First Grade : St. John Lutheran

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First Grade Class
Welcome to 1^st Grade!
The first grade year is full of transitions for the children. They learn how to read fluently, write short stories, add, subtract, and so much more! As the teacher, I work to ensure that each child’s learning experience is an exciting and fun filled one!
Curriculum:
St. John uses the Saxon Math curriculum which stresses fundamental math concepts as well as computational skills. (In other words, the children learn the “whys” not just the “hows”.) For reading and language arts, we use the Harcourt curriculum. The reading has word building activities, writing portions, and also a basil reader story that the children use every day to learn both comprehension and vocabulary. Our language arts curriculum is enriched with the Saxon Phonics curriculum. It is a great way to reinforce different reading strategies that we are beginning to use during reading time. It gives the children shortcuts to help them decipher words while reading them in texts. St. John uses Voyage’s for the religion curriculum. This curriculum covers about 2 Bible stories a week, and the children get to complete skits, conduct puppet plays, and complete projects that coincide with each story.
Enrichment Classes:
The first graders enjoy several different enrichment classes during the school week. On Monday they learn new organized games in P.E. Each Tuesday they enjoy singing & learning new songs in Music class. Every Wednesday they love getting to test out their typing skills in the computer lab. Each Thursday they go to the school library to pick out a new library book to take home with them for the week.
Communication:
Each child receives a take home folder. That folder has their behavior chart in it for the month, and also contains any important paperwork that will need to go home to parents/guardians. This is the “carrying case” for homework that needs to be completed each night.
A newsletter is sent home every Friday night. The newsletter contains the spelling words, memory work, and the High Frequency Words for the following week. This allows parents/students that have hectic schedules during the school week a few extra days to work on spelling words and memory work to make sure their child does well on tests.
Assignments sheets with the tests and homework that will be due each night goes home Monday night with the child in their take home folder.

Behavior Policy:
Each child will receive a sticker at the end of the day. We all make mistakes and for the first offense, the students will lose 5 minutes of recess, and then get another chance for good behavior. After a second bad choice in behavior, the child will then lose their sticker on their behavior chart. As 1^st graders, the children and I discuss the wrong choice, and it is up to the student to explain to the parent why they might not have received a sticker for that day.
If I see a child making good choices, or going out of their way in order to help another student, teacher, or friend, they will receive a ticket. Once the child has 50 tickets, they get to choose from my treasure box that contains small Disney toys.
Encouraging Reading for Enjoyment:
The children have the option in my classroom to check out books from my own personal library. They are able to take these books home. Each parent has a form that they complete once the child has either read the book to them, or a parent has read it with them. Once the child gets 15 books completed, they move up an “army rank” on our reading system bulletin board and get to choose a Disney toy from the toy box.
What I LOVE!
I personally love teaching 1^st grade. I also have always loved reading children’s books. My children are read to at the end of each school day for ten minutes by me. I love watching their minds turning as they picture themselves in the story books. The great thing about having a smaller class is during reading time, I get to pull each reading group which is matched according to their reading level. I get to watch the children teach each other words or tips about reading! Also, each child is pulled once a week for 15 minutes and gets to read and work one on one with me during guided reading. It lets me as the teacher see where each student is individually, and allows me to work with them to help build their reading strategies and to build their fluency.