Mrs. Cheaves
First Grade Handbook
2014-2015
We Are a Class to “Tweet” About
King Springs Elementary
Dear Parents and Students,
Welcome to the 2014-2015 school year! My name is Abby Cheaves and I am thrilled to have you as part of our first grade class. This will be a great year for all of us!
I’d like to tell you a little bit about myself. I have been teaching for seven years. This is my fifth year teaching at King Springs,and my second year in First Grade. I am excited to be teaching first grade again. I have previously taught fourth grade and Special Education in various grades. I have a Bachelor’sdegree in Early Childhood Education from Kennesaw State University and I am dual certified in both general education and special education. Ilive in Mableton with myhusband, Joshua, our 16 month old son Brantley, our dog Ellie and our newest addition we will be welcoming at the end of November.
I typically arrive at school at 7:00 and stay until 3:15 p.m. I have included my email address as a way to get in contact with me. This is the best way to get in touch with me, especially regarding something needing immediate attention. I can reply to email quicker than phone messages. I appreciate all questions and concerns you have, so JUST ASK!
I am thrilled to be your child’s first grade teacher as first grade is such an exciting grade. Your child will show amazing growth academically, physically, and emotionally this year. Thank you in advance for all your support!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Abby Cheaves
King Springs’ phone number: (678) 842-6944
Mrs. Cheaves email address:
Welcome to
King Springs Elementary School
School Hours
Our school hours are from 7:20am – 2:20pm. The school day begins promptly at 7:50 am.
School Attendance
It is important for your child to have regular and prompt attendance to ensure his/her school success. We begin our day at 7:20am with morning work. Please take into consideration the time that you bring your child to school, especially if your child will be having breakfast at school. Each morning, the students have a routine that they will follow. Arriving at school at a consistent time will help your child start his/her day in a positive manner. If your child is tardy (after 7:50 am) he/she must check into the office with an adult to receive a tardy slip before entering the classroom.
Absent Excuses/Make Up Work
If your child is absent, I will need to have a written excuse on a piece of paper. This will need to be brought to school on your child’s first day back in school. We must keep these excuses on file. E-mailed excuses cannot be turned into the office.
If you know your child will be absent ahead of time, please let me know so that I can prepare work for your child. Please give me at least 3 days notice to organize a work packet.
Illness/ Clinic/ Medication
Please take into consideration how your child is feeling before you send him/her to school. If your child could be contagious, please keep them home out of consideration for the other students and teachers. We all work very close to each other, so germs travel.
If your child is not feeling well during the day, I will send him/her to the clinic to be evaluated by the nurse. The nurse will either give you a call if your child should go home or allow your child to rest and return to class. The nurse usually sends home a note about your child’s trip to the clinic.
The school nurse can only give medication to your child with a doctor’s note. Cough drops are considered a form of medication; therefore, a doctor’s or parent’s note is required. Please contact the school nurse to receive the proper medication paperwork.
Changes in Transportation
If your child is going home a different way than usual we must have a note with the parent’s signature. The note must also state who will pick up your child, what time, and what kind of transportation. If your child is either a bus or a car rider please state his/her number. If a note is NOT sent, then the teacher must send the child home in his/her usual way. Mrs. Keeney will not allow changes in transportation to be made over the phone, e-mail, etc. Changes in transportation can only be made when there is a note with the parent’s signature stating the change.Teachers are required to send the note to the office with our morning attendance.
Morning and Afternoon Conversations
It is very important for our day to begin and end with my attention focused directly on the students. In order to accomplish this goal, I like to limit conversations with parents during school hours. If you would like to conference about your child, I am available before or after school. Please write me a note or send me an email and we will set a time to meet.
Toys at School
It is our class policy for children NOT to bring toys to school unless I have specified otherwise. A few times during the year there may be special circumstances, such as show and tell or a special activity, where the students are asked to bring an item in from home. In these cases, a note will be sent home from me in advance.
Classroom Materials
Please label your child’s name on items he/she brings to school such as backpacks, lunch boxes, and jackets. You may also label your homework notebook.
Clothing
Children should wear clothing that they can take care of themselves. Please begin to help your child learn to tie shoes, zip, snap, and button clothing. Dress your child safely for school. Some shoes are too dangerous for running and playing such as flip-flops or shoes with no backs. If your child wears a skirt, make sure they have shorts under the skirt. This will allow them to play on the playground and at PE. Please make sure that your child is dressed according to the Cobb County Dress Code (no muscle shirts, spaghetti straps, short skirts, etc.)
Also, if your child sometimes has accidents, please be sure to keep a change of clothing in his/her backpack.
Outdoor Recess
We will go outside on most days, weather permitting. During our fall, winter, and spring seasons, please dress your child appropriately for outdoor play.
Birthdays
Birthdays are special days for young children. You may wish to bring a snack for your child’s classmates on his/her birthday. (*Birthday invitations will not be passed out at school.)We usually celebrate birthdays during lunch. Individual treats such as cookies or a healthy treat are the easiest to distribute and clean up. Please DO NOT bring balloons, napkins, plates, etc. Also, please let me know a couple of days in advance if you are planning to celebrate your child’s birthday at school. (Students with summer birthdays may celebrate their “half-birthday”, for example my birthday is July27thand we are out of school, so we would celebrate my “half-birthday” on (or aroundJanuary 27th.) You will need to be present for your child’s celebration that will take place during lunch.
Lunches
The price of the student lunch is currently $2.15 and extra milk or juice is $0.60. Ice cream is $0.75. Students may pay lunches either by the day, week, month, or semester. It is very helpful if your child’s lunches are either paid in advance in the lunchroom or online payments via MyPaymentsPlus at Students will not be able to charge any meals.
Parents, grandparents, and anyone special are encouraged to join their children for lunch. A class schedule will be sent home with lunch times. Keep in mind lunch times will vary on early release days. An adult lunch is $3.25. Adults can pay in the lunch line (or deduct from your child’s account).
Fast food or canned sodas are NOT permitted in the cafeteria. If your child is staying for ASP, his/her snack or drink is not permitted during lunch.
Breakfast
Breakfast is served from 7:20am – 7:45am. At 7:45 sharp breakfast will no longer be served. Please be considerate if your child is a car rider in the mornings. The cost is $1.25. It is encouraged that students prepay for breakfast, as they do for lunch. An adult breakfast is $1.50.
Sending Money to School
If you are sending money to school, (for field trips, lunch, ASP, etc.) please put it in the appropriate school envelope and label it.
Homework
Homework is a way for the students to practice what they have been learning in class. Each quarteryour child will have a “Homework Calendar” that is posted on our class blog. The Homework Calendar allows you and your child some choice and flexibility. I would like to see 4 activities completed each week. (Each child will havea spiral notebook provided by parents to complete homework activities in.) Some assignments are written while others are oral or involve other materials. I know your child is busy with various activities in the evening, however, please help your child manage his/her time so he/she does not have to complete everything the day before it is due. Also, please print out the Homework Calendar, leave it in your child’s spiral notebook, and initial next to each activity as it is finished. Homework is due every Friday. Additionally, students are expected to read books on their level for 15-20 minutes each day, which can be recorded on the reading log sent home monthly.
GO Folders
In order to have good communication between home and school, your child will bring home a “GO Folder” daily. This folder will go home and come back to school daily. This folder is separated into two sections. One section is for any notes, unfinished work that needs to be finished at home, and information sheets to you, and any notes you would like to send me (labeled SCHOOL). The other section is for all work that can stay home (labeled HOME). Please review all papers DAILY and remove the papers from the stay at home section. If you look through the grades weekly you will have a good idea of how your child is performing in class and what to expect when progress reports/report cards are sent out. The folders will be checked every morning.
Behavior Policy
I have high expectations for your child’s behavior. During the first day of school, our class will work together to come up with a list of expectations for learning and behaving. In our classroom the students are encouraged to make good choices, show excellent work habits, and stay on green on our class behavior chart. All students begin the day on green-ready to learn. I keep a clipboard with me at all times and after three warnings, a student must move his/her color to yellow-think about it. Students have the opportunity to move back up to green from yellow.However, if the behavior persists, students will then go to red-parent contact. Once on red, there is no turning back… If a student moved to yellow or red, a note will be written in the student’s go folder.Your child will have a behavior chart in their GO folder, so you will always know how their behavior is each day. Any student who has two yellows or any reds during the course of the week will not be able to participate in Fun Friday.
Newsletters
I will email or send home a class newsletter in the GO folder each week. The newsletter will keep you updated with what is going on in our class. Please make sure to watch out for these newsletters, so you always know what is going on in our class and the school.
King Springs has gone “green”! All newsletters, reminders, and important information will be posted online for you to check daily/weekly. Our blog is located at Please be sure to visit our blog frequently, as I post important information on there!
Subjects Taught
RAP (Review and Practice)
Our RAP time focuses on developing number sense, counting with one-to-one correspondence, counting forward and backward, reading, writing, comparing and ordering numbers 1-120, recognizing, analyzing, and extending patterns, and solving story problems by using mathematical concepts.
Reading Workshop
During Guided Reading, I work with small groups of children. These groups are flexible and change as the needs of the students change. Students are frequently assessed on developmental reading skills. In groups of 4-5 students, I will work on their reading, vocabulary, phonics, and comprehension skills. The groups will be formed based on your child’s reading level. In some cases, students are met with on a one-to-one basis daily until reading improves to a level where working with a group is possible.
While Guided Reading groups are being conducted, the rest of the class will participate in Daily 5. These are independent centers focused on skills they are currently learning. Reading, writing, comprehension, listening skills, and speaking are all practiced during centers. This time also gives students flexibility to make some choices in their learning, requires them to show completion of their work, and encourages them to set and reach independent goals. This is the best time for volunteers to help during the school day. Please fill out the volunteer form if you would like to volunteer.
Spelling and Phonics
As part of our daily schedule for spelling and phonics we use a sourcebook called Words Their Way. The process is simply to achieve spelling accountability in writing, provide ongoing instruction, and practice basic skills. There is also a list of sight words on the quarterly Homework Calendar your child is expected to recognize and spell. Additionally, each week during Literacy Centers we will complete various activities using different word families. There will be NO formal spelling tests given. Spell checks will be used to assess students’ progress.
Math
Instructional time will focus on four critical areas: (1) developing understanding of addition, subtraction, and strategies for addition and subtraction within 20; (2) developing understanding of whole number relationships and place value, including grouping in tens and ones; (3) developing understanding of linear measurement and measuring lengths as iterating length units; and (4) reasoning about attributes of, and composing and decomposing geometric shapes. Just like guided reading, we also have guided math where students are grouped based on their math levels for remediation and/or enrichment. These groups are flexible and change as the needs of the students change.
Writing Workshop
Your child will participate in Writing Workshop. Each quarter, we will work on a different writing focus: Narrative, Informational/Explanatory, and Opinion Pieces. As a class, we will learn about the different styles of writing using great literature. We will work on the different stages of writing (brainstorming, drafting, editing, revising, and publishing).
Social Studies/ Science/ Health
Our Social Studies, Science, and Health curriculum will be a lot of fun for the students. We will be learning about Landforms, Light and Sound, Magnets, Weather, Famous Americans, American Folktales, Plants, Animals and many other interesting topics. These subjects are theme related, and we integrate many any of these into our reading and writing.
Family Projects
From time to time, your child will have a family project to complete at home. This is a chance for your family to work together on a creative and fun project. Your child will be sent home with the directions, and will have about 2 to 3 weeks to complete the project. The students will share their project with the class then it will be posted.
Please keep this packet as a reference during the school year.
If you have questions or problems, please feel free to contact me.
* Please only sign and return this page of the handbook.
I have read the First Grade Handbook and understand what is expected of my child to have a successful first grade school year.
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Child’s Name
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Parent’s Signature
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Email Address
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Date