Mrs. Latshaw’s First Grade General Information Packet - Virtual Learning 2020 - 2021

*Information is subject to change as our virtual learning environment is always improving

Thank you for taking the time to learn more about your child’s first grade year! First grade is going to be an exciting academic year for your child. In order for this year to be a success, I need your help and constant support from home. In this packet, I have included information that I hope you will find helpful throughout the school year. You may wish to keep it for reference throughout the year. Please note that this information pertains to our virtual learning environment.

Contact Information 

The best way to contact me is through email. My email is alatshaw@upsd.org . You may also call me directly at 484-938-8528. This is my Google Voice number that allows for confidential communication in our virtual world. I will return your calls and emails as soon as I am able to. NO concern is too small to contact me about. I would rather handle problems and concerns before they are too large. Never hesitate to call or email- we are a team!

 Absences

I will be taking attendance every day in Skyward. If your student is unable to attend live instruction, please mark your child’s attendance status using this Google Form.  If a student is not engaging in live instruction, they will be marked absent. If your student is marked absent, you will receive an automated absence phone call at 4:30 p.m. that day to remind you to fill out the Google Form (linked above). If you know your child will be absent on a certain day, please let me know so I can assist your child accordingly.

 Birthdays

Birthdays are a big deal in a small child’s life! We enjoy celebrating our students’ birthdays throughout the year. In the virtual setting, your child can pick a special way to celebrate on Zoom.  They can: wear pajamas, bring a stuffed friend to learning, have crazy hair for the day, or eat lunch with me. They will also get to pick a selection from the Birthday Choice Slide to be shared during Morning Meeting. Toward the end of the year we will take time to honor summer birthdays. A letter or email will be sent home later to those parents.

 Book Orders

Scholastic book order forms will be available online during virtual learning. This Parent Letter provides you with the information you will need when ordering from Scholastic.   I encourage you to take advantage of these affordable books by famous authors.

Our Class Page: https://clubs.scholastic.com/home

Our Class Activation Code: L77D3

 Classwork

Your child’s classwork will be posted under the “Week at a Glance” tab in Google Classroom. It is important to establish a routine that provides a special time and place for classwork to be completed. It is also important to help your child develop responsibility by allowing him/her to take a picture of their work and post it, or upload it on the corresponding platform. Your help may be necessary to supervise this to ensure these assignments are uploaded correctly, or emailed to the teacher. Please be sure to encourage your child to follow the directions on the assignment and to complete their work neatly.

Classroom Behavior System

With our virtual learning environment this year, it’s going to be VERY important to reinforce student focus, persistence, and positive behavior choices. I will be sending home an individualized motivation plan for each student called: “My Cupcake.” Please keep the laminated cupcake in your child’s learning area, along with a dry erase marker.  When I see positive behavior choices on Zoom, or demonstrated in your child’s work, I will tell your child to draw a small “sprinkle” on his/her cupcake.  When your child reaches a certain number of “sprinkles,” he/she can show me the cupcake (by sending a picture, or showing me on Zoom), and I will supply a reward.  After your child reaches 5 sprinkles, he/she will receive an award, and keep earning “sprinkles” until they reach 10.  After reaching 10, the sprinkles will be erased and your child will start again.

At 5 Sprinkles: Student Shout-Out during Morning Announcements

At 10 Sprinkles: Special Zoom Day Just for You (You pick one: Pajamas for the Day, Crazy Hair Day, Show and Tell, or Bring a Stuffed “Friend” to learning)

When we return to in-person learning, our individual motivation plan may change; however, we will use our cupcake and sprinkles plan as long as we are learning virtually.  If you have any questions about this plan, please let me know.

 Curriculum

Our academic curriculum provides the basis for all that we do in first grade.  Below is a brief description of the academic areas that we will focus on this year.Please note that we are adapting, adding, and improving our curriculum as we move to our virtual learning environment. For more detailed information, you may check out the district website.

 Reading

Literacy is a large focus of your child’s first grade year. You will see a lot of growth in your child’s reading abilities throughout the course of the school year. We concentrate on these areas of reading: reading fluency (how they sound when reading), reading comprehension (understanding what is read), sight words (words that cannot be decoded), and phonics skills . These skills are learned through participation in small group guided reading, word building activities to reinforce phonics skills, and whole group literature instruction. Your child’s reading will be assessed through teacher observation, sight word checks, weekly comprehension checks and Benchmark Literacy Unit Tests. Benchmark Literacy Unit Tests are given approximately every three to four weeks and are scored according to rubrics specific to the tests.  (Assessment may look different during our online instruction).

Throughout the year, your child will be reading Big Books, posters, reader’s theater, guided reading books, and self-selected texts. Exposing children to a variety of texts will help them develop word recognition skills and comprehension skills, as well as, a love of reading!

Your child will learn phonics skills through reading experiences, traditional phonics lessons and word building activities. Throughout first grade, your child will learn: beginning, middle and ending consonants, short and long vowels, digraphs, and r-controlled words.

Understanding what is read is an important piece of reading. Therefore, we spend a lot of time building comprehension skills throughout the year. The comprehension strategies we learn include: ask questions, identify main idea and supporting details, visualize, analyze character, determine text importance, identify sequence of events, summarize and synthesize, analyze story elements, make connections, make inferences, fix-up monitoring, make predictions, compare and contrast, identify cause and effect, and draw conclusions.

During guided reading, your child will read teacher-selected texts based upon their independent reading level. Students will be grouped with other students based on reading levels and comprehension and phonic skill needs. The guided reading, small group setting, provides an opportunity to enrich individual literacy abilities. Reading is the focus of the first grade year. It should receive as much attention at home as in the virtual school environment. Modeling reading with children is an excellent way to show how important this skill is and it is also a way for parents and children to share quality time. As the year progresses, your child should take over the responsibility of reading. You can still participate by listening and asking questions to check their comprehension.

In your materials bag you will receive the following items to support reading instruction:

- Text for Close Reading

- Fundations At Home Student Pack (coming soon)

- Fundations Composition Book and Student Notebook

- Dolch Sight Word List

- Composition/Writing Journals

- “Words I Use When I Write” Books

Math

The math program used in first grade is Everyday Mathematics. This program consists of 9 units with a focus on hands-on learning, learning through playing games, and responding to open-ended questions. The units of study are:

Unit 1: Counting

Unit 2: Introducing Addition

Unit 3: Number Stories

Unit 4: Length and Addition Facts

Unit 5: Place Value and Comparisons

Unit 6: Addition Fact Strategies

Unit 7: Subtraction Fact Strategies and

Attributes of Shapes

Unit 8: Geometry

Unit 9: Two-Digit Addition and Subtraction and Review

There are Unit Tests at the end of each unit.

*A Home Links book will be sent home at the beginning of the school year and must be kept in a safe place all year- preferably in your student’s learning space. Throughout the week, there may be a daily assignment from this book.

*A Math Journal book will be sent home at the beginning of the school year, but is usually a book we use in class. Please keep the book in a safe place, preferably in your student’s learning space, as we will be using it often in our virtual learning environment.

*A Math Tool Kit will be sent home at the beginning of the year to ensure your child has all the necessary materials to be successful in math while learning from home. Please keep the bag in a safe place, preferably in your student’s learning space, as we will be using it often in our virtual learning environment.

 Science

Our science curriculum involves several different units of study throughout the school year. This year we will be studying the seasons, living vs. non-living things, and the different animal groups. Some of our Science lessons may be delivered using an online platform called Accelerate Education.

Social Studies

In Social Studies during the first grade year, your child will learn about five units of study: Culture, Geography, Economics, History, and Government and Citizenship.  In these units of study, students will learn about many different topics including: family, community helpers, where we live, maps, Native Americans, holidays, leaders, goods and services, transportation, and various landforms.  Again, some instruction may be completed on the Accelerate Education platform.

Writing

In first grade we begin the year as an extension of the writing that your child did during their kindergarten year, and we work on getting their ideas down on paper. Throughout the first trimester, we work on improving their writing through adding details, understanding punctuation, and writing in complete thoughts. The rest of the school year is dedicated to several different writing genres, including journals, personal narratives, informational reports, and book reviews. Students write on a daily basis in first grade across all subjects. Students are expected to spell word wall words, as well as words that include phonics skills, we have already learned.

Handwriting

The first-grade teachers will utilize the Fundations handwriting expectations for the year. In the beginning of the year, we take time to review the appropriate formation for each letter of the alphabet and for each number from 0-9. Throughout the year we continue to practice our handwriting. Please encourage neatness when your child is working on something at home! You will receive the “ Handwriting Folder ” in your bag of materials, that aligns with the handwriting program we will be using to teach. Please keep this in a safe spot; preferably your child’s learning space.

Parent Group Emails

I understand that many parents are busy and have schedules that may be very hectic. It is my goal to help you in any way that I can. To do this I may send group emails to parents who provide me with their email address. In these emails, I will provide you with reminders, information about upcoming events/projects, and any other district, school, or classroom news that is pertinent to you and your child.

 Parent-Teacher Conferences

Parent-Teacher Conferences are held the week of Thanksgiving break. This provides the parents and teachers with a great opportunity to sit down and discuss the child and ways to continue to help them grow and achieve success. This school year’s conferences will be held on Monday, November 23^rd and Tuesday, November 24^th so please plan accordingly. Please be aware that our school policy states that ONE conference will be scheduled per child. Also, please note that our parent-teacher conferences may be held virtually due to COVID-19 circumstances.

Skyward

Skyward is an online grade book that teachers in the Upper Perkiomen School District utilize to maintain their grading systems. I will be posting your child’s grades in Skyward on a weekly basis. I welcome you to check the site frequently to track your child’s progress and contact me at any time if you have a question, comment, or concern.

 Report Cards

Report cards will be released each trimester in first grade to communicate how your child is meeting grade-level expectations, both in academic areas and in social skills. All students will receive an O, S, or N in all subskills. ‘O’ represents Outstanding, ‘S’ represents Satisfactory, and ‘N’ represents Needs Improvement. Please understand that “Outstanding” means above and beyond first grade expectations, “Satisfactory” means working within grade level expectations, and “Needs Improvement” means not working within first grade expectations. These grades are determined by both student performance and teacher observation.

Star of the Week

Each child will have the chance to be “Star of the Week” for one full week during the school year. I will be the first “Star” and the children will follow according to alphabetical order. Students will have this time to share at the very beginning of our Zoom instructional time, so please ensure your child is on time! I have attached the Star of the Week Schedule and specific instructions for your child. The children tremendously enjoy the extra attention, so I thank you in advance for your help!

 Tests

Tests and quizzes will be administered through Google Classroom or LinkIt. You are advised to check your child’s graded work by logging on to Skyward.

 Virtual Learning Folders

Your child will be receiving a “Virtual Learning Folder ” where essential materials will be provided for our virtual learning. Please make sure this is in a safe location. In the front of the folder you will receive a parent and student letter, a smiley sentence checker, a bookmark, your child’s clever badge, behavior management items, and the star student explanation and schedule. In the middle of the folder you will have important papers that are secured in sheet protectors. We will be using these as dry erase boards, and interactive learning tools.  Please do not take the papers out of the sheet protectors. In the back of the folder, you will find crafts and assignments that will be used during the first few weeks of virtual learning.

I look forward to working closely with you to ensure a very enjoyable, successful year for your child. Thank you in advance for your support!

Thank you for all that you do!

Mrs. Audrey Latshaw