First Grade Class Handbook 2017-2018 Mrs. Aragon Open Doors Community School Room 2
Dear parents and guardians, Wow, what a year we have to look forward to! I want to welcome you to Open Doors, and welcome the new students to a great place to be. This handbook is designed to help you and your student become familiar with procedures and expectations for this school year. Please take a few days to read through this with your student, and then fill out and return the student information sheet. This way I know that all parents have seen the handbook. Please keep the handbook somewhere you can easily refer to it in case you have any questions throughout the year. Getting to know me My name is Lindsey Aragon and I couldn t be more excited to have your child in my class this year. I was born and raised in Arizona and I graduated from the UofA (GO WILDCATS!!!) in 2010 with a Bachelor s Degree in Elementary Education. I have taught 1 st grade and 3 rd grade. This will be my seventh year teaching, and my fourth year at ODCS. I am married to my wonderful husband who works for the Air Force. We have 1 beautiful daughter together and I also have 2 stepchildren who I absolutely adore. Our family also has 2 small dogs! I decided to become a teacher because I love working with kids. I have worked with children my whole life, and I realized that I wanted to do something that I was passionate about for the rest of my life! I love the feeling I get when I am able to teach a student something that they have been struggling with, and they say Oh, now I get it! I am excited to continue my teaching journey here at ODCS for another year, and looking forward to our year together!
How to reach me: Telephone: (520) 744-2484 Email: laragon@odcs.school Positive communication between home and school is essential to a student s success. You and I both care about your student, and want them to do their best in school and in life. It is my job to communicate to you on a regular basis how your student is doing, positive or negative. Please feel free to contact me at any time with questions or concerns, and I will respond to you as soon as possible. I will make every attempt to reach you the same day, but I will always return your contact within 24 hours. Celebrations Birthdays If you would like to bring a special snack to school for your child s birthday, please let me know at least 1 day in advance. We will pass the snack out the last 20 minutes of class time. Please send snacks that your child will be able to serve him/herself unless you plan to come to school to do the serving. Holidays We will have several holiday celebrations throughout the year. Please let me know ahead of time if there are any holidays that may be a conflict of interest for your family so that I can plan accordingly.
Class Expectations Whether you think you can or you can t you are right. - Henry Ford I hold very high expectations for all students in any of my classes. I believe that what happens in my class affects your student s future. Your child s time here will be very well spent. He or she may come home exhausted from all the thinking done during the day, but I promise to make every minute count. I believe that every student can learn, please help me by encouraging your student, and reminding them of their successes on a regular basis. Research shows that when adults believe that a child is capable of more, the child will rise to that adult s positive expectations. Class Discipline Plan Our class rules are simple and based on mutual respect between the teacher, students, and anyone else we interact with. This year our classroom rules are: Listen Carefully Follow Directions Work Quietly - do not disturb others who are working Respect yourself, others, your school and personal property Work and play safely My discipline plan is based on the ideas of clear expectations for behavior in which students fully understand the consequences. Students will be taught to develop self-control and responsibility. I believe it is equally or more important to reward students for good behavior than to focus on negative behavior. My classroom discipline plan is designed to create a warm, inviting, and safe atmosphere from the first day of school where students feel comfortable to take risks.
Class DOJO In our class we use the program Class DOJO for our behavior system. Please see the separate letter and parent code for information on the APP and how to join our class! School Work Class work Students are expected to complete all class work, and it is to be turned in on time. I will always make sure to give students enough time to complete class work. Some students may need more time to work, and I will sometimes allow them to take the work home to complete as homework and return it completed the following work. Objectives Covered this Year: These are the main skills taught in 1 st grade that your child will be expected to learn: Counting to 120 (starting at any point, counting On and back ) Addition and Subtraction up to 20 including word problems Understand and use place value (tens and ones) to add or subtract Measuring, graphing and telling time to the hour and half-hour Identify 2D and 3D shapes, including the number of sides and corners Ask and answer questions about a story they heard or read themselves Identify characters, setting, main event, details and events Sequence events in a story Sound out hard or unknown words using sounds Identify and read 1 st grade sight words Read 1 st grade stories fluently Write a complete sentence, with proper capitalization and punctuation Write a paragraph with a topic sentence and closing sentence
Assessment 1 st grade students will be assessed (graded) in a variety of ways, including: Teacher records/observations Work samples Oral assessment Tests and quizzes Homework Why do I have to do this??? All homework is related to what we are working on in class. It is an important time for students to recall what they have learned in school, and reinforce new skills. Homework teaches responsibility and helps students develop lifelong study habits. It should take around 20-45 minutes each day to complete, including the required reading time. Homework will be assigned Monday through Thursday and will be turned in on Fridays to be checked. Parents must CHECK their student s work and sign the homework each night so that I know that the student s work is being reviewed in class and at home. Homework Responsibility Student responsibilities: Complete and return assignments on time Strive for the best quality homework possible Parent responsibilities: Provide a quiet place for homework Review assignments during and after homework time Encourage student to work independently on assignments Minimize delays and interruptions Demonstrate enthusiasm over work completed to high expectations Sign homework nightly
Remember, your student will rise to the expectation we set for them, so please encourage them to do their best on all assignments, and believe that they can! No Excuses Policy It is important to do homework, because a child s education is the most valuable thing they have. I understand that sometimes extenuating circumstances take place, and if there is a reason homework isn t done due to those circumstances, please write a note or send me an email and it will be excused. If a student does not complete their required Homework, including reading every night, they will miss portion of their FUN Friday time to make up the work. Attendance The more time a child spends in class, the more he/she will learn. New concepts are going to be taught every day, and we will build on concepts previously taught. It is very important that your child comes to school every day. One missed day will cause a gap in your child s learning, and may add confusion when they return to school. You can help by keeping your child healthy and scheduling appointments, trips, and vacations after school or during holidays. School begins at 8:00 AM. Your child will line up in the cafeteria. This is the perfect time and place for parents and children to say goodbye. Any students who come in after 8:00 will be tardy, and will need to go to the office for a pass before being allowed to enter class. If your child will be absent please notify the school office (744-2484), and when they return please send me a note letting me know why they were absent. Please refer to the school handbook for our school-wide policy on tardies and absences. I cannot stress enough how important it is for your child to be at school. I cannot help them unless they are here! Please make every effort to get your child to school on time every day.
Missing and make-up work Students will be allowed to make up work that was missed due to absences at home. I will send missed work home to be completed and returned and I will give the student help as needed when they return to school after the absence. *Please note that if students are late, we will do our best to make up the work in class if there is time. However, if your child is consistently tardy, then your child may have to miss a portion of his/her recess time to make up the work that was missed. **Please fill out and return the following parent and student acknowledgement page to me. This way I know that all parents and students have seen the handbook. If any issues arise during the year, this handbook, the ODCS handbook and our policies will be used to reference. Please keep the handbook somewhere you can easily refer to it in case you have any questions throughout the year. Thank you so much! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Student Name: I have read and understand the 1 st grade policies and expectations. I have talked with my child about these expectations. Parent/guardian name (printed): Parent/guardian signature: Date: