Mrs. Bell’s class Room 113

1. Mrs. Bell’s class Room 113 Welcome to Moody Elementary School Kindergarten

2. Welcome to MES! We are so glad to have you and your child join our school. We are committed to providing your child with a quality education that will prepare him/her for a successful life.

3. Moody Elementary School’s Mission Our mission at Moody Elementary is to provide a safe, caring, and academic environment where lifelong learning is nurtured through a partnership among students, parents, community and staff.

4. What to Expect in the Classroom Educators no longer believe that all children learn the same way, at the same time. Education is an individual accomplishment. Research shows that young children learn most effectively when allowed to move around, investigate, make choices, and use all of their physical senses to explore, experiment and create. Today’s learning is real life, and hands on. Learning is louder than in the past. The children are talking and well as the teacher. Today instead of coloring the letter “A” a child may locate the letter in the room, create the “a” out of Play dough, or draw the letter with glue and pour glitter on to the glue. Instead of one worksheet after another, the children are singing songs about what they are learning or creating a real model of the item they are solving. Learning is now made fun. Look at your child’s classroom. Would you have enjoyed learning here?

5. My name is Mrs. Bell About The Teacher This is just to let you know a little about me. I am a former Moody student. After leaving Moody High school, I received B.S. in high school Education from the University of Alabama in Birmingham. My fields of study were biology and history. I taught high school science for 6.5 years at St. Clair Co. High School. I quit to stay home with my own children in 1999. I returned to the classroom in 2005 with a masters degree in elementary education. I have been teaching at Moody Elementary for nine years. My plans are to stay at Moody because this is home and I love teaching. Mission For The Class My mission at Moody Elementary School is to provide your child with a safe, supportive, caring environment, where children are encouraged to be risk takers in their education. I hope to provide your child with lifelong skills which develop a positive self-image. My mission is to do these thing with the help of the school, parent, child and community.

6. ARI and AMSTI MES is an ARI school. This refers to our method of teaching reading. ARI stands for Alabama Reading Initiative. Reading will be taught for ninety minutes a day. The children will receive whole group instruction, small group instruction, centers and mini-lessons. Our text is Harcourt, StoryTown. As of 2007 MES is an AMSTI School. Over eighty percent of our teaching staff have been trained in Alabama math, science and technology. This program is one of the forerunners in the nation in meeting growing needs of education within these fields. Our new text is “Go Math” Due to AMSTI, your child will have hands-on math and science education. Your child will learn how to solve a true problem instead of just mathematical sentences on paper.

7. Each day your child will receive education in the area of Reading, writing, math , science and social studies. Students will also be doing art and learning computer within the classroom. Alabama has suggested a hands on approach to teaching and MES teachers have been trained in this area. Your child may not bring home lots of worksheets. Much of what we do will be hands on or in journals that will come home at the end of the study. Some journals will come home at the end of school. Your child will have a Writing journal Math journal And several science journals. Some teachers will also have a poetry journal.

8. We will have lunch about 10:15 each day. Students are allowed to have visitors at lunch on Fridays. Parents can meet us in the lunchroom at lunch time. Please go to the office first. Others can come and eat lunch with your child with your permission. Everyone must check into the office before entering the school. Students will attend enrichment classes each day. MES offers Music, Art, PE, Computer and Library for our students. PE will be attended daily. The other will be weekly classes. Lunch Costs Daily --$ check the hand book for new prices Weekly- Monthly—depends on the month Ice cream is sold once a month..

9. Money All money should be sent in an envelope. Send a check or exact change. I can not make change and the school does not make change. All money should be sent in an envelope with your child’s name, the purpose of the money and the amount. Add my name in case it gets lost before your child get to class. Pin the envelop to your child or put it in their folder. Please do not tell your child to put it in my hand. It is safer in their folder. All money needs to be sent separately. Lunch in one envelope, snack in one envelope, field trip, etc. I do not open the money, I send it to its place. (lunchroom, office, PTO)

10. Your child will need a snack everyday. Snack is between 12:30-1:00. Cokes are not allowed as snacks. Please send healthy snacks. Hold back on the sugar. Sugar is hard on the teacher and the kids. It makes learning difficult. It is difficult to eat liquid foods. Please send a small snack, it is not a meal. Children need to be able to open most of their snack themselves. Juice boxes or pouches are best for drinks. Open mouth bottles spill very easily. We try to teach children to be responsible, this means that they will clean up their own mess. Snacks can be purchase at school. Children must be able to use the machines on their own. Only healthy snacks are sold in the school machines. School machines require a letter and a number to be put in for vending.

11. Behavior is a concern for all classrooms. I do expect good behavior from all students. Students will know the rules, they will be reading Bono goes to school and discussing the book. WE will have a chart that goes along with Bono’s lessons. Children will be on green for a good day! They can improve and be better than average and have their name put in the Bono’s heroes jar. If a child breaks the rules, his/her card changes color. The color is determined by the offense. A report is sent home each day. A code will be filled out on the date to let you know how the day went. Please sign this and send it back in the folder each day. Behaviors are explained in code on the chart. These are school wide to unify our behavior plan! We do take playtime away due to behavior. We do not take away PE time or enrichment classes. Students may also lose free center time on Fridays.

12. For parents: Your child is a big kid! School Starts at 7:45. Students leave the gym at that time. I will begin morning lesson at 7:50. All Children must take care of their own bathroom needs. Children need to tie their own shoes. ( I tie until Christmas) Children need to be able to use the vending machines if you plan to send money.

13. At time it becomes necessary to send students home early. Usually this is due to storms. Before your leave today I need to know how to get your child home if school should close early. Please fill out the form and leave it with me. Unless you change the procedure this is how I will send your child home. When the school closes I have to call every parent. This takes time that I usually do not have. A better way is for you to sign up for our weather alert on the schools website and then e-mail me so that I know that you are prepared. dana.bell@sccboe.org Any changes made to the way your child goes home must be in writing. I can not change it by phone or e-mail. You can fax the office or send a note with your child in the morning. I will not take your child’s word about a bus or rider change. This is for all days not just weather days.

14. I also need to know today, How to send your child home on the first day of school. • Leave at 11:30 first three days • Bus—You must provide me the bus number and the load. • Car riders you must have the proper Identifying papers or an ID. We provide the first ID. You must Purchase additional. I need to know how to send your child home daily. I need to know how to feed your child the first two days. Free lunch and reduced lunch forms will be sent home soon.

15. We will have special snacks and parties through the year. Grandparents day Halloween snack Thanksgiving meal Christmas party---send a book for your child to open Easter—an Ice cream snack End of school. Any item sent for school parties must be store bought.No homemade cakes, cookies, etc. Parents may attend the Christmas and End of the year party. We will have field trips. Students must ride the bus. Parents can follow the buses. Students must ride to and from the trip on the bus. I cannot make exceptions. This is a county rule. If you have a problem with the above parties or trip please see me later.

16. Every teacher at Moody Elementary has a website. On this site you will find weekly activities, a calendar, home work etc. Please check this weekly. All important information should be on the site or at the schools site. I suggest that you place both of these on your favorites. You will need to visit them often. In the past, I sent home weekly news---now all of that information is online. You can find my web site by going to Moodyelementartyschool.org and click under faculty. Find my name and click. Save it to your favorites or your desk top. dana.bell@sccboe.org

17. ? Questions?