique details!

• 🔤 Phonics Corner: Mastering Silent 'e'!

• In our phonics instruction, we use the UFLI (University of Florida Literacy Initiative) program to build strong, confident readers!

  Recently, our first graders took a big step forward by learning how silent e transforms short vowel sounds into long vowel sounds (making the vowel say its name!).

  • What We've Learned: Last week, we focused on the long a_e (like in cake and make) and long i_e (like in kite and time) sound spellings.

  • What's Coming Up: Next week, we’ll continue exploring this pattern as we introduce silent e with the remaining vowels (o_e, u_e, and e_e)!

  💡 Home Connection Tip: When reading at home, encourage your child to look for "magic e" or "silent e" at the end of words to help them decode new vocabulary!

  📁 Assessment Update

  Please be sure to check your child's Thursday Folder! Inside, you’ll find their latest spelling assessment results along with an attached detailed report. These reports provide great insight into the specific skills your reader is mastering and where they might need a little extra practice.

➕ Math Update: Addition Strategies (0–20)

We are diving deep into Topic 3 in math, focusing on powerful mental math strategies to help students add fluently within 20! Here is a preview of the mini-lessons we’ll be exploring:

• Lesson 3-4: Doubles Plus One / Doubles Plus Two

  Building on double facts they already know (like $6 + 6 = 12$), students learn to use those facts as a stepping stone to solve near-doubles (like $6 + 7 = 13$).

• Lesson 3-5: Make 10 to Add

  Ten is a "friendly number"! Students practice decomposing numbers to turn harder addition problems into a simpler $10 + n$ equation (for example, turning $8 + 5$ into $10 + 3$).

• Topic 3: Let's Investigate! Big Celebrations

  A fun, hands-on investigative lesson where students apply their addition strategies to solve real-world story problems centered around celebrations!

• Lesson 3-6: Continue to Make 10 to Add

  We will reinforce and deepen the "Make 10" strategy using ten-frames, number bonds, and counters to build flexible mental math habits.

• Lesson 3-7: Explain Addition Strategies

  Math isn't just about finding the right answer—it's about explaining how you got there! Students will practice speaking like mathematicians by choosing, drawing, and explaining their favorite addition strategies.

💡 Try It at Home: Ask your child, "How would you use 'Make 10' to solve $9 + 4$?" Listening to them explain their strategy is a great way to reinforce what we learn in class!

🗓️ Important Dates

• Raising Canes Restaurant Night

• No School-Professional Development Day

• No School-Thanksgiving Break

Have a wonderful weekend!