Welcome to Kindergarten



Welcome to

Mrs. Ramirez’

[pic]

1st grade

2011-2012

Welcome to 1st grade! I am looking forward to a fun and exciting year! The children will grow emotionally, physically, socially, and intellectually. Following is some information that will help you become familiar with my classroom.

ATTENDANCE:

Consistent attendance is essential for your child to get the maximum benefit from our 1st grade program. It is important that your child be at school on time. If you arrive late, it is your responsibility to take your child to the office and get an admit slip.

If your child is absent, please call the school office at 304-1880 or send a note when the child returns explaining the reason for the absence. At the beginning of the year especially, it seems children seem to “share” germs. If your child is sick, please keep him/her home for at least 24 hours after the fever breaks and he/she is feeling like him/herself again. This will reduce the number of germs the children are exposed to and keep absences to a minimum.

DRESS:

Please be sure to label all coats, jackets, sweaters, lunch boxes, etc. Have your child wear clothes and shoes appropriate for the classroom and playground. All sandals MUST have a strap around the heel. Remember, we move our bodies a lot throughout the day in class, we play actively at recess and lunch, and some days we cut, glue, paint, and even spill! OOPS!

Friday is Spirit Day and we all try to wear our school colors!

SNACKS/LUNCH:

Bring lunch (or prepay at the cafeteria), try to send a “healthy” a.m. snack, and a p.m. snack labeled in separate bags so that your child knows what to eat when. Lunch is at 11:15 am, am snack is at 9:55 am, and we do have a quick 10 min. recess at about 1:30 p.m. (Tues.-Fri.) so your child may want an additional snack at this time.

CLASSROOM DISCIPLINE:

The following are our classroom rules:

1. Listen to the person speaking

2. Follow Directions

3. Work quietly

4. Keep your hands, feet, and objects to yourself

5. Be kind with your words and actions

As a general rule, your child is expected to come every day with his/her BEST SCHOOL MANNERS, which will enable everyone to learn and enjoy school.

We use a Behavior Rocket Chart, which is color coded from Purple to Red. Everyone begins the day on green. The clips are moved up for good behavior and down for inappropriate behavior.

Colors and rewards for good behavior are as follows:

Green (Off to a good start): Respect Check.

Blue (Nice Job): Respect Check and a sticker.

Purple (Super): 1 Respect Check, plus a prize from the ultimate treasure box.

Colors and consequences for inappropriate behavior are:

Yellow (Warning): No Respect Check (this applies to all below green)

Orange: Time-out

Red: Lose Recess/note home.

The children are also rewarded throughout the day with smiles, praise, and “pats on the back”.

The children can move up and down throughout the day. So, if your child has a rough start in the beginning, he/she has a chance to improve and move back up. If your child comes home with a Respect Check (or more), you’ll know that he/she had a good day. If not, you’ll know there were some rough points. If it is serious or becomes an everyday problem, we will talk to you.

When your child brings home a Respect Check I’m sure you will want to praise him/her for the excellent behavior. Please help your child find a safe place to collect them. Once he/she has collected 10 of them, they can be turned in for a prize from the “Treasure Box”.

Giving Tree:

I have a special giving tree on the inside of the front door of the classroom with things we need for the classroom. I will put up an apple with whatever is needed on it. If you would like to donate, please pick an apple whenever you like.

HOMEWORK:

Spelling homework will on our school website on Fridays. You do not need to print the spelling sheet; it is just to give you the list of words along with possible activities. I also have a list of activities on my website. Your child will have a reading/spelling log that will be located in their star binder. Please initial and have your child color the graphic each day showing that your child has completed their reading and spelling practice for that day. At the end of the month, I will replace the reading log with a new one. Homework for 1st grade should only last for approximately 30 minutes. If the homework is taking your child too much time please let me know, so that modifications can be made. Your child’s homework will consist of:

• Spelling Sheet- 4 activities a week (checked on Fridays)

• Houghton Mifflin Math daily- possibly supplemental math sheets (due daily)

• Reading 15 minutes daily (listed on homework calendar)

• Rainbow words- this can be apart of your child’s daily reading

• As time progresses there will be basic writing homework with detailed instructions will also be posted on our 1st grade website

Please make sure that:

All printing is nicely done in pencil and all pictures are colored with crayons

RAINBOW WORDS:

Rainbow words will reinforce sight word vocabulary, which is so important to good reading. Each student will bring home a list of words to practice reading. When your child feels he or she is able to independently read the words (3 seconds or less and automatically) they will be tested in class. If they successfully read all the words on the list they will color their rainbow located in their binder and receive a new list of words for the next level. There are 10 levels in the Rainbow Club that add up to 100 words that they should know by the end of the year. If they complete their 100 words, I will continue to work with them until 1,000 words. This program may count for your child’s nightly reading of 15 minutes.

READ NATURALLY:

Read Naturally is a reading program that is used to increase reading fluency at their independent reading level. Fluency is the rate in which students read. In order for this program to be successful, we are going to need lots of parent help. Each child will read a cold read every Monday morning with a parent. They will practice reading the passage in class all week by independently reading, buddy reading, or listening to the passage on CD. On Thursdays, the students will read a hot read to a parent and answer comprehension questions. The students will get excited to see that their score is higher than the first time they read. I will be moving students to more challenging levels as their fluency increases. If your child reaches a high level of fluency, I will no longer continue the program because students tend to begin to read for speed.

STAR BINDER

Each child will be given a STAR binder: Students Taking Active Responsibilities. This is an important tool to keep your child organized and responsible for their academic resources. The STAR binder needs to be brought to school EVERYDAY. Please assist your child in keeping this binder safe and clean. It is a very important tool for your child and it should last all year. It contains homework, lunch calendar, classwork, and academic resources. The binder is also a great form of communication so please feel free to drop a not in it under “Homework.”

Arts Focus

Lisa J. Mails focuses on the arts. This focus is implemented through the integration of regular curriculum as well as specific art assignment/projects. The arts we focus on are: fine art, music, dance, and drama.

Daily schedule

(This schedule is subject to change and is similar on Mondays)

**library is on Wednesdays

* Computers are TBD

8:20-8:45- Morning Opener- attendance, lunch count, journal, Daily Language Practice

8:45-9:55- literacy centers

9:55-10:15-recess

10:15-11:15- Language Arts

11:15-11:55- Lunch

11:55-1:00- calendar/math board/Math

1:00-1:30- Science/Social Studies/or writing

1:30-1:40- Recess

1:40-2:20- Arts enrichment or writing

2:20-2:35- Clean-up and dismissal

District Assessments and Report Cards

1st grade students are given District Assessments three times a year. The Language Arts assessments are one-on-one tests that measure how well your child is performing towards meeting the standards. The Math Assessments are both written and oral assessments. These are also conducted one-on-one. The first set of assessments will be shared with you in November during Parent/Teacher Conferences. .

The Report Cards are standards-driven and is based on benchmarks. During the year I am asking that you will be an active participant in your child’s education to help your child meet all grade level standards by the end of the year.  Researchers have shown that success in first grade is critical to success in future grade levels.  Invest your time now in your child’s education and it will pay off in the years to come. There is a description on the district website regarding district assessments and report cards.

SOARING SPIRIT AWARDS:

These awards are given at Soaring Assemblies. There is a theme for each

award that includes the schools motto: HEART as well Character counts. You will be notified in advanced if your child will be receiving an award so that you can attend the assembly. I will notify you via email.

LUNCH WITH THE PRINCIPAL:

These awards are given to students throughout the school year that are showing academic achievement/improvement. They will be given an invitation to the lunch on Thursday and I will also let you know via email.

ARTIST AND AUTHOR OF THE MONTH:

I will submit work from your child and it will be judges by a panel of teachers. I will notify you if you child is a recipient of an artist or author of the month award via email. They will receive their award at one of our Friday Spirit Assemblies.

BIRTHDAYS:

I do recognize birthdays in my room – if your family needs to be excluded from this practice, please let me know! If your child’s day is while we are off on break, we can pick another day. Some parents like to send in treats (cupcakes or cookies, drinks), but it certainly is not mandatory. If you do decide to bring something in, it MUST BE STORE BOUGHT. Please let me know in advance when you would like to celebrate so that I can plan accordingly. These celebrations will be the last 15mins of the day at 2:20pm.

BOOK ORDERS:

Periodically throughout the year, you will be receiving a book order newsletter from Scholastic, Troll Book Club, etc. These offer great children’s books at a minimal cost to you. If you wish to order, complete the order form, place it in an envelope with a CHECK made out to the appropriate book club and return ASAP. NO CASH PLEASE. Orders take about 2 weeks.

STAR OF THE WEEK

Each Friday, starting early to mid September, I will pick a name and that person will be the Star of the class for the next week. When your child brings home a “Star” letter, plan on creating a Star poster. This poster should tell about the Star’s family and his/her life thus far. Pictures, drawings, and photos are just a few ideas. I will be sending home instructions for you as well as a piece of construction paper that you can use. The Star is also in charge of the estimating jar for that week, I will also be sending this jar home. Please send in 25 – 50 items to pass out to the members of our class (pencils, stickers, party-type prizes, etc.). We will try to guess how many items are in the jar, and then each child will receive one item, with the remainder going into the Treasure Box. Although it takes awhile, every student will have this honor and names will be drawn randomly.

SUPER SCIENTEST

This student will take home a jean bag that contains a lab coat, protective glasses, and a science book. This book will contain simple experiments that they can do with you and they will record their findings as well as take pictures of their science experiment. This bag will also be sent home on Fridays and will be due the following Thursday to give you and your child sufficient time to complete. Your child will then present their findings on Thursday or Friday. Please choose an experiment that has not been chosen so that the entire class is exposed to a variety of experiments. Every child will also have a chance to complete this project and it will begin in early to mid September.

ROOM HELPERS

I have so much planned for this year and I REALLY depend on parent and adult help. Please take a few minutes to complete this Volunteer Survey, which is in the binder. Your help and involvement will make this an experience you and your child will never forget! If you can only volunteer on a monthly basis please let me know and we can make arrangements.

DISMISSAL

All students will be dismissed at 2:35 p.m. from the classroom. Please communicate a pick up plan with your child. It is very scary for them at the beginning of the year so I will be out to dismiss them for the first few weeks until they can adjust going on their own.

COMMUNICATION:

Communication is the key to a successful year. Please feel free to phone at any time. It is best to clear up confusions, concerns, and questions right away. Your child deserves the very best from me. I can be reached at 304-1880 (x3472), put a note under homework in your child’s STAR Binder or by email:

aramirez@murrieta.k12.ca.us

Thank you, to all parents, for the support I know you will give this year! Time will pass quickly and you will be amazed at how your child grows!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Ramirez

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