The
ABC’s of
First Grade
A Handbook for
Mrs. Rollins First Grade Class
Whitehall Elementary
2015-2016
Absences
When your child is absent from school, please write a note to me on the day your
child returns to school. Please include your child’s name, date(s) absent, and the
reason for the absence. If your child will be out for an extended period of time,
please call the school office to leave me a message so you can pick up your
child’s missed school work.
Attendance
A successful school experience is the responsibility of the child, the parent, and
teacher. Regular attendance without tardiness or early dismissal is key. In first
grade, learning activities are often group oriented and involve interaction with
classmates. Please view school as a priority and see to it that your child attends
every day except in cases of illnesses or emergencies.
Arrival & Dismissal
Students should arrive between 7:45 and 8:00 a.m. School begins promptly at
8:00 a.m. and will dismiss at 2:30 p.m. If your child is tardy (after 8:00), he/she must
report to the office accompanied by an adult to get a pass to class. If your child
is a car rider, please pick up your child promptly. If you are late, your child will be
in the office.
Birthdays
We love birthdays, so feel free to celebrate with us on your child’s birthday! We
invite you to join us for lunch! We will have a special day in May for all of the
summer birthdays! If your child wishes, he/she may bring a treat for the class. We
will enjoy these yummy treats during our lunchtime or snack time.
Bag Books
Most nights your child will bring home a “Bag Book” to read. Your child’s “Bag
Book” may be the book he/she read during small group instruction, a book on
his/her reading level, or an easy poem. This book will be picked specifically for
your child’s reading level and your child should be able to read this book with
very little assistance from you. In addition to new books in the bag, there may be
books that your child has had for a while. Use these familiar texts to have your
child practice reading smoothly and fluently! This is your child’s chance to “showoff” their developing reading skills to parents, a relative and friends! Reading this
“Bag Book” is part of your child’s homework assignment every night. A special
bag will be provided to assist your child in getting his/her book back and forth to
school safely. Lost books must be paid for as they are either part of our
classroom, school, or grade-level collection we use to teach reading.
Cafeteria
Most of our students choose to eat lunch from our school cafeteria; however,
some students do bring a lunch to school. Lunches brought to school must be in
a lunchbox or bag. Any drinks brought to school MUST be contained in the
student’s lunchbox. Also, no canned or glass bottled drinks are allowed at
school. Due to a very tight lunch schedule, we are not able to heat children’s
lunches. If your child does bring his/her lunch, please include items that they can
open by themselves. Please practice opening items at home.
Silent Lunch - We have a limited amount of time in the cafeteria to eat.
Students enjoy socializing at lunch and many times they forget to eat.
Consequently, we require that the first ten minutes of lunch be a “silent
lunch” to ensure that students complete their lunch. For safety reasons,
we will monitor the noise level of our students in the cafeteria and may
require students to return to “silent lunch” if the noise level become too
loud.
Communication
An open line of communication is vital to a successful school year. Please feel
free to e-mail me at ashleyrollins@anderson5.net. Returning e-mails is much
easier for me because it can be accomplished during a short break. However,
phone calls will usually be returned within 24 hours depending on when the
message is received. My planning time is 10:00-11:00 each day. Please feel free
to visit anytime to observe or come eat lunch with our class. Our lunch time is
11:36-12:01. For the safety of our children you will need to receive a pass from the
office anytime you are in the building during school hours.
Discipline
Our classroom is a small community where teamwork and good relationships are
expected. We will spend time learning class procedures and practicing them.
Each student is expected to act within our standards of behavior.
To establish good order and help the children learn self-control, they will be
guided to respect themselves and their companions through specific directions,
positive reinforcement, suggested new activities and responsible actions. During
the beginning weeks of school, the students and teachers will work as a team to
establish expectations for behavior and learning. These expectations will be
modified as needed throughout the year.
I will be using this clip system to help reinforce positive behaviors.
-
Pink: Super Student
Purple: Great Job
Blue: Good Choices
Green: Ready to Learn
Yellow: Think About It
Orange: Teacher’s Choice
Red: Parent Contact, possible office referral due to the severity if the
situation (fighting, stealing, blatant disrespect, etc.).
I will also be using Class Dojo to update you and your student on the positive
choices they are making and ways they can improve in their behavior. Class
Dojo is a free resource that allows me to communicate behavior and class
announcements through any device that has internet or can download the free
app.
Rewards:
1. Verbal Praise
2. Hugs
3. Smiles
4. Visits to the treasure box
Consequences:
Throughout the year, your child will learn how to take responsibility for his
or her actions. At times, this will result in consequences. Your child and I
will work together to create a plan to help him or her succeed next time.
Sometimes this might include your child filling out a Choice Contract. He
or she will write what they chose to do that broke the leadership habits
and also what they will do next time. A parent MUST sign the Choice
Contract and return it the next day. You will be notified for any constant
behaviors that hinder learning in our class or any other areas of our school.
Please know that I have the best interest of your child in mind at all times.
Distractions:
Please do not allow your child to bring toys, small plastic toys, etc. or money to
school. Please be aware guns, knives, or anything resembling a weapon should
not be brought to school and doing so may lead to disciplinary action. There will
be times that we ask that your child bring an item from home, and you will be
made aware of in advance. If distraction items are brought from home, your
child will receive one warning to take the item home. If the item returns, it will be
placed in my ‘June Box,’ and the items in the box will not be returned until the
end of the school year.
Dress
First Graders are encouraged to dress comfortably. Your child will move about
the room and outside quite often. The will spend time sitting on the carpet and
in chairs at tables. Please be sure your child wears clothing that they can easily
remove when using the restroom. On the other hand, First Graders need to wear
shoes that stay on and are not easily removed. We strongly discourage flipsflops. Students MUST wear athletic shoes for gym days.
Grading Progress
Daily assessments will be made in the areas of reading, writing, math, science &
social studies. There are also formal assessments of first graders. We will be
testing first graders to determine their academic needs and strengths. A first
grade report card will be completed and sent to you each nine weeks. Report
cards are issued every nine weeks. These reports reflect the progress your child
has made toward various First Grade objectives and uses a grading system that
reflects the developmental nature of First Grade learning.
Gum and Hard Candy
Please do not send gum or hard candy to class for treats or snacks due to
possible choking hazards.
Homework
Homework is a very important part of your child’s education. Your child will bring
home books to read, words to read and practice spelling, math practice and
other “fun stuff” to do. Homework will be a review of work we have done in class.
Your child’s homework will not require a great deal of time each evening but it is
important to reinforce standards learned in class and to help build responsibility.
Your child is expected to do their own work, but there will be times when they
need your guidance. Please be patient with your child and provide help and
encouragement when needed. I will provide homework folders for each child.
Your child will have a homework assignment sheet in the back pocket of their
homework folder. You and your child will refer to the homework sheet for
assignments. In addition to weekly homework assignments, you can make
learning experiences out of everyday activities. Include your child in activities
such as grocery shopping, reading the newspaper, or watching the nightly news
and weather. This will help your child see the relevance of math, money, and the
use of words in everyday life. This is also an excellent opportunity for you to spend
a little extra time with your child.
Illness
The question of when to keep your child home from school is often a difficult
one, especially when decisions must be made first thing in the morning. It is
important, however, to keep your child home if he/she is ill. This helps to make
them more comfortable and prevents others from becoming ill. Children function
more effectively in the classroom when they are healthy.
Journals
One strategy that will be used to help convey the vital concept that “print
conveys meaning” is the frequent use of journal writing. In these journals the First
Graders combine their emerging writing skills with their drawing skills. As the
children are exposed to a variety of phonics and reading experiences, journal
entries will move from drawings and “inventive” spellings towards more
conventional writing. In addition to Writing Journals, students will also keep a
Science Journal, and Math Journal in the classroom.
Kindness
Students in our classroom are encouraged and expected to treat all members of
our class as well as others with kindness and respect. Bothering others, bullying,
and interrupting learning will not be permitted.
Lunch Money
Please send your child’s lunch money in a labeled envelope or plastic bag
(child’s first and last name, teacher name, and grade level) in their homework
folder.
Medication
All medications should be given to the nurse by the parent. Please do not send
any type of medication with your child. Cough drops are considered to be a
medication.
Money
Any type of money that is sent to school should be placed in an envelope or
plastic bag with your child’s name, the amount of money, and the purpose of
the money.
Nurse
We are very fortunate to have such a wonderful nurse at Whitehall. She will tend
to minor scratches and scrapes, as well as sudden illnesses. For more serious
injuries, she will contact you. Please be sure to send in any change of contact
numbers in case she needs to get in touch with you.
Parent Involvement
Your support of school activities makes your child feel important and sends the
message that you value school! We are always happy to have your help for
special activities in the classroom. I will try to let you know at least a week ahead
of time if I need help.
Recess
The children will play outdoors for 20 minutes each day (unless it is raining).
Please keep this in mind when helping your child to select clothing for the day. If
your child is too sick to play outside, he is too sick to come to school. Sneakers
are best for recess, flip flops tend to be problematic.
Responsibility
One of my goals for your first grader is for her/him to become a responsible
student. With you and I working together to help, your child will be able to
accomplish this goal!
Some of your child’s responsibilities this year will be:
\Complete and return homework assignments weekly.
\Come to school prepared (with pencils, crayons, erasers, textbooks, bag
books, notebooks, homework folders).
\Follow the rules of the school and classroom.
Young children sometimes have difficulty understanding that they can be
responsible for themselves in these and other ways. You can help your child learn
to accept responsibility by giving him/her small jobs such as feeding the pet or
making up his/her bed. You will be surprised in the pride your child will take in
his/her accomplishments! As a leadership school, we strive to show the
importance of being a leader inside AND outside of school!
Transportation
On any given day if you know that your child will be going home differently than
his or her usual mode of transportation, a note is required in order to change
your child’s transportation for that day. If you don’t send a note, please call the
school office and they will let me know. You can also email me to let me know of
a change. Be sure the e-mail is sent early enough for me to read it. After 1:00 pm
I don’t always have time to check my e-mail. It is against district policy to allow a
student to change transportation without written or personal contact from the
parent. Please understand the policy has been developed for your child’s safety
and protection. For this reason I will make no exceptions.
Visitors
Whitehall has a policy that ALL GUESTS (including familiar faces) are required to
check in at the office. I welcome and encourage family involvement. Please feel
free to visit with me, and your child at school. I also welcome you to come to
eat lunch with your child. In the cafeteria we have a special place for our
students who have visitors. Your child may also choose a friend to sit with them.
These tables are separate from our class tables. If you are unsure of which
tables, please ask me when you visit.
Website
Our class has a website which can be accessed at www.anderson5.net. On the
Anderson Five website homepage, you will search for Whitehall in the Elementary
School search. Check in regularly to find information about curriculum, special
events and school news.