First Grade Parent Information | |
Belle Terre Elementary School First Grade Mrs. S. DiGuglielmo | |
Welcome to First Grade! This packet will hopefully answer the most common questions you have about first grade. First grade is one of the most important building blocks of your child’s school career. Throughout the school year, your child will grow socially, emotionally and academically – expanding in every area of the curriculum. I hope to make your child’s first grade learning experience a fun and exciting one. I hope to instill a love of learning that will last a life time. We will accomplish this goal with joint cooperation between students, parents, and teachers. Please feel free to contact me anytime if you have any questions or concerns. I can be more successful in meeting the needs of your child when our lines of communication are open. You may call the school (447-1500 ext. 7739) and leave a message or send an e-mail to: diguglielmos@flaglerschools.com and I will gladly contact you as soon as possible. Thanks! Mrs. DiGuglielmo's | |
 | GENERAL CLASS RULES
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| BOBCAT CREED: I am a student who has the right to learn, therefore: I am respectful I am responsible I am safe I am prepared |
 | Class Calendar: Since we will not be having school-purchased planners this year, we will be using a Monthly Calendar (which will be located in your child's orange folder). This monthly calendar will list the weekly spelling lists, as well as your child's behavior for the day. Also, when your child has returned his/her completed weekly homework packet on time, he/she will receive a sticker under the ‘Weekly Homework’ section. Please review and practice the spelling words listed for each week. Spelling words should be practiced nightly in order to prepare your child for the test each Friday. Also, review your child’s behavior face for each day and sign/initial the corresponding calendar date. (If your child received a straight or sad face for the day, please reference the number of the rule broken on our Classroom Rules sectoion). |
| | ARRIVAL:
School hours are from 9:30-3:15. Class begins promptly at 9:40 a.m. You are encouraged to drop your child off at car-riders to minimize the traffic in the hallways and to help your child become more responsible. Since your child is learning their way around our school, it is understandable to walk them to class the first week. If you are arriving after 9:40 a.m. please come through the front office and sign your child in. Thank you for helping us with this matter. Students are tardy at 9:40. We will begin serving breakfast at 9:15. All students will remain on the bus until 9:15. There will not be any supervision of children before 9:15, unless students are signed up for Extended Day. |
| DISMISSAL: Students who walk or are picked up by their parents will be released at 3:15. Car riders will be picked up on the SOUTH side beginning at 3:15. You must have a number assigned to you prior to picking up your children. Please request a number from the front office. If your child will be going home a different way than usual, I must have written permission with parent signature. Bus passes are rarely given, so if you plan on changing the means of your child’s transportation to or from school you need to seek prior approval from Mrs Dupont. | |
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| MONEY MATTERS: It is very important to send all money/checks in a SEALED ENVELOPE. Please indicate on the envelope your child’s name, teacher’s name, and what the money is for. This will ensure that all money is appropriately used. Your child is responsible for keeping up with his/her money. If you wish, you may write me a note to let me know that they brought money with them and what it is for. |
LUNCH TIME: We are scheduled to have lunch from 11:40 to 12:10 pm. If you would like to eat lunch with your child, please sign in at the front office and meet us in the cafeteria at 11:40. If you haven’t gotten your child’s lunch number you will need to do so. You can put money in your child’s account and they can debit daily or you can send money in with your child in a sealed envelope. | |
SNACKS: Since we are fortunate to have a lunch time that is in the middle of the day, we will not need to have a snack time in class. Any snacks that are sent will be added to the child’s lunch for the day. Please note that soda and excess sweets do not allow our brains and body to concentrate on our studies and will not be allowed. Because our brain needs water to operate efficiently, water bottles are permitted. Please no flavored water or juice. It becomes sticky when it is spilled. | |
 | HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! All children are excited about their birthdays. If you wish to bring in a special snack to celebrate your child’s birthday, please be sure it is store bought. We bring these special snacks to the cafeteria with us and enjoy them at lunch time. |
| SPECIAL AREA CLASSES:
Specials will be every day from 1:15-2:00pm. Your child will enjoy things like PE, Music, Art, Math and Science Lab, Computer Lab and more! | |
VOLUNTEERING/FIELD TRIPS: We welcome volunteers in our classroom. In order to volunteer, you must make prior arrangements with the teacher. All guests must sign in at the front desk. Anyone wishing to volunteer or attend field trips must be a cleared volunteer. Applications can be printed, filled out, and returned with your child. You can find an application on the district’s website: www.flaglerschools.com You now must have a volunteer badge with your picture on it. When you come in to volunteer please make sure that you display your badge in a visible area while you are here. | |
 | READING MASTERY: Reading Mastery II contains 160 daily lessons that expand basic reading skills. Children learn strategies for decoding difficult words and for answering interpretive comprehensive questions. They also learn basic reasoning skills, such as making inferences and drawing conclusions. |
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| LANGUAGE ARTS: Our language arts program comes from the Harcourt Story Town series. We will read first grade readers throughout the course of the school year. We will read two stories each week in which we will learn new phonics and comprehension skills and new vocabulary. The following concepts are incorporated into the language arts series:
Shared Reading is an important part of our daily activities. During this time the teacher reads big books and other books related to our theme. Many reading readiness concepts are presented and practiced at this time. For example, title, author, illustrator, dedication page, title page, and reading from left to right are emphasized and stressed as the teacher reads to the students. I hope that through shared reading your child will learn to share my joy and passion for reading books that can take us to unimaginable places! |
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| HOMEWORK: A packet of homework will be sent home every Monday. The work is to be completed at home and returned no later than Friday. Every night your child will also be responsible for reading at home and completing a log. It is important to return the folder, the book(s) and the log paper the following day. Please encourage your child to be responsible for keeping up with the books/homework. Thank you for being supportive of your child and their homework. Homework may consist of:
The homework activities sent home are a reinforcement of the skills we have learned in the classroom. It is essential that your child complete these assigned activities. A record will be kept of the assigned homework. It is imperative that the book, the folder, and the work be returned to school in order for your child to receive credit for the assignment. We use the books each day in the classroom and your child will not be able to complete the day’s lesson successfully if he/she left the books at home. |
GRADING SCALE : A= 90-100 B= 80-89 C= 70-79 D= 60-69 F= 59 and below | |
MORNING MESSAGE: Morning message is an announcement written by the teacher and the students. During this time the teacher models how to take our thoughts and put them into written words. We talk about sentence structure, capitalization, punctuation, and other skills pertaining to writing. This announcement is documented in the student planner and is to be read and signed by the parent every night. Look for very important notes or things to come here! | |
| WRITING JOURNALS:
Each child will have a writing journal. These journals are kept at school. Children draw a picture and write about a particular topic or prompt. A writing rubric is included so that you can see the scale that will be used to grade your child’s writing. As you practice with your child it is important that your child:
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| CALENDAR TIME:
Calendar time is an important part of our math curriculum. Calendar time encompasses many facets of learning. Some of the skills we emphasize each day are: addition, subtraction, counting, recognition of money and its value, odd and even numbers, sequencing, patterning, tallying, graphing, telling time, reading simple sentences, and weather forecasting. | |
| MATH CURRICULUM:
Our Math series is entitled HARCOURT MATH, published by Harcourt Publishing. We will be exploring the following math concepts this year:
Students will learn problem solving strategies and skills, and every lesson includes features that help them apply those skills. Problems in real life contexts make the importance of math clear to every learner. Math is a subject that your student will only master if he or she is given multiple chances to practice the skills that they have been taught. Along with any math assignments that will be sent home, we can not stress enough the importance of additional practice at home. Please encourage your child and help them practice and review math skills at home. | |
| SCIENCE:
Our new Science series is Houghton Mifflin. The following concepts will be explored this year:
For more information or links to the chapters and lessons please visit: http://www.eduplace.com/science/hmsc/1/index.html
We will be doing some simple science experiments during the course of the year. | |
| SOCIAL STUDIES:
Our Social Studies series is Houghton Mifflin. The following are the units of study for first grade:
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