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Class Information
| Author: | Tech Center | |||
| Posted: | 5/16/02; 1:01:01 PM | |||
| Topic: | Class Information | |||
| Msg #: | 9 (top msg in thread) | |||
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| Reads: | 780 |
Class Information
HOMEWORK: Spelling words, read books aloud, current event item, study prayers, and math flashcards. All of these will not be done every night! Occasionally there may be another activity or paper to do. Your child should not be spending a great deal of time on homework.
Now for some notes on classroom activities:
Bookmobile/Library: Bookmobile is every other Monday and library is on Thursday. However, the library books are to be returned on Mondays.
Birthdays: These can be celebrated whenever you wish, just let me know RELIGION: We will attend weekly masses on Tuesday and First Fridays. The masses that the first grade will plan are: November 12, February 11, April 8 and May 22 (All School). During this year we will be dealing with the Mass. I ask that you help with this during the weekend Masses as this is an important step toward receiving the sacraments next year. It is also very important that the students attend Mass on the weekends. Some of the behaviors and expectations that I will be working on are: *taking an active part in the mass (participating and responding) *paying attention to Father during Mass *standing on the floor instead of on the kneelers *only putting their hands and wrists on the pew in front of them (and not their arms) *not playing with their hair, coats, mittens, etc. *not leaning back on the pew when kneeling This may seem like a lot but keep in mind that in one year they will be receiving two sacraments. I ask you help in reinforcing these behaviors during the weekend masses. I thank those of you who are all ready working on the above items. Your help is greatly appreciated. Each quarter I will be „checking‰ the students on the prayers. They do not have to know all the prayers by the end of the first quarter. Even after they have mastered a prayer I will periodically recheck for retention. It is my experience that some students quit praying some of the prayers after I have checked them so that is the reason for checking them periodically. The students do not have to return the prayer sheets sent home with them.
READING: Reading will be in the morning. The students will also be bringing home books in bags and these must be read aloud to someone older and that person needs to sign the sheet. If at all possible I ask that the students read the books on the same night that they bring them home. BUT I realize that this is not always possible so if you need an extra day once in a while that is okay. MATH: Knowing the facts to 12 is vital to first grade math. The students are timed with the flashcards and also take written tests. I feel this will more accurately assess their knowledge of the facts as some do better on one type of assessment than the other. It is important that you study the flashcards with your child. I will notify you when it is time to add another group of facts to your study pack. We will begin with the facts 0-6.
LANGUAGE ARTS: Included in this area are Spelling, Phonics, Writing, and Language (English). *Spelling: The students will have two types of spelling words. They will have 10 words from the Most Used Words (Fry) each week. They will also have 6 phonetic words that go along with our phonics lessons. They will bring the words for that week home on Monday with the final test on Friday. Occasionally they will only have one set of the two types of words. Words should start coming home towards the end of September. There will be times when they will not have any words, look for the yellow paper on Mondays. *Phonics: I feel Phonics is an important part of first grade. We will be incorporating Phonics into many areas of first grade. *Writing: Writing will be two-fold. One is the formation of the letters (neatness). The other is doing many writing activities in the way of dictation, sentence writing and story writing. *Language (English): This deals with how to correctly write and incorporates the above areas.
SOCIAL STUDIES: Some of the areas we will be studying are families, various Americans, the pilgrims, and making and reading maps. As part of Social Studies we will be having a current events (What‚s Going On?) board. Each week your child will be given an area to focus on for news. Your child will need to present at least one item to the class in that category sometime during the week. This will be an oral presentation as well as a written one. They may bring in a newspaper article and tell about it, they may draw a picture and write a headline for it or they may just write a sentence or two about their news. In the beginning you may do the writing for them. The topics can be in areas that interest your child such as weather, farm information, birthdays, holiday fact, sporting event or news item. Examples: First day of school, Father Jim‚s birthday, the Pope visiting a country, the Nebraska football game, a medical news item Your child WILL need your help on this project. Remember, at least one item per week and they do not have to be lengthy. OTHER SUBJECTS TAUGHT IN FIRST GRADE: Science, Health, Skills for Growing, Library (Mrs. Hemmer), P.E. (Mr. Rautenberg), Art (Mrs. Haas), Music (Mrs. Larsen), Spanish (Mrs. Witt), and computer.
what day you want to bring or send treats. Summer birthdays can be celebrated anytime that works for you.
Medication and/or absentee notes: Please send a note with all medication. Also, even if you call in that your child will not be in school the office will need a written note from you.
Book orders: I will be sending home book orders about every two months. You do not have to purchase a thing. These are optional! If you do order and want it for a gift such as at Christmas just let me know and we can work that out. I will be sending home some order blanks for book/magazine clubs. Do not feel like you have to purchase these but please do sign them and indicate NO as we can then get free items for the classroom by sending our count back to the company.
Show-and-tell: We will not be having show and tell this year. However, I will make exception on certain occasions. Some examples of what I may accept are pictures or souvenirs of special events and trips, ribbons they have won, or educational items. Have your child ask if they may bring something to show and I will let them know if it is okay.
Grades on papers: If a problem is wrong it has an X by it. If they left an item undone then there is a sad face. Right now I do not take off for backward numbers and/or letters but I will later on. Also, I will eventually take off for not following directions. I do try to stress the positive by putting +6/7 rather than 1 wrong. Reading workbook pages will have a % grade for the stapled pack of pages. Occasionally other work will have a % grade.
Student of the Week: This is a week set aside for your child to feel extra special. They will bring home a chart to fill out on the Friday before their week. Please help them fill it out. They will bring it back on Monday with any other special pictures and/or special items to display. Also I am asking you to do something special for your child one day during that week. This does not have to be elaborate. I ask that you let me know what you have planned at least a week in advance. This activity can be kept a surprise from your child if you wish. Some of the things done in the past are: sidewalk chalk, read a story, piñata, finding Easter eggs, decorated cookies or cupcakes, made puzzles, planted flowers, special treat, musical chairs, bubbles, craft ideas, Fire Truck, Rescue Unit. Be creative, you will be surprised at what you can come up with! The event may be 15-30 minutes long. The schedule for Student of the Week is on a separate sheet of paper. The students drew names for the order in which they will go.
Contacting me: Please feel free to contact me if you have questions, concerns, or comments. I can be reached at school until at least 3:45. You may also call me at home. Keep in mind we may have activities and/or other plans in the evenings so sometimes I am hard to reach. Keep trying! I do eventually come home. If you have a problem getting me you can call school and leave a message for me to call you. (Home phone number 428-2491)
*FINAL WORD*: Now that you have read this „book‰ please do not think it is the only word or way. Just because it is on these information sheets does not mean it will always be that way. If I feel the need to or come up with a better plan then I will change. I will try to notify you if changes occur.
I am looking forward to a great year and I hope you are too!