open house packet - hartington public schools
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A Parent’s
Information
Packet
First Grade – where you’ll watch your child blossom!
Taking Care of “BEES”ness!
Here is some helpful information to ensure a “weed-free” year!
Sincerely, Monica Kathol
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Our First Grade Curriculum
READING
Your child will learn to read this year with TREASURES
by McGraw-Hill. This reading program combines explicit lesson
mapping and instruction in phonemic awareness and phonics with
a sequential, systematic approach (preteaching, reinforcing,
applying, and reviewing through interesting stories and
activities) to build successes. Thus, the key components of our
reading program will be phonological awareness, guided and
shared reading, phonics instruction and practice based on vowel-orientation, integrating the
curriculum and meeting individual needs. We will also learn new vocabulary through word families (see
below).
Our Treasures textbook consists of five first grade books containing four main stories each.
Our goal is to focus on one story and its companions each week. A set of vocabulary words (word
family words and high frequency words) will be introduced prior to each story and practiced
throughout the week. I encourage you to check your child’s recall of the words as he/she brings
them home. Extra practice at home may be necessary. Your child will also bring home his/her
reading book at least twice a week (more if needed) to read the stories we are working on. Skills will
be practiced through worksheets, computer activities, games, and other hands-on activities.
Leveled Readers accompany each story and provide additional reading practice at your child’s
approximate level because they contain the skills and high frequency words your child will be focusing
on with each story. We have only six copies of each level and so the books will have to be shared.
Your child will be bringing home one of the leveled paperback books once or twice each week for
additional reading practice. It is important that they are read (and reread if necessary) and
brought back the very next day so other children may also take home a leveled reader.
Library books and S.S.R. (Sustained Silent Reading) will also provide additional reading
opportunities and practice. We will visit the library once a week to return previous books and pick
out a new book. Most of the time these books may be too hard for your child to read (especially at
the beginning of the year), so your child will enjoy having someone read it to them! Reading stories
to and with your child is just as important as having your child read to you. Please continue to read
to your child even as he/she becomes a reader him/herself!
Spelling / Phonics / Word Families Our phonics program is vowel-oriented and based on the Orton-Gillingham system. Units
include short vowels (closed up vowels), long vowels (open vowels), vowel-consonant-e (V_E), vowel
teams (ai, ay, ee, ea,), and R-controlled vowels (ar, er, ir, . . .). Worksheets
will be brought home upon so you can see what your child is learning and
how he/she is doing.
Word Families are commonly used vowel-consonant patterns such as
__an, __ig, __ed, __ake . . . . Your child will learn one or two word
families a week and bring home a project or activity paper he/she did to
remember that word family. We will begin the year learning _an, _at, _ig,
_ed, . . . and progress throughout the year to such word families as _ing,
_ake, _ain, _eet, . . . These words will also be a part of your child’s weekly
spelling list.
Spelling tests will be given on Friday. On Mondays or Tuesdays your child will bring home
his/her new word family and spelling list to read and to practice spelling for you. The core learning
will take place in school. However, additional review and practice may be needed. There will be some
good websites linked from our homepage to allow your child to practice in a fun, motivating way.
Thank you for taking the time to have your child practice their vocabulary lists and spelling words at
home. Each week a few review words from past learning will be given on the test. And from time to
time a review test will be given. It is important to remember that the greater assessment comes
weeks later and in daily written work. It is often easy to learn the words for the test, but are they
being retained and truly learned?
LANGUAGE / WRITING
Your child will learn to become a good first grade writer this year through
systematic and explicit instruction of key writing foundation skills. We will also
incorporate the Six Trait Writing Model: Ideas & Content, Organization, Voice,
Word Choice, Sentence Fluency, and Conventions (spacing, punctuation, legibility . . .)
Instruction will follow the “Big Idea”: “I do it. We do it. You do it.”
Writing opportunities will include journaling, writing letters to pen pals, and
authoring and illustrating stories. Often times, your child’s writing projects will be displayed and
shared at school for several weeks before being brought home or their work will be filed in their
keepsakes journal/folder and brought home at the end of the year.
MATH Hartington Newcastle Public School is committed to improving students’ math
problem-solving skills and computational skills across the curriculum. We will follow
the Math Expressions Textbook while incorporating Investigations into Numbers,
Data, and Space to guide your child to be a proficient mathematician. Our goal is for
your child to develop flexibility and confidence in approaching problems and to
become fluent in using mathematical skills and tools. Much of our work in math will
involve using manipulative, hands-on materials and activities, playing games and then
communicating (discussing and writing) about their findings, thinking, and
understanding. A Family Letter will be sent home prior to each unit to let you know what your child
will be learning and ideas you can do at home to help reinforce math. Now and then worksheets and
activity papers will be brought home so you can see what your child is learning and how he/she is
doing. Computational fluency of basic number facts will develop through daily math lessons focusing
on in-depth understanding of number relationships. Your child will then practice and gain fluency of
addition and subtraction math facts with 30+ minutes a week on a computer program called Big
Brainz! More information about this program will be sent home soon.
SCIENCE and SOCIAL STUDIES
Science and Social Studies will be interchanged and, at times, tied into our stories and other
subject areas.
We will be using the textbook, Harcourt Science this year as a basis for science instruction.
Harcourt Science was developed to meet the goals of the National Science Education Standards.
Your child will learn standards-based life, earth and physical science content, use tools and processes
of scientific inquiry and hands-on investigations, and become familiar with the history and nature of
science and the work of scientists. Your first graders areas of study will include: plants and animals,
Earth’s land and natural resources, the weather, sky, and seasons, matter and energy, forces,
magnets, health, etc. From time to time will have “THAT’S A WONDER” science time, in which a
“cool” experiment or “trick” will be shown and tried by inquisitive minds! In Social Studies your child will learn about good citizenship, good character, the land around
us, people and cultures, history, changes in time, our town, our country, inventions, holidays, etc.
Technology will be used quite often in our classroom to enhance your child’s learning. Many
lessons will be taught on the Smartboard which allows your child to interact and become
involved in the lesson. The internet provides access to many great interactive websites
which teach, provide practice, and reinforce any concept and skill being learned. Some of our
class books will even be made digitally and put on our website for your reading enjoyment.
Our first grade website (see attachment) will keep you informed of our happenings in first
grade and provide access to practice lessons and sites.
http://hartington.esu1.org/~mkathol/firstgradehome.htm
I invite you to check out and bookmark our first grade homepage on your computer at home. You will be able to access the weekly guide, daily schedule, snack calendars, kids’ educational and fun websites, and much more! Our website will be a wonderful way for your child to practice and review skills at home. There are many great website connections for first graders. I will try my best to keep the weekly guide and practice websites for your child updated on this site. If you do not have access to our website, please let me know and I will be sure to send home a paper copy of our Weekly Guide. (Our class and school websites work best if your screen setting is set to 1028 x 768.)
Character counts will be a priority in our classroom each and every day.
Character is doing the right thing – when nobody is looking! Your
reinforcement and emphasis at home is appreciated.
I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their
character. ~Martin Luther King, Jr.
Character, in the long run, is the decisive factor in the life of an individual and of nations alike.
~Theodore Roosevelt
The final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands. ~Anne Frank
Discipline takes into consideration the personality of each student and provides the
opportunity for each individual to take an active part in his/her learning. We will
focus on Character Counts and use a Love and Logic approach to discipline
(loveandlogic.com)
APL Instructional and Behavioral Strategies are also used to elicit good behavior and
provide an environment conducive to learning. The four basic principles of Love and
Logic include:
1. Helping kids to feel good about themselves.
2. Helping them learn to solve problems and think for themselves.
3. Leaving them with a healthy sense of control.
4. Teaching them to be responsible for the consequences of their actions.
At times we are confronted with situations that require some kind of consequence
that holds a person accountable for his/her inappropriate actions.
REWARDS
1. Happy teacher and happy
classmates.
2. Verbal praise. Positive
feedback.
3. Extra free time and fun
activities.
CONSEQUENCES
1. Verbal Warning
2. Training/Practice Sessions.
3. Loss of recess time or
late dismissal from school.
4. Call or note to parents and principal.
RULES
1. Keep hands, feet, and objects to yourself.
2. Listen and follow directions the first time
given.
3. Be honest and trustworthy.
4. Be fair – share!
5. Treat others with kindness and respect.
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