A year of Firsts Lisa Mosher Sari Diaz

A year of Firsts! Lisa Mosher * Sari Diaz * Raelene Toomer Tania Sanderson * Lauren King * Rose Lanetti

2020 -2021 School Calendar Due to Covid-19 our school calendar will look a bit different some days: • Remote Instructional Days (RPD): • These are virtual learning days for students and half professional development for school staff. (Kids will receive the class online) • Monday, September 28 th, 2020 • Monday, October 12 th, 2020 • Friday, February 19 th, 2021 • Remote Workdays: • These are virtual learning days for students and workday for school staff. (Kids will receive material to work at home these days) • Wednesday, November 25 th, 2020 • Monday, April 05 th, 2021

• Letters and sounds Make sure your child knows their letters and sounds. Say a word to your child and ask them to tell you the sound for the first and last letter in the word. Spell the word. Essential skills • Read and write numbers to 30 • High frequency words Make sure your child can read number words to 30. Practice the form of writing the numbers to 30. Let them show you different ways to make the numbers up to 30. Put high frequency words onto flash cards and play games with your child with 10 words a week. Challenge your child! Make them count bigger numbers until 150.

Reading • Read everyday for 20 minutes. • Read different types of texts: Fiction (not real information, it comes from the author’s imagination) and non-fiction (real information). • If you see a word that you don’t know: Look at the picture in the book, maybe the meaning is expressed there. • Try to spell it, does it sound right? Make a guess and check it. • Go back and read it again. • Get your mouth ready, say the beginning sound.

Writing • Practice writing 1 -3 sentences or more each week. • Remember, you must use capital letters at the beginning of every sentence and a period at the end. • Write about things you like! your pet, your family, your favorite place around your house, etc. • Spelling is secondary to content, it’s ok to make mistakes when we write, try your best to sound out the word and write what you hear. Let your mommy or daddy check your work.

Vocabulary • Research shows that vocabulary is extremely important in reading and writing achievement. • Speak to your child! Encourage him/her to speak in complete sentences (No baby talk). • Talk to your child about their interests! • Engage in enriching experiences: family outings, vacations, take advantage of programs through Parks and Recreation and the Onslow County Library. Visit to the museum (many museums have online pages and make online visits), to the aquarium, a river or the beach. The more your child is exposed to new and interesting words, the more their vocabulary and comprehension will grow.

School First grade comes with lots of changes as our students are growing, they will become more independent and confident of themselves. • We don’t have naps. It is encouraged to go to bed early to be well rested for the morning. • Cellphones or electronics as well as personal toys are not allowed at school. Teachers won’t be responsible for these items. • Students will have to use their short-term memory and be able to remember and follow 2 - or 3 -part directions. • Self control is very important. They need to build up their stamina and be able to sit for 15 -20 minutes and focus for 10 -15 minutes. • If your child rides the bus, please, make sure they keep their bus tag on their bookbags. If they lose it or take it off to change bag packs, they won’t be able to ride the bus. If you know about these in advance, please let your teacher know early so she can solve the situation. • Change of transportation? Please, this is VERY IMPORTANT: Let your teacher know as soon as possible. All teachers will need a written note. If it’s an emergency, and you can’t contact your teacher through Class Dojo or e-mail, you must notify the office and inform them of the change before noon. HCE only accepts transportation changes in writing. We can’t allow a child to go anywhere different or with someone else if we don’t have a note from the parent.

Social-emotional skills Our First graders are AMAZING! Our First graders are RESPECTFUL! Our First graders are KIND! Our First graders can EXPRESS THEIR FEELINGS TO OTHERS! Our First graders are NEAT AND CLEAN! Our First graders are ORGANIZED WITH THEIR BELONGINGS! Our First graders can FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS! Our First graders are PATIENCE! Our First graders are READY TO ROCK 1 ST GRADE!

Global and S. T. E. M v. Your child will learn about traditions around the world. v. The SPLASH program (Dual Language Immersion) helps us learn about other languages and cultures (which is continued from Kindergarten). v S. T. E. M Starters: we begin our day focusing on these topics: Science –Technology – Engineering – Math.

Teacher- Parent v. Your child’s teacher will send you a note with a date and time to meet for conferences. v. You should have at least 2 conferences with your teacher per year. v. Availability: Call your teacher after school hours or send a note or e-mail. Class Dojo will be available also for communication. v. We are a TEAM! Our mutual goal is to help your child SUCCEED!

1 st grade supply list 1 pack of washable markers 8 glue sticks 2 boxes of (24 count) yellow #2 pencils 2 pink block erasers 4 boxes of Crayola crayons 1 pair of scissors 2 plastic folders with 2 pockets 4 one subject wide ruled composition notebooks or spiral notebooks 1 K-2 Primary Journal Notebook (Pages are blank on top half with primaryruled lining below) 1 pack Dry Erase Expo markers 1 box of zip lock bags (gallon size) 1 zippered pencil pouch or pencil box 2 boxes of tissues Donations: (Optional) Ziplock of all sizes Lysol wipes Hand sanitizer Baby wipes Extra dry erase markers Post its (Sticky notes)

Thank you so much! We are going to have a FANTASTIC year!