Welcome Back!!!!

Miss Kristal's

1^st Grade class

2009-2010

Hello! I am so thrilled to be teaching your child this year! There are many fun things planned for this year. The focus will mainly be on math and reading, but there will be lots of science and social studies as well. At Open House I will go into more explanation about what we do during the school year.

The first weeks of school we have to go over a lot of routines and procedures. This week the class will start every morning with some morning work to establish the morning routine of putting away backpacks, lunches, folders, information sheets, etc. and then going to their seats to start their morning work. Starting next week the kids will be writing in their journals every morning until 8:30. If you would like to volunteer to help with journal just let me know. Kids love to have their parents AND grandparents help out in the classroom!

Next week we will start spelling. Every Monday the kids will be given a list of 10 spellings words. 4 of those words will be sight words. I will give a spelling test every Friday. I will include more challenging bonus words from the social studies/science/PYP planners that we are studying. We will work on daily lessons with these words and I will be assigning daily spelling homework.

As a school, Mark Twain uses Chicago Everyday Math for its math curriculum. This is a great program that I really enjoy teaching and I know it will get the kids ready for next year in 2^nd grade. Incorporated into this curriculum is homework called "Home Links". Home Links go right along with what we are learning in class and they also include weekly letters to the parents and answers for the homework for the following week. I encourage you to keep these as a reference tool to help when you are working with your child at home.

 

A homework packet will be sent home in a yellow folder every Monday and is due on Friday. These are checked for completion. These packets will consist of the Home Links from Everyday Math, spelling homework and a reading log. I am asking that your child commit to reading at least 15 minutes every night (Monday-Thursday). The reading log will have spots for listing book titles and also a spot for a parent signature.

 

On Tuesdays brown folders are sent home. These folders will have notes from the office about what is happening at school, important dates/information, and work done in class the previous week. You can opt out of the brown folders and choose to do a "green" folder instead. This would mean that you would get everything electronically on your email. We have decided to do this as a school to cut back on the paper that we have been using in years past.

The bell rings at 7:50 and class begins right away. Every child should be on time. If you find that you are running late a tardy slip from the office is needed for your child to enter class. If your child is sick or misses school, a note needs to be brought to me within 3 days of them returning to class.

 

Please, please, please fill out ALL paperwork in the big manila envelope ASAP. The office needs this information quickly. They will hound me daily for it.

I have a classroom blog www.misskristalsclass.blogspot.com and it is updated frequently. Be sure to sign the media release enclosed in the manila envelope so pictures your child, your child's work and their actual work can be included. Most of what you will see is what has been done in class that day, quotes from children, upcoming event information, etc. If you need a better idea of what I am talking about please feel free to visit and see what was going on last year.

I am so excited to get to know your children! I know we will have a very successful year. Please plan to attend Open House so I can further explain what happens in my classroom. This is also a great time to ask questions and meet the other parents. Please know that I am very open to answering all your questions and hearing your comments and concerns. I have time during my planning period from 10:10-10:50 every day (except Thursdays), before school at 7:30 and after school at 3:15 for parent conferences. I am ALWAYS available through email. My email address at school is kdick@houstonisd.org. Please do not hesitate to contact me.

Whew! I know that was a lot of information! I look forward to working with you and your child this year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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