This page includes basic information for students and parents.
- Arrival and Dismissal Times
- Attendance
- Birthday Celebrations
- Binders
- Book Orders
- Class Parties
- Discipline Plan
- Grading Scale
- Lunch
- Math
- Reading
- Snacks
- Specials and Technology
- Spelling Choices
- Volunteers
- Wish List
Arrival and Dismissal Times
Students may enter the room at 8:20 a.m. when the first bell
rings. During this time students unload their backpacks and
binders and begin their morning assignments. Students who arrive
after the 8:30 bell are marked tardy and must sign in at the
office. Please note that our dismissal time is at 3:15. If you
need to take your child out of school before that time, you must
first sign them out at the office.
Attendance
It is important that your child attends schools each day.
If your child is sick, please call the school in the morning and
let them know. When your child returns, please send in a
completed passport. This will ensure that your child has an
excused absence.
If it becomes necessary for your child to have a dentist or
doctor appointment during school hours, please send in a
passportmtelling me the time so I will have their papers ready to
go home with them.
Birthday Celebrations
Please feel free to send in treats to celebrate your child's
birthday with the class. If your child's birthday falls in the
summer months, you may still celebrate his or her birthday during
the school year. Sending in a note prior to the birthday
celebration is always appreciated. We want to make sure we have
time to enjoy this special occasion!
Binders
Each student will use a binder that serves as a
communication system between school and home. These binders will
be taken home each day and should be returned the following day.
The purpose of this binder is to help your child develop
responsibility and organizational skills as well as connecting
you to the classroom. You will need to look in the binder EACH
DAY and sign your child's daily conduct report. Once you have
looked over any notes or graded papers, please remove these from
the binder. Please do not remove Spelling or Work in Progress
papers unless instructed to do so.
Book Orders
Each month you will be given an opportunity to order books
for your child from Scholastic Book Club. If you choose to place
an order, you may send cash or a check made out to Marsha Watt.
Parent orders may also placed online each month. Specific
information for ordering books will be sent home each month.
Orders usually arrive within seven days. I have used Scholastic
Book Clubs for many years and enjoy their great service, wide
variety of books, and affordable prices.
Class Parties
We will have many opportunities to celebrate during the
school year. Some of the events we will be celebrating will
include our Winter "Cold Party", Valentine's Day, 100th Day of
School, and Halloween just to name a few! Parents are always
welcomed to join us during our celebration times. And we love
having the extra hands to help out!
Discipline Plan
I believe in rewarding positive behavior rather than giving
attention to the negative. A "football" system of discipline is
used in the room. Students begin each day "in the game". If,
during the course of the day, they need more than a little
reminder to get back on task, they will receive a "referee's time
out" and will move their helmet across the yardline on our
discipline football field board. As these students get back
on track, they may return to the game. Students displaying
severe behavior would receive a "personal foul". For those
students demonstrating exceptional behavior, a "touchdown" will
be awarded. These are students who go "beyond the ordinary" as
they encourage classmates, help the teacher, and indeed prove
that they are winning examples to other students. Students
receiving ten touchdowns will be able to visit Mrs. Russell for
special recognition.
We also work as teams to build a positive classroom
atmosphere. Table teams earn positive marks each time members do
their homework, have good behavior, and work together
cooperatively. Teams with the highest number of
positive tally marks during the week are our weekly "Class
Champions". These students may eat in the classroom during
Friday's lunch. If you enjoy eating with your child during the
week, you might consider skipping Friday's lunch OR plan on
eating with your child in the room. Your child's table just
might be selected as the best table, and he or she won't want to
miss out on eating in the room!
Grading Scale
A 90-100
B 80-89
C 70-79
D 60-69
F 0-59
Lunch
Family members are encouraged to occasionally eat lunch with
their children. If you choose to eat with your child, you may sit
at the picnic tables outside the cafeteria. This privilege is for
YOUR child only. Please don't invite other students from the
class to join you. Our lunch time is 11:00-11:35.
Math
Our basic math curriculum this year will be the Everyday
Math program. While these lessons will serve as the foundation of
our studies this year, levels will be adjusted to each child's
strengths or weaknesses. Everyday Math uses a problem-solving
approach that is based on everyday situations. Some activities
your child will explore include counting money and making
change by counting up, telling time to five minute intervals,
basic geometric shapes, measurement, fractions, addition and
subtraction with regrouping, and an introduction to
multiplication and division. Students will also be challenged to
develop their math fluency by taking regular five minute addition
and subtraction timed tests. You can help by continually
drilling your child on his or her basic facts through the use of
flashcards, computer games, and other types of educational
boardgames that develop basic math skills.
Reading
Your child will have an opportunity to broaden his or her
reading skills through whole group discussions, cooperative
learning groups, and individual instruction. We will explore a
variety of chapter books that support the themes we are studying
in the classroom. The Reading Counts program also plays an
important role in the development of student reading abilities.
All students will be encouraged to set personal reading goals
for the year. As the teacher, I am setting a yearly goal of 80
Reading Counts points for each student. I'm sure that most
students will go "up and beyond" that goal by obtaining many more
points!
Parents, you will be given an opportunity to encourage your
child's Reading Counts program. While I will encourage student
reading from the classroom, you know your child best! Each
parent will be given an opportunity to list pre-determined
rewards that you as a family will provide when reading levels are
met. These rewards will be kept in a secret envelop only to be
opened when your child reaches his or her levels. More details
will be sent home at a later date. Let's work together to help
your child "Reach for the Stars" to achieve his or her Reading
Counts goals!
Snacks
You may send a simple, nutritious snack each day with your
child. Students should be able to eat their snacks in about ten
minutes. Snacks that work well are cut-up fruits and vegetables,
raisins, granola bars, dry cereal, pretzels, goldfish crackers,
or fruit snacks. Candy, chips, and soda are not appropriate
snack foods. Any extra snacks to share with the room are also
appreciated.
Specials and Technology
Your child will be participating in Music, Art, Physical
Education, Technology, and Science classes on an eight day
wheel. Our class will be split into groups and included with
students from other first grade classes. Please have him or her
dress accordingly for specials. Sneakers are the preferred shoes
everyday. Dress shoes or sandals can be dangerous on playground
equipment during recess.
Students at Tatum Ridge are fortunate to have a computer lab
specially designated for Kindergarten and 1st grade students.
Because of this, your child will have an opportunity to spend at
least two sessions a week in the computer lab. Students will
spend some of their time working on Success Maker, a computer
program designed to enable students to work at their own
individual reading and math levels. Students will also research
topics through educational websites and develop their word
processing skills. In addition to work in the Computer Lab,
students will have access to laptop computers in their own
classroom for additional research and writing of compositions.
Our classroom is fortunate to have its own Activboard, an
interactive whiteboard with software that has been developed for
classroom use. Thank you PTO for making this fantastic teaching
tool available!
Spelling Choices
Advanced students enjoy having choices in their academic
experience. Your child will have an opportunity to "custom make"
his or her own spelling list for the week. Each child will be
given a required group of base words in addition to choices of
challenge words. Spelling lists are sent home each Monday and
tests are held on Friday. Spelling lists are also posted on our
class website and are updated each weekend for students who wish
to study ahead of time. Please review the spelling words daily
with your child by having him or her take a written practice test.
Volunteers
I love having volunteers in my classroom! Parent volunteers
will be needed for a variety of projects this school year. Please
let me know how you would like to be involved. We'll need a Room
Parent, Football Store Coordinator, party helpers, parents to
assist students at centers as needed, parents to offer help
during special projects and events, parent to assist in the
computer lab, a volunteer to assist during our science lab, and
those who help from home by being "gophers" to acquire needed
supplies. Please remember that all visitors are required to
bring their driver's license to the office upon arrival. This is
a safety measure for all students.
Wish List
Tatum Ridge has the best parents! I cannot count the number
of times that parents stopped me last year to ask how they could
help out in the classroom, not only by volunteering their time,
but by providing items to make our classroom a more productive,
fun place. I have posted a wishlist poster in our classroom. It
is located on the wall next to the front doorand is updated
regularly. Please don't feel obligated to provide any of the
items, but if you'd like to help, these are just a few of the
things we could use. Many parents constantly surprised me last
year by dropping off items that weren't even on the list. They
had found special bargains, buy-one/get-one sales, etc. and just
couldn't pass them up. Others brought in extra snacks for
those "emergency days" when we all seemed to get hungry. A few
even cleaned out their kid's gently loved toys and boardgames and
brought them to school. I remain humbled at the parental support
from Tatum's parents!
