Dear Families,
Welcome to first and second grade! This is a very exciting year and we are looking forward to sharing it with you and your child. Our focus this year will be to create a community based on mutual respect that allows children to feel safe in their learning environment. As teachers, we will work to help all children learn and feel valuable and successful. We believe that children are some of the best teachers, so we encourage them to work together, share their knowledge and take risks. We also believe that children thrive when their parents are involved in their education and school experience. We look forward to a year of being partners in your child’s education.
Sincerely,
The First and Second grade team
Alyssa Johns: alyssa.johns@asu.edu
Beth Sullivan: elizabeth.a.sullivan@asu.edu
Johanna Aguilar: jaguila@asu.edu
Barb Esquivel-Garcia: Barbara.esquivel@asu.edu
Communication
As partners in your child’s education, it is important for us to keep the lines of communication open to ensure your child’s success. In addition to Individual Learning Plans, we will be updating our website weekly to keep you informed of what is happening in our classes. We will send an email out when our website has been updated so please make sure we have your correct email address. Please direct your concerns, comments, or questions directly to the classroom teachers. We are not available to talk with you during class time, but please feel free to call after school hours, schedule an appointment, or email us. Email is preferred for simple communications and we will respond within 24 hours.
Birthdays
Please do not send in party invitations, birthday treats or snacks.
We love to recognize your child’s birthday during our class meeting. If you would like to send in a book for your child to donate to our class, please send it on your child’s birthday. We are a community of 90 students. If you would like to send in a non-food item such as pencils you may do so, but it must be for all 90 students.
Discipline
We believe in a positive approach to discipline. In setting expectations up front, giving students choices, and using praise, few discipline problems arise. However, from time to time, students forget rules and need to be reminded of correct behavior at school.
This year we will be using green and red tickets. Kids can earn green tickets by displaying the six pillars of character counts: responsibility, citizenship, respect, fairness, caring, and trustworthiness. They can earn a red ticket by displaying the following behaviors.
1. disrespect, rude, unkind words or actions
2. disruptions during class, or poor listening habits
3. not following directions the first time
When red tickets come home, they will be stapled into your child’s take home folder. Please sign and return the ticket in their folder. Please feel free to contact your child’s teacher if you have questions or concerns when your child receives a ticket. Also know that we will contact you if the situation needs further attention.
Students will also be able to earn table points as a positive reinforcement when they are working well in their groups. We will be using banana bucks as another aspect of our behavior management. The kids can earn them by showing great behavior, winning at table points, doing extra jobs in the classroom, and being ready to learn. They can also be fined banana bucks for minor behavior issues or irresponsibilities. They will be able to use the bucks to buy supplies or to buy coupons for special privileges.
Homework
Our team has discussed homework quite extensively during our planning time. We believe the most valuable “homework” for children of this age is reading with their parents. Our experience has been that reading is often neglected when other homework is given. We are respectful of your time at home with your family and would prefer that the focus be on reading!
Each Monday your child will bring home a homework checklist in their take home folder. It needs to be returned each Monday and is a part of their grade based on completion.
The following jobs will be on the weekly checklist.
I read at least four nights this week for at least 20 minutes each time.
I completed my reading homework (see the website for the assignment).
I practiced my math facts (check the website for which facts).
I wrote a dialogue journal with someone in my family.
Some months we will trade the dialogue journal job for a simple book report. We will provide the form and it can be on any book the child worked on reading that week (picture book or chapter book). If it is a chapter book and your child is not finished with it, he or she can report on what has been read so far.
Snack
Please provide your child with a healthy snack daily. Please communicate with your child which item in their lunch box is to be eaten at snack time. Snack time will be in the morning. Please understand we will not be able to provide your child with a snack if they do not bring one. Lunch is not until 12:30, so your child may need a large snack to get them through the morning! If your child is buying hot lunch, please make sure they still have a snack.
