Welcome to Mrs. Rane’s First Grade!
Classroom Phone Number: 847-540-2869
Email: sharon.rane@lz95.org
Webpage: http://www.lz95.org/classes/mrsranesfirstgrade_srane/
Dear Parents,
Welcome to first grade! My name is Sharon Rane and I will be your child’s teacher. First grade is
a year with huge growth potential, both academically and socially. Your child will be working on
practicing and improving their reading, math and writing skills. Your child will become more
responsible, will develop skills to help them solve problems with others and will learn to work more
independently on activities. As your child’s teacher, my mission is to inspire a love of school and
promote lifelong learning. I will encourage all my students to reach their potential academically,
socially and emotionally. I will provide an environment that is both fun and safe while promoting
respect, self-control, independence and responsibility. I will instill a love of reading in each child. I
will teach each child as an individual with unique needs. It is important for you to know these things
since parents are the most important influence in a child’s life. You and I will work as a team for
your child this year. Working together, we can make a difference.
The beginning of first grade is typically rough for the students. Your child will probably come home
very tired. Our school day will seem very long to most so please try to make sure your first grader
is getting plenty of sleep and is eating a healthy breakfast. Our school day begins at 8:25 and
ends at 2:50. If your child is not taking a bus home from school or staying for the YMCA
program, please be sure he or she knows where to meet you at the end of day.
Your child will be receiving homework several times a week. They will be responsible for completing
the weekly Words Their Way homework, nightly reading (at least 15 minutes), math game
homework, as well as any other homework assignments. Make sure you have a place in your home
for your child to place school papers. This will show your child that you think school and homework
are important.
Your child will use an O.W.L. folder in first grade. O.W.L. stands for Organized While Learning.
This folder will go home every night and should be returned to school each day. It contains a Daily
School Report, graded work, homework (if applicable), and any notes from school. It is very
important that an adult goes through the O.W.L. folder each night and signs the Daily School
Report. The Daily School Report will keep you informed of homework for that night and your child’s
behavior at school for that day. Please sign the sheet after completing the home reading section
and reviewing the other sections. Your child is responsible for bringing this sheet back and forth to
school each day in his/her O.W.L folder. Each Friday a note will be sent home in this folder letting
you know some of the things we have been doing at school. This note is also posted on my web
page.
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First graders have a “special” each day. Our P.E. days are Monday and Friday so your child will
need to have gym shoes on those days. It’s a good idea to leave an extra pair of gym shoes at
school in your child’s locker. Please remember to send library books back on Thursday. That’s when
our class visits the Library Media Center. Music is on Monday and Wednesday, and we have art
on Tuesday.
On the evening of September 2nd from 6:30-7:30 p.m. you are invited to school for Curriculum
Night to learn more about first grade. There will also be sign-up sheets for parent/teacher
conferences and volunteering. This parent’s only night is my chance to meet all of you and tell you
about the first grade curriculum and my first grade program.
If you ever have any questions please call or email me. I will try to get back to you before I leave
school for the day. Once again, welcome back to school! I’m looking forward to a great year
together!
Sincerely,
Sharon Rane