Welcome to First Grade

Welcome to First Grade!

I am pleased to take this opportunity to introduce myself and welcome you and your child to my class. I look forward to the upcoming challenges and celebrations that teachers, parents and students will experience together!

I have been teaching for the past twenty-two years, eleven of which have been in first grade. I graduated Magna Cum Laude from Kutztown University with a degree in elementary and special education. I received my Master’s Degree in guidance counseling from the same university. I have two children. My son is a freshman at Penn State University, Main Campus this year and my daughter is starting tenth grade at the high school.

I believe that a successful learning experience is built on a cooperative effort among parent, child and teacher. The first grade expectations for conduct and academic standards are high, as we build a classroom community that is challenging, supportive and enjoyable. With your support both in and out of the classroom, we can look forward to a productive, creative and fun year together.

Again, welcome. Please do not hesitate to contact me about any questions or concerns you may have. My classroom door (room 122) is always open. I look forward to getting to know you and your child as we set out on our adventures in learning!

[email protected] Voicemail: 610-473-5011

School-Wide Rules - UNITY *Use kind words and actions *Need to keep our hands, feet, and objects to ourselves *I will follow staff directions the first time given *Take ownership of our actions and learning *Yield and walk silently throughout our school Outstanding Classroom Behavior Management System – 7 points Over the Rainbow Behavior Clip Chart and Class Dojo: School-wide rules will Great be discussed and practiced so students understand them well. They will be based on Example – 5 principles of mutual respect (to people and things) and personal best. Kindergarten or 6 points through sixth grade will use a behavior management system consisting of a Good Job – “rainbow” and clips for each student. Our class will incorporate Class Dojo, a new 3 or 4 teacher tool to help build students’ learning habits and boost classroom engagement, points within the Over the Rainbow Behavior Clip Chart. This computer program allows Ready to me to track student behavior and learning skills throughout the day. Each student Learn – 0, 1, will get to pick their own avatar for the program! Everyone will begin their day or 2 points with zero points. Positive points will instantly be awarded for all good behavior. Slow Down Students will receive one verbal warning if they are found doing something – negative 1 inappropriately. If they continue not to follow the classroom rules, they will receive point a negative point. The number of positive or negative points each student receives at Think the end of the day determines where their clip will be placed on the Over the About It – Rainbow Behavior Clip Chart. The students will keep track of their own behavior negative 2 by coloring in the color they received at the end of the school day. points Everyone will begin their clip on GREEN (Ready to Learn) each day. Parent Students can move up the rainbow by showing positive behavior (BLUE: Good Job, Contact – Purple: Great Example, and PINK: Outstanding). If their clip is on Green (0, 1, or negative 3 2 positive Class Dojo points) or Blue (3 or 4 positive points) at the end of the day, points or they will receive a Gilbert Buck. Students can earn 2 Gilbert Bucks if their clip is on more Purple (5 or 6 positive points) or Pink (7+ positive points). If they are found doing something inappropriately after a verbal warning, they will move to YELLOW (Slow Down - loss of Gilbert Buck and 1 negative point). If they continue not to follow the school-wide rules, they will move their clip to ORANGE (Think About It –accompanied by a time out where the student will fill out a behavior form to help think about their behavior and 2 negative points). The teacher and student will then talk about what the student needs to do to return to learning and “climb over the rainbow with positive Class Dojo points”. If a teacher needs to speak to them again about their behavior, they will move their clip to RED (Parent Contact and 3 negative points or more). For any student who goes to Red, the behavior form that was filled out when the student landed on Orange, will be signed by the student and teacher and sent home. The parent must talk about the incident at home with the student and then sign the form and return the form to school the next day. If the form is not returned, a phone call will be made. Please note - extremely destructive or hurtful behavior will result in an automatic RED, but these situations are quite rare. If a child moves his/her clip to RED, he/she will lose a portion of recess time, too. Tracking Behavior Every week, a Behavior Chart will be placed in the student’s red homework folder. This sheet should stay in the student’s folder all month long. Here the students will document their behavior each day by coloring the Class Dojo the color their clip was on at the end of the day. Please discuss with your child the appropriate or inappropriate choices they made each day. I will keep the Behavior Charts at the end of each month to use as a reference during conferences and report cards. One of the great features of Class Dojo is that it allows me to send you a “behavior and skills report” every Friday by email. If you don’t have email, I will send home a copy of the report. My hope is that this will bring us closer together and help you better understand the progress of your child on a week to week basis.

Gilbert Bucks For each day that a student’s clip stays on GREEN or BLUE, they will earn a GILBERT BUCK. When a student’s clip stays on PURPLE or PINK, they will earn TWO GILBERT BUCKS. Once a student has received a GILBERT BUCK, it becomes his/her responsibility. I do not replace “lost” money. At the end of the week, GILBERT BUCKS are redeemable for items or coupons from the Gilbert Store.

Rewards for good choices: Consequences for poor choices: *verbal praise *losing recess time *Gilbert Bucks for store items or coupons *sitting away from the class *Class Voted Activities *calling a parent about poor behavior *special notes sent home to parents *losing Gilbert Bucks *LEARNING, LEARNING, LEARNING! *writing a note to parents about poor behavior

Progress Reports I assess student progress often and complete Progress Reports each mid-quarter to keep parents informed of their child’s academic and behavioral progress, not grades. Please look for this Progress Report to come home at the half way point of each quarter (4 times). When you receive it, please review it with your child, write any comments and return it to school the following day. I will keep the Progress Reports on file in the classroom.

Communication Your child will be given a Gilbertsville Folder on the first day of school. The left side of the folder is the “Return to School” side and the right side of the folder is the “Keep at Home” side. Please have your child bring his/her folder to school every day. The folder will come home with your child at the end of each school day. Please review the contents of the folder with your child every night and return any items that were placed on the “Return to School” side of the folder. The Behavior Chart and the Weekly First Grade News and Homework Sheet will always remain on the “Return to School” side of the folder. Your child’s reading homework ziploc bag and any other reading materials need to be read overnight and be returned daily. Please clean out the “Keep at Home” side of the folder every night. I view this folder as our daily means of communication between home and school.

Test Folders Test folders will be coming home on Mondays (expect Mondays when there are no tests given the previous week). Inside the folder will be the tests/assessments your child took the past week. Please review the tests/assessments with your child. Please date, sign and, if necessary, add comments to the log on the front of the test folder and I will respond as soon as I can. You can also write down the areas your child may need extra practice and take a few days to review these skills with your child at home. Test folders, with the tests still in it, must be returned the next school day. The tests/assessments that are in your child’s folder will be filed in my classroom to reference at conference and report card times. At the end of each quarter, after report cards go home, I send home all the tests/assessments.

Homework Once the school year is underway, students will be receiving homework on an almost daily basis during the week. All homework is due the following school day. Most homework will consist of the following items:

*reading various materials (paper booklets and guided reading books) * word wall words or “snap words” homework (Mondays) * making words worksheets to practice no excuse words (snap words) and word families or math worksheets (Wednesdays and Thursdays) *practicing no excuse words (snap words) that typically get sent home on Mondays. Keep these words at home and practice often! Return to the old no excuse words and practice them throughout the year so they don’t forget them! These are the words that are found frequently in books and used frequently in writing. Learning to read and write these words quickly, by sight, will help them become good readers and writers!

Weekly First Grade News and Homework Sheet Students will receive a Weekly First Grade News and Homework Sheet each week, outlining the learning going on, announcements and assignments for that week. This sheet should stay in the student’s Gilbertsville Homework Folder all week long. Please review the homework sheet. All homework is due the next day. Be sure to read the homework sheet thoroughly. It may contain such important information as: 1. Important dates (field trips) 2. Dates when certain forms must be returned (like book orders) 3. Items to bring to school 4. Schedule changes 5. Notes from the teacher Homework is an extension of the learning experiences that children have during the school day. It is also an effective way for students to improve their reading skills. Please have your child complete any homework sent home each night and return any reading materials that were part of their homework. Students will be given a “free homework pass” once each quarter. If they forget their homework or don’t get it done on time, they will not receive a consequence on that day. They will use the “free homework pass”. That missed homework must be completed and returned by the following day. If not, a consequence will follow. If homework is not returned after using a “free homework pass”, it will result in a loss of five minutes of recess to complete the homework assignment and marked in the grade book. I am trying to teach the students the responsibility of completing their homework and it also helps to develop positive study habits. First Grade Curriculum The first grade curriculum is located on the Boyertown Area School District website. Type in boyertownasd.org, go to Parents/Community and click on Parent Resources. Go to Grade One to review the curriculum along with the district’s standards and report card scoring model. There is also a link to view a booklet on the district’s approach to teaching students to read and write in the primary classroom at the bottom of the Parent Resources website. If you don’t have email access, please let me know and I will send the curriculum booklets home with your child. “I CAN” statements have been developed to help students and parents understand the strategies and skills being taught and assessed at the end of each report card period. A copy of the First Quarter “I CAN” statements are located in the First Grade Information Packet in your folder. If you have any questions about the first grade curriculum or the “I CAN” brochure, please email me, give me a call or write a note.

Volunteers If you would like to volunteer in the classroom, please go to the Gilbertsville Elementary School Home School Association Website at geshas.org to sign up. If you don’t have email access, please let me know and I will send the volunteer forms home with your child. You will need your clearances to volunteer in the classroom. Go to the Boyertown Area School District website for access to the on-line clearance forms (under Employment Opportunities) or contact the office for the hard copy clearance forms.

Breakfast and Lunch Breakfast is available as students get off the bus. Breakfast costs $1.40. Our lunch begins at 11:35 am and lasts until 12:05 pm. There are four choices for lunch each day. Please review with your child what is for lunch to see if they would like to buy. Make sure your child knows what lunch he/she wants to buy before coming to school. Those students who purchase their lunch must have a lunch account. To add money to a lunch account, place cash or check (made payable to Boyertown Area School District Cafeteria Fund) in the lunch envelope and return it to school. Lunch costs $2.60 and milk costs 60 cents. If you have questions about lunch or your child’s lunch account, please contact our cafeteria manager, Vivian Coccia, at [email protected] or call 610-473-5060.

Snack We will have a group snack every day. You may contribute to the group snack by signing up during “Meet the Teacher Night” or by emailing me what you would like to bring in. The students may choose to bring in a water bottle. The water bottle will remain at their lockers and students may get drinks throughout the day.

Birthday Treats If your child has a birthday and would like to celebrate it by bringing in a snack for the class, please just write me a note or send me an email letting me know the day that the snack will be sent into school and what the snack will be. Summer birthdays will be celebrated starting in April. You pick the day your child would like to have his/her summer birthday celebration and let me know.

Requested items for each student:  art smock (an old t-shirt from Mom or Dad works well)  two 2-pocket folders  plastic pencil box (small enough to fit in a desk and big enough to fit pencils, crayons, scissors, glue sticks, etc.)  one large glue stick  one set of ear buds  1 black dry erase marker  1 or 2 boxes of tissues (for those runny little noses)*  1 container of Clorox wipes (to clean the top of desks)*  1 large pump bottle of hand sanitizer (to wash our hands for lunch and after using the bathroom)*  water bottle (DAILY) * to be stored for classroom consumption

PLEASE BE SURE to put your first grader’s name on backpack, smock, folders, lunch and pencil box.

Things NOT to bring to school:  crayons, markers or colored pencils  mechanical pencils  small pencil sharpeners  TOYS

Thank you very much for attending tonight. I look forward to a fantastic first grade year!!!!