Welcome to

First Grade!

Mrs. Thompson’s Class

2012

Welcome back to South School!

South School begins at 8:00 and dismisses at 2:50. It is VERY important to arrive on time.

Please review all rules (playground and classroom) with your

children!

Students will earn tags for displaying the behavior trait of the month!

Students are allowed to bring snacks from the approved snack list. Anything brought in and not listed will be sent home.

Our Daily Schedule Welcome to First Grade! Here is how we will spend our

day:

• Attendance, lunch count, pledge, calendar, Heggerty

• Phonics and Spelling

• Reading

• Recess 10:00-10:15

• Milk Break

• Continue Reading work until lunch (reading centers)

• Lunch/Recess 11:35-12:25

• Math

• Social Studies, Science, Holiday Units, Handwriting, etc.

Specials

Monday: Music 1:20-1:50

Tuesday: Art 1:20-2:00

Wednesday: P.E 1:40-2:10

• Remember to wear your sneakers!

Thursday: P.E. 2:10-2:40

• Remember to wear your sneakers!

Friday: Library 1:20-2:00

• Don’t forget your library book EACH week!

Classroom Management

At South School, all teachers use the Clip Chart for behavior.

Red = Outstanding!

Orange = Great Job!

Yellow = Good Day

Green = Ready to Learn!

Blue = Think About It!

Purple = Teacher’s Choice

Pink = Parent Contact

We Are MARSHALL In addition to our behavior system, students will be

earning tickets each week to reinforce positive behaviors. There will be a drawing at the end of the month.

Here is a list of the behaviors we will be encouraging throughout the year!

• Making Positive Choices

• Accepting of Differences

• Respectful of Ourselves

• Supporting Each Others

• Honesty

• Achieving Success

• Listening

• Learning

Lunch Count

Your child will have a lunch baggie sent home in their homework folder each day. •If your child has a charge, a note will be sent home on Friday’s with the charged amount. •Office notes, lunch and milk money should be the only thing in the baggie. •If you decide to send money on any other day of the week, please be sure it is in a baggie or envelope.

**Special Note: if you need to send money for other reasons (projects, field trips, etc.) please make sure it is separate from your child’s lunch and milk money. Lunch $2.25 Milk $ .30

Grading

Students will receive a report card at the end of each quarter.

• WT = Work Together

• Please review papers each night with your child!

Grading Scale:

A = 100-93%

B = 92-85%

C = 84-74%

D = 73-66%

F = 65-0 %

Red Homework Folders

It is very important that homework folders are checked and cleaned out EVERY night! This folder acts as an important tool between school and home in many ways! 1. Check for homework that needs to be done. 2. Take out all papers that don’t need to be

returned to school. 3. Sign and return any necessary papers. 4. Look for any important papers or notes.

Reading Homework

We will start our reading series after 2 weeks of Kindergarten review!

We have reading homework EVERY night in first grade. o Read each story at least 3 times!

o Review vocabulary and high frequency cards

o Students will have a homework sheet that requires a parent or guardian signature to show that the assignment was completed.

o Students will take a weekly skills test each week reviewing high freqency words, story comprehension and skill checks.

An outline of our week includes:

– Monday: A Phonics Library booklet will be sent home with three homework stories.

– Tuesday: ‘get set’ story from basil reader

– Wednesday: Main Story (don’t forget to review vocabulary and high frequency words!)

– Thursday: Leveled Readers

– Friday: Get a head start on Monday’s homework!

EVERYDAY MATH

The Everyday Math Program: oIntroduces students to a variety of math concepts on a daily basis. oBuilds on understanding math around us. oIs an instructional approach that revisits concepts regularly. oHas frequent practice of basic skills, often through games.

Spelling

•Monday– Homework sheets will be sent home. •Tuesday– Spelling in the classroom (around the world, games, computer, white boards, etc.) •Wednesday– Spelling in the classroom •Thursday– Spelling Pretest (100% will not test on Friday) •Friday– Spelling posttest (Final grade will be scored)

Spelling Tips: •Practice writing the spelling words each night! •Use spellingcity.com to play games and take a quiz

AIMSWEB

Progress monitoring

Reading: •Star testing determines independent reading levels. •AIMSweb determines reading rate or fluency (wpm) •Letter Naming, Nonsense Words, Letter Sounds, and Phoneme Segmentation

•First grade goals (words per minute): •Fall: 11 •Winter: 30 •Spring: 62

Writing: •Fall, Winter, and Spring Formal Writing assignments Math: •AIMSweb 2min. Basic fact test •Oral counting, number identification, missing number and quantity discrimination

What is RTI?

Response to Intervention

•This program is designed to assess students’

progress and provide help in specific areas.

•The program uses classroom performance,

AIMSweb data, teacher and parent referrals for

placement.

•It is an excellent way to monitor your child’s

progress and chart their reading growth.

Star of the week

Each week I will randomly choose a Star of the Week! Some privileges the Star of the Week will receive include: *Eating lunch in the room with Mrs. Thompson *A display describing the student *Show and tell time at the end of the week *Special gift from Mrs. Thompson

I am looking forward to learning more about

your child and hope this week is unforgettable

for them!

Buses

•First grade students will be loading and unloading buses at the East entrance (2nd grade hallway) •Parents are not to enter this area. •Parents may drop off and pick up students in the gym and the north and south lots. •Please call the office if there are any changes in after school plans!!

Parties

North and South Schools will have two parties for the school year. There will be a Christmas and end of the year party!

Let’s COMMUNICATE!

•Communication is the KEY

•Questions

•Concerns

•Friendly chats

•826-5411 7:45-3:30

•sthompson@marshall.k12.il.us