WELCOME to FIRST GRADE
It is important that we work as a team to provide the best possible education for your child. Communication between parents and teachers is extremely important. Please feel free to contact us at school regarding any questions or concerns that you may have. We are looking forward to a wonderful year with you and your child! Together we can make your child’s school experience a happy and rewarding one!
Classroom Environment
The first grade classrooms at Mercury Mine follow a traditional, structured and integrated curriculum plan. We also adhere to the Paradise Valley School District Scope and Sequence and the Arizona State Standards for first grade. Our classroom environment reflects real, relevant teaching and learning. The language processes of listening, speaking, reading, and writing are incorporated in meaningful context using a Balanced Literacy approach that values purposeful reading and writing. Our classrooms encourages children to see themselves as readers, writers, and problem solvers. We value the process as well as the product, and understand that all children are unique individuals. The teaching process is based on what we know about how children learn.
Daily assignments, tests, observations, and performance on special projects will be used in evaluating your child’s growth. Report cards are distributed four times a year and give information about effort, behavior, and academic performance based on the Arizona State Standards.
Our classrooms strive to:
- Immerse the students in oral and written language, offering ample opportunities for experience and practice.
- Create a cooperative classroom where children are encouraged to interact in a positive way.
- Create a print-rich environment.
- Give children center time during the day, where they have opportunities to be responsible for their own learning.
- Provide multiple opportunities for children to work.
- Allow opportunities for the teacher to observe and record children and their learning.
- Give children experience with real mathematical and scientific processes.
Families Can Help at Home by:
Reading to and with your child daily.
Encouraging your child to practice their spelling and sight words.
Encouraging your child to write and draw.
Review work that your child brings home.
Help establish a homework routine.
Encourage responsibility and independence at home.
Promote listening skills. Encourage eye contact when talking and listening.
