Dear Parents,

Welcome to first grade in Room 3 at St. John the Baptist Catholic School! I am looking forward to working with your child as we question, explore, and discover together during the next 9 months.

One of my primary objectives is to create a learning environment in which the children feel welcome and safe. I also want each student to be and feel successful. We will be participating in a variety of learning activities including working independently, with partners, in small groups and in the whole group setting. We will use a variety of manipulatives and hands-on activities to help the students more fully understand the concepts in the curriculum this year.

Homework will be assigned for practice and extension of concepts learned in school. I usually assign math and language arts homework everyday except for the weekend. I feel that first graders should spend about 15-20 minutes each evening on homework. Some students may require more time to finish an assignment, and that is fine. However, if you believe your child is spending an unreasonable amount of time on homework, please contact me at school so we can, together, identify and solve the problem. My contact information is included later in this packet.

The durable, plastic 2-pocket folder you purchased for your child will be used as a “Home/Homework Folder” and will be brought back and forth between school and home everyday. It will contain homework papers, parent/teacher communication and papers/assignments completed in class. It will also contain a weekly behavior/homework log. (The students, with my help, will fill out this blue piece of paper daily. It will contain homework information and let you know what kind of day your child had at school. I will stamp this paper each day and you will initial it each evening. Please do not throw this paper away on Fridays. Each Monday morning, your child will receive a new homework/behavior log. I will collect the old one and keep it on file. I do this in an effort to allow your child to acquire good study habits and organizational skills for future grades.) Please look through your child’s home folder, with your child, EVERYDAY! Please return all homework and any notes for me, or the office, in this folder. Students will check it every morning.

A Wednesday folder (Blue Jay Folder) will also be coming home each week. Please return it,EMPTIED, on Thursdays. It contains important school information, happenings, and events. Any communication from this folder that needs to be returned to school should be done so in the Home Folder. If you would like to volunteer to help me stuff these folders each Wednesday, please let me know by note or email. Thanks!

I believe that discipline is an integral part of a productive and safe learning environment and should contribute to the growth of a child’s positive self-image and sense of responsibility. My experience as a teacher has demonstrated to me that children respond best to positive reinforcements. In our classroom, positive incentives and rewards are available to students who choose to behave appropriately as individuals, in small groups, and as a whole class. Consequences for inappropriate behaviors are verbal reminders,avisitwith Ms. Blum, a written note home and/or a telephone call to the child’s parents to discuss the behavior problem(s). If a child exhibits serious misbehaviors (causing harm to self or others, damaging school property or the property of others) I would, of course, call you immediately. Please refer to my behavior plan and classroom rules later in this packet.

Finally, I believe that communication between home and school is vital to the success and well being of the children. Please do not hesitate to contact me at anytime during the year if you have any comments, questions, or concerns regarding your child’s academic or social development. If I should be informed of any outside problems or situations, good or bad, which may affect your child, know that any personal information would be kept in the strictest of confidence.

Again, I welcome you and your child to the 1st grade here at St. Johns!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Mindy Sander

Mrs. Sander’s

ContactInformation

Email:

This will get you the quickest response! (Please remember that I may not always have a break during the school day to check for messages, but I will check my messages at least once each day.) A handwritten note is also fine for communication!

School Office: 385-7970

Attendance Line: 385-2095

Please call school each day that your child is absent. It is also a good idea to call if your child will be more than a few minutes tardy (i.e. – dentist or doctor appointment). A note on the day your child returns is required.

You are no longer permitted to call the office during the day for changes in transportation. However, if the situation arises where you should need to do so, you may fax a note or bring in a written note to the office. Please contact the office to make sure your fax was received. The fax number is: 699-6964.

Classroom Rules

  1. Follow directions.
  2. Keep hands, feet, and objects to yourself.
  3. Be polite and show respect for yourself and others.
  4. Walk quietly in the hallways.

Behavior Plan

Each student will have a clothespin with his/her name on it.

Everyone will start on “Blue Best” everyday. (See example)

If a student breaks the rules, the following steps will be taken:

  1. Frequent verbal reminders of the rules and expectations are given to the class each day.
  2. If a rule is broken, the student will hear a verbal reminder from me. If the behavior in question continues, his/her clip will be moved to “Green Good.”
  3. If a rule is broken again, the student will hear a verbal reminder from me. If the behavior in question continues, the student’s clip will be moved to “Yucky Yellow.”
  4. If inappropriate behavior is extreme or continues to persist, the student’s clip will be moved to “Purple Principal.” The student will be sent to Ms. Blum and she will handle the situation as she sees fit.
  5. The next day, the student will start all over on “Blue Best.”
  6. Individuals may also earn “attitude of gratitude” awards for going above and beyond what is expected of them. We love to reward positive behavior!

This plan helps students know what kind of behavior day they had (best, good, or yucky) and encourages communication between students and parents. Please feel free to contact me if you ever need clarification!

*All students will return their initialed homework/behavior log each Monday. When a student stays on “Blue Best” for the whole week, he/she will choose a prize from the Treasure Box on Monday.

*Please also note that a student can skip levels based on the severity of the inappropriate behavior.

Specials Schedule

Monday / 1:16-1:56 Computer
2:00-2:45 Library
Tuesday / 2:00-2:45Physical Education
Wednesday / 1:16-1:56 Physical Education
2:00-2:45Music

Thursday

/ 1:16-1:56Computer
2:00-2:45 Art
Friday / 2:00-2:45Music

*Please be sure your child wears sneakers on PE days and that girls wear shorts under their jumpers.

Grading Scale

In the first grade, students are graded using letters, but not of the traditional sort. I have listed what the letters are, what they stand for, and what they mean.

O / Outstanding
S / Satisfactory
N / Needs Improvement

You will see the numbercorrect out of the number possible on your child’s paper and the letter grade of O, S, or N. If you see an “N” on your child’s paper, please take some time to review why he/she received that grade. (Many times an “N” is due to not following directions.)

An “S” means that your child has performed at the level that is expected of him/her at this time, or on that particular paper. It is important for me to challenge my students to always do their best and strive for O’s, however, please remember that “S” is Satisfactory! I will also use S+ and S-.

If at anytime you have a question or concern about your child’s academic performance or a paper he/she has completed, please do not hesitate to contact me! You can simply send the paper back with a note on it or email me. But please know, occasionally “N’s” may happen. Sometimes there are only a few problems on the page, and one wrong will be an “N”. No need to worry! My suggestion is to take a minute to sift through the paperwork and decide what needs a closer look/review.

Snacks

Studies have shown that when students eat a good breakfast in the morning, they do better in school. I realize some students have difficulty eating a good breakfast due to lack of time or lack of hunger early in the morning. Even those who do eat breakfast are eating early,and so we will be having a short power snack each morning.

This year our snack will be at 9:30 (lasting about 10 minutes) and then lunch is at 11:07, so a small snack should be enough to get your child through the morning. With such an early lunch, be aware that your child will probably be starving when he/she gets home from school. 

The snack should be a low-fat, healthy food, that can be eaten quickly without much mess. No cakes, cookies, candy or brownies, please! Listed below are a few suggestions of what a good power snack might be:

-apples-carrot sticks-peanuts

-low-fat popcorn-low-fat chips-oyster crackers

-cheese crackers-dried fruit-pretzels

-small box of raisins-grapes-graham crackers

-cheese (cubes, -dry cereal like-granola bars

sticks, slices)Cheerios (not too -GoGurt

sweet)

Postcard Geography

This year we are asking all friends and family of Room 3 to think of us whenever they are traveling.

We would love to receive postcards from as many places around our country and world as we can. These postcards will help us with our geography lessons as we learn about our world.

So if you can, please send a postcard from your travels to:

Star Students, Room 3

St. John the Baptist School

5375 Dry Ridge Road

Cincinnati, Ohio 45252

If you have family out of town, we welcome those post cards as well. The more cards we receive, the more states/countries we will learn about! We are looking forward to a wonderful collection of post cards!

Thanks!

Star of the Week

Each week a different student will have a turn as Star of the Week. During this special week, the student will:

-become the official class line leader

-lead the class in prayer before lunch

-invite a special person to come and read their

favorite story to the class

-bring in an item for show and tell

-be interviewed by classmates

-be celebrated by the class

If your child will be having a special visitor, please contact me at school to set up a time that will be best for both of us.

Please consult the Star of the Week Schedule, which will be sent home in an upcoming Blue Jay Folder, for your child’s scheduled week. You can also look on our weekly newsletter, WeekIn a Peek, for upcoming Star of the Week information.

A note containing all information related to your child’s Star of the Week, along with the poster, will come home the Wednesday before his/her week in the Blue Jay Folder.

Time Management, Organizational Skills, and Study Skills for Grade One

Expectations for time management for grade 1…

*Pack for home within 20 minutes

*Complete and turn in class work within allotted time

Expectations for organizational skills for grade 1…

*Copy homework from the ActivBoard

*Take home needed books and papers with written and verbal reminders

*Record behavior on homework log daily

*Hand in homework and important papers at the beginning of the day (with written and verbal reminders)

*Unpack and hang up belongings each morning

*Write name on all papers

*Put away any books and supplies that you are not using

Expectations for study skills for grade 1…

*Get homework log signed daily by teacher and parent

*Review Week in a Peek with parents every week

*Study spelling words a little each night

*Spend time reading a little each night

*Review math facts a little each night

Expectations for homework for grade 1…

*Students will usually have homework every night except for Friday

*Students are expected to return homework daily unless otherwise noted in Week in a Peek (weekly newsletter) or on an assignment

Religion Expectations for Grade One

  • Students will study most chapters for one week.
  • The following information will appear on the first grade newsletter each week…
  • CHAPTER NUMBER, NAME, AND MAJOR OBJECTIVE
  • KEY WORDS: These are the key vocabulary words in each chapter.
  • Our curriculum is organized into 4 units (27 chapters).
  • UNIT 1: Jesus Teaches Us About God’s Love
  • UNIT 2: We Are Followers of Jesus
  • UNIT 3: We Belong to the Church
  • UNIT 4: We Celebrate and Live Our Faith
  • Seasonal Holidays and Celebrations
  • Students will also participate in a variety of service projects and activities.

Language Arts Expectations for Grade One

  • In the fall, winter and spring, we will complete our school wide DIBELS testing. The Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) are a set of procedures and measures for assessing the acquisition of early literacy skills from kindergarten through sixth grade. They are designed to be short (one minute) fluency measures used to regularly monitor the development of early literacy and early reading skills. DIBELS were developed to measure recognized and empirically validated skills related to reading outcomes. Each measure has been thoroughly researched and demonstrated to be reliable and valid indicators of early literacy development and predictive of later reading proficiency to aid in the early identification of students who are not progressing as expected. When used as recommended, the results can be used to evaluate individual student development as well as provide grade-level feedback toward validated instructional objectives. If you have any questions regarding DIBELS, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s teacher. Students completed the DIBELS assessment last year as kindergartners and will continue to do so each year as they move up through the grade levels.
  • First graders will usually have reading homework every night except Friday.
  • In addition to spelling practice, reading homework may also include any one of the following assignments: read a new story, book or chapter, reread a story introduced in class, or complete a book-related activity or worksheet.
  • Students will be required to master a phonics rule each unit.
  • Spelling tests will begin when we finishthe Welcome Back, Superkids workbook and will correlate with our reading story and phonics studies. The phonics rule will be listed in each Week in a Peek.
  • At the end of each unit, students will complete a spelling test for a grade.

**Here are some ideas you might like to try for spelling review:

  • Write a sentence for each word. You read the sentence, skipping over the spelling word. Then your child should decode the word by thinking about what would make sense there. Consider letter sounds as hints.
  • Make flashcards using 3”x5” index cards.
  • Make two sets of flashcards and play a game of concentration.
  • Write words in crayons, markers, paint, colored pencils, etc.
  • Type the words on the computer.
  • Have your child write a story using as many spelling words as possible.
  • Name other words that mean the same thing as the spelling word.
  • Use your imagination--try anything that sparks interest in your child.

N / N / S / O
Novice / Basic / Proficient / Advanced
  • I use pictures and print to convey meaning.
  • I may add labels related to my topics.
/
  • I can write a complete thought or sentence.
/
  • I stay on topic when I write.
  • My writing includes multiple sentences.
  • My writing has a beginning, middle, and end.
/
  • I maintain focus in my writing.
  • I use some support (details, examples, descriptions).
  • I use purposeful ordering or sentences.
/ Content
  • I copy names/words.
  • I represent whole words with one, two, or three letters.
  • I understand some letter/sound relationships.
/
  • I write my name and my favorite words.
  • I write common words based on letter/sound relationships.
  • I combine upper and lowercase letters in my writing.
  • I write left to right and top to bottom.
  • I usually use appropriate spacing.
  • I experiment with punctuation and capitalizations.
/
  • I spell some high frequency words correctly.
  • I use knowledge of some word patterns to spell words correctly.
  • I use developmental spelling with unfamiliar words.
  • I use appropriate spelling.
  • I use many capital letters at the beginning of sentences and proper nouns.
  • I use many ending marks correctly.
/
  • I spell many high frequency words correctly.
  • I use knowledge of common spelling patterns/rules to spell new words.
  • I use capital letters at the beginning of sentences and proper nouns.
  • I use end marks correctly.
/ Conventions

Handwriting Rubric

O / S / N
Letters are on the lines. / Letters are always on the lines. / Letters are mostly on the lines. / Letters are rarely on the lines.
Letters start at the top or middle line. / Letters always start at the top or middle line. / Letters mostly start at the top or middle line. / Letters rarely start at the top or middle line.
Capital letters are used appropriately. / Always uses capital letters appropriately. / Usually uses capital letters appropriately. / Rarely uses capital letters appropriately.
Letters and words are spaced properly. / Letters and words are always spaced properly. / Letters and words are usually spaced properly. / Letters and words are rarely spaced properly.