Dear Families,
Welcome to another school year! I am excited to share in your child’s First Grade experience. Students will “grow” in so many ways, and I’m looking forward to witnessing all their achievements great and small throughout the year. Thank you for praising each and every one of their successes along the way! In this letter you will find some valuable information regarding our classroom.
Throughout the year, a number of papers will come home in your child’s Home or VIP folders. Many assignments will be done in class. Some assignments will be worked on independently while many others will be done as a whole class or completed by working in cooperative groups. Please go over papers with your child and have him/her reread the information to you or explain what the assignment was. Every time you go over papers together, you are having your child practice skills, and you are reinforcing all of their efforts through every assignment. This “paper communication” is vital in helping you to know what your child is working on throughout the year. Most assignments will be found in the VIP folder. If your child does not get a chance to complete homework and return it in the VIP, please simply empty the folder and have your child return his/her homework in the Home Folder as soon as possible. If your child ever has homework in his/her Home Folder it may be because he/she was out of the room (Speech, Reading, Math Services, etc.) or he/she did not use his/her time in class to complete work. In that case, I will send the unfinished work in the Home Folder. I ask that homework be turned in as soon as possible. My goal is to have homework reinforce skills being taught in class, and never want it to become a burden on families. I know how very busy you all are!
Our math curriculum is called Everyday Math. It is designed so concepts being taught “spiral” throughout the year. This means that all skills will be practiced within chapters, so if your child is having difficulty on a skill, he/she will revisit it a number of times. The students have a math journal. The pages are for practicing skills being taught. I may have the children tear out the pages for you to see what we are working on. Because the journal is designed for practice, I will NOT correct every page before it comes home and some pages I may simply skip throughout the year. You will notice right away that the pages were difficult for your child to tear out of the book, but I believe it is SO important for you to “go over” concepts together and practice skills being taught. When you know what we are working on, then you can make your own worksheets or ask your child to tell time, count money, add or subtract objects, etc. In your VIP folders you will find math homelinks throughout the year. Please help your child with these and return them within five days. I will record all homelinks returned.
At the primary level, reading is the core of our curriculum. Teachers will teach reading through phonics lessons, writing, literature and Guided Reading. Guided Reading is an individualized approach to phonics and literacy. The students will meet in small groups two to five times a week. While I am conducting small group, the remainder of the class will be working on reading, writing, spelling and more. I plan to begin Guided Reading when most of the students develop the skills in phonics needed to begin the reading process. When Guided Reading begins, your child will be bringing books home in their “Bulldog Book Bag”. The books should be at your child’s instructional reading level. Please be sure to have your child read to you the day he/she brings the books home and return them the very next day.
Visual phonics is a fun way to get students actively involved in learning the sounds. Even if your child knows the sounds, it’s fun and funny to “sign” words! Ask your child throughout the year to show you words using visual phonics alone!
To reinforce reading, I need your help. The more the students read, the better readers they become! As new words are introduced I will ask that you have your child read to you. I may send worksheets, books, poems, stories, and word lists in the VIP folders. Attached to the papers will be a note asking for your signature and any comments that you have to share about your reader. The note that I ask you to sign will be the same regardless of what I ask your child to read. Please return the signed form within five days. If your reader has not mastered the words, please file papers and continue practice. These are excellent resources to save for summer reading!
“Book Bucks” are a fun way to motivate and thank students for reading even more. If your child is ready to read a book to friends in class or to a partner, all he/she has to do is bring a slip of paper home for you to sign after the story has been practiced. When five “Book Bucks” have been earned, your child will earn a small prize or can choose such things as extra minutes of IPad time, choice time, or lunch in class with a friend, etc. I have found “Book Bucks” to be an extra incentive for students to enjoy reading to others. Thank you for listening to your child read. Please note that books read can be brought from home or borrowed from me!
At Becker Primary School, our discipline strategy focuses on students taking responsibility for their behavior. We require students to be kind, safe, ready, caring, and responsible. Behaviors are called “Above and Below the Line” or “Bulldog Best”. I work hard to instill in children the importance of making good choices, and I explain that all choices result in consequences - some positive and some negative. I will handle all behaviors in our classroom and only call you if I need your assistance in solving a problem. If a child ever falls to the “Bottom Line” meaning any pushing, shoving, fighting or bullying behaviors that intend to hurt another child, he/she will be referred to the principal and you will be contacted. A “fix-it” ticket can be given to a student by any staff member. A child receiving a “fix-it” ticket fell below the line in some manner. Students receiving numerous "fix-it" tickets in a day or five in a week will result in assistance from the principal as needed. Please support your child in staying “Above the Line” in every environment. “Blue Bulldog tickets” can be given to a student by any staff member. Students receiving “Bulldog tickets” were “caught” being their Bulldog Best. They get to turn in tickets for a chance to be drawn by the office staff for a small prize. I also recognize Bulldog Best behavior by having Fun Fridays – time when students earn choice or teacher directed game time. When we work together and notice all the great things your child does, he/she will be rewarded way beyond the moment!
I will be sending resources in VIP folders for you to keep at home. If your child can learn the numbers/words before they are introduced in the classroom, self-esteem increases and learning flourishes! So please keep resources in a place where your child can easily access them and practice just a couple of words a night!
If you have any questions or concerns please don’t hesitate to contact me. Thank you for being your child’s #1 teacher!!!!!
Sincerely,
Mary Madsen
(763) 261-6330
[email protected]
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