• Welcome to Mrs. Thomas's First Grade Class!

  • About Mrs. Thomas...

    Mrs. Thomas is proud to be a part of Hartford Central School's team of teachers.  She hopes to share her excitement for learning with the first grade students. 

     

  • Educational Goals and Objectives

    First grade students will learn many new skills this year.  Along with the more traditional subjects, students will be developing their citizenship traits as they work to become responsible, respectful participants in our world.  By showing students the pleasure and excitement derived from learning, it is my hope that all students will leave first grade with the goal to become a lifelong learner.

    Our lunch is from 11:05-11:35.

    Our Specials are from 12:28 – 1:08 each day.

    • Monday - Physical Education
    • Tuesday - Music
    • Wednesday - Art
    • Thursday - Physical Education
    • Friday - Technology

      

     

    Reading and writing skills go hand-in-hand.  The students will learn to read many new letter patterns, words, and word families.  We will begin to understand and apply the punctuation and complicated grammar that makes up the rules of our language.  As we write each day, we will use our letter/sound knowledge and our sight word knowledge to express our desired ideas.  Much of the text students are currently reading relies heavily on sight words.  Parents, please help your child to practice them often.

    *****There  are links to sight word collections for each of our reading units in the "useful links" section of this webpage.  Feel free to print them to use as flashcards. You may also contact me for teaching tools.  I will be happy to supply extra items for you borrow. 

    Spelling:  Student spelling success relies on daily practice at school as well as practice as home.  Each week, words are taught and practiced.  The class uses several word lists, each geared toward a student's individual level.  The word lists will get progressively more challenging.  Please help your child practice their spelling words each week.  Please know that our spelling program focuses on the spelling patterns so your child will see words that they may not have seen on their test but they should be able to apply their pattern knowledge to properly spell the new word.

    Our Weekly Spelling Routine:

    Monday:  Words are introduced and practiced by sorting and writing them.

    Tuesday:  Practice words at school and at home by sorting them and by using them in a sentence.

    Wednesday: Practice words at school and at home by doing a practice test.

    Thursday:  Practice words at school, spelling test, and practice at home by writing any missed words three times.

    Friday: We take a break from all of our hard spelling work on Friday.

    In Math, we use the New York State Common Core My Math Program.  This great program leads the students through an exploration of many foundational math concepts.  To assist students as they build their fact knowledge, they will also use a fact practice program modeled after the "Rocket Math" program and the Xtra-Math online math program.  Students progress through the rocket math and Xtra-Math levels at their own pace with goals that are individually set.

    As part of our classroom community, we are polishing our character traits.  Each month the entire school practices a different character trait and recognizes students who best exemplify that trait.  

    Our Behavior Expectations and Classroom Rules follow our Tanager Pride rules of “Be Repectful, Be Responsible, and Be Ready to Learn.  Students use a system of colors to manage their personal behavior. 

  • Exciting Classroom Activities

    With each school year comes new friends, new routines, and new learning adventures.  Share the excitement of First Grade with your child:  read together at home, bake or build something together, or volunteer in your child's classroom.  Parents are great teachers.

     
If you are having trouble viewing the document, you may download the document.

  •

  • Parents...if your contact information changes, please remember to update your contact information for our remind system

  • Questions?  Please contact me, Amy Thomas. 

    For changes in dismissal plans, please contact Mrs. Getty by telephone as my email may not be checked prior to the end of the school day.

  • Thank you for visiting our webpage.  Feel free to arrange for a classroom visit anytime.  

    You will be amazed by all of the great learning experiences we do in a day.