First Grade Open House Mrs. Bango Room

About Our Class  There are 21 students.  There are 9 girls and 12 boys.  They are funny, kind, energetic and hard working.

All About Mrs. Bango  I have dual certification in regular and special education from the State University College at Buffalo.  I received my master’s degree from the State University at Albany.  I continue to study through reading professional books and journals and participate in many workshops and Staff Development classes.  This is my 27th year teaching at Loudonville and my 20th year teaching 1st grade.  I was the Learning Resource Teacher for my first 7 years at Loudonville.

FYI  Lunch money –Please make checks out to North Colonie Cafeteria Fund.  We have sharing circle every Monday. Students are encouraged to share something they did over the weekend or they may bring a special item to share.  The Sharing Dog will come home with one student at a time. This started on Monday and will continue throughout the year.  We are a nut-free classroom. Students may not have peanut butter or any items with nuts for snack. They may have peanut butter or nuts for lunch.  Birthdays are celebrated as close to actual birth dates as possible. We have a large number of September birthdays. We do not have any summer birthdays. Birthdays are celebrated during snack time. You may come in to celebrate with us or send something in.

Special Services  Remedial Reading --5 day and 3 day  K-2 Language and Speech  School Counselor  Learning Resource Area  Health Educator  Psychologist  Occupational/ Physical Therapist  English as a Second Language  Students need to qualify to receive services for many of the services listed.  The Foreign Language teacher will be working our class during the last trimester of school.  Learning Enrichment Teacher-Primary Thinking Skills

Homework  Look for a new homework sheet each Monday.  Please keep this sheet in the folder for the week.  I typically assign homework Monday through Thursday.  After the directions are read, the children should be able to independently complete the assigned work in 10 to 15 minutes. They may need additional help reading some of the math problems.  Have your child read as much of the Morning Letter as he/she can each evening.  Reading and/or being read to should be part of the evening routine!

Raising A Reader Balanced Literacy  Suggestions and recommendations are in the take home packet.  Important to let your child use the strategies he /she learns at school when reading at home. Encourage practice of strategies when reading together.  Bedtime reading is best as a read aloud. Reading together works well when your child is still energized.  Reading should be a pleasant experience. I have suggestions that could help. Please contact me if you have questions or concerns.

Writing  The students are offered choice in their writing most of the time.  Sound spelling is encouraged.  We have Writing Workshop every day.  Students write in their journals during Writing Center.  Try keeping a journal at home!

Math  General math lessons are done with the whole group. I use manipulatives for many math lessons. We complete many math pages in school. I will send some of them home after they are corrected.  There will be time during the day for extra help and enrichment.  I assign math for homework at least once a week.  There are some links on my website  ( and I will continue to add more during the year.

Spelling --Word Work or Word Study!) 2 core words (high frequency words) word family words/vowel sound focus/spelling patterns I will send home a list of possible words that may be on the test. Ex: at is the word family Possible words are cat, bat, and sat They may also be tested on mat, hat, and flat

Spelling… Continued  Research demonstrates the traditional method of drill and practice which emphasizes memorization is not the most effective way to teach students spelling. Our focus is on building an understanding of effective spelling strategies and patterns.  Our goal is for students to apply these skills and strategies to their daily writing.  This will not begin until the end of September or early October.

Social Studies & Science  The units we complete throughout the year are listed in the packet.  There will be many hands-on activities in science.  In November and December we have a fun social studies unit on holidays and traditions. You will be invited to share!  An optional animal project will be assigned.  We will have our First Grade Community Day again in April.

Report Card  We send report cards home 3 times a year. We also send 3 progress reports.  There is one scheduled conference in first grade but you may request addition conferences at any time.  The section on reading explains your child’s reading progress. Please look for a paper in the first report card to explain reading progress. It is important to keep this paper as a reference for the entire school year.

Conferences and other Sign-Ups  We will be using an electronic sign-up called Sign-Up Genius. It is very user friendly! More details to follow.  This new sign up will be used for room parent and classroom helper sign-ups along with conference sign-ups!

Thank you for coming!  Please feel free to contact me anytime!   Contact: x4150, or