Hello Hitah!

We have had a wonderful first 2 weeks of school! We have all enjoyed getting to know one another and forming an inclusive classroom community. It has been awesome welcoming 2 new students into our class! In first grade we begin each day with morning meeting where we get to share things going on in our lives, our calendar keepers maintains the calendar and the schedule, and our meteorologist observes and records the weather. We also enjoy our morning Tefillah together, and at the end the week celebrating Shabbat as a school family.

In math we are reviewing addition (and for some students subtraction!) and having some fun combining art and math these first two weeks. After counting out the number of decorations for our pencil boxes each student created a beautiful customized container for keeping their supplies.  

We have started Fundations (our literacy program) this week and everyone is engaging in all of the different ways to learn about letters! If your child was at MWJDS last year they had Fundations in Kindergarten. We are in the midst of Unit 1 which is mostly review and will go quickly. If your child has not had Fundations in Kindergarten, do not become discouraged with the pace of the progress. It may appear to be slow moving, but it is laying the necessary foundations for your child to be a fluent, independent reader.

During the next few weeks, I will be reviewing:
• The sequence of the alphabet.
• Letter formation from a to z.
• The letter name and a keyword for the consonants:  bcdfghjklmnpqrstvwxyz
• The letter name, and a keyword for the short vowels: a e i o u

The keyword is a specific word which we will use to help your child master each sound. Notice the letter y is not included as a vowel. This comes later. If y begins a word it is considered a consonant and for now, it will only begin words. Please work with your child to reinforce the above concepts.

I look forward continuing to share our exciting achievements over the course of the year. Once we have all of the release forms from families we will be able to post pictures of more Hitah happenings. 

Gmar chatimah tovah,
HaMorah Jaime