Sept. 4, 2008 Welcome to the First Grade! I am looking forward to getting to know your child and working with you. The First grade is an exciting year for your child. They will be learning how to read this year and this will open up so many worlds for them. Thank you for attending Back to School Night at Sacred Heart. It is a great place to begin getting to know one another. Tonight we will have a short time to discuss the First grade as well as address concerns that you may have about the upcoming year. I would appreciate it if you would fill out the questionnaire that is in your packet if you did not receive one on registration. The more information that you can give me about your child the better equipped I am as a teacher. You know your child the best and any insights or concerns that you would like to share would be very helpful. Our door is always open. If you wish to come into class you are always welcome. If you want to discuss something specific about your child please make sure that you set up a conference time with me so that I can be prepared to answer your questions with your child’s information at easy access to us both. It is also easier to discuss particulars when I am not keeping my eye out for thirty other children at the same time. I know that many issues are convenient to talk about right after school and while that can be an easy time to share something quick it is not the time to discuss your child in depth. I would appreciate you making an appointment with me so that I can truly spend the time and concentration to address any subject that you may want to discuss. On most days I can talk right after the last children are picked up or dropped off at day care. Since the first weeks of school can be difficult for some children who will experience some separation anxiety I would request that unless you are volunteering for a specific task to please come to school before 8:00, drop off your child with me on the blacktop (or classroom if there is difficulty) and then come to pick them up on the blacktop after school. When a child comes in late, after 8:00, it disrupts the continuity of what a child needs to do when they came into a classroom. If we can establish good habits when entering a classroom now it will be better for your child as they grow. There are times when being late is uncontrollable and we understand that. Please have them go through the front office so that they have a tardy slip with them when they come into the classroom. Volunteers are most welcome in the classroom. I hope that you had a chance to look over the opportunities that were listed at registration. I have a volunteer sign up sheet in the back of the room and hope you can share your time with us. Communication: I will be sending out a letter weekly (Mondays) on what we will be doing in class. You will receive your letter in a communication folder. This folder will include a daily behavior log. That log will show you how many card changes your child received the week before. There will also be a space for any notes that I may wish to write you or that you may wish to communicate with me. The folder will also include class work that has been completed the week before. If your child is experiencing difficulty with concepts being taught in class please let me know. On weekly papers, I will have some indication of review, a smiley face of some sort, or I will write down to review pages that have been taught that week in the packet for each subject. I have examples at the back of the room that you can review. When I teach a new concept in math and your child is having trouble in class I will send home a paper that night indicating a particular review, Please feel free to let me know any concerns or observations that you may have as well. I rely on the parent to let me know if something has happened to upset your child as well as academic concerns that need to be shared. Open communication between the teacher and the parent is essential in any grade. Information that is not shared with the teacher but circulated among parents only causes misunderstandings. Please feel free to share any concerns with me so that I may address them immediately. Every student is an individual with their own unique challenges and strengths, and while the classroom is taught as a whole, the individual student is taught to improve upon their strengths and challenge their weakness. Weekly Mass schedule: I am a bit of stickler on being on time for mass. The First Grade will be attending mass every Wednesday at 8:00 A.M. promptly. This means that your student must be at school by 7:50 at the latest. We will begin walking over at that time whether your student is with us or not. If your child arrives after 7:50, Do Not Drop them off at school. Please ensure (by dropping them off personally) that they place their backpack on the patio beside the church and enter through the side door of the church and sits in the back pews. Mrs. Penolio will be sitting in the back pew for any stragglers. I hope to also have a parent volunteer but that may not always be possible. (Is there someone who would like to volunteer for this?) Please go over with your student the behavior expected if they are late and sitting in the back. They can join class after Holy Communion. If your student arrives past 8:05 they must sit at the school office. Drop off and Pick up: I will be on the blacktop at 7:45 every morning for the first few weeks. After that I will be there on Thursday and Friday mornings (Wednesday at 7:50 for mass). The children will be supervised by staff on duty on the blacktop on mornings when I am not there. Please drop off your child and have them go to our designated spot before 8:00 (please check mass schedule). If you are late please have your child go to the front office so they can get a tardy slip to bring to class with them. They will be escorted to class by one of the eighth graders who recite the rosary in the morning. Pick up is also on the blacktop. I will have the class line up under the trellis in front of first grade. Please come to get your child from me. I am sorry because I know many of you have younger siblings in the car and they are taking or finishing naps but we decided for safety reasons the Kindergarteners and 1st graders are to be personally picked up by family members or specific people designated by you for pick up. As a result you will need to park your cars and come to the trellis to pick up your children, If your child is being picked up by an older sibling or an older car pool member they are to let me know as they pick them up. I always have your child say goodbye to me personally, this is to ensure that I know exactly where your child is and who they are going off with. PE: P.E. for Kindergarten and First grade is our Motor Lab. Children are learning gross motor skills such as ball bouncing, balance, and coordination. These are necessary skills for their physical development. If you have the time we would love to see you volunteer to help with the program. Earthquake Food: These bags are done every year in the event of an emergency. Please send in a small snack and beverage inside a clear plastic zip lock bag. Ensure that the snacks have a long shelf life and do not need to be refrigerated. A note reassuring your child that you will be there as soon as possible would be a great addition. Don’t forget to label the bag. At the end of the year they are given the bag back. Volunteers: I want to thank you ahead of time! The class will not run as smoothly without you!!!! I could use help in the following areas: Making copies Helping in the classroom during explorer centers Listening to children read a loud Taking charge of Scholastic book orders (could be done at home) Wednesday Mass volunteer There are a sign up sheets that are available tonight, they are on the back table. Please look over the lists and see if there is anything in there that you would like to do. I know that many of you want to help and I can always find something that needs to be done if you can not be consistent. It is easier if you let me know ahead of time so I can plan. Thanks again! Scouts; You may wear your uniforms to school if you are participating in any afternoon scout activities. What we do during the day: Their schedule will be pretty much the same every week. Children thrive under routines and we try very hard to make sure that their routines do not vary too much during the week. It is not always possible but we do our best. In about a week the communication folder will have our daily schedule listed with times and days so you will know what your kids are doing when. This is a general description of what you will see on the schedule. Every week has a theme that we will go over. Many of them run for two week intervals. They begin their day: They have 30-40 minutes of “rug” time. There we go over the date, the weather, patterns, attendance, math awareness, and begin our day with a story based on the theme of the week. The students then have 30-40 minutes of direct teaching time at their desks. I give a lesson, the children work together with partners or groups and then they work independently with teacher, aide supervision. The students then have center times. Every twenty minutes they change centers. They are grouped into heterogeneous groups. This means that they are not grouped by ability. I believe that mixed groups provide a balanced educational experience for certain activities. Homogenous grouping, groups that are ability based, are useful for teaching specific techniques or concepts for students who need a concentrated learning strategy applied. I use homogenous grouping for reading a great deal. The children will have several centers. They are grouped for this as well. The groups change about once a month, sometimes a little longer than others. A poetry center (later in the year) Rainbow words (beginning of the year) Reading group Independent reading Math Journals Computers Re-Writing Stories Memory Matching Word/ picture builder Made up Word stories Puzzles Recess is at 10:00 until 10:15. Math is taught through direct teaching, manipulatives, and workbooks. Lunch is 11:55 – 12:30 Science and Social Studies is also taught through direct teaching, manipulatives, and workbooks. Mass is once a week and about once a month we will attend all school masses with all the classes. Religion is taught daily. Classroom Discipline Policy: As a class we discussed at school today the type of behavior that is simply expected of everyone. Respectful, Responsible, and Cooperative are the classroom standards that we are expecting of one another. There is only one “rule” for our classroom and that is: Treat everyone as you want to be treated. Wouldn’t it be great if everyone really learned this for the rest of their lives?!!! For positive recognition we have: Praise Star tickets Free time Notes home Phone calls home Weekly awards (your child should receive about 3 to 4 in a years times) Star tickets are awarded to students for: Doing something nice for someone else Listening to instructions Doing their work Doing something special Doing something ordinary At the end of the week the class gets together to discuss what we learned that week and to pick five star tickets from the jar to choose from the treasure box. If there should be behavior that is not in line with expectations there are negative consequences. These are referred to as blunders or mistakes. Negative Consequences: We use the card system in the First grade. Everyone starts their day with a star because everyone is a star on our stage. This can change to yellow, orange, purple, and red. When there is a blunder they are given a verbal warning. If there is a second occurrence they have to change their card to yellow. The third time they change their card to orange and they are required to sit in time out for one minute. The fourth time they are to change their card to purple; they are to sit for five minutes and they have a note go home with them. The fifth time they are to change their card to red; they will have to go talk with the principal as well as have a note go home. Homework Policy: There is homework on the weeknights. This consists of writing their spelling words, at the beginning of the year there are about 10 per week by the end of the year there are 20 per week. They will have to write their spelling words the given amount of times per night. (I.E. They will be writing about 3 to 5 words per night 4 times each) They will have a spelling test each Friday. They will have a math page nightly as well. Please do not go ahead for homework in the week. We are trying to establish certain habits in your children and while they may know what to do already we want them to be developing the habits that will last a lifetime. Reviewing concepts that are taught that day and making sure they are used to do homework every night is very important. If you feel that your child should be doing something more please feel free to have them explore new dimensions of their development. They can be learning about animals, science concepts, math, ballet, paper airplanes, please take this time to explore what they find interesting. They do not have to be “learning” something just from a book. Assessment: Assessment is done daily. Your child is assessed according to task behavior, accomplishment, understanding and progression in learning. In first grade much of the assessment is done through observation but there will be worksheets and work pages. I do like to keep a portfolio on each student and their progression through- out the year. You will be receiving most of their work every week but I also keep examples in class as well as in their folder that will go from grade to grade with them at Sacred Heart. If you are not familiar with the portfolio: Portfolios are compilations of the student’s work throughout the year and grading sessions. Portfolios show the student’s progression and accomplishment of assignments. Portfolios are available for viewing, however please make an appointment with the teacher to go over them for understanding and clarity. Where’s the teacher: I can usually be reached fairly easily. You may call the school and leave a message for me to call you (619) 437-4431, call me at home, (619) 437-4965, or email me at shpsluna@hotmail.com (I am unable to check this daily but get to it at least twice a week). Anytime you would like to schedule an appointment with me just let me know. Please be aware that right after school is very busy with duties (I have to watch who is going with whom) and other obligations but I am usually available after 3:00. We all have unique talents, situations, family, and backgrounds. It is what makes life and school so much fun. Please remember to read your Parent Student handbook when you have a question. Get involved with the PTG, Parent-Teacher Group. The more involved you get the better feel you will have for what your children are experiencing. Thank you for your time. Sincerely, Mrs. Jeanne Luna |