Welcome to Mrs. Henson’s First Grade Room 305

1. Welcome to Mrs. Henson’s First Grade Room 305

2. Communications: • Weekly Newsletters • Daily Communication Log • Email: dhenson@prs.k12.ar.us • School Website: prs.k12.ar.us • Schools/Pea Ridge Primary School/Teacher Pages/First Grade/Mrs. Henson • My Website: henson1stgrade.weebly.com • School Phone Number: 479-451-8183

3. SCHOOL HOURS • School is from 8:00-3:20 • Students cannot be dropped off before 7:30 • Morning • First bell rings at 7:55 • Tardy bell rings at 8:00 • Afternoon • Car rider bell rings at 3:10 • Bus rider bell rings at 3:20

4. BUSES • Your child will not transition to another bus before getting home. • Bus discipline is covered in the student handbook. • Routes 5A, 3A, and 13A will be dropped off around 7:10. • Routes 3B, 5B, and 13B will be picked-up from school around 3:45.

5. CAR RIDERS • Students must be dropped off and picked-up at the main door. • Traffic Flow must be followed. • We will not release students at the door. Parents must be in car rider line.

6. CAMPUS VISITS • Visitors are always welcome. • You must check into the office anytime you are on campus during school hours. There are no exceptions.

7. TARDIES and EARLY EXITS • A student arriving before 9:00 will be counted as tardy. • A student arriving after 9:00 but before 11:30 will be counted as a ½ day absence. • A student leaving after 2:10 will be counted as an early exit. • A student leaving after 11:30 but before 2:10 will counted as a ½ day absence.

8. CHANGES IN TRANSPORTATION • Please send a note with your child if they will not be going home their regular way. • If a change needs to be made during the day, the office needs to be notified by 2:30.

9. Math in First Grade CGI Math Problem Solving: Students are given word problems and are encouraged to show a variety of ways to solve the problems—through pictures, numbers, and words. Share time is when I encourage them to be creative in their responses, and the greatest learning comes from students demonstrating and explaining how they arrived at the answer. First grade math is taught and assessed with CGI Problem Solving including a Hands-on Approach with some workbook activities.

10. Math in First Grade For my sister’s birthday party, Alexis made 10 cupcakes. At the party, our family ate 7 of the cupcakes. How many cupcakes were left after the party? CGI Math Problem of the Day:

11. Phonics in First Grade Spelling Concepts Taught……/l/-family blends /r/-family blends /s/-family blendsfinal Consonant clusters 3-letter blends CVCe long /a/ CVCe long /o/ CVCe long /i/ Open vowels final Diagraph -ck Diagraphs ch, sh Diagraphs th, wh Long /a/ diagraphs Long /o/ diagraphs Long /e/ diagraphs Long /i/ diagraphs /y/ as a vowel Variant vowel /ar/ Variant vowel /ur/ Variant vowel /o/ /r/-controlled diagraphs Variant vowel /ar/ Variant vowel /oo/ Variant/o/ Soft /c/, /g/ Silent letters Phonemic Connection will be used as a tool to assign weekly spelling concepts. It is more important for the child to learn the concept than it is to memorize the words!

12. Writing in First Grade Writing in First Grade is taught through First Hand Writing and Common Core Frameworks, through a developmental approach which allows students to free-write about moments in their lives which brings more meaning than just writing to a prompt.

13. Reading in First Grade The table to the right Represents the district benchmarks your child must meet per quarter to be successful in first grade and be prepared for second grade.  These benchmarks are in alignment with the State of Arkansas standards, which drives our instruction. District Reading Level Benchmark First Qtr./October………....Level 4 Second Qtr./December..…Level 8 Third Qtr./March………….Level 12 Fourth Qtr./May….….Level 16-18

14. Reading Book Bags Book Bags: Your child will bring home Book Bags nightly Monday through Thursday. Inside this Book Bag you will find a folder full of information including a reading log. Weekly your child will receive new books on Monday or Tuesdays. Each week your child will have books. The first book with be a Fiction book on your child’s current reading level based on DRA scores and teacher’s observations. The second book will also be a fiction book that will be on the Districts Reading Level Benchmark, this could be a fun read for high readers or a challenge read for lower readers. The third book will be a non-fiction book , these books run a level higher so I will be adjusting the levels due to their difficulty. Please make sure all books and folder is put back into Book Bag nightly and returned to school EVERY DAY!

15. Poetry in First Grade Your child will bring home their poetry book every Friday to share their new poem(s) from the week. Read them with your child, as they may need help with some of the words, and then return it on Monday to get more poems added. Keep a poem in your pocket And a song in your heart. And you will start to see How fun poetry can be!

16. S.T.E.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics): • S.T.E.M. is: • The bridging of science, technology, engineering, and math to promote problem solving through knowledge, innovation, and the ability to analyze, reason, and communicate ideas. • The integration of science, technology, engineering, and math into real life problem solving situations. • Inquiry-based problem solving which integrates science, technology, engineering, and math using processes such as designing experiments, asking questions, and developing ideas to solve every day problems.

17. S.T.E.M. Projects for this year may include: • 1. “Build a Team Logo” this will kick off our projects and build our class groupings. • 2. “Eating all the Parts of a Plant” Parent night: September 23rd • 3. “Animals Survival and their Offspring” Animal Museum will be on display at P/T Conferences. • 4. “To Market, To Market” Parent night: December 16th • 5. “Colorful Vibrations” Musical and Light Show: February 24th • 6. “Wizard of Oz/Severe Weather • 7. “Cinderella, Around the World in a Glass Slipper” in connection with Mothers’ Day • 8. “Earth’s Place in the Universe”

18. Homework Homework is NOT assigned to cause you hardship, it is to keep you as parents informed on what and how your child is doing in class. Helpful Homework Tips: Read out of Book Bag Nightly, Review Daily Math Practice Sheets and Study Weekly Phonics Concept.

19. Grades in First Grade Reading Grade will be based a checklist that includes DRA scores, leveled readers, and your child’s overall reading abilities. Math Grade will include based on the new Report Card Checklist. Language Arts Grade will include literacy, spelling, and writing based on the new Report Card Checklist. You are receiving a copy of our new Report Card tonight!

20. Daily Communication Folders Attached Calendar with Events for the week and Daily behavior is charted. Front pocket is for important papers going home. This folder is our “communication link” with each other - please sign it nightly and return it. Back pocket is for daily papers completed in class

21. Behavior Warnings are given prior to any flag being pulled, I am not a fan of taking recess away from students, but I am required to get so many things taught every single day that it is important to minimize classroom disruptions. Yellow Penalty Flags require loss of recess time, 5 minutes…. Brief Reason will be put on Behavior Chart Red Penalty Flags require loss of recess time, 15 minutes … with a more detailed note home and/or phone call made explaining what happened during the day.

22. Thank You for Attending Open House & Parent Night