WELCOMEWELCOME TO TO

FIRST GRADEFIRST GRADECURRICULUM CURRICULUM

NIGHTNIGHT

Lindsay CarrierLindsay CarrierRebecca MaddoxRebecca Maddox

Jeigh ReedJeigh ReedKim StephensonKim Stephenson

MISSION STATEMENT

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A FIRST GRADE TRAILBLAZER

7:45 Phonics8:00 Writers Workshop9:00 Readers Workshop (& Snack)10:35 AMP (Art, Music, PE)11:30 Recess12:00 Corral Time (Whole Grade Level Instruction)12:15 Lunch12:45 Math2:15 Science/Social Studies

ATTENDANCE

E

xcellent attendance is strongly encouraged and recognized each six

weeks. Whenever your child must be absent, please call the school office

to report the absence at (817)698-3800 or email: kparker@nisdtx.org

S

tudents may enter the building at 7:20 each morning. School begins at

7:45. Please help get your child here prior to the start of instruction so

they don’t miss out on learning opportunities!

AGENDA PLANNERS

This is where

students will write

their spelling words

for the week.

This is where we will write notes to communicate with you.

Please initial in

the yellow box

each night.

Planners are on sale for $5 in the front entry if you have not

purchased one for your student.

BEHAVIOR “BLAZING BUCKS”

B

lazing Bucks: These are index cards. Each student has one on their desk. They earn

punches (a hole punch) for on-task behavior, listening, great answers and thinking,

being kind to others, following the rules, going above and beyond the expectations,

and many other ways.

T

hey are positive. We are concentrating on the good things the children do!

S

ometimes, the card has to go to “time out” on the teacher’s desk if a child is

exhibiting unwanted behavior that continues after being asked to stop.

S

tudents will be able to trade their blazing bucks punches in for a variety of rewards.

(stickers, treasure box items, shoes off in the room, sit at the teacher’s desk, etc….)

PHONICSS

tudents will learn:• Letter sounds and vowel sounds• Word families• Nouns and verbs• Rhyming words• Compound words• High-frequency words (words that appear a lot

in written print)• And many more important things about letters,

sounds and words!

First Graders will write independently EVERYDAY!

Personal Experiences

Write with a Purpose

Revise what they Write

Use Correct Conventions (Punctuation, Spacing, etc.)

Writing in every academic area,

explaining their thinking in written format.

WRITING WORKSHOP

First Graders will read both independently

and in small groups EVERYDAY!

First graders are expected to come in reading at level 3-4.

They are expected to be reading a level 10 by January.

Read on a level DRA 16 (non-fiction) and 18 (fiction) by end of year

Fluency: WPM 40 (non-fiction) WPM 45 (fiction)

Independent Reading Stamina (20 minutes or longer)

Variety of Genres

Comprehension

Reading Response and Reading Log

READER’S WORKSHOP

S

tudents may bring a healthy snack to eat in the morning.Examples include:

Pretzels, Goldfish, Cereal, Granola Bars, Crackers, Animal Crackers, String Cheese, Grapes, Raisins, Fruit Snacks, Bagel, Veggies, etc.

Students may NOT bring: Chips, Candy, Marshmallows, Cookies, Pudding, etc…

Water Bottles: Your child may have a water bottle in the classroom. We ask that it has a sport top or a flip top. This helps prevent spills. If it becomes a distraction, students will be asked not to bring it.

SNACK

W

e will go to the Thompson Elementary Library every week.

Carrier:

Thursdays

Maddox:

Tuesdays

Reed:

Wednesdays

Stephenso

n: Fridays

LIBRARY

AMP (ART, MUSIC, PE)

Mon. Tues. Wed. Thurs. Fri.

Carrier PE Music PE Art Fitness Friday

Maddox Music

PE Art PE Fitness Friday

Reed Art PE Music PE Fitness Friday

Stephenson

PE Art PE Music Fitness Friday

Please wear tennis shoes on PE days!

LUNCH

W

e eat lunch from 12:15-12:45 in the cafeteria.

Y

ou may come up during lunch and eat with your child ONLY

(please no friends joining them) if you would like. Stop by the

office and get a visitor’s pass first.

Y

ou can add money online or send money in a marked envelope

in the morning that is clearly labeled for lunch or meals.

MATH

• Understand the overlying concepts of math. Learn that they can be mathematical thinkers. Math is not just skill and practice.

• Write numbers accurately to 100. • Students know a variety of strategies to add and

subtract. • Emphasize reasoning of mathematical ideas.

S

tudents will be learning a variety of topics in science.

They will learn how to be scientists and keep track of

what they learn in their science notebooks.

S

tudents will be discussing concepts in social studies

that revolve around citizens rights and responsibilities.

SCIENCE & SOCIAL STUDIES

DISMISSAL & RIDE CHANGES

Sometimes your child may need to go home a different way than usual. If this happens, please do one of the following things:

1. Send a note in the morning to your child’s teacher.2. Send an email to Kparker@nisdtx.org and/or your child’s

teacher. However, please be aware that our district has a strong email filter so we don’t get emails right away from outside email addresses.

3. Call the front office before 2:00. This helps avoid the afternoon rush and allows us time to communicate this information to your child.

HOMEWORKHOMEWORKR

EAD, READ, READ every night.

Complete Reading Log each night

Read at least 20 minutes each night.

Study Spelling Words

READING LOG/HOMEWORK

Students should read 20 minutes every night for homework. The reading log is in the front of the

agenda planner.

WHY READ 20 MIN. A NIGHT?L

ET'S FIGURE IT OUT --- MATHEMATICALLY!

Student A reads 20 minutes five nights of every week;Student B reads only 4 minutes a night...or not at all!

Step 1: Multiply minutes a night x 5 times each week.Student A reads 20 min. x 5 times a week = 100 mins./weekStudent B reads 4 minutes x 5 times a week = 20 minutes

Step 2: Multiply minutes a week x 4 weeks each month.Student A reads 400 minutes a month.Student B reads 80 minutes a month.

Step 3: Multiply minutes a month x 9 months/school yearStudent A reads 3600 min. in a school year.Student B reads 720 min. in a school year.

Student A practices reading the equivalent of ten whole school days a year.Student B gets the equivalent of only two school days of reading practice.

By the end of 6th grade if Student A and Student B maintain these

same reading habits, Student A will have read the equivalent of 60 whole school days. Student B will have read the equivalent of only 12 school days!

SCHOLASTIC BOOKS

A

great way to find books at a reasonable price for your child to read

is to use Scholastic.

1.S

cholastic Flyers will be sent home from your child’s teacher in the

T.R.A.I.L. Guide. You have the option to send a check to Scholastic

OR pay online.

2.S

cholastic Book Fairs will be offered in the Thompson Library

several times throughout the school year.

SPELLING TESTS

S

pelling Tests will be given every Friday (beginning soon).

P

lease study your spelling words (in child’s planner)

T

he Word family for the week will also be given i.e. –at

W

e will not tell students the exact word family words we want them to study.

H

ow can I prepare? Create words with your word family. i.e. cat, sat, hat, chat

etc.

HOW TO STUDY FOR SPELLING TEST

P

ractice writing them on a variety of surfaces: white board, paper, in sand or

shaving cream, spelling them aloud while bouncing a ball.

P

ractice your words by saying the word aloud, spelling and writing each letter

aloud, and then rereading the word aloud again.

P

ractice in a mixed up order.

U

se the words to create a silly sentence or story! Have fun with the words and be

silly!

HOW TO STUDY FOR WORD FAMILY PART OF SPELLING

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our student will have a word family each week along with the 5 spelling words. They will be

asked to spell 5 additional words that go along in the word family.

E

xample: Word Family: -at• Students will be asked to spell words that have the –at spelling pattern in them. (cat,

bat, sat, rat, mat, pat, hat, etc…)• Students will also be asked to use the –at spelling pattern with more than just 3 letter

words. (chat, that, stat, etc..)

T

he purpose of this is for students to take the word family knowledge and apply it to words

they didn’t study for a spelling test. This is more authentic to real life use and will help them

in their writing.

T.R.A.I.L. GUIDE FOLDER(TEACHING RESPONSIBILITY AND INSPIRING

LEADERSHIP)

B

e Looking for on Tuesday Newsdays:

•S

chool Newsletter (once a month-first Tuesday in each month)

•I

mportant notes

•P

TA information

•C

lass party information (December, February, May)

•F

ield Trip information

•O

ther important event information

•O

rder forms for things like (t-shirts, yearbooks, etc)

•P

lease send these back every Wednesday

TUESDAY NEWSDAY

T

uesday Newsday will also be when we send

emails home about information about first

grade news. We will use this to keep you

updated on various events and happenings

occurring in first grade via email.

BIRTHDAY TREATS

You may bring a store bought single

serving treat to share with the class

to be shared at the end of the day.• Examples of “Single Serving” Treats:• -Cupcakes• -Popsicles or Ice Cream Sandwiches• -Cookies

• **Please be mindful of classroom allergies.• **No balloons, decorations, or favors are allowed.

BIRTHDAY EVENTS

B

irthday Invitations• These may not be passed out during the school day.

However a student could hand them out at the end of the day outside the classroom door. Please note: Please make sure there are enough for all students if your child will be using this option. We don’t want to have hurt feelings.

• Parents can also obtain student addresses and phone numbers from our school’s directory, when/if published, or they can request information from the NISD communication’s department at (817) 215-0056.

• Thank you for your help with this!

TRAILBLAZER ROUND-UP

T

his will occur once every 6 weeks to honor and recognize students and

their hard work during the previous 6 weeks.

O

ne student from each homeroom will be selected for:• Leadership: Hall of Fame Blazing Trails of Success Award• Character• YeeHaw! awards• Battle of the Blazers Spirit Award (PE and class teamwork)

P

erfect Attendance awards will also be given out at this time.

*

*We will be sure to notify you if your child is selected, so you can come

cheer, take pictures, etc. We love to celebrate our hard working kiddos!

VOLUNTEERSV

olunteers are ALWAYS welcome at Thompson Elementary and in our classroom.

You may volunteer services, time or supplies.

You may volunteer here at school or in the comfort of your own home.

Watch D.O.G.S.-Dads, Uncles, Grandpas

Background check-Can be completed online through the NISD website.

PLEASE JOIN THE P.T.A.

P

lease consider joining the P.T.A. It only costs $7.00

per adult member. The money goes to help our

school. Our P.T.A. plans lots of great events for our

students!

Y

ou do not have to volunteer or be in charge of

events, unless you want to.

CONFERENCES

We will have at least two parent/teacher conferences this year. One in the Fall and one in the Spring.

Our Fall conferences will be completed on or before October 8th.

Please look for a note home in the next couple of weeks.

REPORT CARDS

R

eport cards will NOT be given to First Graders the first six

weeks of school.

A

ll report cards will be delivered electronically, starting

with the 2nd 6 weeks and on. If you do not know your login

information or how to access this information please

contact the office. They can get you login information.

FIELD TRIPS

W

e will be planning 2 field trips for the school year. Field trips are a

great way to enhance our curriculum and reinforce concepts that

we have talked about in the classroom.

I

f you would like to help with field trips, please remember you will

need to have completed a background check prior to the field trip.

These take at least 2 weeks to be completed.

M

ore information will follow when these are closer.

PARTIES

P

arties will occur in the classroom at the end of the day

in December, February and May.

M

ore information will follow as we get closer.

I

f you are interested in helping or being a room parent,

please contact your child’s teacher.

QUESTIONS

W

hat questions do you have for us?

W

e look forward to working

with you and your child

this year!

Thank you for coming!