Back to School Night First Grade Southeast Elementary

Student Goals Love of Learning Independent Responsible Compassionate Resourceful Knowledgeable

I have come to a frightening conclusion. I am the decisive element in the classroom. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher I possess tremendous power to make a child’s life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that will decide whether a crisis will be escalated or de- escalated, and a child humanized or dehumanized. Hiam Ginott Teacher and Child Avon Books, 1976

Teacher Goals Support and Nurture Develop Talents Meet Individual Needs Integrate Learning Styles Connect Curriculum to the Real-World Challenge and/or Restructure Stay Connected to Home

Reading The Comprehension Toolkit Focuses on “reading as thinking” Builds skills and competence in key thinking strategies for increased comprehension Supports time for shared reading, guided reading (small groups), independent reading, and collaborative discussion and sharing Provides opportunities for students to read in a variety of genres including nonfiction. Fountas & Pinnell Word Study Builds students word knowledge through instruction in phonics, spelling patterns, high frequency word knowledge, vocabulary development, and word-solving actions

Reading at Home  READ, READ, READ!  Read out loud, to an adult.  At least 10 to 15 minutes every night. Home readers will go home in October Reading logs document books read and time spent reading. Class Reading Goal: 40,000 minutes.

Language Arts Traits of Good Writing: Meaning Structure Detail Voice Conventions Writing Experiences: Personal narratives Poetry Journal writing Nonfiction writing Friendly letters

Word Study Begins after conferences Start slow, work through phonetic patterns together. Pattern lists sent home on Monday. Option for challenge Three homework activities due on Monday. No “Spelling Tests”

Chinese Curriculum Tools are the same as non-immersion students. Students will speak only Chinese beginning in October Recognize 75 characters by the end of the year Focus on oral fluency, reading, and writing

Building Proficiency Always demonstrate first (I do, you do, we do) Using facial expression and body language Using pictures, videos, audio clips, toys, etc. Playing math and Chinese games in Chinese Students turn and talk with each other to practice Making sure every student has many opportunities to practice Chinese in class

What is going on in the Chinese Classroom? Procedure 1. Character writing (2 new characters) 2. Mental math 3. Chinese A. review B. Add several new words connected to the two just write (with pictures) Pronunciation Meaning Reading C. social and science (calendar/ season/culture/…) D. Communicative sentences at school and in real world) Oral Chinese (1 to 2 sentences) E. Dictation of characters once a week; have one week to finish 4. Recess 5. Math Old and new concepts vocabulary/modeling/group work 1 to 2 math games

Social Studies Me and My School: All About Me Cultures Economics Neighborhoods Past, Present, and Future Integrated into our reading and writing.

Mathematical Practices 1.Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them. 2.Reason abstractly and quantitatively. 3.Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others. 4.Model with mathematics. 5.Use appropriate tools strategically. 6.Attend to precision. 7.Look for and make use of structure. 8.Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.

Open-Response Problem Solving Ryan walked past the toy store on Tuesday. He saw some wagons in the window. Ryan counted 20 wheels. How many wagons did Ryan see in the window? ______________ wagons Draw or write to explain how you know.

Focus Units in Mathematics SemesterUnits Pacing/ Time Frame First Semester Operations and Algebraic Thinking 15 weeks Geometry Literature Possibilities  Museum Shapes by Gisela Voss  Kente Colors by Debbi Newton  The Spider Weaver by Margaret Musgrove  Cubes, Cones, Cylinders and Spheres by Tana Hoban 3-4 weeks Second Semester Number and Operations in Base Ten Literature Possibilities  The Warlord’s Beads by Virginia Walton  Just Enough Carrots by Stuart J. Murphy 11 weeks Measurement and Data 7 weeks

Science Science and Technology for Children: Students make their own discoveries Knowledge is actively constructed by the learner Hands-on experimental environment Scientific reasoning skills Units of Study –Weather –Changes

Character Education and Tribes Character Education: Compassion Honesty/Integrity Respect Self-Discipline Courage Perseverance Responsibility/Accountability Teamwork Tribes- Ways of cooperating with each other: Attentive Listening Appreciation/No Put-Downs The Right to Pass Mutual Respect Character is doing the right thing even when no one is looking. – JC Watts

Specials Art Music Physical Education

Technology Integrated into the daily routine of the classroom through: –Information retrieval –Student productivity –Problem solving –Communication and collaboration –Delivery of lessons –Classroom management

Additional Information Communication Conferences Star of the Week Birthdays Homeroom moms