Back to School Night September 11, 2017 The s of First Grade Back to School Night September 11, 2017

Attendance Unless your child is ill, please make every attempt to have your child present at school and on time. Our day begins at 8:40 and dismissal time is at 3:25. Students that arrive late are missing valuable instruction. If your child absent, please call the attendance hotline and provide a written note on the first day that your child returns to school. If your child is out of school for more than 3 days, please provide a doctors note.

Behavior Students that choose to follow the rules will earn green Dojo points and will earn rewards. Likewise, there will be consequences for students that choose to break the rules. (earning red Dojo points, parent contact, time outs, etc.) Please be sure to sign up for ClassDojo so that you can keep track of your child’s weekly behavior points and also review and sign your child’s behavior calendar each day.

Curriculum Reading Wonders Math in Focus Science Social Studies

• Practice reading the popcorn words nightly. • In 1st grade, we will focus on developing phonemic awareness, decoding skills, word recognition, comprehension and oral reading fluency. • The more sight words a student knows, the more fluently he/she will read. • Practice reading the popcorn words nightly. Read to Self Read to Others Listen to Reading Word Work Work on Writing

A variety of grouping strategies will be utilized to deliver our reading and language arts curriculum. Whole class and small group lessons will be delivered to ensure mastery of skills. We will focus on the following throughout the year: Reading Strategies Comprehension Skills Reading Fluency Vocabulary and Word Analysis Spelling, Grammar, Usage, and Mechanics Writing Listening and Speaking

We do lots of writing in first grade We do lots of writing in first grade. Children are encouraged to use phonetic spelling when they first start. Our goal is to encourage risk taking and independence in writing. Part of this process is to stress to children that phonetic spelling is acceptable, and to build their confidence in their ability to communicate in writing even if they can’t spell the word with “dictionary spelling.” However, as high frequency words and spelling rules are introduced children will gradually move toward more conventional spelling.

This is our first year with Math in Focus This is our first year with Math in Focus. Students will be assessed at the end of each chapter Skills taught are: Numbers to Ten Number Bonds Addition and Subtraction Facts to 10 Shapes and Patterns Ordinal Numbers and Position Numbers to 20 Addition and Subtraction Facts to 20 Length and Weight Picture Graphs and Bar Graphs Numbers to 40 Addition and Subtraction to 40 Mental Math Strategies Calendar and Time Numbers to 120 Addition and Subtraction to 100 Getting Ready for Multiplication and Division Money

Daily Schedule 8:40–9:00 : Arrival 12:40–1:10 : Lunch 9:00-9:10: Morning Meeting 9:10–9:40: ELA: Whole Group Reading 9:40–10:00: Word Work/Phonics 10:00-10:40: Writing/Grammar 10:40-10:50: Snack 10:55-11:40: Encore Subject 11:45–12:35: Daily 5 12:40–1:10 : Lunch 1:10-1:40: Recess 1:40–1:50: Read to Self 1:50–2:45: Math 2:45-3:15: Science/Social Studies 3:15-3:25: Pack Up 3:25-3:50: Dismissal

Early Release Days There will be 4 early release days this year. The dates of those days are: September 27 October 27 February 15 March 28

Falcon 5 Every student is expected to follow the Falcon 5: Be Safe Be Respectful Be Caring Be Here, Be Ready Celebrate Success

Goals Each unit of study has learning goals. They will be communicated to you in our newsletters. You will receive a weekly newsletter for language arts and reading. You will receive a math newsletter at the beginning of each unit.

Homework Homework will be assigned on Monday for the week. You can find the homework calendar in your child’s binder in the inside front pocket. Please be sure to review your child’s homework each night and sign the homework sheet daily. In addition to reading and math homework it is important that 1st graders read EACH night. This may include practicing their decodable readers, shared reading with an adult or older sibling, and reading and decoding good fit books on their own.

Itinerary Oh, the places we will go and the things we will learn this year as we soar through 1st grade! To find out exactly where we are headed each week you will want to read our weekly newsletter. All weekly schedules, upcoming events and important information will be listed on our newsletter. Your weekly newsletter can be found in your child’s BALLOON binder in the front pocket.

Just Right Books Studies have shown that those children whose parents are actively involved in the reading process will become the best readers. Reading to your child, listening to them read to you, taking them to the library and providing quality just right books at home is of the highest importance.

Keeping Informed Be sure to check your child’s BALLOON binder every night for all school and class mail. Join Class Dojo 

Lunch Lunch is from 12:40 – 1:10 each day. Money can be added to your child’s account by sending in a check or at www.myschoolbucks.com. Lunch and breakfast menus will be sent home at the beginning of each month and are also located on the Pottsgrove website. The students are encouraged to memorize their student ID number that came home in the summer letter. This will help the lunch line run smoothly.

Mystery Readers I would like to invite all parents, older siblings, grandparents, or other special people to surprise your child by being a “Mystery Reader” this year in our classroom. Mystery Readers will visit us on Friday afternoons at 2:45 for approximately 20 minutes. Remember this is top secret! Sign up calendar is in the back!

Nuts About Books Students are ALL encouraged to participate in the 100 book club. You will find a book log in the reading pocket of your child’s BALLOON binder. Each book that your child reads should be logged on that paper. Once your child has read 10 books please turn in the log and your child will add a dot to their bird. In 1st grade 20 pages = a book if reading a chapter book. Books can be read by the child or to the child depending on their reading level or mood that night 

Other Items: Birthdays Scholastic Book Orders Money (lunch/snack) Classroom helpers Classroom Directory

Parent-Teacher Conferences Parent/Teacher conferences will be held on November 20th and 21st. During this conference, we will be discussing your child's academic performance,, homework, behavior and any additional concerns you may have. A sign up schedule will come home closer to the date.

Questions Please feel free to contact me anytime you have questions. You can do this in a variety of ways: • Write a note • Send an email or message me on Dojo • Call me at school

Report Cards Report cards will be distributed once each trimester. November March June

Success! Teacher + Family = SUCCESS Research shows that students are more receptive at school when they are aware of the collaboration between home and school.

Tests All tests will be announced in our weekly newsletter or homework sheet. All tests will be corrected and sent home to be reviewed in your child’s take home folder.

Up Up and Away!!! It is so exciting to see what AMAZING readers our children blossom into in 1st grade! Our class has already begun to build our Reading Stamina!!! STAMINA is being able to do something for a long time without getting tired or giving up. We are trying to build up our STAMINA when we are practicing reading to ourselves.

Visitors and Volunteers • If you have time or talents to share with us, please complete and return the volunteer “Helping Hands” form. • Our school policy requires all visitors/volunteers to check in at the school office. Visitor Badges are required if you will be in the school hallways or entering a classroom. Also, anyone that wishes to help in the classroom is required obtain their clearances.

Websites

EXtra Supplies In order to provide your children with the program I believe they deserve, I supplement the curriculum with extra projects. These projects are not funded by the regular education budget. Please take the time to look at my Giving Tree. I have posted apples on the tree in the classroom this evening. Any and all donations are truly appreciated! If any additional supplies are needed throughout the school year they will be noted in our class newsletter or on Dojo.

You…… You are your child’s first and most important teacher. I hope that we can work together this year to make your child’s 1st grade school year a huge success!

Zzzzz… Please make sure your child gets plenty of sleep each night, so that he/she is well rested and ready for the challenges of first grade. It is recommended that 6 and 7 year olds get 10 to 11 hours of sleep a night. This year will ZOOM by, so let’s make the most of it.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Once again, thank you for coming this evening and for showing an interest in your child’s education. If you should have any questions or would like to speak with me further about your child, please contact me by email at cspringer@pgsd.org or call the school to schedule a time for us to meet.