Open House

CLASS LISTS - More Information for the 2006-07year coming soon.

            PTO

    LUNCH TICKETS

    SEPTEMBER

  The first month of school will "appear" easy for most children in content.  The difficult aspects of first grade reflect the adjustments children will be making as they become familiar with classroom procedures, expectations, and a new environment.  FIRST GRADE IS NOT KINDERGARTEN. My classroom is an active learning environment.  Children will be interacting during the day. September will incorporate some review of kindergarten but the curriculum, content and expectations more demanding. Sometimes, first graders come home from school during the first few weeks upset or complaining about school, the work, or the big changes.  THIS IS NORMAL.  Please encourage your child by listening and talking about how life will become easier as they practice and learn new things.  

 After the initial math and literacy assessments, children will be reading in small groups.  We will also have PALS testing in September.  The first few weeks we will be learning classroom and school routines.  Some of our themes for September will include:

   *Developing our community

   *Apples

    *Leaves- seasons

    *Citizenship

    *Safety

  The September newsletters will have a list of curriculum and content for the month.  I will send home a "paper" newsletter as well as post newsletters on this web site.

  Students will have homework 4-days of the week.  I usually do not send homework on the weekends.  Your child will receive a homework calendar EACH MONDAY. This will be in one of the pockets of their homework folders. Please review the assignments and sign your name on the calendar.  Students will turn in the homework calendars and their homework folders EACH Friday.  Homework folders need to come to school EACH day. The homework will follow a pattern each week.  The purpose of homework is practice and the development of responsible study skills.

   One component of the daily homework is your child's reading bag and a reading log.  Please complete the reading log with your observations and comments each day.  I will respond to your notes as I review daily progress in our small reading groups.  The reading logs are also turned in to me on Fridays.

  Our first grade kids will have many exciting learning opportunities this year.  We will explore diverse themes in our curriculum using many resources.  Two resources that we will USE EACH WEEK are "Weekly Reader" and "Spin".  These magazines are for first graders.  The "Weekly Reader" supports our Virginia SOLS in many content areas.  The "Spin" magazine is all about science.  You child will receive each magazine on Fridays each week.  Your child will bring home the magazines and activities to share with you on Fridays.

  It would be appreciated if you would help with the cost of purchasing these magazines.  The price for the ENTIRE YEAR is $4.54.  Please send a check payable to the Weekly Reader Magazine or cash with your child to school.  I will send home a note about this during the first week of school. If the payment will create a hardship for your family, please contact me.

 Our District adopted a new math curriculum that will be implemented this year.  I will frequently send home information about the math program with your child in the "parent pocket" of their homework folder.  The activities are a bit different from the more traditional worksheet addition and subtraction pages that you may have seen in the past.  However, the children will enjoy the active learning experiences as they develop important mathematical concepts and thinking processes.

 Classroom jobs are important concepts in the development of self-esteem, responsibility, and a sense of community.  Each week, students will be assigned a job from our Pug Paw chart.  They will have this job for the entire week. At the beginning of the year, students will be learning, practicing and reviewing the responsibilities for each job.  Consequently, not all students will have a job in September.  As we learn each job task, more positions will be available. Our Pug Paws will be posted at our Morning Meeting area.

     MAGGIE, OUR MASCOT 

  This year, students in our classroom will take home Maggie on weekends.  Your child will have Maggie from Friday until Monday.  Please read more about Maggie. Click the mouse on her picture.

  Important September Dates

  APPLES, APPLES, APPLES

  Next week (September 12) we will begin our learning experience about seasons, apple growing, and Johnny Appleseed.  I will be sending a note home requesting apple donations this week.  It would be appreciated if each child would bring 2 Granny Smith apples to school.  We will be learning how to make applesauce next Friday (Sept. 23).  Each child will be tasting the great applesauce that day.