Classroom Management
Classroom rules are established to ensure a safe and positive learning environment for everyone. Our class rules are as follows:
(Orange) 1. Listen and follow directions.
(Pink) 2. Raise your hand when you want to speak.
(Blue) 3. Work quietly and be respectful of each student’s right to learn.
(Yellow) 4. Behave in a respectful way in class and on the playground.
(Green) 5. Do the very best work you can.
Each rule is associated with a color. When a student breaks a rule, he or she must place a colored card into his or her individual pocket on the behavior chart that corresponds to the rule that has been broken. (Referred to as ‘pulling a card’)
Students who pull one card get a warning. If two cards are pulled, the child will sit out during recess. If three cards are pulled, the child will be a visitor and a note will be sent home. A student who pulls four or more cards in one day will be referred to the principal and a phone call home will be made. Cards are cleared out daily.
Positive reinforcement will be used throughout the day. Randomly throughout the day, when a child is on task and working well, or if they are "caught" doing something good, they will receive a plastic ladybug. When your child earns 10 ladybugs, he/she receive a trip to the treasure box.
I use a variety of methods to reinforce positive, on-task behavior. Some of the rewards will be:
Golden Tickets for the Principal's Treasure Box
Table points/Class points
Popcorn & video party
Verbal praise
Positive notes or phone calls home
Share your work with the principal or another staff member
I have a “treasure box” with prizes. Donations are greatly appreciated. Small items or toys, even gently used ones, are always gladly accepted.
Homework Policy
Your child needs to have a folder in which homework will be sent home daily (Monday - Thursday). Homework is your child’s responsibility. The purpose of the homework is to reinforce skills that have already been learned. Please keep me informed as to your child’s attitude and feeling toward the homework.
Homework “assignments” usually consist of:
-a math or language worksheet
-“fix its” (these are papers that do not have an “OK” or “Keep Home” on them)
-spelling (daily-notebook)
-secret share (once a week)
The homework “assignments” should take no more than 15-20 minutes. In addition, your child will need to read for at least 20 minutes each night. This time can be spent prereading their story from the reader, free reading books of their choice, or you reading to them. Your child will have a reading log/calendar that is to be completed and turned in. The reading minutes goal for the month must be met in order to fulfill this element of the homework requirement.
If you find that your child is spending an excessive amount of time on homework, please let me know so that I can adjust the work. If the homework is consistently too easy, we can discuss ways of supplementing it.
The Black Hole
It doesn’t take long for a back pack to turn into the black hole. It is very common for students to
“stuff” papers into the bottom, and forget to show them to you. Please check your child’s backpack every day for notes that contain important information.
Parent Support
Parents are welcome in my classroom at any time. It is mandatory that every visitor sign in at the office before coming to the classroom. Please let me know if you are interested in volunteering in the class, especially if you have any interests that you would like to share such as art, science, PE, etc. CUSD requires that any classroom visitor have a current TB test on file. If you are unable to come into the room, and would like to prepare things at home, please let me know.
There may be times when your child is requested to bring items to school. Parental assistance with large projects, special events, and field trips will be needed. Children really delight in the fact that their dad or mom has contributed something to the classroom, and I really appreciate your help.
Field Trips
CUSD does not provide transportation for field trips. Field trips vary from year to year, and they depend on parents to volunteer with the transportation. The district requires that an insurance form be on file before you will be allowed to transport students. If you “think” you may be volunteering to drive on one of our trips, please fill out an insurance form as soon as possible. A new form must be submitted each school year (just leave the dates of the field trips blank). District policy does not allow siblings to accompany us on field trips.
Student of the Week (poster & schedule included in packet)
Each week a child will be be able to share personal insights with the class. They will bring in and share a poster that tells about his or her family, likes, dislikes, and special interests. Classmates will then write stories about the student of the week, and those stories will then be given to that student. A poster is included in the Back To School Folder, along with the due date schedule. Feel free to send completed posters in early. I will store them until the due date, or pull it out and do it early if someone forgets to bring theirs in that week.
The posters will be stored until Open House, at which time they will all be on display. Feel free to attach photographs. You will get them back!
Sharing
As part of your child's weekly homework, he or she will prepare a "secret share." Every week, a different sound will be assigned. Each child will have a specific day of the week to share. On their day, they are to bring an item (or draw a picture of it) that has the sound for that week in its name. The item should be brought to school in a paper bag to conceal its identity. In his or her own writing, three cluse are to be written that describe the item. The student will read the three clues to the class, and the students will try to guess what the item is.
Please help your child choose an appropriate item, and assist them with ideas for the clues. Students who are absent on their scheduled day (or when it falls on a holiday) will share the day that they return to school. The children really enjoy this activity. It reinforces their reading and writing skills as well as gives them experience with oral presentations.
Make Up Work Due to Illness
If your child is too ill to come to school, he or she is too ill to struggle with assignments at home. If your child misses learning a critical concept, and I feel that he or she needs extra help to catch up, I will discuss that with you after they have recovered. They can always do extra reading or work on math facts if they are feeling up to doing a little school work.
School Supplies
If you would like to purchase supplies for your child, the following list is my recommendation:
a sturdy pocket folder for homework (bottom pockets)
pencils (regular size)
plastic pencil box
colored pencils
erasers
crayons (24)
glue sticks
small post-it notes
scissors (Fiskars are preferred)
fat and thin markers (washable-in ziploc bag w/name)
*hand held pencil sharpeners are allowed as long as they are they type that are enclosed so shavings cannot "escape"
The following items will be needed throughout the year. These are items that I collect and pool together for the needs of the entire class. A note will be sent home when these items are needed.
Disinfecting Wipes/baby wipes
Kleenex
Playground Balls
Morning Arrival
School begins at 8:15am. Gates are unlocked at 7:45am, and supervision is provided on the playground until 8:15. Students are not allowed into the classroom until the bell rings at 8:15am. There is no supervision on campus prior to 7:45am and the gates are locked!
Tardiness
It is very important that your child arrive on time for school. Students who arrive late must check in at the office before proceeding to the classroom.
Snacks
Students are encouraged to bring a healthy snack to eat during morning recess. Our lunch break begins at 12:30, so please be sure that your child has something to eat at morning recess. Snacks can be purchased at the cafeteria.
Cafeteria
The school cafeteria works on a debit system. If your child’s account has a zero or negative balance, they will only be allowed to purchase a sandwich/drink for lunch until their account is replenished. Your child will be assigned a “lunch number.” That number will remain with them as long as they are in the CUSD system. Please help your child to memorize that number as soon as possible, and it is helpful to include that number on checks that you might send in.
If you have concerns about purchases, the cafeteria staff will work with you to restrict the purchase of certain items.
Labeling
Please label all of your child’s belongings with his or her first and last names AND classroom number. If an item is lost, please check with the office to see if it has been turned into lost and found.
Birthdays
If your child chooses to do so, he or she may share a special treat with the class in celebration of his or her birthday, but it cannot be in the form of a food item. CUSD has rigid rules regarding food that is brought into school and how/when it is distributed. I also have to be very mindful of students with allergies.
A birthday tradition in my class has been for the birthday child to give a present of a book to the class. This can be a book that your child has outgrown or is no longer interested in. Children especially enjoy unwrapping the birthday book in front of the class. The birthday child then gets to read the book to the class or sit next to the teacher while the new book is read aloud for the first time. An inscription should be written on the inside of the book indicating the donation. This is a wonderful opportunity to expand the classroom library with quality literature as well as a way to express the joy of reading!
Library
Each week your child will go to the school library. The librarian will direct a variety of activities. Your child will be checking out a book of his or her choice. That book will be due back at the library the following week. If the book is not returned, he or she will not be able to check out another book until that one is returned. Overdue notices will be sent home by the librarian. If you have any questions about overdue notices, please contact the librarian directly.
Gadgets and Toys
Please do not send in items that will be distracting. Plain pencils and erasers are best. Staplers, rulers, tape dispensers and other “office supply” items are not needed. Children are often distracted from their work (or distract others) when they bring in unique items. Please use discretion with bracelets, necklaces and hair ties, as they can be a source of distraction as well. Children who choose to continue to play with an item, after being warned, will have that item placed into the June Box. It will be returned to him/her in June.
Back packs hang on a rack outside the room all day. Please do not allow your child to attach valuable items to them as many children walk by the rack during the day.
Curriculum
Reading: Houghton-Mifflin
This year we will be using the state adopted reading program by Houghton-Mifflin. I will be using Reading Mastery as supplemental material. The Houghton-Mifflin reader will stay in class, and the Reading Mastery book will be sent home each night for reading homework.
Math:
In the beginning, basic addition and subtraction facts will be our primary focus. Weekly timed tests will be given. Speed and accuracy can only improve with practice. Flash cards and some computer games do a good job of reinforcing these skills. It is critical that your child commit these facts to memory.
We will be using a new math program this year. To access it online, go to the "Envision Math" tab on this web page.
Science Units:
1) weather
2) matter (solids, liquids, gas)
3) plants and animals
Music/Art/Drama:
We do a lot of singing in the classroom. Any school wide music/art/drama program will be dependent on successful fund-raising.
Spelling:
The spelling list for first grade is the first 100 most frequently used words (taken from the Houghton-Mifflin reading program).
Daily Schedule(tentative)
8:15 - 10:25 Reading/Language Arts
10:30 - 10:45 Recess
10:45 - 12:30 Math /writing
12:30 - 1:15 Lunch
1:15 - 1:30 Secret Share
1:30 - 2:15 Art/Social Studies/Science/PE