Welcome to Parent Orientation

Welcome to Parent Orientation

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Writing Curriculum Writing Workshop: Mini Lessons, Student Choice Writing Integrated Writing: writing about math, science, reading, and social studies concepts.

Reading Curriculum Your child will receive small group/individualized reading instruction based upon his/her reading level and personal needs, along with whole group mini lessons on various reading concepts Beginning the 1 st 9 weeks, grades will be taken according to students independent reading level based on Katy ISD s reading standards Your child will take home a set of sight words to help build spelling skills, reading fluency and accuracy

Word Study The goal of word study is to enhance a student s reading ability, written language, and vocabulary skills. While students may learn words for a given test in a traditional structure, they are not always able to transfer the knowledge outside of the isolated spelling test. Teaching spelling through word study enables students to not only be able to spell words but to apply and transfer spelling skills to reading and writing, which requires more complex thinking and understanding. Therefore, the following expectations have been established for word study instruction: Relate to letters and sounds Break spoken words into sounds Blend sounds to form words Apply knowledge in reading, writing, and speaking Understand alphabetic knowledge, phonemic awareness, and vocabulary development www.katyisd.org/parents/wordstudy/spelling

Phonics Students learn 70 English phonograms, or letter combinations, to help them read and write words You may go to www.phonogrampage.com to assist you and your child in practicing these phonograms

Math Curriculum Students will be mastering various math skills through whole group, small group, and individual instruction. Students will be assessed during the mid and end of each grading period. Some topics covered in first grade are: addition and subtraction, place value, measurement, money, problem solving and telling time. The Fact Fluency program promotes mastery of basic addition and subtraction facts to and from twenty.

Science and Social Studies Science and Social Studies are integrated throughout the curriculum. Students will be covering topics such as: the human body, plants and animals, simple machine, life cycles, communities, citizenship, geography, Texas, and technology. In addition to classroom science experiments, students will also attend Eureka four times a year. You are encouraged to volunteer during your child s Eureka time. Junior Achievement introduces children to economic principles and will be taught during the second 9 weeks.

Grading and Reporting Beginning the first 9 weeks, students will receive numeric grades on mastery of all curricular skills. Each student will receive numerical grades for reading, language arts and math. Students will receive S, N, or U in handwriting, social studies and science. Students will receive an M, N, or U for work habits and citizenship skills in each subject. Grading Scale: E= 90-100 S= 75-89 N= 70-74 U= 69 and below Grading Scale: A= 90-100 B= 80-89 C= 75-79 D= 70-74

Reteach/Retest Policy Retest on major grades only: Math-mid and end of grading period test District HFW List (end only) OKE Sight Words Social Studies Teachers Choice activities We will average the original and retest grades, and limit the highest passing grade entered in the grade book at a 70%. District word study assessments will be retaught but not retested. Retest window is within 1 to 5 days at teacher s discretion. Retest will be administered once an opportunity for reteach has taken place. The option of retesting orally will be at the teacher s discretion.

Homework Policy Homework will begin Monday, September 10th and is graded for completion as an other grade (10%). Homework will be assigned on Monday and will be due on Friday. Please see the weekly schedule below: Monday: Sight Words, Read for 10 min. Tuesday: Word study /phonograms / handwriting, Read for 10 min. Wednesday: Fact Fluency, Read for 10 min. Thursday: Math, Read for 10 min. Friday: No Homework

Absences Students must bring a signed and dated note explaining their absence upon their return to school. If your child will be out due to illness several days, please call or email. Also be aware that students who are checked out of school prior to the end of the day will receive a partial day absence.

Transportation Changes Students must have a written note from a parent to make any transportation change. If you need to make a last minute change, please call the front office by 3:00 P.M. and the teacher will be notified.

Transportation If your student is a biker or walker in Kindergarten or First Grade they must have a note to be released to anyone other than the parents. This note needs to say that it is year long, or a daily note will be needed. All parents of Front Walkers, Gaston Bikers, and Highland Express Bikers and Walkers must have their blue dismissal tag in order to pick up their student.

Odds and Ends Tardies: Students are tardy after the 8:20a.m. bell rings. Visitors: All visitors must sign in at the front office with a driver s license and wear a visitor tag each time they visit. Medications: Please send medications directly to the nurse. Change of Clothes: Please store a change of clothes in a ziploc bag in your child s backpack in the event of a bathroom accident or spill. Label bag with your child s name and teacher s name. Book Orders: Scholastic book orders will be sent home periodically throughout the year. This is a great way to help build your child s library with age appropriate books. If interested you can order books online through the Scholastic website using the class username and password provided by our child s teachers.

Eating Lunch: If you choose to prepay, make checks payable to OKE Café and include your child s FULL NAME on the check. You can also pay online through www.mypaymentsplus.com. If you choose to pack your child s lunch, please remember that Kilpatrick is a peanut friendly school. Please avoid peanut butter or nuts of any kind if at all possible. Snacks: Please pack a healthy, dry snack. It is the student s responsibility to remember a snack. No juice or yogurt please. All water bottles (with student s name) should have a sport top to avoid spills. Birthdays: Parents may bring a store bought birthday treat for their child s class to enjoy after lunch (served during recess). Birthday invitations may be sent through the mail (not passed out at school). Be sure you consented to your child s name being on the birthday and valentine list on the reference card that was filled out at Meet the Teacher Night.

Odds and Ends Students will have access to the following online resources from home: DreamBox: through Katy Cloud (Math) I-station: through Katy Cloud (Reading) Reflex Math: through the Reflex Math website Information about how to login, usernames and passwords will be send soon by the teacher.

Contact Information Email: KimberlyAGonzalez@katyisd.org Phone: 237-7716

Thank you for coming to Parent Orientation Night!