News From Our Classroom

This is a printed copy of the front page of my blog:       www.mrsdgr1.blogspot.com 
A blog is an online place that I use to provide information about our class that I update weekly.  I have tried to include useful information about which you might have question using the different tabs of this blog:  The Newsletter which is the front page of the blog;  Sites & Links useful to first graders;  Important dates and events; helpful Parent Information about working with this age learner; Classroom Rules;  Homework for the week; Web Sites we will use this week; iPad Apps we will use this week.

    
          Hello. Welcome to First Grade.  My name is Mrs. DeCarolis , though the kids call me "Mrs. D.".  I will be your child's first grade teacher for the 2014 - 2015 school year.  I am married, and have one child of my own.  Her name is Emily, and she is a senior in college this year!  In fact, I am writing this newsletter early Saturday morning because my weekend is filled with getting her packed and taking her back to Lesley University where she is majoring in "Design" with an English minor.   This is both a proud and a sad time for me, since it is Emily's intention to stay in the Boston area to work (hopefully she finds a job!) once she graduates, so she will only be coming back to Bethel for visits, now.  It's hard to let your "baby" go, even though she has become a very capable adult.   I tell you this so you will know that I have experienced first hand all of those "parent" emotions, worries, and pride that go along with having and raising children.  It is my pleasure to have your child in my care this year, and I give you my promise that I will do all in my power to help him or her learn and flourish this year!

         We're off to a pretty good start, though the heat wave we just experienced did make coming back to school a little harder.  We all wanted to be somewhere cool, and that was NOT this school building! Despite the heat, we did our best to settle in, get to know one another a little, and begin to learn the routines associated with First Grade.
         I apologize for not getting our "specials" schedule off to you until Friday's folder.  I meant to include it in Wednesday's "stack", but it was lost among the piles until one of the girls mentioned that she didn't have sneakers for gym because she didn't know it was our "special" on Fridays.  As you can see by the schedule, we have "Library" on Mondays, so September 8th will be our first visit.  On that day, Mrs. Raymond will let each child take a book for the week.  These books should go home on Monday, and I suggest (from experience) that we attempt to get them back to school by Friday so we will be able to return them on Monday.  (It's hard to remember them over a weekend.)  We have a place in our room where we can store them until they are to be returned, if you wish to send them back early.  If you have set aside a spot in your home where your child can safely store his or her school "things", this would be a good chance to develop the habit of putting a library book in that spot after your child is done "reading" it.  That way, he or she learns to go to that spot to find the book when it needs to be returned.   Having a special place where school things go will save you both HOURS of looking for things your child needs to return to school.   Thanks for helping him or her develop this organizational strategy.
        Our class is paired with Mrs. Jerome's 4th graders for "Reading Buddies".   We actually met Mrs. Jerome's class on the first day of school when they came down to play "Go Fish" with us.  We will see them again this coming Tuesday for more "Go Fish",  and then starting on September 9th, each child in this class will be paired with a particular child in THAT class, and we will start the "Reading Buddies" program.  This is a once-a-week pairing of a first grader with a fourth grader who will read stories with or to the first grader for about 30 minutes.  Throughout the course of the year, the fourth grader does LESS of the reading, and the first grader does MORE.  It's a nice way to have your child practice his reading skills in a fun environment.  The program also does a lot to help "littles" and "bigs" learn how to interact in positive ways.   The fourth graders become very protective of their "little buddies", and the first graders have someone older they admire.  We try to be careful in our "pairing" of the children so that all learners benefit from the experience.    Our Tuesday "special" is Music.
        We have Physical Education as our "special" on Wednesdays and Fridays.  We ask that you have sneakers (WITHOUT black bottoms) available for your child to wear on those days, if not on their feet when they leave for school, then in their backpacks to put on before "gym".
          On Thursday, our class has Art for their "special".  It is probably NOT the best day to come to school in "Sunday best" or "party" clothes.  Mrs. Boles does have aprons which the children wear to do messy activities, but often supplies do get on clothes, too.  Most of it is washable.
          We will have a "share" time each Friday.  Your child can either bring something to school to talk about, or can tell about something he or she has or will do.  Please do NOT send in breakable or valuable items as I cannot guarantee their safe return to you.

          I will generally send the next week's lunch envelope and bus note home on the last day of the school week (unless I forget, in which case it will come home on Monday :{  )  Hot lunch price is $2.20 for full paying students, $0.40 for reduced lunch, and $0.40 for milk if it is the only item being purchased. (There is no reduction in pay for just a milk.)  Breakfast is $1.00 for full paying students, while those receiving reduced and free meals pay nothing for breakfast.   Bus notes help me be sure to get your child to where YOU want them to be in the afternoon after school.  I check your child's folder every morning first thing, so any note you need me to see should be placed in there.  If you need to send money in to me, feel free to reuse an old or discarded envelope, but PLEASE put your child's name on it and a brief message explaining what the money is for (the children usually don't know). Notes don't need to be in envelopes, unless you are concerned about the confidentiality of the information.   Please, please, please see that your child packs his or her folder back into the backpack after you have gone through it, emptied it,  and done homework.   I have a limited number of books, so I would appreciate the homework book being read that night, put back into its book bag, and placed back in the daily folder.  If this procedure is practiced every day, it becomes habit, and fewer folders get left home and so do fewer books.  This is another great organizational skill your child would do well to develop.  He or she is old enough now to be responsible for putting the book back in the bag, putting the bag back into the folder, and putting the folder back into the backpack.  This would also be a good time for him or her to put a snack (not requiring refrigeration, of course) into the front pocket of the backpack.  The children are hungry by 9:30, so a snack is a good idea, but they only have 10 minutes to eat it, so it should be relatively small, especially since they will be eating their lunch in about an hour.  We do not usually do an afternoon snack, though I will treat them every once in a while with fruit popsicles.  Except for the few days after Halloween, please do not send candy to school.  Fruit chews are fine, if you choose.  Please be mindful that Crescent Park School has to be a nut-free zone, as we have several children with severe nut allergies.  Thank you.   Oh, you may want to send a water bottle in with your child, at least until days get cool.  Although there is a water fountain in our classroom, the water does not get very cold.   Your child has a bathroom right in the classroom, and is free to use it any time except when I am giving a direct instruction lesson (of course, "emergency needs" can use the bathroom at these times, too).  Most direct instruction lessons don't last more than 15 minutes.  I do build in bathroom breaks throughout our day, but if your child is one who has frequent need, please let me know that so I can respond accordingly.  Thank you.

        Finally, throughout the year, I will be sending home book order forms like the ones you are receiving today.  There are several flyers included with this stack because not all first graders read at the same level.  One flyer is largely easy picture books, one might offer a mixture of picture and chapter books, while another might offer mostly chapter books.  I send them all home so YOU can choose what you would like for your child.  BOOK PURCHASES ARE NOT REQUIRED!!!!  THESE OPPORTUNITIES  TO PURCHASE BOOKS  is a SERVICE I OFFER to parents because finding books appropriate for a beginning reader can be challenging.  Most of these books are paperbacks, and many can be had for $4 or less.   Your child will change significantly as a reader during the course of this year, and this is an easy way for you to purchase the right materials for him or her fairly inexpensively.  If you would like to purchase online, simply go to www.scholasticreadingclubs.com and put in our classroom code:  DXM23 .  Your order will be linked to mine, and I will receive an email telling me you have placed an order.  If you don't wish to do it online, but you do wish to make a purchase, fill out the back of the form and send in a check made payable to  KAREN  DECAROLIS.  I will send one HUGE check to the company, and our orders will be processed two weeks faster than if the company has to wait for checks to clear!!!!   If you wish the order to be a surprise for your child, please send a note telling me that, and I will call you when the order arrives.  Otherwise, your child will come home with the books once I have sorted them.   The book order I have sent home today is due Wednesday, September 10th.  It should take about two to three weeks for you to see the books returned.  Please remember there is NO OBLIGATION to order, but do know that for every book you purchase through Scholastic Reading Club, they contribute points towards FREE books for our classroom.

       That's all for today.