Our First Grade Handbook
Devon Elementary School
Tredyffrin/Easttown School District
2016-2017
Room # 19
Miss Beisswenger
Dear First Grade Parents,
Welcome to first grade! There are so many exciting things to look forward to this year in first grade at Devon.
It is my hope that this handbook will be a helpful resource for you as we go through this year together. Many questions that may come up have been addressed in this book. However, if you have any additional questions about curriculum, classroom routines or anything else throughout this year, please let me know. I can be reached in the following ways:
- email me at
- call the main office at 610.240.1450
- call my voicemail extension: 610.240.2267
I look forward to working with you this year!
Sincerely,
Ms. Emily Beisswenger
Table of Contents
1.Classroom Information…pages 4-6
- Staff List
- Class List
- Daily Schedule
2.Questions about our classroom procedures…pages 7-11
3.Questions about the First Grade Curriculum…pages 12-15
4.Reading…pages 16-20
- How to tell if a book is Just Right for you
- Devon Reads for Meaning
- What to do…(Help for Home)
5.Writing…pages 21
- Writing Program
6.First Grade Math Curriculum…page 22
7.General information about Curriculum…pages 23-26
- Social Studies
- Holiday Dates
- Science
- Specials
- Monthly Character Traits
DEVON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
First Grade
Dr. Todd Parker, Principal
Kristin McElvogue – Facilitator
Melinda Smiles
Emily Beisswenger
Lauren Harvey
Liz Morrell
Alaina Seygal
Special Area Team
Nicole Lohmeyer & John Jones - P.E. Teachers
Beata Szekeres - Art Teacher
Joel Stever – Library/ Media Specialist
Christy Brown – Music Teacher
Abigail Reed -Strings Teacher
Instructional Support Team
Barbara Kupp RN, MSN and Louise Cook RN, MSN – Nurses
Tami Noel - Guidance Counselor
Xiomara Rodriguez - Reading Specialist
Josh Walther& Kerry Heim – Gifted Education Teacher
Pat McCarrin – Math Support Teacher
Kara Canale- School Psychologist
Ashlyn McElroy - Speech/Language Specialist
Peggy Kravitz &Kristen Stern- Learning Support Teachers
Maryann Walsh – English as a Second Language Teacher
Building Support Team
Karen Burns - School Secretary
Heidi Lee – Attendance Aide
Vicki Green (AM) & Barbara Armenti (PM) - Lobby Greeters
Larisa Leon- Primary Division Aide
Jeremiah Glass- Science Aide
Shawn Goff – Applied Technology Paraprofessional
Gabrielle Liberi, Susan Brannigan Deb Dunn - Reading Paraprofessionals
Margot Bayne, Karen Kowalski, Tiana Bryant, Anna Haywood, Susan Lewis, Jane Rhee, Breanna Hopkins, Kim Levine, Lori Gordon & Deb Dunn – Learning
Support Aides
Miss Beisswenger’s
Class List
2016-2017
Elise Airiau
Cole Alleva
Samarth Arvikar
Sophia Cawley
Julia Cowgill
Maggie Coyne
Ishita De
Finn Duffy
Jaithri Gajula
Addison Hansen
Carter He
Logan Huffman
Sophia Jung
Brady McMahon
Ethan O’Shea
Aarvi Raval
Sameeksha Sheety
Willian Simon
Zoey Sweet
Shashidhar Vadla
Mallory Wollick
Our Daily Schedule
8:35: Arrival/ Morning Journal Writing
9:05: Morning Meeting (Calendar, Pledge, Daily Schedule Review)
9:10: Whole Group Reading Instruction
9:40: Word Study (Spelling & Phonics)
10:00: Reading Circle (Small Group Reading Instruction, Literacy Centers)
11:05: Lunch/Recess
11:50: Mathematics
12:45: Day 1: Art
Day 2: Science Lab
Day 3: Library
Day 4: Physical Education
Day 5: Music
Day 6: Physical Education
1:35: Day 1: Social Studies
Day 2: Music
Day 3:Social Studies or Writing
Day 4: Science Lab
Day 5: Social Studies or Writing
Day 6: Science in the Classroom
2:25: Snack/Recess
2:45: Day 1: PATHS/Class Meeting
Days 2-6: Flex Core/Mystery Reader
3:10: Pack Up
3:20: Dismissal
Questions About Classroom Procedures
Q: What food should be packed for my child each day?
A:First graders may bring a lunch from home or can buy lunch from the school cafeteria. Please also send a healthy snack for your child each day. Our snack time will be during the afternoon recess each day (usually around 2:25 pm). The snack should be peanut/tree nut free.
Each morning, students who are buying lunch make their selection and then use a pin number to purchase their lunch. This policy is also outlined in the Devon Handbook. Money brought to school for lunch accounts should always be in an envelope with your child’s name and lunch account number, and placed in his/her teacher’s mailbox in the morning.
Q: How should my child dress for school?
A:Remember that all children go outdoors for two 15 minute recesses each day, except in inclement weather. Please make sure your child is dressed appropriately—an extra pair of mittens and a hat kept in the book bag is a good idea!
Q: What is a red Home/School folder?
A:Our red Home/School folder is a very important folder which will transport daily papers/notes to and from school. Your child will bring home his/her school work in this folder. Although homework comes home at the beginning of the week, your child’s folder should be checked every evening and returned to school the following day. Additionally, on Fridays there is usually information distributed to the classrooms relating to the PTO, Devon activities, and community events. Although the school is starting to communicate with families electronically, some papers containing important information will still be put into your child’s red home/school folder for you to review.
Q: What if there is a change from the normal schedule in how my child is to be transported home from school?
A:If your child is to go home in a way he/she does not normally go home, please send in a signed and dated note notifying me of this change. For instance, please send in a note if…
… you or someone else is planning to pick up your child from school
…your child will be attending an after school activity such as Brownies
…you wish to have your child go home with a friend on the bus (even
if your child ridesthe same bus as a friend, a note is still necessary if your child
plans to get off the bus and go home with that friend)
Q: What is the classroom management system?
A:There is a whole group, as well as two individual management systems, in the classroom. For individual behavior management, we use a “Stop and Think” behavior chart. This chart features a stoplight with green, yellow and red lights. If a child needs two reminders to make a good choice, he/she will be asked to move to the green light. If the child continues to need two additional reminders, he/she will be asked to move to the yellow light. At this time, a student will need to slow down and think about the choices he/she has made at recess. If the child continues to need any additional reminders, he/she will move to red and a phone call home will be made. However, if the child corrects their behavior and shows they are ready to be a good classroom citizen, they may clip up and off of the lights. At the beginning of each day, students will start with a clean slate.
For positive reinforcement, Room 19 will be using Class Dojo. When a student is caught making good choices, they will earn Dojo points. Every Friday, students will be able to see how many points they have accumulated for a change to “cash in” their reward points for the prize of their choice.
We also have afuzzy jar that we use to earn whole class rewards. When the class receives a whole group compliment from me or another teacher for good behavior, we add a fuzzy to the jar. When the jar is full, the class will receive extra indoor or outdoor recess to celebrate their good choices and behavior.
At the beginning of this school year, the children helped to write the rules in our Classroom Constitution. Each student signed this document and it is hanging on display in our classroom.
Our Classroom Constitution
- Be friends with everyone.
- Be nice.
- Include everyone.
- Work hard.
- Listen to each other.
- Make good choices!
I-Care Cat Rules/Devon Pledge
1. We listen to each other.
2. Hands are for helping, not hurting.
3. We use I-Care language.
4. We care about each other’s feelings.
5. We are responsible for what we say and do.
Q: What is a First Grade Weekly Report?
A:I will send home Weekly Reports every Friday in each child’s RED folder. This report is broken down into specific areas (ex: organization, homework completion, effort, being respectful, etc). If he/she does their personal best at school that week, they will receive an S for successful in the appropriate areas. If he/she needs reminders throughout the week, they receive an N in those specific areas. If he/she receives a U for unacceptable behavior in any area, a phone call will be made to the parent explaining the behavior. Please see page 11 for an example of the weekly report.
Q: Will I be able to volunteer in my child’s classroom?
A:I welcome parent volunteers. We will need volunteers for reading circle and occasional volunteers. If you are interested in volunteering, please sign up in the category that works best with your schedule.
Regularly scheduled volunteers come in consistently to assist with Reading Circle activities from 10:00-11:00on specified days. If you are available, please let me know. I will send home a schedule as soon as sign-ups are complete. I will also offer a training session to inform you of the responsibilities of being a Reading Circle volunteer. Reading Circle volunteers do not usually begin working in the classroom until October.
When you visit the classroom as a “Mystery Reader” you will have the chance to visit the classroom to share a simple snack and story. For more information on this, please see the information on “Mystery Readers” on page 10.
Q: How are birthdays celebrated in first grade?
A:Celebrating birthdays is always fun for first graders. Food items for birthdays are prohibited. I have provided a sheet of other birthday options! Please let me know a few days in advance in you will be bringing in an item to share with the class.
If your child has a summer birthday that we will not be in school for, we can have a half-year celebration so that he or she does not miss out on the chance to celebrate at school. For example, we will celebrate an August 3 birthday in school on February 3. Please let me know if you would like to celebrate their summer birthdays.
Q: Who is a Mystery Reader?
A:A Mystery Reader is someone who visits our classroom in the afternoon to share children’s story. The students will know there will be a story on Mystery Reader day but they won’t know who is coming in to read to the class! I will give the class clues about the guest reader so that they can guess who is coming in, but they won’t know for sure who the reader is until its Mystery Reader time! Each of the families of Room # 19 is invited to visit our classroom for a Mystery Reader time this year! The Mystery Reader can be a parent, grandparent, sibling, cousin, neighbor, aunt or uncle. Please bring 3-4 books!
Mystery Reader time will always be at the end of the day from 2:45-3:15 pm. Our homeroom momwill be in charge of scheduling Mystery Readers this year. You can expect to hear from her to ensure you schedule a time to visit the classroom for a Mystery Reader activity this year. Remember, the reader for the day is a MYSTERY so try not to tell your child if/when you or any other family members are coming in!
1
First GradeWeekly Report
Name: ______Week of: ______
To my personal best ability…. / S, N, UI was respectful of the learning environment.
I was an active listener.
I showed effort in my work.
I showed self-control.
I demonstrated organizational skills.
S / Successful
N / Needs Reminders
U / Unacceptable
Teacher Comments:
If this circle is checked, see attached note from special area teacher.
Parent Signature:
Questions About First Grade CUrriculum
Q: How do we learn words in first grade?
A: Our spelling and phonics program has grown out of a combination of philosophies and programs in order to arrive at a balanced approach.
The red words are simple sight words that cannot be sounded out, and therefore, do not make sense. These words are learned, read, and spelled through a process called tapping and sweeping, in which we physically pretend we are putting the word on our shoulder, and then tap the letters of the word down our arm, sweeping our entire arm with the word when it is completely spelled.
For example, “the (put it on our shoulder), T_H_E (tap the letters down our arm), the (sweep the entire word down your arm).”
With the words that do make sense, and can be sounded out, we can learn, read, and write these words through a multi-sensory process called finger tapping. We finger tap with our non-dominant hand (the hand we do not write with) and we say the word with our fist, and then segment each sound by tapping a finger to the thumb, then sweeping all the sounds together to blend the word (joining our fingers to make a sweeping motion).
For example, say “cat” with a closed fist (we often pretend we are catching the word in the air), c (make c sound while tapping your pointer finger to your thumb), a (make the short a sound while tapping your middle finger on your thumb), t (make the t sound while tapping your ring finger to your thumb). Then blend all the sounds together and say “cat” as you move all three fingers on your thumb in a straight across motion.
The first grade spelling skills include words with short and long vowel sounds, digraphs, blends, endings, and vowel combinations. As each new spelling skill is introduced, your child will be expected to use these in his/her writing. This helps to bridge the gap between temporary and conventional spelling. Please know, however, first graders are just learning to write and you’ll still see quite a bit of “phonetic” spelling!
For handwriting instruction, we use techniques from the “Zaner Bloser” Handwriting program
Q: What is a Word Wall?
A: The word wall is on the back wall of our classroom. It contains the spelling words we have learned up until a given point in the year. Each week after we have practiced new words, we add them to our word wall. The word wall is always growing during the school year! These posted spelling words are arranged alphabetically. During journal, writing workshop and other writing times, students can refer to the word wall when help is needed to spell a basic spelling or sight word. To help us practice reading and spelling the word wall words correctly, we do a variety of activities and play a number of games. Students will also be given a word wall placemat to take home. This placemat should be kept at home and will be used for various homework activities throughout the year.
Q: What are W.O.W. words?
A:Devon has a new vocabulary program in place. The acronym, W.O.W. dually stands for “Wonderful Outstanding Words” and “Word of the Week.” Each week the children will learn a new vocabulary word. The children will learn the definition of the word and how it is used in a variety of contexts. The word of the week will be posted in a special place in the classroom. All previously learned vocabulary words will be posted on a bulletin board to the left of our spelling word wall in our classroom. (The children are not expected to know how to spell the vocabulary words.) I will mention the vocabulary word of the week in my weekly newsletter. Please try to use these words at home to reinforce your child’s growing vocabulary.
Q: How is the reading portion of Language Arts structured?
A: Our approach to reading and writing is known as a balanced literacy approach. Since first-graders are developing their literacy skills at different rates, this approach allows the teacher to develop instruction that meets the various needs of the students. Every attempt is made to match the reading ability of the student with the level of the text. In our classroom, we have hundreds of titles available, from predictable books to decodable books to easy readers to chapter books! Most books are sorted by level or genre, so that a child can be directed to choose a book from certain bins to meet his/her reading needs.
We have whole group and small group reading instruction time. During whole group reading instruction time, the children are introduced to key
reading and comprehension strategies which carry over into small group instruction time. We call our daily small group reading time “Reading Circle.”