Welcome Parents! Please complete the Special Love Note and PG Permission Form on your child’s desk. Please sign up for MYSTERY READER on the back table. *Only two slots per family Hello. My name is

A little about me! This will be my 5th year teaching first grade at Mount Bethel.  I went to Auburn University. War Eagle!!! I will be celebrating my 1 year wedding anniversary on August 20th! My favorite place to be is the lake!

A Absences – If a student should miss school because of illness or a death in the immediate family, please send in a note excusing the absence upon the return of the student to school. An official note from the doctor or dentist is required if a student arrives late due to an appt. In the note please include your child’s first and last name and dates he/she were absent. Please send in a note, no emails please!

A Arrival: Students should be plan to arrive after 7:15 a.m. as they are not permitted to enter the building before that time. If you must use carpool, do not drop your child off before 7:15 a.m. when a staff member is supervising. Students must be in the classroom promptly at 7:45 a.m. or they are tardy and must sign at the front office and receive a tardy slip.

A Accelerated Reader is a supplemental reading program used in First Grade. STAR Test Quizzes Rewards More info to come.

B Behavior Folder Birthdays Blog – www.cobblearning.net/driggers Attached in Behavior Folders Please review your child’s folder each week and return it to school the next day signed. Starts this week Birthdays Treats?!? **No cupcakes- VERY MESSY! Send in treats in the morning or drop off at office Treats will be shared at lunch- 12:54 Allergies? Blog – www.cobblearning.net/driggers

B Book Orders- Scholastic Book Orders will be sent home monthly. This is a great way to encourage and excite your child about reading! Reading as a reward is an incredible way to communicate the importance of and instill the joy of reading in young children. Online ordering will be set up.  Parent Volunteer to separate and staple letters once a month? Book Buddies: Our book buddies will be Mrs. Boutwell’s 3rd grade class.

C ClassDojo/ Clip Chart CLUBS CogAt- September 6-8 Classroom behavior system Check online every night. It’s very important to support behaviors at home! CLUBS Foundation sponsored! I will send a form home to fill out! CogAt- September 6-8 Counseling: Our counselor is Mrs. Oakes and she will be visiting our classroom every other week.

D Dress Code Please refer to the Mt. Bethel Dress Code policy in your Mt. Bethel PTA calendar. Tennis shoes are to be worn on all PE days. Please refer to the SPECIALS calendar each day so your child is wearing appropriate footwear.

E brett.driggers@cobbk12.org Email Procedures My email address is: Best way to reach me! NO EMAILED DISMISSAL CHANGES PLEASE My email address is: brett.driggers@cobbk12.org

August 21, 2017 School extended by 45 minutes. Specifics on dismissal will be communicated. Parents may check out students early up until 1:30. Safety is top priority. Not going outside to view live. Watching NASA Broadcast.

F Field Trips Please stay tuned for upcoming field trip permission forms and chaperone opportunities! Field trip money will be collected using the white money collection envelopes. You will receive an overview of the money you’ve sent in from our book keeper throughout the year. Students need to wear their class t-shirts on all field trips. More details to come.

Building YOUR Child’s Foundation! Click Here for Video

G Grading The first grade report card is similar to that of Kindergarten’s report card. Your child’s grades are not a mathematical calculation, but rather a reflection of learned and applied knowledge from a first grade summative assessment. Grades will measure progress toward the given standard. Students will receive the following : 3+ In addition to the 3, makes applications and inferences beyond expectations 3 = Consistently meeting the standard 2 = Progressing toward meeting the standard 1 = Limited or minimum progress toward meeting the standard Please keep in mind first grade is a developmental year and students learn at different rates. Therefore, some students may “progress” toward a standard for a quarter or so before “meeting” it, which is OK!

Zaner-Bloser Handwriting Our handwriting style is Zaner-Bloser. This style is also known as “ball and stick” because of the letter shapes as shown below: Zaner-Bloser Handwriting We will practice this daily. If your child is struggling additional practice at home will help them improve.

H Homework- Reading is an expectation every evening after school! Additional home practices will show up periodically in your child’s Take-Home Folder. These practices will involve a skill or concept already introduced and practiced whole group and/or independently. Communicate problems to me immediately. Unfinished work may be sent home.

I, J, K Items Left at Home – Only glasses and lunches maybe brought in. If you child leaves something at home and you bring it to school for them, please leave it in the office. The office will deliver to the classroom at 10am and 12pm. Do not bring it to the classroom. Just water! Hydration is important to your child’s learning! Please only send water for snack. Thanks for your understanding!

L Lunch – Our lunch time is from 12:54-1:24. Learning Commons- We will visit the Learning Commons once a week as a class. However, your child may exchange books as often as needed (AR). We work with Mrs. Kindschy each semester to cover standards incorporating technology. Lunch Visitors New table policy- only you and your child No outside lunches! Greet and Depart location 

L Listening: One of the most important work habits in first grade is listening. I stress the importance of this from day one! Students HAVE to be able to listen in order to be as successful as possible in first grade. Lunch Extras: Students have a choice at lunch to buy EXTRA items-some of these include ice cream, canned drinks, and chips. Each of these cost the student additional money. PLEASE talk with your child and let them know if it is ok for them to purchase these things. In the past, some students have drained their accounts very quickly and parents have come to find out they are buying ice cream everyday in addition to their regular lunch.

M Mystery Reader: Do you need to sign up?! Shhh! Fridays from 8:00-8:30 Please bring books with you to read! **medication policy**- All medications need to be checked in by a parent through the clinic.

N, O Online Resources Our class BLOG will be full of online resources. Please refer to our BLOG for help. The Mt. Bethel BLOG homepage is also full of resources for you. http://www.mtbetheles.com/

Orton-Gillingham: A Methodology for Teaching Reading & Spelling to ALL Students! Whole class & small group lessons Differentiation in reading and spelling based on student ability No “spelling tests.” As we teach a phonics rule or pattern, students will read & spell words with that rule or pattern. Assessment through dictation and application of phonics rule/pattern. (ex. –ck rule) These words do not need to be memorized. Trick words: words that do not follow a rule or pattern. MUST BE MEMORIZED for reading and spelling. 3 Trick words will be introduced at a time and will be memorized for spelling and reading. (ex: said) Your donations at work.

Parent/Teacher Conferences OCTOBER 16-20th! Parent Volunteers- Thank you!!!! Training sessions required Friday, August 11th 9:30-10:00am Monday, August 21st 1:00-1:30pm Thursday, September 21st 8:00-8:30am

What does the PTA do? What can I do for the PTA? $25,000 in stipends to teachers/year 3,000 volunteer hours/year 4 Family Engagement Nights Community Outreach Character Education Visiting Author Reflections and MUCH MORE!!!!! What can I do for the PTA? Volunteer Participate in Read-a-Thon (August 21st – August 25th) Visit us at www.mtbethelpta.org

Great resource for your child at school for writing Q Quick Word Books: Provided through PTA Great resource for your child at school for writing

R Remind.com- Important reminders Text messages: text-81010 message- @b7eg6h Push notifications for Smartphone: Type in browser rmd.at/b7eg6h

R Room Reps: Our room reps are Greer Waddell and Andrea Florak. A huge thank you goes to both of them for agreeing to do this for our class this year. They will be contacting you soon.

S Scarecrow Day- Tuesday, October 31th Specials Start planning those costumes now!!  Specials 11:55-12:40 Problems? Email specials teacher and me! Snack- Make sure to send in healthy snacks No candy or juice! Small Snack- We eat lunch shortly after.

T Trick Words- Transportation Changes Your child will be expected to read, write, and spell the Kindergarten and First Grade Trick Words you received in tonight's packet. Be sure to practice these throughout the year with your child. Transportation Changes Note in child’s folder OFFICIAL MT. BETHEL BUS PASS No emails! Buccaneer T.E.A.M. Procedures are our rules that we follow in common areas. These procedures are followed school-wide. (See Handout)

W Work Habits TOOLS FOR INDEPENDENCE! A huge part of first grade is developing positive work habits. We work really hard on this from putting our name on all of our papers, to keeping our room neat, to keeping up with our materials. It is an on going process, but we set the stage in first grade.

W Wish List: Thank you to those of you who have already sent in an item or two. If you wish, please stop by and take an item or two from the wish list on the easel! I appreciate your contributions to our classroom! You all are wonderful!

X, Y, Z Your Support is key!!!  Contact me ANY TIME about ANY concern or question!!!

QUESTIONS?! PLEASE LEAVE SPECIAL LOVE NOTE AND PG PERMISSION FORM ON YOUR CHILD’S DESK.