St. Edward Church
St. Edward School
St. Edward Church
St. Edward School
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First Grade -- Where You'll Watch Your Child Grow! A Letter for Parents
Ways to Help Your Child Bloom The loveliest flowers usually have the best gardener -- and that's you! Staying involved in your child's education is the key to a successful year. Engage your child in conversation about his/her day, but know that children won't always give out much information. I will send home a weekly newsletter called the "1st Grade Homework Sheet" each Monday detailing our activities for the week. You can use this as a springboard for discussion.
Another way to stay involved is to check your child's BEE Book EVERY evening. These notebooks are due back at school THE NEXT DAY. Inside you will find the homework sheet, the discipline sheet, sight word lists to practice, a book and a reading log. Your child should read the book to you and you can record the book on the reading log. Please make every effort to read each night and return the book the next day. It is so important for your child’s reading progress to have the opportunity to read with someone one-on-one and have immediate feedback. We have our books somewhat leveled with colored dots on them. The blue dots are easiest, then yellow, then red, then the green dots are the most difficult books. Since the students get to pick their own books many times your child may bring home a book that is either too easy or too hard. That’s OK. If the book is too easy, then just listen to your child read. (Sometimes they pick easy books on purpose –it makes them feel more confident to breeze through a book.) If the book is too hard, then just read the book to your child. If they are consistently picking the wrong books then send me a note and I’ll help them with the book check-out. We will occasionally have small paper books that are required to be read THAT NIGHT. Your child will write “Read and Sign” at the top of the book. They should read the book to you, then you sign the book and return it the next day. We have reward charts that will fill up with stickers each time a “read and sign” is returned (the next day!).
BEE Book Contents: • Zippered pouch – lunch/milk money You may send in money daily or you may purchase lunch/milk tickets and keep them in the pouch. I will remind your child at lunchtime to get out what they need.
• The weekly homework sheet in clear sheet protector
• Your child’s discipline sheet
• Reading log - Every night you will record the name of the book that your child reads to you. We will take this up at the end of the month and your child will receive a reading grade.
• Sight words – practice every night
• Book to read each night (Read and bring back the next day.) Occasionally we will send home our poetry folder instead of a book. Reading poetry helps build fluency (reading like you’re talking), and the kids LOVE singing the poems. If your child loses one of my books there will be a $3 replacement fee and your child will not be allowed to bring a book home until it is paid.
• Back pocket – any work to be sent home
• Word Wall words for spelling practice
Any notes or important information will be placed in the front pouch. Lost or damaged BEE books may be replaced for $5.00.
I want to encourage you to continue reading aloud to your child every night. It is so important for them to have a good reading role model, plus the time spent together can never be replaced.
Parent-Teacher Communication
Children should be in the classroom by 7:50 each morning so they will have time to do the morning routine (sharpen pencils, unpack their bag, etc.) Parents are welcome to give their child a kiss at the door. It is your child’s responsibility to perform the morning activities. If your child arrives after 8:00 they will be required to go to the office and get a tardy slip. If your child is “in route” to the classroom when the bell rings they will be checked in as tardy. 6 tardies will count as 1 day absent. It is very important for your child to be at school on time. It is disruptive to your child and every other child in the classroom when we have to stop the learning process to wait for a tardy student. Please make every effort to have your child at school by 7:50am.
If it is necessary to pick your child up for early dismissal, please go to the office and the office staff will call the room for your child. If someone other than a parent will be picking up your child, please let the office staff know the person’s name and time of early dismissal.
If your child has any type of food allergy we are asking you to send in a baggie full of snacks that are appropriate for your child. These will be used instead of receiving birthday treats from other children. (It is very difficult for us to read and understand food labels for so many different types of allergies and we can’t take a chance of giving children a food that would spark an allergy attack.) Your child’s health and safety are our top priority.
1st grade follows the school dress code. (See handbook for details.)
Anyone visiting the school between 8:00am and 3:00pm will be required to stop by the office, sign in, and receive a visitor’s pass. If you do not have a pass, you will be asked to return to the office. Please do not come to the classroom during school hours. If you need to talk to me you can come by before 7:40am, see me at dismissal, or set up an appointment.
Weekly folder – All correspondence from the office and your child’s completed school work will be sent home on Wednesday in a large manilla envelope. This is called the “Wednesday folder”. Please look over everything and return the folder on Thursday.
Birthdays are a happy occasion in the lives of 1st graders. This is an occasion to share and celebrate with your friends. Due to new federal guidelines about child health and wellness, your child may bring a healthy snack to share with classmates. These should be individually packaged and easy to pass out.
Healthy snacks include: Fruit (bananas, apples, grapes, etc.) Veggies (carrots, celery, etc.) Yogurt (please send spoons) Cheese sticks Packaged cheese and crackers Pretzels Raisins Crackers (Cheese-its, Goldfish, Animal crackers) Granola bars (non-chocolate)
Your child may come out of uniform for his/her birthday, and they will receive free ice cream from the Home & School Assoc. You may bring party invitations to pass out if you bring one for every boy, every girl, or every child in the class. You may not bring in 4 or 5 invitations to pass out in front of the other children. If you choose to limit the number of children that you are inviting please use the directory and mail them.
Summer birthdays can be celebrated at any time during the year. Check with your teacher about a day.
Children with food allergies will not be allowed to receive birthday treats. If your child has a food allergy please send in a baggie full of special treats for your child to eat.
Aftercare – If your child is enrolled in aftercare I will drop them off at the Carell Room on the way to dismissal. If your child does not go to aftercare on a regular basis please make arrangements with your child before coming to school that day. It can become very disruptive to our school day if parents call in the middle of the day to make aftercare arrangements. If your child is not picked up from dismissal by 3:20 he/she will be taken to aftercare. Children are not permitted to remain outside waiting for pick-up.
Grades K-4 Code of Conduct
To keep our class happy and safe, we need to follow our school rules.
Carefully follow directions Hands, feet, objects, unkind words to yourself Respect people and property I’ll stay on task Safety first, last, and always Talk at appropriate times
To help us learn to keep the rules, we have a behavior management system.
A child will be given a verbal warning if they are misbehaving. This should trigger the child to stop the behavior. If the behavior continues the child will be given an immediate time-out. If the behavior continues the child will return to time-out and will receive additional time-out at recess. Each time a child is in time-out the infraction will be written on the discipline sheet in the BEE book.
Your child’s weekly behavior chart will be kept in the BEE book and the conduct grade will be posted on Friday. The scale is: No infractions – E 1 or 2 infractions – G 3 or 4 infractions – S 5 infractions – N 6 or more infractions - U
The goal of a discipline plan is not to punish the children, but to teach the children that there are consequences to your actions. Our goal is to teach the children to monitor their own behavior and exhibit self-control.
We will also participate in whole class rewards – extra recess, movie time, popcorn parties – when the entire class is working quietly, going down the hall quietly, following directions the first time, etc.
Severe Behavior: hitting, profanity, weapons, non-compliance, etc. 1st offense – teacher will call parents 2nd offense – child will go to the office and the principal will call parents 3rd offense – child will be put into in-school suspension and the principal will call parents and set up a conference 4th & late offenses – child will be sent home
1st Grade Supply List
Do not buy a backpack. We will provide your child with a special tote bag to use. Supplies to bring the first day of school: 3 boxes of 24 crayons 24 plain yellow # 2 pencils, sharpened Washable colored markers (a pack of 8 or 10) School Scissors Watercolor paint set A box of tissues 1 large bottle of Elmer’s glue 16 glue sticks 1 ream of copy paper 1 package of small erasers (the kind that go on the end of pencils) Girls – wipes Boys – paper towels
The remainder of the supplies (book bag, Bee book
binder, work box,
1st Grade Curriculum
Religion The students will realize that each person is a unique creation of God. We will explore our faith through prayers, songs, Bible stories, communion services, and Mass. Our textbook emphasizes family and God’s presence in our lives. Math 1st graders will focus on numbers, number words, addition, subtraction, time, money, and measurement. We’ll use a hands-on approach along with our textbook. Social Studies 1st graders will learn about the world around them. A. American symbols and customs B. Communities C. Maps D. Historical figures Science 1st graders will become “scientists” as they discover plants, space, rocks, soil, the human body, and more!
Language Arts Reading We will utilize many reading modes in 1st grade. 1. Reading to children (also known as storytime) – this is a time for the pure pleasure of listening to the language, the rhythms, and the patterns of literature. Fiction, non-fiction, and poetry are included. 2. Skills instruction - Stories are read to the whole group, then instruction is given on various reading elements. 3. Guided reading – Small groups of students meet with the teacher to read and discuss a book. 4. Partner reading – Students are paired with a classmate to read a book aloud together. 5. Individualized reading – Students will choose books to read during the day. Students will be encouraged to read books on their own independent reading level. Students will also bring a book home each night to read. Handwriting 1st graders will focus on correct letter formation and correct spacing. Spelling The ability to read or spell an unknown word is a critical skill in becoming an independent reader. We will look at spelling patterns and how to use the patterns in words we already know to help figure out words we don’t know. We utilize a word wall to help with spelling. Phonics Phonics is the relationship between letters and sounds. It makes sense in English but only if you know to look for patterns of letters rather than individual letters. We will do “Working with Words” activities that allow the students to manipulate letter cards to make words, find patterns in words, and to see how changing just one letter changes the whole word. We also use phonics worksheets to reinforce the skills we’ve learned. Writing For some children their own writing provides their first successful reading experience. Even if no one else can read it, they are using their own language and experience to become readers. Regular writing experiences tend to increase readiness skills, communication skills, and higher level thinking skills. We will write every day. Students will choose their own topics, so they will write about things that are important to them. Invented spelling is developmentally appropriate at this age. Students are encouraged to put down the letters they hear as they are writing. (This is phonics in action.) This will also help them to become better at sounding out words when they are reading. As they grow as readers and writers they will switch to more conventional spelling. We will also provide instruction for grammar, punctuation, etc., as it becomes appropriate for the students.
First Grade Routine 7:40- 8:00 Students come into the classroom and prepare for the school day. We recommend that your child arrive around 7:45 so they will have plenty of time to come in, unpack their bag, sharpen their pencil, chat with me and friends, and be ready at 8:00 to begin the day. Children who arrive right at 8:00 (or later) don’t have ample time to complete the morning activities. This is not a good way to start the day. If your child arrives at school before 7:40 they should report to the gym. They are supervised and have the opportunity to purchase breakfast. 8:00 School begins. If your child walks into the classroom after the 8:00 bell they will be counted tardy. We leave for church at 7:55 on Tuesday and Wednesday. 10:00 We will take time to have a snack each day. The students may choose something from their lunchbox, or if your child is buying lunch then just send a snack in their book bag. I will encourage the students to choose healthy snacks (yogurt, cheese sticks, fresh fruit or fruit cups, peanut butter crackers). We will not have drinks at snack time. Morning We will do most of our academic activities during the morning. This is when 6 and 7 year olds are the most alert and active. Math, reading, phonics, spelling, and literacy centers will take place in the a.m. Lunch Your child may choose to bring his lunch or purchase a lunch from the school cafeteria. You may pay for lunch or milk on a daily basis, or you may purchase a lunch ticket. Tickets are sold only in multiples of 5. The cost is $15 for 5 tickets, or $3 per day. Milk tickets are $2.50 for 5 tickets, or 50c per day. You may not buy 2, 3, or 4 tickets. If your child has a check for tickets they can go down to the cafeteria before the 8:00 bell to buy their tickets. Your child will keep lunch and milk tickets in the zippered pouch in the BEE Book. You may keep them in the pouch and I will assist your child cutting one off at lunch time, or you may keep them at home and put one in each day. If your child brings money for one day he/she will keep the money in the zippered pouch in the BEE Book until lunch time. Please make sure that your child has lunch/milk money each day. If your child does not have any money for lunch and did not bring a lunch, the cafeteria will provide a PBJ sandwich and a carton of milk. They will not be allowed to charge lunch. Recess Physical activity is very important for growing children. We will go outside every day after lunch (unless it’s raining). During the fall and winter please make sure your child has a jacket or coat.
Specials Most of our “specials” are in the afternoon. This includes PE, art, music, and library. PE is on Monday and Wednesday, so make sure you always wear tennis shoes on those days. Library is on Tuesday so be sure to return your books! 3:00 Dismissal (2:15 on Fridays) We will dismiss behind the building by the cafeteria steps. If your child is in After-Care I will leave them with the After-Care workers in the Carell Room.
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