Welcome to First Grade!

2011-2012

Francisca

Serna

Michelle

Orobitg-Baca

Audrey

Colwell

Donna Gregg

Amanda Smolins

ki

Kaelan

Brown

Sheryl Hernand

ez

NanNeale

First Grade is designed to…First Grade is designed to…*Stimulate a good self image

*Transition from emergent to authentic and fluent reading*Provide opportunities to increase phonological awareness and comprehension strategies

*Develop writing skills

*Provide opportunities for independent and cooperative group activities

*Develop math concepts that students will use for life*Develop problem-solving abilities*Provide opportunities to think and reason mathematically*Develop an understanding about the world around them

*Develop self-directed, independent learners

Recess 10:15-10:45Please check

the weather each day and help your child dress appropriately.If the temperature is too hot or cold according to district guidelines, or it’s raining, we will have indoor recess.

Lunch Time 10:45-11:15

Mrs. Gregg, Ms. Neale, Ms. Serna, Mrs. Smolinski

11:00-11:30 Mrs. Colwell, Mrs. Orobitg-Baca, Mrs. Hernandez, Mrs. Brown

-15 min. eat time, 15 min. talk time-Parents are welcome Sign-in at the office & meet us in the cafeteria

NO FOOD is allowed for birthday celebration. You can bring a special prize such as pencils.

We will have 3 parties this year: a winter holiday party, a Valentine’s Day party, and an end of year party on the last day of school!

Snack & healthy food choicesPlease make sure your child has a

good breakfast. It’s a long time from the time school starts at 8:00am to our

lunch time at 11:00am.

Please make sure your child has a healthy lunch. Eating or drinking a lot of sugar at breakfast or lunch, can inhibit quality learning at school.

We will have a quick snack time each afternoon. Please make sure the snack is healthy and “kid-friendly” and “classroom friendly.” Spills bring bugs! NO PEANUTS! Only water bottles in class please, no juice.

Art PE

Music

Please make sure your child is wearing appropriate shoes on PE days.

Math Expectations•identify individual coins by name and value/ describe relationships

•Computational fluency of addition and subtraction facts through 10

•When given a word problem, identify the thinking pattern, solve the problem by showing and explaining mathmatically.

•Identify and describe 2-D and 3-D shapes

•draw conclusions and answer questions from graphs

•Read, write, compare, skip count, and order whole numbers using place value up to 99

•use patterns to develop strategies to solve basic addition and subtraction problems

•Tell time by the hour and half hour and by using a calendar

Reading Expectations-Comprehension: Monitoring own comprehension

and using strategies when comprehension breaks down

-Print Awareness

-Phonological Awareness: blending sounds and manipulating sounds

-Use letter-sounds knowledge to decode words

-fluency

-using a variety of strategies to figure out new words independently

-vocabulary development

-Dibels and DRA are used for assessments

-Daily 5/contracts – independent & guided reading

Book BindersBook BindersTools to communicate/ tools for reference– reading strategies, letter sounds, poems

Carries level readers for practice

Please make sure your child takes care of the books and the binder!

Reading anything in the book binder counts towards 30 minutes of reading.

Writing Expectations-Writer’s Workshop-compose complete sentences in written texts and use the appropriate end punctuation

-write to record ideas and reflections and to communicate with a variety of audiences in a variety of forms

-Use Writing Process: generate drafts on self-selected topics and revise and edit own stories

-increase control of penmanship: improve handwriting

-use resources to find correct spelling for writing in final drafts

Social Studies•Authority figures and their roles in the home, school, community, state, and nation.

•Rules and laws, authority figures

•Texas and US Symbols

•Goods and services

•Requirements of jobs

•Past, present, and future

•Contributions of historic figures

•Use maps to locate places

•How technology has affected daily life, past and present

Science Expectations•Follow safety procedures

•Understand and explain life cycles of chicks, pumpkins, and other living things.

•Use appropriate tools to collect information

•Sort objects based on properties and patterns

•Observe and record changes in weather from day to day and over seasons

•Group and compare living organisms and nonliving objects

•Identify rocks, soil, and water and how they are used and how they can be recycled

What is it? It is a folder, put together by the teacher, that houses EVERYTHING the students and parents need to keep up with what is going on at school. You will find notes from the teacher, newsletters, homework, and calendars. Everything is in this one notebook!Why is it important to have? This folder helps students to establish good organizational skills early in their school career – skills that will carry on throughout their time in school. It also provides a tool for communication between school and home.

Newsletter Newsletter

•goes home each Monday

•brief outline of what will be covered in class

•important dates and announcements

•Last week’s alpha wolf

HomeworkHomework

•Printed on the back of the newsletter

•Reading Log – please initial daily

•Return on Friday – student responsibility!

•Additional sheets will be sent home in the folder

• Reporting student performance on specific objectives (Texas Education Knowledge & Skills aka TEKS)

• Nine week reporting period• Unique card for every grade level based on that grade’s

curriculum• Grades are given based on a rubric with numbers 1-4.• First report card will be distributed in a parent-teacher

conference – look for sign-up sheet.• Report Cards will be filled out electronically

and a copy will be sent home for you to keep

each 9 weeks. Please return the signature card.

Report Cards

All teachers have district initiated websites. To find the website, start at the MISD homepage. Click on

Parents. Click on Teacher Websites. Choose Slaughter and then your child’s teacher’s name.

Please email your child’s teacher

with any questions.

Questions?