Banner Elementary School
Dunlap CUSD #323
Classroom Guide for Parents
First grade is a time where you will see many changes in your child academically, physically, and socially. For some students this will be the first experience in an all day educational setting. Others will have come from full day programs. The purpose of this guide is to give you some basic information about our first grade. Please read it carefully to learn more about what to expect from first grade at Banner.
Newsletters: A newsletter will be sent home every other Monday (or the first day of the week) to keep you informed about what your child is doing. Also, spelling, high-frequency, and vocabulary words will be listed in the newsletter. Check your child’s folder for “First Grade News.”
Lunch: You may send a check to add to your child’s lunch account at any time. When his or her account begins to get low, a notice will be sent home.
Absenteeism: If you know ahead of time that your child is going to be absent, please notify me so that work may be sent home. If you will be out of town for an extended time, only the material from the basic subjects will be sent home. Due to the nature of some of our activities, some projects cannot be made up at home. If you do NOT know ahead of time that your child will be absent, please call the school on the morning that he or she will be absent.
Supplies: Each first grader needs the following supplies: pencils, glue, scissors, crayons, nine colored folders with metal clasps, a box of kleenexes, and a take home folder. From time to time, please check with your child to see if new supplies are needed. Crayons and glue are the most likely items that might need replaced.
Progress Reports: Progress reports are given at the mid-point of each grading period. Each child will receive a report at the mid-point of the first grading period. After that, progress reports will only be sent home if there is a special area of concern. If your child does receive a progress report, sign the white copy and return it to school in a few days. The other copy is for you to keep.
Report Cards: Report cards are given four times throughout the year. At the end of the first grading period, parent conferences will be held and the report cards will be explained at that time in more detail.
Behavior: All students are expected to follow school and classroom rules. It is expected that all students will be respectful toward other students and all school employees at all times. It may be necessary to reprimand a student for misbehavior. In our classroom we use a stoplight. Each child starts the day on “green.” After warnings are given, the next consequence is to move their clothes pin to yellow. When a child’s clip moves to yellow they will lose five minutes of recess. If the behavior still occurs, the last consequence is to move their clothes pin to red. This involves a note or phone call home/ possible trip to the principals office/ and they lose all of their recess time. Students who stay on green are rewarded throughout the week.
Reading: Reading is the key to your child’s success in school. We want your child to enjoy reading and to enjoy school. You can do quite a bit to help your child become interested in books and learning to read. Your assistance at home is helpful to your child’s achievement. Listen to your child read and ask them questions that promote thinking and problem solving skills. Read to your child everyday. Encourage your child to read to you. Children who are learning to read are usually quite eager to demonstrate their newly achieved ability.
This year the school has adopted a new reading series. This series includes shared reading, guided reading, phonics, and writing activities. At shared reading time we will read from a big book and will focus on reading strategies, comprehension skills, and grammar and phonics lessons. Guided reading is a time when I meet with a small group of students, which will allow me to help your child with his/her individual needs. Writing workshop is another component of the series that will help students understand how, why, and what writers do.
Homework
Spelling: The spelling words will be listed in the newsletter. Our lists will be composed of words with common phonetic patterns, as well as words that are frequently used by first graders in their own writing. We will work on learning to spell these words at school by writing them, reading them, and by using them in sentences. You can help your child throughout the week by practicing these words at home. The spelling test will then be given on Fridays.
Math: We begin the year by teaching basic addition and subtraction concepts. The children will be taught various strategies to solve addition and subtraction facts to ten. The next area will include graphing and place value followed by learning addition and subtraction facts to twelve. Geometry and facts to twenty will be covered next. After that, we will be working with money, time, and fractions. The year will conclude with instruction in measurement, adding and subtracting 2 digit numbers, and a section on probability.
Daily Routine
7:45-8:15- attendance, journal, and calendar (At calendar we practice several math concepts including money, place value, graphing, and counting. We also review the days of the week and the months in a year.)
8:15-9:45- Reading Block-. This is where we will complete shared reading, phonics lessons, spelling review, centers, and guided reading.
9:50-10:20- P.E. (students must have tennis shoes everyday)
10:25-11:00- Math
11:00-11:40- Lunch/Recess
11:40-12:00- Read Aloud
12:00-12:20-Autor studies
12:20-12:40 Silent Reading Time
12:40-1:20-Writing (except on Thursday, it is at 2:00-2:40)
Our afternoons vary because of the special classes that we have. At Banner we have separate teachers for Art, Music, Computers and Physical Education. The children have Art once a week, Music twice a week, and Library once a week. Art is on Thursday from 12:40-1:30. Music is on Monday and Tuesday from 2:10-2:40. Library is on Friday from 12:30-1:00. Computer class will start after the first nine weeks and will be on Wednesdays from 12:40-1:10. We also work on our Science and Social Studies units in the afternoon, as well as our word wall words.
Birthdays: I’d love for your children to celebrate their birthdays with their classmates! However, please do not send anything too messy. A lot of children bring pre-packaged items for the sake of it being easy and less messy. Also, please do not send any drinks that require me to pour. There simply wouldn’t be enough time. Pre-packaged drinks may be sent if you want. Please let me know ahead of time if you plan on sending your child with treats.
All School Teams: All students will be assigned to an all-school team. Each team has children from kindergarten through fifth grade. Teams will meet several times a year for special activities.
Book Orders: A book order form will be sent home periodically with your child. These books are generally paperback books that can be purchased for a reasonable price. If you would like to place an order, please return the form along with a check made out to the book company. I will let you know the due date. The books arrive at school in about two weeks.
Guest Reader: Every Friday we will be having a guest reader come into our room from 12:00-12:30. There will be a sign-up sheet available to you tonight. If you need to check your schedules and e-mail me that will work out fine. A guest reader is to bring in a favorite book of theirs or check, read a book on a theme we are studying, or read a book to go along with our author of the week. It is totally up to the guest reader that is reading that day. If Fridays for some reason don’t work out for you, let me know and we can make some other arrangements, if you are interested in reading to your child’s class. I am also going to be asking other staff members and members of the community to also come in and share with your children (ex. Police officers, fire fighters, etc.) Guest readers are another way to get children excited about reading. Join the fun and come share with the first grade class.
Book Its: Our classroom will be doing the book it program again with pizza hut starting in October. I will be sending home a goal sheet with the amount of books that I would like your child to read with you, as well as a record keeping sheet. This sheet should be returned to me to show that your child has completed the goal that has been set that month. Then I will attach a certificate for a free personal pan pizza to that sheet and return back to your child the very next day. I highly suggest you do this program with your child. This is another way for your child to grab a hold of reading and want to take an interest.
Classroom Library: Everyday your child will have the opportunity to check out one book from our classroom library. Your child will be expected to return this book before they can check out another book. This could be one out of the two books that you read with your child at night. A lot of these books are donated from teachers or classroom parents, so it is very important that these books get returned back to school.
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