STAR Binder: (STAR-Students Taking Active Responsiblity)
This year your child will have a STAR Binder that they will be responsible
for brining home each night and returning to school the following day. This
binder will contain important information as well as homework that will need
to be completed. It is very important that this binder be taken care of as
it is the key to our parent teacher communication each day.
Reading: It is important to read every night for at least 15-20 minutes. A
readng log will be sent home in the STAR binder and your child is required to
fill up at least one reading log per month. It is part of the report card
assessment that the student reads at home. After I have been able to assess
each student and meet with them in reading groups I will send home leveled
readers to practice at home. This can be the 15-20 mins. of reading for that
night and please list it on the reading log. Also please be considerate of my
small collection of reading material and take care of the books I send home
and return it the next day for someone else to enjoy. Please list books from
home, the school library, or even books I send home on the reading log.
Math: We have wonderful math series Everyday Math. It is a very
exciting program that we are so fortunate to have. It is a very intensive
math program that has daily homework built in. It is so imperitive that your
child is doing the homework and returning it the next day. We will go over
the homework everyday and use it to build prior knowledge for the next
lesson. Also included in this series are math facts. Our district and state
requires math facts be taught in first grade. It is crucial to your child's
mathmatical future that they begin to grasp math facts early. We will work
on sums to 10 using math triangles or fact families. Example of a fact
family is 3,5,8: (3+5=8, 5+3=8, 8-3=5, 8-5=3). Also please visit the
Everyday Math website to practice games online at home.
everydaymathonline.com
Spelling: This year I will be using Words Their Way spelling. It is a
indiviaualized spelling program that targets your child's specific learning
needs and spelling lists are tailored to meet the current level.
Sight Words: Building a sight word vocabulary is a key element in the reading
success your child will experience in first grade. Each nine weeks your
child is assessed over 25 frequently used words for first grade. A list will
be sent home so that you may practice. In class I introduce 5 new words each
week and we study them in various ways throughout that week before they are
placed on the word wall. After a word has been placed on our word wall your
child is held accountable for being able to read and use the words correctly
in daily writing workshop and reading activities.