First Grade Information
Here is some information for you about our first grade classroom. This was sent home the first week of school but I wanted to make sure you had another place to reference it too.
Attendance:
A successful school experience is the responsibility of the child, the parent and the school. Your child’s progress, both academically and socially, is influenced to a great extent by daily participation. Regular attendance without tardiness is a key.
Arrival and Dismissal:
Pupils should arrive between 8:00 and 8:25am. If the pupil arrives after 8:30 he/she must report to the office first, and will be marked late. We will begin dismissal at 3:15 from the front entrance to the school. Please pick up your child promptly. If you are late, look for your child in the office.
Backpacks:
To help you child carry messages and information to and from school, you are asked to provide a backpack for him or her. Please make sure the backpack is large enough to fit the folders/notebooks that will be transported each day.
Behavior:
I use a reward system for behavior where students can earn points through. At the end of two weeks students can use their points to buy things in our school store. We will be tracking these points through Live School. We use the School’s Expectations as our guiding force for the points.
Birthdays:
Birthdays are special occasions for young children. If your child wishes, he/she may bring a treat for the class. We will not be passing any goodies to other classrooms this year. In past years students were able to pass out their treat to other teachers. This year the treat will be shared within the classroom only to enhance and extend learning time throughout the day. I do prefer that the birthday snack is something bought not made for allergy reasons.
Book Club:
Every month I will send home book order forms for you and your child to look over. These clubs offer wonderful books at reduced prices --- what a great way to build your home library! If you choose to order, Please make the checks payable to Scholastic Book Club. I do the ordering over the internet to ensure faster delivery.
Clearances:
Keep in mind, in order to volunteer in our school, you must have your state and criminal clearances on file in the office. If you do not have them, you will not be able to volunteer for school events. They usually take some time to get processed. I suggest getting them some time over the summer so you have them for the beginning of the school year.
Conferences:
Parent/teacher conferences will be held during the school year. You will also receive your child’s report card at the end of each grading period.
Emergency Closings:
If schools are closed for a snow day or any emergency, local radio stations or local TV stations will make an announcement, generally by 7:45am. Look for “Bear Creek School” on the T.v. You can also sign up to get a text message to your phone.
Field Trips:
We will have one field trip that is both fun and educational for the children. Parent drivers are not permitted, so buses will have to be used for transportation. We often need parent volunteers on the trips, and chaperones will be chosen on if volunteer time has been completed. Please return permission slips as soon as possible after they are sent home.
Folders:
Every student will need to get 2 pocket folders. One will be labeled “Home” and the other “school”. The home folder will have the students work for the day. The school folder will always stays in school. Take notice to the home folder, if it starts to fall apart, replace it with a new one promptly.
Grading:
Students in Kindergarten through Eighth Grades will receive numerical grades on their report cards, along with appropriate teacher comments.
A+
100 - 97
A
96 - 93
A-
92 - 90
B+
89 – 87
B
86 – 83
B-
82 - 80
C+
79 – 77
C
76 – 73
C-
72 - 70
D
69 – 65
F
64 - 0
Gym:
Our class will have gym class on Fridays. The children are asked to wear sneakers on gym day and girls might consider wearing pants or shorts (do not wear dresses or skirts please).
Hands-on Learning:
I feel the best way to help children learn is to make learning fun. Important concepts can be learned by doing meaningful hands-on activities. There are times when seatwork is required and necessary, but for the most part, our classroom will be an active learning environment. This is another reason why it is very important that your child attends school and isn’t tardy.
Health:
Please let me know of special circumstances which may affect your child. These could include medication that may make him/her sleepy, a death in the family, etc. Also, please let me know of any allergies your child may have. We sometimes cook or do food activities to complement lessons in first grade and it would be helpful to know when I plan our recipes.
Help At Home:
Your child is expected to know these readiness skills:
- Full name - address - telephone number
- Parents’ names - basic colors - counting to 120 -Dolch sight words
-Printing first & last name beginning with a capital letter and the rest in lower case.
***tying shoelaces!*****
Homework:
A homework sheet will be sent home every Monday. On this sheet, it will tell you when the homework is due and any announcements from me. If you misplace your homework sheet, I keep a current sheet on the schools website.
Kindness:
Student 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.
Live School:
This is a program that we will be using to track behaviors and give points to be used in the school store. Parents will have access to this program to see your child’s daily behaviors.
Lunch:
We will eat lunch from 10:50-11:20 each day. Every morning I will take a lunch count to see who is buying a lunch, buying milk, or carried a lunch. Please make sure if you would like your child to purchase a hot lunch or milk, you provide them with money that morning.
Mistakes:
I strive to do the best job I can do everyday! However, a time will come where I will make mistakes and I am apologizing ahead of time for it. I do not hold the students responsible for any homework, test, or classroom assignment that I may have goofed up on. Thank You!
Music:
Our music teacher will be teaching the children the basics of music education and will be sharing many wonderful songs! We are scheduled to have music for either one or two periods per week.
Nurse
We are very fortunate to have such a wonderful nurse at Bear Creek Community Charter School. Mrs. Vojtko 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. Also, a doctor’s note is needed if any medicine needs to be taken.
Olweus- Bullying Prevention Program
We are working on being a bully free school. This is done through the Olewus Bullying Prevention Program. We will have weekly meeting to discuss our anti-bullying rules, current bullying issues, conflict resolution, and many more life building skills needed to be a kind and compassionate person.
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 leas a week ahead of time if I need help. Requests for help will be published on the homework sheet. I hope that you can come and join in the fun! Please remember that all volunteers must provide state clearances.
Questions:
Since some of you are new to our school this year you may still have some unanswered questions. Please feel free to call me at the school 570-820-4070 ex:7103, (between 7:45-8:15 am or 3:30-3:45pm.). Another option is you can email me at [email protected]. I try to check my email twice a day.
Ready Time/IReady:
A computer based program that allows students to work on skills that are their exact level. This program also allows us to use assessments as benchmarks throughout different points in the year.
Recess:
The children will play outdoors for 20 minutes after lunch each day. Keep weather conditions in mind when helping your child to select clothing for the day.
Schedule:
8:00-8:40 = arrival/breakfast/homeroom/bathroom/morning greeting/pledge
8:40-9:30= Whole group ELA (English Language arts)
9:30-10:05= Small group reading/centers
10:05-10:50= Whole group ELA
10:50-11:20= Lunch
11:20-11:40= Recess
11:40-11:55= bathroom
11:55-12:25= Ready time
12:30-1:15= special
1:15-2:20= Math (Go Math- new math program we are implementing this year)
2:20-2:30= Snack and bathroom
2:30-3:00= Science
3:00-3:15= pack up
3:15-3:40= dismissal
Snack:
We will be having a short snack break mid-afternoon everyday (10 min). I ask that you pack a small healthy (no chips or candy, PLEASE) snack for your child.
Specials: 12:30-1:15pm – ( Easy to remember-wear sneaks every Monday and Friday)
Monday- Environmental Education Thursday- Music
Tuesday-Enrichment Friday-Gym
Wednesday-Art
Visitors:
Our school has a policy that ALL GUESTS (including familiar faces) are required to check in at the school office. We welcome and encourage family involvement. It is important to remember that while this may seem inconvenient to frequent visitors, it is the goal and responsibility of the school to create a safe learning environment.
Volunteer hours:
Hours that you help myself or the school can go towards your mandatory volunteer hours, 3 a month. Make sure you get a volunteer slip from the office and fill it out. I will fill in the hours and sign it.
Water Bottles:
We have several water fountains throughout the building. Water is the ONLY beverage I will allow. Students can use them during snack time. If they are thirsty during the day, they can use the fountains.
Website
Up to date information is found on the school’s website. I also have my own website you can find by clicking on the ‘student’ hyperlink, then click on Mrs. Soroka. School information, homework, class news and pictures can be found on my website. (www.larissa.soroka.weebly.com)
Wish List:
Throughout the year we sometimes need supplies above and beyond our classroom materials. These needs will be posted on the homework sheet, outside of the classroom, or on the classroom webpage.
Thanks for all your help and patience! I am excited for the amazing year we will share together!
Mrs. Soroka
First grade classroom teacher
B.C.C.C.S.