Nance Elementary

KindergartenCurriculum/Information Night

Specials

12:40—1:35

•Students go to PE everyday

•The rest of the period includes instruction in either Art, or Music.PE Teacher-Mrs. Cobb

Music Teacher-Mrs. Burton

Art Teacher- Mrs. Riggall

Library

• Mrs. Moore

• Classes visits the library once a week.

• Students can check 1 book per week.

• Students must return their book before a new one can be checked out.

Counselor

•Mrs. Garrett

•Counselor visits each classroom once per six weeks.

•Small group and individual sessions will be held based on parent or teacher request.

Character Counts at Nance Elementary DAILY!Nance believes The Character Counts approach to character education doesn’t exclude anyone. We will use the six pillars that are based on ethical values everyone can agree on because they are not political, religious, or culturally biased. A person’s “character” is the make-up of his or her habits, attitudes and attributes. Nance believes GOOD CHARACTER is too important not to teach daily. Everyone can be taught GOOD CHARACTER. We will work diligently to ensure people with good character are T.eR.R.iF.iC.C.! T rustworthinessThink “true blue”R espectThink the Golden RuleR esponsibleThink being responsible for a garden or financesF airnessThink of dividing an orange into equal sections to share with family and friendsC aringThink of a heartC itzenshipThink good people do not use their hands or words to hurt themselves or others These traits will be instilled through daily announcements, class meetings, lessons in class, guidance lessons by Mrs. Garrett, recognition for showing good character, planners (grades 2-5), exposure to the vocabulary throughout the school and heard by staff and students, and modeled by staff. Learn more about Character Counts at charactercounts.org

Purple Hand Pledge

Our goal is to provide opportunities for all students to participate in the Hands & Words Are Not for Hurting Pledge. The Hands & Words Project is designed to work in partnership with all abuse and violence prevention, conflict resolution, character building skills programs. We discussed how the pledge will help our school, homes, community, and even world, for the better. Having this common framework to talk with our students about their behavior will be very effective in correcting and reducing hurtful behavior in school. This pledge helps support Character Counts education due to people choosing to resolve problems in healthy ways will take the Purple Hand Pledge to heart and show to be T.eR.R.iF.iC.C. individuals!All Nance staff and students took the Purple Hand Pledge Friday, September 14, 2012 during the High Flying Friday assembly. All students stamped their PURPLE hands to honor the words spoken. The posters will be displayed throughout the campus year round to remind everyone Nance works hard to prevent hurtful behaviors and makes healthy choices.

Lunch- Visitors: Check in at the front desk. Then meet your

child in the cafeteria. Sit at the parent tables located by the cafeteria entrance door.

- If you want to purchase a lunch from the cafeteria please send a note in your child's folder so that it can be ordered in the morning.

- Choices: 3-4 choices are available per day. Students may also bring a lunch from home.

- All cash or checks need to be placed in and envelope and labeled with your child’s first and last name.

- You can also pay online! Go to mynutrikids.net.

Snack

• Students will have snack time daily at about 9:30am.

• Please note that some classes have student allergies that must be taken into consideration when making these snack choices.

Recognition and Celebrations•High Flying Fridays – Every Friday morning all students will gather in the gym. We will use this time to recognize students for specific positive academic behaviors and choices made by Nance students each week. We will also recognize classes who have excelled in a particular area such as 100% homework, perfect attendance, or no tardies. This is a brief, informal celebration designed to be engaging and fun for students.•Celebration of Reading - Every 6 weeks we will have a reading celebration. This will not be an award ceremony, it will celebrate reading.•Award Ceremonies – Every 6 weeks will have an awards ceremony where we will recognize “Kick it Up.”

Behavior Plan Students have set class rules. If students break these rules, they change their color.

Students start off each day on GREEN.

If students choose not to follow the class social contract, the following are the consequences we have in place.

• BLUE-warning

• YELLOW-student must miss 5 minutes of recess or centers

• RED-student must miss 10 minutes of recess or centers

• BEHAVE WAY OUT OF CLASS-student will be isolated within the classroom at a desk by the teacher’s desk

** all behavior issues are handled in accordance with NISD student handbook policy and may skip steps as needed**

Daily Communication Folder

To ensure consistent contact with you, a daily folder will go home every night. This folder will contain grade level information, a daily behavior chart for the six weeks and graded papers. Please check this folder nightly. Initial the calendar each day your child brings the folder home. Folders need to be returned to school every day.

Place notes to school and labeled money into the folder.

Newsletter

A weekly newsletter will be posted on each teacher’s web site. Please check weekly in order to stay updated on events at school.

Wednesday Eagle Folder

A weekly eagle folder will be sent home almost every Wednesday. This folder will contain various mounds of PTA, Nance, and district information as well as approved flyers and/or advertisements.

Please empty and return the eagle folder every Thursday

Drop off

•School doors open at 7:20 am.

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•The first bell rings at 7:40 am. If a student arrives at school prior to 7:45 am, they are required to go their classroom or to the cafeteria for breakfast.

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•The tardy bell rings at 7:45am. Instruction begins promptly. Please try to avoid being tardy because your child may miss out on valuable information.

Pick up

The dismissal bell rings at 2:45 pm. If you would like to pick up your child prior to 2:30 pm, you will need to sign out your child in the office. The office staff will call the classroom for your child to be sent to the office for early dismissal.

Please wait in the office for your child when picking up early.

Ride Changes• ALL ride changes MUST be sent in WRITING.

•Please send a note with your child if their mode of transportation changes.

•If an emergency arises, you must contact the front office and speak directly to Ms. Chaney.

• Unfortunately, a request sent via email or left on a teacher’s voicemail can not be honored.

Grading on Report Card

• Parent-Teacher conferences will be held for the first six weeks in lieu of a report card and/or progress report.

• Kindergarten students do not receive numerical grades. Grades are determined based on mastery of set skills.

Parent Conferences

• A conference sign-up form should be coming home in your child’s folder after beginning of year assessments are complete.

• At this conference, we will discuss progress as well as assessment results.

DRA 2 Test

• DRA- Developmental Reading Assessment• DRA is used to monitor student progress throughout

the year. • Assessments are given at the beginning, middle, and

end of the year.• Provides a baseline for teachers to provide

individualized reading instruction for your child.• DRA includes assessments for reading skills and

reading level.

Guided Reading

• Begins after reading assessments have been completed and parent/teacher conferences have been held.

• Students will bring Guided Reading books home.• Read books several times with your child and

send them back to school daily.• End of Year Expectation: We would like each

child to be reading at level 3-6 (independently).

World Record Readers•Students will complete interest inventories. Parents are encouraged to complete the interest inventory with all students. This information will be helpful to teachers when setting goals for students.•Teachers will be working with students to set goals for individual reading success.•We will hold celebrations every 6 where reading for a variety of purposes is celebrated. Reading products may be shared.•Kick-Off celebration/Open Ceremony will be held on October 5th followed by a day of reading fun.•It is important for parents to be involved by encouraging your child to read at home every night, talking to them about the books they are reading, and asking them about their current reading goals.

Curriculum

Now that we have discussed the ins and outs of Kindergarten

at Nance…..

Let’s talk about the important

information….

Curriculum…

What are we doing at Nance?

• Daily Schedule:Number CornerReaders WorkshopWriters WorkshopMathLunchRecessSpecialsScienceCharacter Development

Math WorkshopOpening-Whole Class•Learning a new skill•Playing a new game•Reviewing and building on a previous lessonWork Period-Small group/Independent•Practicing new skill•Playing games to reinforce skills•Independent practice•Small group workClosing-Whole Class•Share learning•Ask questions and get clarification •Review skill taught during opening

Readers WorkshopOpening-Whole Class•Read aloud•Shared reading•Turn and talk•Learning of new skillWork Period-Independent/Partner/Small group•Independent or partnered reading•Literacy work station to practice a needed skill•Recording thinking in readers notebook•Guided readingClosing-Whole Class•Review skill taught in opening•Ask questions and get clarification•Share thinking

Writers WorkshopOpening-Whole Class•Learning of a new skill•View examples of high quality writing•Explore the skill of other writersWork Period-Independent/Small group•Independent writing•Guided skill practiceClosing-Whole Class•Share writing in author’s chair•Respond to others writing•Review skill taught during opening

Science InquiryThis year in science we will be using the 5E model.Each lesson will contain; •Engagement•Exploration•Explanation•Elaboration •Evaluation

How to Help at Home

• Read nightly• Practice counting objects• Sort everyday objects • Practice handwritingVisit your teacher’s website for helpful links.

Websites for more information

For more information about Kindergarten TEKS please visit http://www.tea.state.tx.us/teks/grade/Kindergarten.pdf

For more information about NISD please visit: http://www.nisdtx.org

For more information about Nance or to access your teachers homepage please visit: http://www.nisdtx.org/Page/14751

Thank You for Coming!