Parent Pages

The ABCs of First Grade

Absences If your child is sick or has an appointment, please call the office.  You can also email me or our secretary and let us know why your child is not in school (we worry!).  In the email, please include child’s first and last name, reason and date of absence.

Birthdays Your child is welcome to bring a treat to share with the class.  Treats should be store bought. Prepackaged treats are easiest. Just let me know ahead of time if you plan to send something in.  Please remember that to avoid hurt feelings, party invitations cannot be passed out at school unless the entire class is invited. Summer birthdays can be celebrated on the “half birthday.” 

Book Orders I send home a Scholastic book order about once each month.  This is a wonderful way to build your child’s home library and help our class at the same time. Books can also be bought as gifts. Just attach a note and we can make alternate arrangements for you to pick the order up. You can also order them online with a credit card and they are shipped right to our classroom. I have a link to Scholastic from our webpage.

Clever First graders are able to get to all websites we use in class through the Clever App. They can sign in with their Google log in information or a QR badge. I will hand these out at Back to School Night. It can be found at 

https://clever.com

Conferences  Conferences are scheduled at the end of the first marking period in December. You may schedule a conference at any time during the school year if you have concerns or questions. We can also hold phone or virtual conferences. I will be sending out a sign up sheet.

Discipline  In our classroom we have a “Good Choices” Chart. The children can “move up” on the chart for making good choices. If they make it to Outstanding, they earn a little certificate. Ask your child daily how he/she did on the chart. If behavior becomes a problem, we can set up an individual chart in your child’s folder. This will let you know how your child did daily in school.

Emergencies Please make sure that we have all of the correct emergency numbers and information on file for your child.  If you move, change your cell phone or home phone number, please let us know as soon as possible.  The main office and the nurse both keep these numbers handy for emergencies.

Folder Please check and empty your child’s Take Home Folder each night. Any notes for me should be placed in this folder so children know where to find them. Children should have their folder every day.

 Google Classroom Children should know how to log into our Google Classroom from home using their ID and password. They will be the same one they had in kindergarten. Please make sure you are familiar with using it. I also post virtual classrooms here that will have videos, art projects and experiments to try at home. 

Homework A homework sheet will be sent home almost every Monday. This will have all the assignments for the week. Assignments should be handed in the day after they are assigned. Please remind your child to put his/her name on the paper. In general, homework shouldn’t take longer than 15 minutes to complete. Don’t hesitate to contact me if your child is struggling. 

Illness Please keep your child home if he/she is sick.  It is important that we not passing germs around to each other.  Please call or email me and the office with the reason when your child is out.

Journals  Your child will have two journals in school. The first one is a Writing Journal. We will learn a variety of writing styles such as narratives, opinion and informational. This will stay in school all year.  The other journal is a Math Journal. We will do problem solving almost every day. In the beginning of the year, children will draw to show their answers. As the year progresses, children will draw and write number sentences. Look for these journals to come home every couple of weeks.

Kindness Students in our classroom are encouraged and expected to treat all members of our school community with kindness and respect.

Love of Learning This year will be filled with many lessons and activities that will help your child to truly enjoy learning and to carry that love for learning with them as they grow.

Math  First grade will be using the Envision 2.0 program. Along with the program, we will play games to increase fact fluency. Once a week we will have a Sprint in math. Sometimes it will be addition, sometimes subtraction and sometimes mixed. I will let you know what to study on the homework sheet. Children should have their addition and subtraction facts memorized through families of ten by the end of the year. 

Newsletters Our class newsletter will be part of the homework sheet that comes home each Monday. It will let you know what is happening in class along with reminders or upcoming dates. I will also be posting reminders and important dates on Parent Square. 

Organization I hope to teach the children organizational skills this year. Children are expected to check and empty their take-home folder daily. They are expected to keep track of their belongings and put them where they need to be. I also expect the children to keep their spot and work neat and tidy.

P.E Our class has P.E. each Monday (A week), Wednesday and Thursday. Please make sure that your child has socks and sneakers. Children also need sneakers every day for recess.

Questions or concerns? Please feel free to contact me at any time. Please call the office for urgent matters because I often don’t get to the computer until after the children leave.. East Greenbush also uses Parentsquare as the main mode of communication. This is usually the fastest way to get in touch. I will also post pictures of projects and activities we do in the classroom. 

Read Children are expected to read each night. They can do this with an adult or by themselves. Children will have a bookbag that will have a book of their choice and a Teacher Choice book after I get to know them better as readers. We will also have a monthly reading chart. Reading is the most important part of your child’s nightly homework.

Recess All children will receive about 20 minutes of recess per day right after lunch. They will go outside every day weather permitting. Please make sure that children have the appropriate clothing (especially in the winter!) Please label all jackets, boots, snowpants, etc.  Sneakers are also needed daily to play on the playground.

Snack Your child may bring in a healthy snack to eat.  We have a short snack time, so please send something that can be eaten neatly and easily ~ raisins, goldfish, cheese sticks, etc.  Candy will not be permitted. We are always looking for snack donations. (i.e goldfish, pretzels) that I can keep in the class for those children who forget snack one day.  

Tardy Children arriving after 8:55 are marked tardy. Please stop in at the office to sign your child into school if you arrive after then.

Upper and Lowercase letters Children are expected to use correct print formation when writing. Please keep letter formation sheet sent home on Open House in a handy place for reference.

Volunteer There are many ways for you to help out in our classroom. I will let you know on the newsletter when I am looking for specific help.

Water Students are encouraged to bring a water bottle to drink throughout the day.  Water only, please.  We are always looking for donations of small paper cups to keep in the room as well.

I am eXcited to work with you and your child this year!

You are your child’s first teacher and you play an extremely important role in your child’s education. You also know your child best. I hope you will feel comfortable enough to share any important information with me throughout the year so your child can have great success.

Make sure your child gets plenty of zzzzz’s each night as we have exciting days planned for this year.