Welcome to Back to School Night!

Welcome to Back to School Night! Mrs. Lisa Green 1st grade Please make sure you sign in and take one of each from the table.

Class Schedule Mrs. Green’s 2014-2015 First Grade Schedule 8:45-9:05- Vocabulary 9:05-9:20- Phonics and poetry 9:20-10:20- Math/Math stations 10:20-11:05-Writers Workshop 11:05-11:25-Read to self (book nook) and Spanish/Health 11:30-12:15- Lunch, recess (lunch begins at 11:30) 12:20-12:30-Class restroom break 12:30-1:10- Specials (art, music, PE) 1:15-1:30- Word work 1:30-2:15- Literacy Stations (snack) 2:15-2:45-Readers Workshop 2:45-3:20- Science/Social Studies 3:20-3:25- Agendas

Specials Day 1 : Art Day 2: Music Day 3: PE

Parent Information • You must sign in using Lobby Guard – allow time. (FYI- lunch begins 11:30) • If you plan to volunteer in the classroom, you must attend a volunteer workshop or do online training. • Lunch money needs to be in a yellow envelope. • Join PTAG! • Save your Box Tops and Campbell’s labels. • PTAG emails will be sent home on Mondays. • If you need to change how your child goes home from school, you must notify me and the office.

Important Information Student Arrival: Students will be participating in morning rotations with their class before school starts. They will be supervised from 8:30-8:45 during their morning rotation. At 8:45 students arrive in the classroom. They are considered Tardy after the 8:50 bell. Departure:Dismissal will be at 3:25. Unless for appointment or emergency we advise parents to not check students out early. If your child is coming home differently than they usually do please call the office regarding new departure information before 1:50. If you email me and don’t receive a confirmation, then you should assume that I am not aware of the change. Personal Belongings: Please label all coats, bags, lunch boxes etc. Please do NOT allow your child to bring toys to school.  Cafeteria: Lunch money needs to be dropped off at the front office using a cafeteria envelope or online. Your child will take care of this before or after school. Please do not send cash or checks without an envelope.

Important Information Communication: • The best way to reach me is via email. • I will be sending bi-monthly newsletters electronically. If you do not have an e-mail I will be sending paper copies in backpacks. Birthdays:Monthly birthday parties. Homeroom moms will contact you when it is your month. Snacks: • Students may bring a healthy snack and “sports bottle” top with WATER ONLY to school daily for snack time. It is Jenks West Policy that students bring only water and healthy snacks. Media releases

Important Information • Agendas (Black Binder): • Sent home daily with your child. • Things to look for: • Daily Activities (work, specials, projects) • Homework • You may write in the Parent Comment section how many minutes of reading and what they did for math homework. Don’t forget to initial. • Return the binder EVERY day. (checking agendas)

Thursday Folders • Come home every Thursday • Contains work and school information • Return empty folder to school before the next Thursday.

Homework Homework is written in your child’s agenda everyday: Reading: Every night your child will have a required 20 minutes of reading to complete or a total of 100 minutes a week. Math: If there is a Math Home Link (worksheet) it will say the number (1.12) and the paper will be in their binder. Return the completed worksheet the next day in the binder.

Just Right Reading Just Right Reading is a term that we use to refer to your child’s independent reading level. This means they can read the book on their own. I will determine their Just Right Reading level. Library and/or classroom books in backpacks are also part of the Just Right Reading. Now, let’s talk about RAZ kids.

RAZ Kids Web Site This is one of many choices for 20 minutes of reading each night. Your child’s reading level is preset by your child’s teacher. Each time your child logs in to RAZ it is an expectation that they read a minimum of two books before opening the book room. Student Log In and Password cards will be sent home before or at fall conferences. What do I do if I do not have internet at home? All Tulsa County Libraries have computer access. Students will also have access to Raz during computer lab.

Reading 20 minutes of reading is expected EACH NIGHT (100 minutes a week). Check the Agenda for students word work list for the week. This is comprised of four words with the same spelling pattern and 2 Kindergarten words they need to practice spelling. Library Books: An on-level book will be sent home each week along with a book of their choice (any level) from the library. You can read these during this time also. PLEASE keep these books in their backpack.

Reading Student A reads 20 minutes five nights of every week;Student B reads 20 minutes two nights a week;Student A reads 20 min. x 5 times a week = 100 mins./weekStudent B reads 20 minutes x 2 times a week = 40 minutesStudent A reads 400 minutes a month.Student B reads 160 minutes a month.Student A reads 3600 min. in a school year.Student B reads 1440 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 four school days of reading practice.

Secret Stories What are Secret Stories? You will hear your student talking about Secret Stories. These are stories that help students learn sounds that groups of letters make (phonics). This helps build our balanced reading & writing program.

Spelling We are excited about our move away from weekly spelling tests for our 1st and 2nd grade students. We want to use this extra time to… • Review the students’ writing pieces more frequently to assess the carryover of word studies into their writing, • Provide more time for word study during the literacy block, and • Gather more evidence during guided reading small group word study activities.

Math • 10 minutes of math is expected each night. • Math Home Links (worksheets) will be sent home when they need to be completed (return them the next day) • Other ideas for homework include: EDM games online, flashcards, parent drill, support/challenge areas that are needed. • If there is a question or problem with the math homework, please let me know.

Science & Social Studies Science & Health: Our science program is built on a “hands-on” and inquiry based discovery model. Through well crafted lessons, students will experience weather and changes. We will also dedicate a section of our Science learning toward Health. Through the practice of healthy habits, students will learn how to keep their bodies safe and healthy. Social Studies: We will be focusing on building our classroom community, character education with Attitudes of Excellence, and important figures, symbols, traditions of our country. We will be also learn our personal information, such as address (including city and zip), telephone number (all 10 digits), and birthday(including year).

Curriculum World Language: This year, students will be continuing their study of Spanish. This instruction will be integrated into the classroom. It will be supported by games, activities as well as interactive videos. When studying language we will also explore the culture of the language and the people who use it. Technology: Students will learn and practice skills of technology in our classroom daily. We use tools such as the Smart Board, laptop computers as well as desktop computers in the Computer Lab. Students will be problem solving and collaborating with Math, Science, Social Studies and Literacy games.

Report cards Report cards go home four times a year. H:\report card,progress report\1st Report Card 2014-15.doc

Volunteering If you want to volunteer in the classroom, go on field trips or help in any way you MUST attend a volunteer training. (If you have already gone through the training, you do not have to attend again) • Online training is on our website!

Parties • Seasonal parties • October: Fall Party • December: Winter Party • February: Valentine’s Day Party in classroom • May: End of the Year Party • Class Parties will be held from 9:30-10:15 • The homeroom moms will be contacting you about volunteering and/or sending items. • Parents are welcome to come to the Fall, Winter and End of the Year party!! NO peanut products or homemade goods.

Ways To Help Your Child • Help them complete their homework each night • Check their homework • Read with them • Look at the work that is coming home • Look at/point out spelling patterns • Help them be responsible for their work • Communicate with me any problems or concerns • Strive for prompt and regular attendance • Talk about behavior issues

Jenks West Counseling Services Bldg. A-Amy LaGere x5610 Bldg. B-Alison Cook x5628 Bldg. D-Claire Domeck x5659 Bldg. F-Julia Wood x6118 • Classroom Guidance- addressing topics such as bullying, friendship, and personal safety. • Small Group Counseling- offering support for children dealing with a divorce, social skills, friendship skills, positive behavior choices. (notes will go home to those referred.) • Support for needy families- helping with school supplies, clothing, holidays, “food for kids backpack program”* • Support for School Success-workingwith principals, teachers and parents to create plans for children to be successful in school. • Positive Behavior Recognition- recognizing students who make positive choices each quarter.

Project Westly Tree Families in need during the December Holidays may participate in the Project Westly Tree at West Elementary. More information will come soon but families may contact the school counselor in your building with questions. As we partner together to serve our children, a new requirement for the Project Westly Tree is attendance at your child/children’s Fall Parent Teacher Conference. Applications will be available at Fall Conferences.

Parent Teacher Action Group (PTAG) PTAG is a volunteer organization of parents, teachers, and administrators who work together to promote quality education for our children. JWE PTAG fundraisers include Box Top Collections, Scholastic Book Fairs, Off Campus (Dining Out) Nights, Family Bingo Night, Square 1 Art, and the JWE Jog-A-Thon. These activities and others raise more than $75,000 each year to support the financial needs of our school: • PTAG provides a Daily Agenda to all K-4th grade students. • PTAG supplies all classrooms with periodical subscriptions. • PTAG pays for all K-4th grade students to attend a field trip, and for Pre-K classroom enrichment. • PTAG provides all teachers with books and supplies. • PTAG pays for 3rd and 4th grade state testing prep materials. • PTAG also financially supports Project Westly, author visits, and staff appreciation activities. JWE PTAG also provides volunteer support for many annual activities: Picture Days, Vision & Hearing Screening, Book Fairs, OCCT Testing, and School Celebrations. Get in the loop! Read the weekly e-mail blast (forwarded to you by your teacher each Monday) and join us on facebook (JWE PTAG). PTAG annual membership is $10 per family and available tonight near this building’s lobby.

October 2, 2014 (rain date: Oct. 9) during school hours, specific class schedule tbd This event is our school’s largest fundraiser of the year. Last year, we raised more than $53,000, and the students ran a combined total of 2,418 miles! Our Jog-a-Thon will be a fun & exciting way for you to get involved at JWE, encourage health and fitness at our campus, and support the financial needs of our classrooms. How does it work? • Student packets will be sent home September 18th. All packets need to be returned by October 2nd. • All students will receive a FREE Jog-A-Thon shirt the day of the event. Please make sure your student wears tennis shoes. • Each class will run for approximately 20-25 minutes. • After they run, all students will receive a FREE piece of fruit and bottle of water provided by Whole Foods Market. • The class in each building that raises the most money will win a pizza party at BounceU. We encourage 100% of families to participate in the fundraising! In order to reach our financial goals, we need to raise an average of $30 per student.

JWE Media CenterAvailable Resources Over 10,000 age-appropriate fiction and nonfiction print materials in each library (bldgs A & D) Online database of the entire collection and other available resources accessible from home: Bldg A’s website—wamedia.goalexandria.com Bldg D’s website—wdmedia.goalexandria.com

From the online media homepage, students can….. • Browse books and create lists for future reading • Search books by reading level (lexile code) • Access useful websites in the “links” section • Explore links leading to collections of online reading such as TumbleBooks, Raz-Kids and eBooks, and many online databases such as PebbleGo, Kids InfoBits, etc. We have special access to these resources and they would be a great addition to your child’s home literacy and inquiry activities.

International Baccalaureate (IB) West Elementary is proud to share that we are in our second year of candidacy to become an International Baccalaureate (IB) Primary Years Program (PYP). This is a multi-year journey with some exciting opportunities for our students and community.

So what does it mean for your child in my classroom this year? Organizing our work into 6 broad themes (Our first theme is Who We Are.) Engaging in developing understanding of central ideas (For this theme, we are going to be exploring our actions and how they influence our communities.) You will continue to see inquiry experiences just as you have the past few years. You can still expect to see intense work with reading and writing workshop, EDM, STC science units, social studies and Spanish. Our classroom and site newsletters will reflect our continued work with IB.

Weekly IB Collaboration IB collaboration takes place once per week. Classes are paired first/second, third/fourth for the first 30 minutes of the day for a shared learning experience (interactive read aloud, reading buddies, Go Noodle, etc.) This provides our older students an opportunity to develop leadership and interact with younger peers. Collaborative planning and reflection supports our IB initiative. During this time, teachers meet with other teachers, specialists, and administrators from their grade level to plan common learning experiences.

Remind 101 • Text @fa1f0 to (424) 234-5324 • Standard text message rates apply • You will not be able to respond • Your phone number will not be visible to other parents in the class.

Thank You! I’m looking forward to a great year!

Welcome to Back to School Night!