Welcome to Ms. Hurley’s First Grade Class!
Hello! I’m Ms. Hurley, your child’s first grade teacher and I am excited to begin our year together here at Alston Ridge. I am looking forward to meeting and getting to know each of my students and am enthusiastic about helping them grow and learn throughout the year. The following letter provides information about the curriculum and what your child will be learning as a first-grader, along with general information about classroom and school policies and procedures. Please feel free to contact me with any further questions that you may have. We are going to have a fantastic year and I am so excited to begin our journey together!
Reading
One of the most important goals in first grade is that all children learn to read and comprehend to the best of their ability. You are a very important part of this process. Reading with your child EVERY DAY for at least 20 minutes is extremely important. The Wake County Public Library is a great place to visit each week. Try to make it part of your routine. In our classroom, we participate in the Daily 5 to make the most of our reading time every morning. Please see the explanation letter to learn more about “The Daily Five.”
Spelling and Sight Words
Phonological awareness, phonemic awareness, decoding, vocabulary, fluency, and spelling are critical parts of language instruction in first grade. Students will receive extensive instruction and practice in these areas. As of last year, Alston Ridge adopted the Letterland phonics program. I have found it to be a wonderful program that the children enjoy. There are characters that go with the various letters and stories that help explain common phonics rules. The children relate easily to the stories, which makes the concepts meaningful and interesting for them. First Grade has decided to do away with traditional spelling tests, instead we will dictate a few sentences each quarter that incorporate both sight words as well as spelling patterns that we have learned up to that point. We will continue to study and work with a new spelling pattern each week, but we will not be sending home a list of words for children to study each week.
Math
The Wake County Public School System provides lessons and activities that are aligned with the common core. I will supplement these lessons with other resources and activities as I see fit. I am a huge proponent of children using manipulatives and other hands on math tools to help them develop problem solving skills. Students will constantly be engaged in solving problems, writing story problems, reading about math topics, and practicing first grade math objectives through various daily math stations.
Interpreting graphs is a large part of our math curriculum. We make and read lots of graphs throughout the school year. Other goals in math include addition and subtraction with story problems (showing how we found the answer), measurement, telling time to the hour and half-hour, and geometry (shapes).
Writing
Students will write each day as part of our Daily 5 literacy block. Students will also learn and practice writing during our afternoon writing block. We will focus on narrative, opinion, and informational writing pieces throughout the year.
Social Studies and Science
Social studies and science are also important parts of our day. There are fifty minutes set aside each day, for either social studies or science; therefore we alternate between the two with each unit lasting approximately four weeks. I will keep you informed as to our topics of study through my monthly newsletter. Topics range from Organisms and Balance and Motion; to Family Roles and the Economy.
Classroom Management
We have three rules in our classroom:
Be responsible.
Be respectful
Be safe
We will spend lots of time discussing what these look like at school to ensure all students understand their meaning.
I use a combination of positive reinforcement and consequences as my classroom management. Instead of using the typical color coded “stoplight”, I use something I call "Gotchas". These are simply small counting cubes that the students can earn for positive behavior choices. This could include acting kindly toward a peer, staying on task, participating in class discussions etc. Students will also owe “Gotchas” for poor choices. When they earn 20 “Gotchas” they will be able to choose from a variety of rewards. With this management system, I will not be requiring parents to sign a behavior chart each day. If there is a serious behavior concern, I will contact you individually.
Attendance
Keep in mind, if your child misses school due to illness, you must send an email or note for me to excuse them. They do not allow us to excuse things like trips or vacations to visit family. If you would like to apply for educational leave or if you would like more information about the county attendance policy please click on the link below.
https://www.wcpss.net/domain/41
Reading at Home
It is imperative that all children become aware of reading as a life skill – the newspaper, a cookbook, greeting cards, letters, etc. Reading at home could be you reading aloud to your child, you and your child reading together, or your child reading independently with a little help from you. Remember to never give up on reading aloud to your child. You are an important role model and your child can learn a lot from you!
Newsletter
To help us communicate about school events and what we are learning in class, I will email a monthly newsletter. If you are unable to access the newsletter, please let me know and I will provide you with a hard copy.
Birthdays
We do celebrate birthdays! Parents are invited to come in and read to the class. If you would like to donate a special item to the class in honor of your child that would be great, too! Books or games are always appreciated. (Please, no food!)
Outdoor PE
Our class will have outdoor PE for 30 minutes each day Students should dress appropriately for the outdoors, especially in the cold weather. (Coats, hats, gloves are required during the winter months.)
Book Club Orders
I periodically provide book orders from Scholastic Book Clubs. This is a wonderful opportunity to provide reading material for your child at a reduce rate. Once the flyers are sent home, you will be placing your orders online. There is a link to our class bookclub on our class website. This is a great way to earn free books for our class library. Scholastic is very generous with donating books and materials! Remember purchases are NOT mandatory.
Report Cards
In first grade, students will receive four report cards. These will be sent home at the end of the first, second, third, and fourth quarters. Please review your child’s report card when it comes home and then send the envelope back to school after track-out.
Conferences
I will send out a Sign-up Genius email during the school year to invite parents to sign up for conferences.
Extras
Please remember that we have snack time every day and try to send in healthy snacks. Due to allergies, we will not be providing extra snacks for students that forget. Please do not bring extra snacks.
We will go on two or three field trips in first grade. More information will follow. Email me or write a note if you have questions.
This year will be such an exciting year filled with so many learning opportunities for all of us. Please know that my door is always open. Whenever you may have questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to email ([email protected]). Although you are welcome to communicate in any way, I prefer to receive email or written note. I am looking forward to working with you and I think you will find first grade to be an exciting and enjoyable experience.
Sincerely,
Ms. Hurley
Grading Comprehension in First Grade
Grading Comprehension Skills First Grade
When grading comprehension skills, first grade functions as a transition between the supported comprehension in kindergarten and the independent comprehension in second grade. Because of this, the way we assess comprehension changes after the first quarter.
First quarter process:
Students can have a story and questions read aloud to them by the teacher. Students then complete the written response independently.
Second-fourth quarter process:
Students need to independently read a grade level appropriate text, the questions, and write responses independently.
If they still need the support as it was given during first quarter that would
considered as a level 2 for that skill.
Grading Comprehension Skills First Grade
When grading comprehension skills, first grade functions as a transition between the supported comprehension in kindergarten and the independent comprehension in second grade. Because of this, the way we assess comprehension changes after the first quarter.
First quarter process:
Students can have a story and questions read aloud to them by the teacher. Students then complete the written response independently.
Second-fourth quarter process:
Students need to independently read a grade level appropriate text, the questions, and write responses independently.
If they still need the support as it was given during first quarter that would
considered as a level 2 for that skill.
What does a level 4 look like?
Daily 5
(our literacy block and how it is organized to meet everyone's needs)