I am very pleased to be your child’s
teacher! This is my 19th year at Fruitville
and I love the families and students of this
local treasure!
We will be actively learning
through Florida Core
Standards and differentiated
instruction geared toward
your child’s advanced level.
Students will be discovering
and growing as they create projects, work in
cooperative groups, explore thematic units,
perform science experiments, go on field
trips, study their personalized spelling list,
make great friends and more. These bright
students will be learning chess, Spanish,
creative dramatics, exploring multiplication,
division and more.
My Website:
You can stay informed about our class
events, watch slideshows, and view a copy
of my weekly newsletters by visiting my
website. Here’s the link:
http://teachersites.schoolworld.com/webpa
ges/KCunningham/index.cfm
Behavior Expectations:
One of my goals is to provide a welcoming and
loving atmosphere for your child every day at
school. We have three basic rules: Be honest,
Follow directions, and Be respectful to
people and property. We reward ourselves for
being good citizens by using the Thank You Box,
our Treasure Box and earning marbles so that we
enjoy class parties for our outstanding behavior.
Each student has a little magnetized bear on the
cabinet with their name on it. The bears can
move down to yellow (warning), orange, or red if
rules are broken. This “bear” system helps
students stay on task and practice good
citizenship.
.
Calling All Mystery Readers
I would like to invite any parent, grandparent, or
family member to surprise your child by being a
“Mystery Reader” in our classroom. Students
love having their family visit the classroom to
share in our learning experiences by reading a
favorite story aloud to the class.
Mystery Readers visit the classroom immediately
after lunch on Friday of each week at 1:15 pm.
Readers are asked to bring their own storybook or
read a teacher chosen book from our class library.
To find a date that works best for you, please sign
up to be a Mystery Reader in our room. Ask to
see the Mystery Reader Calendar Clipboard.
If you cannot make it into our classroom to sign
up, please select 2 or3 Friday dates that will work
with your schedule and email me your choices.
Remember: You are a mystery reader, so please
keep the date of your sharing a secret (even to
your own child)! We’re looking forward to
having many Mystery Readers during the
school year!
A Parent’s Guide to
Mrs. Cunningham’s Class
Fruitville Elementary
2015-2016
Student Numbers
Every Fruitville Student is assigned a PIN
number. Please help your child memorize their
pin number. The pin number is used for the
library, lunch accounts and as a password.
Your child’s Pin number is _________.
Your student will be also using a county
designated “N” number. They will need to
memorize this number to log on to any school
computer and you will also use this number to
access their grades online.
Your child’s “N” number is __________.
Contact me at
karen.cunningham@sarasotacountyschools.net
(941) 361-6200
Grading Policy
Each Friday I will send home the tests, class
work and quizzes that have been graded. This
work will be stapled to the weekly progress
report. If you see a percentage grade (i.e.
100%, 80%) on a paper, that grade went into my
grade book. If your child wants to improve
his/her grade, s/he can correct the entire paper
and return it for an improvement of 5 percentage
points. Also, the first grade report card will
include performance standards rubric to show
student growth toward mastering the Florida
Common Core Standards. Letter grades will be
given in math, language arts, science and social
studies at the end of each semester. The grades
will be determined based on the following:
A
B
C
D
F
90-100%
80-89
70-79
60-69
59%
Your child’s grades can be viewed online at any
time for your convenience. You will need to know
your child’s N number. Direction about accessing
grades on the Sarasota County School Board
Parent Portal will be sent home soon.
Snack
I am requesting that your child daily bring his/her
own healthy snack. We usually eat snack around
10:00 am.
Thank you!
Projects and Drama
Your child can look forward to lots of studentchoice projects and being part of creative
dramatics. We work closely with Mrs. Johnson’s
Gifted 2nd grade for plays and projects!
Homework
The purpose of homework is to practice or
enhance learning. It also teaches responsible
work habits. Homework in first grade will not
exceed 30 min. daily and will be given primarily in
the Language Arts area or Math. Homework for
the whole week is sent home Monday and is due
on Friday. This procedure is designed to allow
you to work on it as your schedule allows.
READING: Your child’s core homework
expectation includes reading for at least 10 min.
Monday-Friday. In order to receive credit for this
assignment, please log your reading time in the
My Reading Log located in your child’s
Communication Binder. Thank YOU! I have a
large assortment of Accelerated Reader books in
my room ranging from 2nd grade through 5th
grade levels for student use.
SPELLING/VOCABULARY: A spelling pretest
will be given on Mondays and an individualized
spelling list will be created for your child. A list of
spelling activities will be found in your child’s
binder. Your child will make personal choices on
how to best learn his/her spelling words through
these activities. Your child will have the entire
week to complete the chosen activities. This
spelling homework must be returned to school on
Friday with your child’s other homework. AND
please return the original spelling list of words.
An individual Spelling test will be given to your
child on Friday.
International (www.heifer.org). Last year, my students
unselfishly gave $190 to help this organization.
Volunteers
Volunteers are always welcomed and needed in
my classroom. You can help students in our
room on a one-to-one basis in many ways.
Please complete the PALS volunteer
requirements on our office computer so you can
be helping in my room ASAP! I will need lots of
help grading individual spelling pre-tests on
Mondays and giving individual spelling tests on
Fridays, plus tutoring students in targeted
strength areas. It’s helpful and fun.
Field Trips
We plan to go on many field trips this year. Last
year we enjoyed 8 field trips! Look for detailed
information to come home in student binders
about our class’s scheduled trips.
About Me
I’m a native Floridian and I grew up in Sarasota
County attending Gocio Elementary, Pine View
and Sarasota High School. Both of my parents,
Bill and Susan Crowley, were Sarasota County
teachers. My husband and I have raised 5
children and we are now enjoying two
grandchildren! I love teaching first graders. I
know I’ll love yours.
MATH: There will be a weekly 2nd grade math
assignment. This math homework should also be
returned on Friday. The homework is all stapled
together with the weekly newsletter so it’s easy to
manage.
Our Team Philanthropic Effort:
Teaching students to have empathy for others who are
in need is an important focus in my classroom.
Children will learn about needy families abroad that are
helped by the outstanding organization Heifer
This is going to be an
OUTSTANDING and EXCITING
year!