Ms. Wardell's Classroom

Welcome to First Grade Letter:

Ms. Emily Wardell

Room 104

Email: ewardell@stbarnabasparish.org

Welcome to First Grade! Our school theme this 2019-2020 year is to see God in everyone. As first graders, we will try our best, be honest, treat everyone with kindness, and see each person as a child of God.

We begin each day at 7:55. Children are encouraged to arrive 7:45-7:50 to have time to put away their belongings before the start of the day. Each day your child will need a nutritious snack. We will eat the snack during move three. Students will also need to bring a lunch. Hot lunch is available starting September 3rd. You may purchase these lunches online each month.

Please remember to label all belongings, especially sweaters and sweatshirts with your child’s name. Uniform sweaters and sweatshirts look alike, and we want to make sure your child returns with his/her own belongings.

Mrs. Michele Mariotti will be our full-time teacher aide. She is a certified elementary school teacher. This is her seventh year at St. Barnabas School. She will be a constant support to myself and your children.

The first three weeks we will be administering assessments in Math and Reading. We want to ensure your child is challenged and supported daily. You will be notified of your child’s reading teacher after these assessments. We will have math in our homeroom classes. This year we will have the support of Mrs. Aleman. She will take a small reading group and come to our classroom during Math.

Homework

Students will be receiving homework every Monday through Thursday, starting September 3rd. Homework consists of studying math facts for five minutes, studying spelling words, practicing the high-frequency word list, completing a reading assignment, completing a math worksheet, and studying for Religion tests. Periodically, students will be expected to memorize prayers. Occasionally, students may have a project assigned; at least one week will be given to complete the project. Students should complete all written homework and projects with guidance from their parents, but it is expected to be the student’s work. You can view the homework on my school website: https://sites.google.com/stbarnabasparish.org/wardell104/home.

Communication

We, as a school, believe that it is vital that teachers and parents communicate collectively to enhance their child’s learning and school experience. Thus, I can be reached by email at ewardell@stbarnabasparish.org. Email is the best way to contact me. I check my email when I arrive at school by 7:30 and check it before I leave at 3:30. If you need to contact me after 3:30, I will respond back to your email by 7:30 the next day. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me with any questions at any time.

Class Dojo

This year, we will be using an instructional application called Class Dojo. I used this application last year in my class as a way to post weekly reminders on what is happening our class and pictures from lessons, field trips, or other classroom events. I believe that Class Dojo is a great app in order to post reminders and photos to allow parents to see what fun things are occurring in Room 104. I will have three different class pages. I will have on class page for our First Grade Homeroom where I will post weekly reminders and photos based on the events, projects, and lesson plans that are occurring in our homeroom. The other two class pages will be for Ms. Wardell’s First Grade Reading Class and Ms. Wardell’s First Grade Math Class. These two pages will feature reminders regarding homework, quizzes, and tests. These pages will also feature pictures from the Math and Reading Classes.

On Information Sunday, I will have a sheet created for parents to fill out listing their preferred email addresses. I will use these email addresses to start the Homeroom Class Dojo. The same email addresses will be included in the First Grade Math Class Dojo as well. Later in the year, once we start switching for Reading, the email addresses for Ms. Wardell’s First Grade Reading Class will be included as well.

If there are any questions or concerns with Class Dojo throughout the year, please feel free to email Ms. Wardell at ewardell@stbarnabasparish.org.

Folders

Students are expected to bring home their Take Home Folder, and return it to school on the next school day.

The Take Home Folder is labeled with the words Leave at Home and Return to School. This should help students stay organized. Parents/guardians please help your child pack this folder correctly at home.

Students are expected to bring their Friday/Weekly Work Folder home on the last day of the week and to return it to school on the next school day.

The Friday/Weekly Work Folder will contain corrected papers from the week. Students will be told not to open this folder at school. Their corrected work is private and should only be opened with a parent. This folder should be returned on the next school day.

Positive Behavior Recognition

Starting September 3rd, we will have positive behavior clip charts. Students will be moved up for positive behavior, and moved down when exhibiting a negative behavior. All students start on green each day. The explanation of levels will come with the behavior folder. Behavior folders will come home daily starting September 3rd. Please initial this folder daily.

Grading

Students are expected to complete their assignments to the best of their ability.

First grade students will be receiving grades in Reading/Language Arts, and Math using the following grading scale:

100-99 = A+ 84-83 = C+

98-95 = A 82-79 = C

94-93 = A- 78-77 = C-

92-91 = B+ 76-75 = D+

90-87 = B 74-71 = D

86-85 = B- 70-69 = D-

68- below = F

Assignments will be graded in the following categories using the following point breakdown.

Categories and Point breakdowns

Tests/Exams 50-100 Points each

Quizzes 10-25 Points each

Projects/Papers 25-100 Points each

Classwork 1-15 Points each

Homework 1-10 Points each

Reading and Math assignments will be weighted using the following:

Test/Quizzes - 60%

Classwork/Projects - 30%

Homework - 10 %

First grade students will be receiving grades in Penmanship, Science, Social Studies, Religion, Conduct, and Specials using the grading scale:

S = Satisfactory N = Needs Improvement U = Unsatisfactory

Birthdays

On the day of a student’s birthday they will receive a small gift from me. The class will sing “Happy Birthday”. NO EDIBLE treats may be passed out. Please feel free to have your child bring a special “gift” for the classroom. Some examples are a storybook or a new game. If a student’s birthday falls on a weekend, we will celebrate their birthday on the Friday before or the Monday after their birthday. August birthdays will be celebrated in September. June and July birthdays will be celebrated in May.

Please note, birthday party invitations my not be passed out at school unless all of the students are invited, or all of the girls, or all of the boys. We have 21 students, 12 boys and 9 girls. Please follow this guideline as we do not want to hurt anyone’s feelings. If your child is to have an exclusive birthday party, please advise them not to discuss it at school.

Star Student

Each week, a randomly selected student will be our Star Student of the Week. The student will bring home a form to complete and return on the first day of the specified week. Please help your child complete this form. Your child may also bring a few (3-5) photos to be displayed in the classroom. During the week, a guest reader may be invited to read a favorite storybook to the class. The suggested reading time will be from 8:00- 8:15 a.m., Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, or Friday. If that time does not fit into the schedule of the guest reader, another time can be arranged. Students will also be allowed to bring in one item for show and tell during that week.

Water Bottles

Water bottles may be brought daily, and must contain only water. Please make sure your child’s water bottle stands up, and is not frozen. Your child needs to be able to drink directly from the water bottle. Pouring water into a cup causes many spills. I encourage water bottles to be brought to snack and lunch.

Saint Barnabas News

Please read the Saint Barnabas Thursday Newsletter each week for updated events, news, and happenings at Saint Barnabas. This newsletter can be found on the Saint Barnabas website, https://www.stbarnabasparish.school/.

Absences

Please notify the office if your child will miss school. You may email Kduffy@stbarnabasparish.org, or call the school office; 773-445-7711. You may also email me, ewardell@stbarnabasparish.org.

Going Home

Please email me or write a note if your child will be going home with someone other than a parent, or regular sitter. I will check my email daily at 2:50 to see if anyone has a change in plans.

Getting to know Ms. Wardell

I am a 2018 graduate of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. I currently live in the Chicagoland area. I graduated with a degree in Elementary Education and a minor in Spanish. I attended Marist High School. Last year, I taught Second Grade at St. Barnabas. I loved the experience of teaching at St. Barnabas due to the amazing teachers that I have the ability to collaborate with, supportive families, and eager and excited students that I get to teach every day. I am looking forward to a great year. Please let me know if there is anything that I can do to help your child have the best year in First Grade!

Sincerely,

Ms. Wardell