Mrs. Burns’
1st Grade Open House Packet
Welcome to your child’s classroom! This packetwill help you with some of the questions you may have about first grade. Please keep it for reference throughout the school year.
First Grade Curriculum
Visit the Cobb County School District website at for more information about the standards.
Important Information
Attendance
Please ensure that your child arrives at school between 7:20 and 7:50 every morning. The time before the bell rings is valuable “getting settled” time.
Please send a note for any absence from school. Include your child’s name, my name, the date your child was absent, and the reason for the absence. Documentation is needed in order to mark an absence as excused. If your child misses more than one day in a row, please send a doctor’s note. After five unexcused absences, you will receive a written notification. With 10 unexcused absences, you will receive a letter from the administration. A social worker will become involved after 15 unexcused absences, per Cobb County policy.
Agenda & Communication Folder
Your child’s daily folder will go to and from school each day. Please empty this every night. Important papers should be placed in the “return to school” side. Please send any notes and money in this side as well so they are easy to find in the morning.
Please also check the agenda every night. A behavior keycorresponding to the behavior section of the report card is located in the front of the agenda. If your child had a challenging day, you will see a number written on that day in the calendar- check the key to find out what it means. You will also find spelling words, homework info, special events, notes from me, etc in the agenda. Please initial the agenda every evening.
Birthday Treats
You may send treats to school for your child’s birthday. Cookies, cupcakes, or other finger foods are perfect (no cakes please-unless you want to be at lunch to cut it!). Treats will be eaten at lunch time. I can pass them out or you may join your child for lunch and pass them out (this is very helpful to me since lunch is so short!). Peanut-free would be best.
Class Blog
Please subscribe to my blog ( for important information, dates, reminders, etc. If you subscribe, you’ll receive a notification every time I write an update.
Classroom Management
I use positive reinforcement in connection with the 7 Habits. Logical consequences are utilized when issues arise. If a behavior becomes a pattern, I will contact you.
The children collect pennies throughout the day by demonstrating excellent behavior, by providing insightful answers to questions, etc. They can redeem their money for special treats and privileges.
We also have a whole class reward system set up in our classroom. Whenever the children receive a compliment from me or another teacher, we put marbles in the jar. Once the jar is full, the children will vote on a reward (extra recess, a special snack, lunch in the classroom, etc.).
Dismissal and Transportation Changes
If you need to pick your child up from school early, please do so before 1:45, as requested by administration. When you arrive, stop in the office and someone will call down to the room to notify me. Your child will come up shortly.
If there is a transportation change, it must be in writing (but not in an email). I cannot take a child’s word for a transportation change—there must be a note.In the event of a last minute transportation change, please call the office before 1:45 p.m. that day.
Homework
The MOST important thing you can do at home to help your child succeed at school is to read with him/her for at least 20 minutes every day. In the beginning, your child may not be able to read every book independently so you can read some aloud. Preview the book, ask questions during and after reading, and ask your child to share what he/she remembers after finishing the book. Soon, if not already, your child will be able to read most books to you, so encourage this as much as possible. Most of the time, the books should be read by your child.
Every week, your child will take a pre-test to determine which spelling list he/she receives to practice for that week. A new spelling choice menu will go home every month, and your child can pick two activities to complete and return on or before Friday.
Instead of the traditional homework packet, your child will receive an OPTIONAL homework menu every month. This menu will include enrichment and extension activities as well as activities that encourage family time. At the end of the month, initial the activities your child completed and return the menu. For every activity, your child will receive a ticket that will go into the drawing for special prizes. A more detailed explanation of this “un-homework” will come home in September when we start.
Lunch
Our lunch time is 11:01-11:31. A student meal costs $2.25. You can pay in advance for the week, month or even longer. In addition, you can pay online at If you see a lunch slip in your child’s folder, this means that his/her lunch account is either low or empty and needs to be replenished.
Money
All money should be sent to school in an envelope with your child’s first and last name, my name, and what the money is for marked on the envelope. I can get you more ASP envelopes upon request. Remember that you can pre-pay for both lunch and ASP.
Report Cards and Conferences
The Cobb County 1st Grade report card outlines what each student should know, understand, and be able to do, and it provides clear communication of students’ progress to meeting standards. Students earn grades based on their performance on grade-level assessments, class work, and teacher observations. The criteria changes every 9 weeks, as the children progress.
On the report card…
–3: consistently meeting the standard
–2: progressing toward meeting the standard
–1: limited or minimum progress
Report cards will come home every 9 weeks. Duringourconference in October, we will have the opportunity to discuss your child’s report card and progress in more detail. If you ever feel the need to schedule an additional conference, contact me and we will arrange one.
SeeSaw
Please sign-up for SeeSaw using the QR code provided or via the website (let me know if you need assistance). I use the SeeSaw app to post photos of our classroom activities, post reminders about upcoming events, and share quick updates. It is a great way to utilize technology to strengthen the connection between home and school.
Snacks
Please send a snack for your child every day. Make sure the snack you send is a healthy one! Also, the children are allowed to keep water bottles at their desks so please send remember to send water bottles as well.
Volunteers
Thank you for your eagerness to help your child’s classroom this year! If you can help, I can find a role for you! I need a room parent (or co-room parents), a sight word parent, a copy parent, and backpack parents.Let me know how you would like to help!
Thank you for coming to your child’s Open House! If you ever have questions about your child’s school experiences, please ask!You canemail me at nd I will reply as soon as possible. I’m looking forward to our year together!
Sincerely,
Katie Burns