Kindergarten Orientation Freeport Kindergarten Center

Mrs. Barry Graduated from Evangel College in 1978 with B.S. in Elementary Education. I taught 4 years in the South Butler School District and have been with the Freeport School District for 8 years. In the interim between those years of employment I started a preschool where I acted both as an administrator and teacher. This is my 6 th year teaching Kindergarten. I have a 4 children and my daughter has made me a grandma twice! My youngest son is a ninth grade student in the South Butler School District. I have two sons that attend Penn State University.

How I can be reached? Note sent to school School phone: (Please note I will not be able to answer the phone during class and I may not get back to you until the end of the day).

What will my child need? *Back pack big enough for coat and large library book. *Small mat, blanket or towel to sleep or rest on at “rest” time. *PLEASE label all of your child’s things with first and last initial.

Academic Goals and Terms Know all alphabet letters (Upper and lower case) and sounds. Patterns/Shapes/Colors Know numbers 0-31 (Counting, recognizing and one-to-one correspondence). Math series from Harcourt, which is the same as Language Arts. Coins: penny, nickel, dime (recognize and value). Telling time on the hour. Graphing (being able to make and read).

Academic Goals and Terms Cont. Handwriting: writing their names (Correct letter and number formation). Zaner Bloser is now used in the district. (zaner-bloser.com) Reading: concentrating on the ideas of Phonemic Awareness - the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate the individual sounds in spoken words and Phonological Awareness – includes phonemic awareness, but also involves work with rhymes, words, syllables, and rimes (word families, ex:-ag).

Take Home Folder and Homework Each student will be given a take home folder with their name and room number on it. Your child will bring this folder home everyday with completed work, along with any homework or school information. Please look through the papers to review and complete any assigned work. Also complete and return any forms enclosed. Return the folder to school the next day.

AbsencesToys Each time your child is absent please send an excuse with him to school upon his return. Please do not send toys from home to school with your child (unless it is for show-and-tell or they have permission from me). Also please do not send any type of trading cards or electronic devices.

Learning Stations Reading, math, writing, art, puzzles, and building stations. Children will get to experience each station on a rotating basis. Stations will begin after a few months of school.

Daily Routine Morning work, pledge, lunch count Special area classes Calendar, morning message, alphabet, place value, counting, and completion of morning work (review of instruction). Language Arts (reading, phonemic awareness) Snack Writing/LA Lunch Rest time Math Learning Stations/Science/Social studies Recess Dismissal

Special Classes Day 1 Gym Day 2 Art Day 3 Computer Day 4 Library Day 5 Music

*Scholastic Book Orders* At the beginning of each month I will send home a Scholastic and See Saw Book Order. I do not send home an order form for the months when we hold a book fair here at school. If you are interested in making an order, please do so online or return your forms in a marked envelope along with one check to Scholastic Books. More information as to online ordering is included with the first book order.

Lunch Snack The first day of each week lunch money and juice money is due for the entire week. TIME – 12:00 – 12:30 LUNCH - $3.00/day JUICE -.50/day -students may bring their own juice or water bottle. Each child will bring his/her own healthy snack daily. Remember that we will be eating lunch about 1 ½ hours after snack. Your child may bring a water bottle or purchase a juice for snack time.

Classroom Rules: 1.Listen and follow directions. 2.Walk in the hall and classroom.. 3.Raise our hand to speak. 4.Use inside voices. 5.Never hurt anyone on the inside or outside. 6.We will always do our best!

Classroom Management Each student is given a special name card worm. Everyone’s card will start at the top on the “good apple” daily! Worms will be moved according to behavior. We will have: (1)Verbal Warning (2) move to yellow apple- warning –miss some free time. Note sent home (3) move to red apple- parental contact and note At the end of the week your child will bring home a green certificate if he/she has remained on the “good apple” all week!

Management Cont. If your child’s note card is moved they will have an opportunity to get it moved back to green by improving their behavior through out the day.

Show-and-Tell/Toys We will have the Show- And-Tell days and topics on special occasions. A note will be sent home or it will be noted on our Monthly Calendar. Toys should not come to school unless specifically part of our lesson or with special instruction. Please do not allow your child to bring trading cards or handheld electronics to school. We cannot be held responsible for things lost, traded, or broken. Thank you!

Morning Note The Question of The Day Every morning the students will have a morning note to begin their day. As the year goes on the note will increase in length and become more complex. We often do a question of the day which encourages the children to make decisions and teaches graphing and other math concepts.

Book-It Will begin in October and end in March. I will send home a Book-It form each month. You and your child will read a book together then answer the questions on the Book-It form (for example: What was your favorite part of the book? Who was your favorite character? Where did the story take place?) Return Book-It form by the end of each month. Your child will receive a free pan pizza, paper award, and a treat from the treasure box.

Journal writing Graphing Each child will have their own journal and they will write in their journals nearly every day. At the beginning of the year the children will do a lot of direct copy. As the year goes on I will encourage them to sound out the words and use inventive spelling. We like to graph everything! We will make different types of graphs (tally, columns, vertical and horizontal). We will use the graphs in many ways: vocabulary words, more – less, how many more, addition and subtraction, etc.

“Take Home Book” and “Wonderful” Word Card Ring Once a week I will be sending home a “Take Home Book” that goes along with the High-Frequency words. Please have your child read the book to you and anyone else they want to read to, sign and return the homework slip the next day. I will check for your signature and your child will receive a sticker for their folder. They love to see their folder fill up! I will send the High- Frequency word card ring home once a week. Please read the words with your child and send the cards back the next day.

Your Turn Please feel free to ask any questions. I look forward to working with ALL of you this year. Thank you for working together with me to help your child grow!