August 23, 2009 Hello first grade families! I hope you have had a wonderful summer. I look forward to getting to know you and your child! If you weren't aware, our class is a looping class. This means that after we finish first grade together, we stay together for second grade, too. It is a wonderful opportunity for me to really get to know the children and their needs, and allows them to remain in the same comfortable, consistent environment for two years. With a looping class, we are able to hit the ground running when second grade starts! I wanted to send along a welcome letter for you to read aloud to your child, to help ease some of those first day jitters. Teachers get them, too! I am so happy you are going to be in my class! First grade is fantastic! Did you know that we are readers, writers, artists, and scientists in first grade? We learn so many new things each day. . .it's amazing! I hope you are as excited for school to start as I am. All the first grade teachers meet the kids outside on the very first day of school, and each teacher has a different colored bus tag. I'll have mine on a ruler, so to find me just match your color bus to mine! You'll also know it's me because I'll be wearing a brown and tan dress, have glasses and brown hair, and always come to school with a big smile on my face! You only need a few supplies for my class. You will need one 3- subject notebook, preferably with a plastic cover. You may choose to bring a soft tool box that zippers to school, but you do not need one. You may bring a small pack of crayons or colored pencils, glue sticks and pencils, and kids' safety scissors to keep in your toolbox. We do not have desks in our class, so I do not allow kids to keep large boxes of crayons or markers at their tables. We have cubbies to store extra supplies that we will not need everyday. I also have community baskets of supplies for kids to share. Kids are allowed to keep a personal water bottle at their desk. I am always thankful to accept donations of the following to help keep our classroom healthy and clean: tissues hand sanitizer anti-bacterial hand soap baby wipes or sanitizing wipes On the first day please bring one special thing from home to share. . .it can be a stuffed animal, a doll, a special book, whatever you want that will help us get to know you better! I can't wait to meet you on September 2nd! Love, Mrs. Gallo