Ross Rockets Newsletter - January 2026

Our K4 friends will start off with a winter theme for the first two weeks of January. In our winter theme we will look at winter activities, snow, and some winter animals all while still exploring our letters, letter sounds, number and shapes. We will end the month of January with a neighborhood theme. In our neighborhood theme we will learn what a neighborhood is, what kind of buildings are in our neighborhood along with who works in our neighborhood. We will even get to pretend to be some of the different community helpers we find in our neighborhood!

In ELA, our K5 students will begin a new unit of study on Ecology, learning about habitats and the living and nonliving things found there. We will read and listen to stories that help us identify the main topic and key details with support, and continue practicing segmenting and blending power words. In Math, we will keep strengthening our skills by practicing how to count forward and backward between 0 and 50, order and compare numbers from 1 to 10, and solve addition and subtraction problems within 10. We’re excited for a month full of learning and growth!

In January, first-grade students will be wrapping up the second ARC Core unit and beginning the next unit: Family Stories. We will explore different types of families as we delve deep into understanding the different story elements: characters, setting, problems, solutions, and central message. This will support our learning in the second social studies unit: Families Near and Far. In math, we will continue to use number lines to deepen our understanding of addition and subtraction of numbers within 120. We will also begin Unit 5: Geometry towards the end of January as we examine and discuss the different characteristics of 2D and 3D shapes. In SEL, students will dive back into learning about different emotions.

During the first week of January, our 2nd graders will be completing our bug books. Students have been working very hard on these books. The reward will be sharing the books at home with their families. In the third marking period, we will begin an animal stories unit. Students will explore the story elements of: characters, setting, plot (problem and solution), and the moral of a story. Students will read many fictional animal stories and then write their own animal stories using an app, called Book Creator. Similarly, we will be wrapping up Unit 4 in Bridges Math early in January. As we approach Unit 5, we will begin developing skills using money, primarily the coins: penny, nickel, dime, and quarter. Additionally, students will work on their skills using place value through 1,000. It will be an exciting month!