Welcome to Ms. Miller’s First Grade Class First grade is a wonderful and exciting grade. With your help, your child will leave my classroom with a great understanding in math, language arts, science, social studies, and PE. Along with those subjects, your student will work hard and have fun.

Common Core The Common Core State Standards provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn. They are designed to be relating to more real world experiences. You will see a lot more writing and critical thinking and a lot less papers coming home. This is our first year doing the program and we are using the same curriculum, but finding other resources to help.

LANGUAGE ARTS Reading Fluency: reading quickly, accurately, and with expression Reading Comprehension: understanding the vocabulary in stories and understanding the story Comprehension is going to be a huge part of our curriculum in first grade, so as you read with your child please ask them questions throughout the story to help develop comprehension skills. You can also read to them and ask them questions while you read. I will be put our weekly comprehension focus in their homework. Your child will work on these skills in class with their phonics library books and their Anthology books, along with small reading groups and book bags. Students will have book bags sent home with books on their level after I have tested all the students. They will also be put in reading groups based on their level. If a student is struggling with reading they may be put in an intervention program for 20 minutes a day called Read-Well. If they continue to struggle they can go into a 40 minute intervention program with a reading specialist. While I am working in small reading groups other students will be working independently and doing centers. Centers are all academic and I have different levels for different students.

LANGUAGE ARTS Spelling: Spelling words will be sent home weekly and we will have a spelling test every Friday. All spelling words will be from their weekly reading. I will also have challenge words that the students will work on themselves, these words are based on our phonogram we are on for the week. Writing: Student will be writing a lot this school year. We will be writing in all subjects and students need to be able to write on topic, use details and write a conclusion. They will also be doing a few research projects. Sight words: Will be words that students need to know how to say and read, but not necessarily spell. They will be tested quarterly on their sight words. Assessments: Each Friday your students will have a spelling test. Students will be tested on sight words at the end of each Anthology book. I will work on fluency in class and some students will be tested weekly. Also, students will have district test based on the new common core. The students will be tested after each unit and I can send home the score, but not the test. Books: All books that I send home need to come back daily. Their book bags will change based on how well they read them to me.

MATH Your child will work on many different math skills this year. Math homework will be send home weekly and will be review. I will not send any work home that we haven’t gone over in class. The homework will explain the weekly skills. Assessments: Due to new common core, we will be going out of order in our chapter and not using parts of chapters. Therefore we will not have chapter tests. Students will now have district tests after each math unit. Again, I will send home the score but not the test. They are also required to write for their math assessments, so you will notice more writing and word problems.

SCIENCE AND SOCIAL STUDIES Both subjects are very important and we will be working weekly on them. Sometimes science and social studies will not come straight from a book, but more in the form of hands on activities and special projects.

P.E. We will begin P.E. in October, and will be every Tuesday and Friday. Please make sure your child has tennis shoes and a water bottle on those days. We do games on Tuesday and if a child does not have appropriate shoes then they will not be able to participate. Friday is walking club day and they can walk in any shoes, but we would like tennis shoes.

DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION Once I have gotten to know the students and I have tested the students then I will be able to help them based on their level. But be aware that all students must be exposed and instructed on state standards. If your student struggles then I will instruct he or she in different ways. If your child is excelling in an area I will work on different strategies to help them. Ways in which I differentiate instruction are; academic centers, enrichment folder, computers, small groups and one on one help.

LIBRARY We have library every Tuesday at 12:15. Please make sure your child returns their library book on Tuesday. The students will be allowed to get double pink dots or pink dot books until I have assessed all of the students and then I will tell them the different level they can get. At the beginning the students are just getting used to using the library and the routine of finding a book and checking it out. They will have their books for one week and will not be allowed to trade the book for another one in that week. When we start working more on A.R., then students will be allowed to take home 2 books a week.

A.R.-ACCELERATED READER The accelerated reader program is designed to monitor students reading comprehension based on books at their level. This is a computer based program, but currently I do not have a student computer, so it may take longer to get on A.R. By the end of the first quarter some students will be on A.R. These students must be good readers and independent workers. Only a few students will be on it at first and all students will be on A.R. by the end of February. I will only help them on their first three tests and after that they must be able to do them independently to be on A.R. They are also not allowed to take A.R. tests in the library

CLASSROOM POLICIES Friday folders will be sent home on Friday and need to be returned on Monday without their weekly papers. Most papers that are sent home will corrected and if I will have your child make any corrections in class. You will notice that I write notes on the papers. The work going home will help you see how your child is doing in class. Please check your students work each week to see how they are doing. Homework folders will be sent home every Monday and need to be returned on Friday, no earlier unless the student will not be at school on Friday. All books need to come back to school every day. I allow students to go to the bathroom if they need to, but if I see excessive bathroom breaks then they will start to lose recesses. Please send a note or me if your child is not going home their usual way. If you would like to bring a treat for a birthday please contact me 2 days in advance. You may drop off the treat in the office, send it with the child or come by at the end of the day. Please no cakes or anything that requires a utensil, and always bring napkins with whatever treat. Students are allowed to bring a water bottle If a student is absent I can send their work up to the office or they can get it when they return.

BEHAVIOR If a student’s behavior is starting to affect their class work and others around them I will contact parents via , phone or a note home. There are quarterly play days for good behavior. Students will be able to go as long as I have not had to contact a parent due to a behavior problem. I also do group points, Miller Bingo and Mystery Student Of The Day. These are all positive rewards to help with their behavior.

VOLUNTEERS I love to have volunteers, but I need to make sure that if you sign up to volunteer then you will be here on the days and the correct time. If you can’t make it on your scheduled day please call or me. I would like volunteers between 8:00 11:30, but some parents only have afternoon available. All volunteers will be 45 minutes to 1 hour. Our lunch ends at 12:10, so I can have volunteers from 12:30-1:35, but only Wednesdays and Thursdays. Please , send a note or call if you cannot make it. I also need a room mom or co-room moms to help with classroom parties.

DONATIONS I will need extra supplies throughout the year and I will send home notes asking for supplies.

QUESTIONS??