First+Grade+Handbook

WELCOME TO FIRST GRADE Dear Parents, Welcome back to Lakeview School! I am excited to be looping with your child this year and look forward to an exciting time in First Grade. If your child is new to our classroom, Welcome! We are looking forward to getting to know you.

Ready for School
Here are some things for you to do or know: 10.Watch for a monthly newsletter that will help keep you informed about upcoming events and important dates. 11. The transition from Kindergarten to First Grade can be a challenge. We do not have play time or rest time. We do ensure your child has the opportunity to participate in many developmentally appropriate activities. Please make sure that your child starts going to be earlier at night (8:00 or 8:30) so that s/he gets enough rest to have the energy to complete the work expectations of First Grade. Please feel free to come to me with any questions or concerns you may have. Together, we will make sure your child has a great year. Sincerely, Miss Swick
 * 1)  School begins each day at 8:10. Children should not be on the playground earlier than 8:00a.m.
 * 2)  Parents should say goodbye each morning outside. The children are working on getting ready each day independently. Thank you for your support in this matter.
 * 3)  Your child’s school attendance is important to her/his learning. When your child is not at school, s/he misses many of the hands on learning opportunities that cannot be made up as homework. It is equally important that your child be to school on time.
 * 4)  If your child is ill or if there is a family emergency, please call the school office at 766-5252.
 * 5)  Meet your child each day outside door #11 at 3:05.
 * 6)  If there will be a change in your child’s dismissal routine, please let me know or write a note.
 * 7)  Put your child’s name on all articles of clothing he/she brings to school.
 * 8)  Keep all toys and jewelry at home.

__ Language Arts __
Students will be reading and writing on a variety of topics this year. They are expected to read at home at least Monday through Thursday. A variety of books will be coming home. We have guided reading lessons every day and your child may have a different teacher for these reading groups. Our groups are flexible to meet your child’s reading needs. Additionally, we read poems, big books, fiction and non-fiction stories in class. We use the program //Handwriting Without Tears// to teach penmanship and proper letter formation. A sample of each letter is in this packet. Writing on three lines can be very difficult for young children. This program emphasizes writing on two lines. We will switch to three lines toward the end of the year to prepare the children for second grade. When we do creative writing, students will be encouraged to write down their ideas, use beginning, middle and ending sounds in their words, spell the word-wall-words (Kindergarten & First Grade High Frequency Words) correctly, start each sentence with a capital letter and end every sentence with a punctuation mark. The students will be learning to write personal narratives, instructions, opinion essays and persuasive essays.

Math
Our morning meeting will be our first math lesson everyday. This meeting will include creating a daily schedule, completing yearlong and monthly calendar activities and yearlong and monthly weather graphs. We use a curriculum called //Investigations.// Hands-on materials such as: pattern blocks, unifix cubes, geoblocks, tiles and interlocking cubes help the children develop number sense, work with patterns, 2-D and3-D shapes, measure, analyze data, and add & subtract. //Investigations// promotes problem solving and higher level thinking. = = =Science and Social Studies= We do many hands on experiments in Science. Some of our topics this year are: Trees and Plants, Balls and Ramps, Animals and Weather. We invite guest speakers in throughout the year. Some of our Social Studies topics this year are: Fire Prevention and Safety, Families and Communities and Map Skills/Geography. We subscribe to a classroom magazine which covers current events and other topics! __ Technology Lab __ We go to the technology lab each week for an hour. Your child will continue logging on and off with an individual user name and password. Technology projects will relate to classroom activities.

Recess/Lunch
We will go outside for recess every morning. We eat lunch everyday at 11:30 and go out for a second recess from 11:55 until 12:15. __ Monthly News __ A newsletter for each month will be sent home highlighting activities and skills on which we will be working for that month. It will also contain important dates, reminders and requests. = = =Dress= Send your child in comfortable clothes and shoes! Do not send your child in his/her very best clothes. The children go outside 2 times a day. Please dress your child for the weather. **Lakeview is not air-conditioned**. When you purchase boots, make sure they are easy to get on and off. **Every First Grader must have a pair of __snow pants__ for winter** **weather**. =Special Days to Remember -Physical Education, Library, Art, Guidance and Music=

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Your child needs to return his/her library book on time. Books can be brought back early and placed in the library tub. Children will be unable to take out a new book until the old one has been returned. Mrs. Semrad is our librarian and Mrs. Ahlstrom is our library aide. =====

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Please be sure your child has brought in an old shirt or smock for art class. Mrs. Thatcher is our art teacher. Every spring Lakeview presents an evening art show that displays artwork created by each student. =====

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The guidance counselor addresses special topics once a month in our classroom. Our guidance counselor is Mrs. Duvernell. Our music teacher is Mrs. Tinsen. This year Lakeview will present a Spring Concert. Our gifted and talented coordinator is Mrs. Drummer. She will be available throughout the district as needs arise. ===== __ Breakfast/Snacks __ We have breakfast in the morning and a quick afternoon snack break. School breakfast or milk only can be purchased in the office quarterly. In the afternoon, we have a brief snack break. **Please send a small healthy snack for your child everyday**. A piece of fruit, baggie of crackers, pretzels, or dry cereal are nice ideas. Each family is expected to donate a box of crackers to be shared with the class. =Homework (Students and Parents, too!)= Your child will be coming home with homework! Please help your child by going through the backpack and daily homework folder each night. Toward the end of September, your child will have little books to read, story books, or short assignments as review of class work. Please check your child’s backpack everyday. Return your child’s daily folder each day. If you have a note for me, please put it in the daily folder and I will get it in the morning when the folders are collected. This year Lakeview School will have a weekly red folder coming home one day a week (Tuesday) with important notices from the office as well as from me. Please read all the important notes and return the necessary papers in the red folder the next day! We hope this helps keep paperwork for you at a minimum and you’ll know when to look for really important information.

__ Field Trips __
A letter and permission slip will be sent home prior to each trip. Without the permission slip, your child will not be allowed to attend. **It is important to return the permission slip with the** **money on time.** (You will be notified about walking trips, but since you signed a prior form allowing your child to go on walking trips, we don’t need your signed permission again.) We are limited in the number of chaperones that we can take on each trip. Our goal is to have someone from each child’s family accompany us once during the school year. Unfortunately younger brothers and sisters are not able to come with us on field trips. No smoking is allowed on field trips. We will send a note home asking for chaperones when we send home the permission slips. = = =Birthdays (Optional)= We would like your child’s birthday to be a meaningful one. Sometimes children want to mark this day by doing something special for their classmates (such as bringing in a treat or a new book for the library). Either activity is completely voluntary but always appreciated by the students. __ Book Orders __ Book orders will be sent home at the beginning of each month with the newsletter. There is no obligation to order books. The book orders offer good literature at a good price and provide free books for the classroom based on the order amounts placed. If you choose to order books, PLEASE – no cash, checks or money orders should be made out to the book company **(Scholastic)** not to Lakeview Elementary or the teacher. =Class Website= Please check it regularly. I hope it will be helpful to you. =Expected Classroom Behaviors= We’re here for you and your child, please let us know if we can help in any other way! Happy 2010-2011 school year!
 * 1)  When the teacher is talking, students are listening.
 * 2)  We talk kindly to our friends.
 * 3)  We keep our hands and feet to ourselves.
 * 4)  We raise our hands and wait to be called on so everyone gets a chance to talk.
 * 5)  In general – We Respect Ourselves, Respect Others & Respect Our School!