Welcome to First Grade! We are a job share team which means you will have TWO teachers! We have a wonderful year planned full of learning, laughter, and fantastic growth. Our classroom is where we hope your child will feel loved and cared for and challenged and excited during their learning experiences. We are excited to work with you and your family!
Our Schedule:
Mrs. Johnson- Mondays & Tuesdays, Mrs. Sorensen- Thursdays & Fridays, We swap on Wednesdays
1st graders often have a hard time understanding lunch choices! Please be sure to talk to your child about whether they are having HOT LUNCH or LUNCH FROM HOME each day.
Also, it might be helpful to pack their snack separately and label it "SNACK " so that they don't accidentally eat it during lunchtime (Snack time is in the afternoon at 12:55).
Please make sure your child knows where they will be picked up after school. They will either go to child care, the back gate (behind the school), or to the first grade gate (located at the side parking lot).
August:
4-Meet and Greet 2:00-3:00 PM in room D6
7-First Day of First Grade! (1:15 Dismissal)
10-Back to School Night
Session 1 5:45-6:15
Session 2 6:20-6:50
September:
4-No School (Labor Day)
11- No School (Teacher Work Day)
25 to 29-Parent Teacher Conferences
October:
9-No School (Non-Student Day)
27-End of Trimester 1
Every Monday is a minimum day - 1:15 dismissal.
PE is every Monday and Tuesday. Please be sure that your child is dressed appropriately for outside activities.
Library is every Thursday. Please help your child be prepared by making sure their library book is packed in their backpack on Wednesday night.
Every Monday your student will receive a weekly cover page that lists the concepts and skills we are learning for the week. It will include spelling words, sight words, and vocabulary words. It also has a nightly reading log.
A monthly choice board will be available for students to continue to practice and develop their skills from content in Language Arts, Math, Reading, Writing, Science, and Social Studies.
*Homework will be considered optional.
Math
Students are learning to add and subtract numbers. We often use word problems to help in the understanding and application of the concepts. You can relate real-life scenarios to support your students' understanding. For example- if your student is saving money to buy a certain toy. You can ask them how much they have and how much more they need to be able to buy the toy. This is just one of many real-life examples where we use adding and subtracting in our daily lives.
Another strategy we use in math is the inverse operation to check our work and make sure it makes sense. Use this when reviewing your child's in-class work or when reviewing assessments.
Another fun way to engage and support math development is to play learning games. We use regular playing cards and UNO cards. We play Go FISH for doubles, make a 10, and math war games.
Reading
Secret Stories is a supplemental phonics program we use for reading instruction. Your students learn the stories in class and practice them every day. You can use these secrets to help support our students when they are reading at home and you will find a copy in the back of their black take-home folders.
Read TO them, read WITH them, and LET them read TO YOU.
We love to read to our students because it gives them an opportunity to hear a story read with fluency skills. Fluency skills help support a better understanding of what is being read. We also stop periodically to discuss what I have read (to check for understanding). This also improves their listening skills.
We love to read with them to support word recognition, fluency, and understanding. This is a coaching role. Let them try reading strategies while supporting them.
When your student is reading to you it is ok for them to struggle to read, but be mindful of the point of frustration. The books or stories they are reading to you should be at their level so they are not frustrated by the end.
Vocabulary Development- make learning words fun by asking "What does that mean?" OFTEN (in the car, while playing at home, watching a show, at the park). Especially about things that interest your child. Make up silly sentences using the correct meaning of the word and ask them if there is another word similar to the word to help make connections.
Social-Emotional
We focus on the development of character traits like kindness, responsibility, respect, etc. For example- when we focus on kindness we learn what an act of kindness is and students are encouraged to practice acts of kindness at school and home. We are on the lookout to see if students are practicing these skills so they can earn PBIS points which can be spent at the PBIS store!
Our Beginning of School Year Classroom Wishlist for donations will be available on Back-to-School night. Everything our student needs to be successful in the classroom is provided by the teachers and/or the school. Any and all donations are OPTIONAL and never required. For those who can and choose to donate, your support is greatly appreciated!
All items donated will be shared supplies for our classroom.
