Classroom Schedule
The emphasis in first grade is reading, writing, and math integrated with science, art, music, computers, and social studies. Here is some important information and times for you to be aware of as parents:
8:55 School Begins
11:45 Lunch
3:30 School Dismisses (on Wednesdays, we dismiss at 1:30)
Students will also have 30 minutes of both PE and computers, two times a week.
PE will be on Mondays and Fridays. Please have your students wear their PE shoes these days. Computers will also be on Mondays and Fridays
We will also visit the library once a week for 30 minutes. We will let you know which day we have library as the school year begins.
PE will be on Mondays and Fridays. Please have your students wear their PE shoes these days. Computers will also be on Mondays and Fridays
We will also visit the library once a week for 30 minutes. We will let you know which day we have library as the school year begins.
Absences and Tardies
If you know in advance that your child is going to be absent, please let us know and we will put together a homework packet for your child. If your child is sick and you would like to pick up his/her homework, let the office or me know and we will put together the assignments, which you can pick up after school. It is imperative that your child is here most days of the school year. However, we can send home missed assignments as homework.
School begins at 8:55 a.m.. We will start our school work at 9:00 a.m. every morning. Please make sure that your child is here on time everyday! It is very disruptive to the class to have a child enter the classroom late, and every minute counts!
Special Days
Birthdays: You may send a class treat to celebrate your child’s birthday. Please contact us if you would like to bring treats. Treats will always be done in the afternoon. Please don’t send birthday invitations with your child to pass out in class, unless you are inviting all of the children in the class. Children this age are very sensitive to being left out.
Snacks: First graders have an adjustment to make from Kindergarten to First Grade. For most, this is their first time going to school all day long. To help ease this adjustment, would like to provide them with a morning snack for the first month of school. If you are willing to do so, please sign up for a day that you could help provide a snack.
Volunteers & Holiday Parties: We love having parents involved & volunteering in our classrooms. Please contact me if you would like to help out in any way!
Homework
We understand the importance of family time, so homework should not take any longer than 10 minutes a night. Your child will be given a weekly homework folder. The expectation is that students will bring their folder home every Monday and Friday. Students should return their folders to school each Monday morning, and any other day before Friday.
Please check your child’s folders on Mondays and Fridays for any important flyers/school memos and graded work.
Daily Homework Expectations:
Math: Math homework that students receive in the Spanish side of Dual will be math facts only. This ensures parents will be able to help their student if needed, regardless of language.
Take home books (book in a bag): These books are on your child’s reading level. Your child needs to read each book three times to an adult, then the adult signs that the book has been read, and returns the book the next school day. These books will be sent home every school day and will be worth 5 points a day for a total of 25 points per week. These books can be read in Spanish too. If you think your student’s level needs to be adjusted (either lower or higher) please send a note back with the book and we will address the issue.
Sight words: There are 33 sight word lists (of about 7 words each) to be passed off in first grade. Some students may need more practice at home on these sight word lists.
Weekly Folders
Weekly folders will be sent home for both the English and Spanish classes. Folders will be sent home on Monday(s) and Friday(s).This means folders should be brought on Mondays, and again before Friday. All classwork/assessments and important school information will be sent home in the folders. Please check your child's folder weekly and remove all school/classwork. If you notice that your child is bringing home incomplete work, please have them complete it! Students are given ample time to complete their assignments in class, however, there are times when something comes up that causes us to leave assignments incomplete. These assignments do NOT need to be returned to me.
Classroom Management
Our classroom management systems are based on positive reinforcement. Each child will have a clothespin clipped on “Ready to Learn” at the start of each day. Students will clip up for being extra responsible and will be asked to clip down if they are struggling to follow the class rules. The colors are as follows:
Purple: Excellent
Blue: Wonderful
Green: Very Good
White: Ready to Learn
Yellow: Think about It (one warning)
Orange: Teacher’s Choice (two warnings)
Red: Parent Contact (three warnings)
If your child’s clip is on Red/Parent Contact we will send you an email informing you of the behaviors that cause that change and will also ask for your help in addressing that issue at home. If your child’s clip makes it to Purple/Excellent, they will receive recognition or a reward. Please do not be concerned if your child does not consistently earn purple! Any day that students stay above or on “Ready to Learn” is a great day!
Some students may need to participate in our schools behavior management program if they need extra help in self-monitoring or impulse control.
Check to see how your students are doing by asking “Was your clip on white today?” or by checking our weekly behavior progress reports that we will send home.
