Dear Families,
Welcome to first grade at Cedar Grove Elementary School! My name is Mrs. Speth-Martinez. This is my twenty-first year of teaching, and I have three children of my own. I am very pleased to be your child's teacher this year, and look forward to working with both you and your student!
You and I need to stay in regular communication to help your child. We mainly use the free classdojo app to stay in communication. Please set up your free account as soon as possible, using the log-in information on the classdojo letter included in this bag. I have posted a few items for you.
Starting the Day
The following general information will help to get our days off to a great start!
1. Please encourage your student to eat a healthy meal before class. Do not eat during class. It is difficult to concentrate on two things at once and you do not want to get food or drinks on the computers or devices.
2. Children are most successful when they are well-rested. Please help your student get enough rest each night. 9-10 hours a night is generally recommended at this age by pediatricians. This puts bedtime at about 8:30 p.m. on a regular basis, if possible. ?
3. For the future, please send your student to school in comfortable clothing and athletic-type shoes (no sandals).
4. It is very important to help your student arrive at school on time.
Classroom Expectations
At Cedar Grove, we look forward to providing a safe and productive learning environment for your student. In order to help each student become responsible for his/her own behavior, we have set the following rules:
•Listen when someone is talking in class.
•Do your best at all times.
•Be kind to others.
•Follow directions.
•Be on time.
•Finish your work in a timely manner.
•Keep hands, feet, and objects to yourself.
Ticket Jar
To ensure the best possible learning environment for every child, each student will be expected to follow the rules above. The children will be recognized for appropriate behavior with verbal praise and special privileges and activities. When a student is “caught” doing an exceptionally good job of following the rules, he/she will put a ticket in our jar. At the end of the week, five random people from the jar will get to pick out a prize from our treasure chest!
As a class, we will read books regarding how to deal with conflicts that occasionally may arise between students, and we will discuss problem-solving strategies as a class.
I believe in a positive approach to discipline. If a student is not following our directions, I will privately ask the student to review the rule(s) with me and I will give the student a warning. We will talk about better ways to handle the situation. If the child continues to disrupt the other students, I will give the student "thinking time” and he/she will write a reflection/apology letter, which you will need to sign and return to me. If the warning, thinking time, and reflection do not help, a referral to the principal may be in order. If the child hits, kicks or otherwise hurts another student, he/she will go straight to the principal and may also receive a citation for you to sign and return.
We like to focus on giving accolades for good behavior! The school staff members are also charged with giving citations during yard duty times to students who are not following the rules and have not listened to a warning. So, we need to give out citations at times. The rules are meant to keep all of the students safe. A copy of the citation is NOT kept in your child’s cumulative folder in the office. It allows us to let you know what has occurred.
If a student is working on a specific behavioral challenge that requires more attention, I will likely use a daily behavior report. The student and I will quietly discuss whether the child is meeting behavioral goals at the end of each school day, and the parents will be required to go over the report each night with their child. Behavioral reports are usually short-term because I will no longer use them with a child when they have mastered the behavioral skill. We will be able to celebrate success!
Important Notes
Absences: If your student is absent for any reason, please call the office: (408) 270 - 4958. Please try to miss as little school as possible! Missing school because of vacation is not recommended. Leaving school early on some days is also going to create difficulty in making up presentations, classwork, and taking notes. It is also disruptive to the class.
Student of the Week: Each week, a student is selected to be “in the spotlight” as Student of the Week. I pick the Student of the Week based on who is trying their best and behaving well in the classroom. You will receive directions for getting supplies together. We look forward to learning more about each other!
Homework: A daily homework assignment will typically be sent home on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, and will be due to the teacher the next day. Students may also need to practice vocabulary words as a part of the homework. During the regular school year, students will receive a homework folder, which needs to come to school every day, even if it does not contain any homework or correspondence. Homework assignments will commence most likely in the second week of school.
In addition to the homework assignments, students are required to read to you or read independently four or more nights per week. We can discuss this if we are able to hold a virtual Back to School Night.
If we are able to return to the school building, I will send home “Friday Folders” every Friday with a collection of your child’s work from the week, as well as flyers and permission slips. Every Monday, please review the projects and paperwork, keep those at home, and sign the Monday Folder cover, indicating that you received it. Send it back to school with your child.
Also, possibly for later this school year: Volunteering? Picking up your student? Chaperoning a field trip? Visitors to campus must check in at the office. There is a sign-in log to be completed at the main office counter.
Birthdays: Birthdays are important to our second graders. We will be sure to honor your student’s birthday, whether we are learning online or in the classroom! For later in the year, individual goody bags (with little toys and pencils, etc.) are welcome, if you would like to bring them in. We are no longer allowed to serve food or candy for birthdays, as a school policy.
Scholastic Book Orders: If possible, book orders will be included regularly on your child’s Google Classroom or in his or her folder. When you order, our class earns “bonus points” which we use to order excellent free books for our classroom! Please order the books by the due date and order them online.
If and when we return to the school building, your child can bring a water bottle to school daily to stay hydrated.
Ways To Help Your Child
1. Helping at home - Working with your child at home is an invaluable way to help! It lets your child know that school is important. The list of ideas is endless, but here are some suggestions:
READ! Reading with your student, modeling reading skills, and encouraging your student's love of reading will benefit him/her for a lifetime.
Reinforce concepts highlighted in our “classdojo news” in fun, meaningful ways.
Practice the first 100 "sight words" of the English language (those words that occur frequently in reading and writing, and cannot be sounded out).
2. Helping in the classroom:
Weekly or monthly volunteering - If you are available for a period of time one day each week to volunteer in the classroom, please let me know!
Making a large number of copies or prepping class projects
Volunteering to chaperone during field trips or helping with school fundraising projects
School-Home Connections
Our First Grade program would not be complete without you, our parents! You are a very important part of our lives in room 6. Teaching your child is a team effort. Should you have any questions or concerns, please contact me by classdojo or e-mail before or after class. 😊 If a call is required, let me know and I can make an appointment in order to give you adequate time.) During the regular school year at the school building, you can call me before or after school, so as not to interrupt the lessons.
I am looking forward to an exciting and productive year with you and your second grader. Thank you!
Warm regards,
Mrs. Speth-Martinez ☺
First Grade Teacher
Cedar Grove Elementary School
rspethmartinez@eesd.org