Hello! My name is Carissa Goodwin. This is my 12th year teaching with the Upper Perkiomen School District. I have taught kindergarten at Hereford for all 12 years.

I received my undergraduate degree from Bloomsburg University in Elementary K-6 with a concentration in Mathematics and a Middle School Mathematics certification, my Master’s Degree in Reading from Kutztown University, and have finished my Masters+30 courses!

I’ve been married for 7 years to my husband Brandon & we have 3 daughters, Bailey (6) & Finley (3) & Hadley (1). I love spending time with my family. We love visiting the aquarium and zoo. When we aren't cheering on Bailey at a softball game, we love to route for our Philly sports teams!

Thank you for taking the time to learn more about your child’s kindergarten year! Kindergarten 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. Below I have included information that I hope you will find helpful throughout the school year.

If you every have any questions please know that no matter is too small to contact me about. I would rather handle problems and concerns before they are too large. However, I ask for your understanding that during the school day my priority is my work with your children and they have my full attention. I will answer any communications as soon as possible but please understand if my response is not immediate. If there is ever an emergency, please contact the office directly.

• Class DOJO message
• email - cgoodwin@upsd.org
• phone - 215-679-4151 extension 3443

Absences

If your child is absent from school you will receive an automated phone message from the Skyward system at approximately 10:00am on that day. When your child returns to school you MUST send in a note that states your child’s name, their teacher’s name, and the reason for their absence. Failure to do so within three days of the absence will result in the absence becoming unexcused. If your child is going to be absent for an educational trip we ask that you fill out a form prior to going on the trip so that the principal can approve the trip and so that the teacher can prepare the work if necessary. All absence forms can be printed out from Hereford’s website.

Birthdays

Birthdays are a big deal in a small child’s life! We enjoy celebrating our students’ birthdays throughout the year. As a grade level we do not allow food items to be shared for birthday celebrations. Instead we offer two alternatives: (1) Sending in a “birthday book” to share with the class –or- donate to our classroom library in their honor or (2) Sending in small, non-food, item/goodie bag for each child (i.e. pencil, eraser, etc.). We have other special birthday routines that we do to help make the day special. Towards the end of the year we also take time to honor summer birthdays! A letter will be sent home to those parents!

Book Orders

Scholastic book order forms are sent home about once a month throughout the school year. Two to three different order forms will be stapled together with a parent letter. The parent letter will explain how to order books online. If you prefer, you may also send in a check and the order form to school with your child and I will order them for you. Scholastic does offer books by famous authors at very reasonable and affordable prices, but please do not feel obligated to order books. If you would like the books from you order to be a surprise gift for your child, please just send in a note or email me. I would be happy to help!

To order online: www.scholastic.com/bookclubs Our Class Activation Code: H48P3

Curriculum

Our academic curriculum provides the basis for all that we do in our classroom. Below is a brief description of the academic areas that we focus on in kindergarten. For more detailed information you may contact Mrs. Goodwin.

Literacy is a large focus of your child’s kindergarten year. A good reader is like a builder who is able to reach into a toolbox of familiar tools and pull out the right tool at the right moment. Like tools, each reading skill or strategy has an important use in the complex cognitive process of reading.

Assessment - You will see a lot of growth in your child’s reading abilities throughout the course of the school year. Their reading will be assessed by teacher observations, word list checks, Phonemic Awareness/Phonics Quick Checks, DIBELS progress monitoring, and Fountas & Pinnell guided reading level assessments. All of these tools will be used to guide instruction towards meeting each child's needs.

Interactive Read-Alouds/Shared Reading Mini Lessons - Throughout the year your child will be exposed to Big Books, posters, reader’s theaters, picture books, guided reading readers, and self-selected texts. Exposing your children to a variety of different types of text will help them develop a love of reading! Sometimes these texts will be READ TO students and reading strategies will be modeled, other times these texts will be READ WITH your child and they will practice modeled skills. Because understanding what is read is an important piece of reading, we spend a lot of time building comprehension skills throughout the year that include: ask questions, identify main idea and support 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 and inferences, compare and contrast, identify cause and effect, and draw conclusions.

Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Word Study - Your child will learn skills through reading experiences, traditional lessons and word building activities. Throughout kindergarten your child will review and learn: listening, rhyme recognition/production, word discrimination, concepts of words/sentences, blending and segmenting syllables, onset and rime. identifying initial, medial, and ending sounds, blending and segmenting phonemes, and sound substitutions.

Small Group Instruction/Guided Reading - All kindergarten students will participate in small group reading instruction as a part of our schedule. We call this time in our day "Target Time" as it is "targeted" to their needs. Students will complete literacy activities that target specific skills that are needed for your child’s reading development at independent centers or through teacher guided reading.

Writing - A child’s literacy development is dependent on the interconnection between reading and writing. Basically put: reading affects writing and writing affects reading. In kindergarten we "Kid Write" and this type of writing offers personal, meaningful, and effective opportunities for phonics instruction. Children are encourage to write about what interests them and the teacher then reinforces the strengths of what students have put on the paper. Mini-lessons are also taught throughout the year to model skills such as capitalization, sentence development and structure, and ending punctuation.

Since reading is the focus of the kindergarten year, it should receive as much attention at home as in school. Modeling reading with children is an excellent way to show how important this skill is and 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.

Dismissal/Parent Pick-Up

If your child will NOT be taking the bus on a particular day and you will be picking up your child, whether early or at the end of the regular school day, a note must be sent in with your child that morning. The note should indicate who will be picking up your child. Please note that photo ID is now required when picking students up.

Family Situations

Please keep me informed of any important experiences that may be affecting your child’s education, such as: illness in the family, conflicts, loss of a pet, etc. Although I am interested in anything that could be affecting your child, it is not necessary for you to reveal personal information. Please know that anything you do say will be kept in the strictest confidence.

Field Trips

Each year we take a field trip. Students LOVE field trips and they are a great way to explore the curriculum in a different environment. Permission slips will be sent home when field trips are scheduled. All field trip permission slips must be returned in order for children to attend. PTFS sponsors our field trips but sometimes there are additional fees required. If there is a situation preventing you from obtaining the funds required in a timely manner, please, let me know as soon as possible.

Handwriting

Kindergarten utilizes the Handwriting Without Tears handwriting expectations. We will take time to learn the appropriate formation for each letter of the alphabet and for each number from 0-9. In the beginning of the year, the correct letter and number formations will be sent home for your reference. I recommend keeping this in a location near where homework will be completed. Just as we will continually review and practice our handwriting in the classroom, please encourage neatness when your child is working on something at home.

Holidays

Holidays will be talked about and celebrated in our classroom as noted on the school calendar. At the beginning of each year, I will ask if there are any students that do not celebrate any/all holidays and we will be sensitive to this as a class during our year.

Homework

Your child’s homework will come home each week in the form of a packet. These packets are due back to school the following Monday, allowing a full week to complete the tasks. It is important to establish a routine that provides a special time and place for homework to be completed. It is also important to help your child develop responsibility by allowing him/her to put all work and materials in their school bag to return to school. Your help may be necessary to supervise this to ensure papers are placed in the proper spot. Please be sure to encourage your child to follow the directions on the homework and to complete their work neatly.

Homework Folders

Your child will be using a “Homework Folder” to keep track of all of the papers they need to keep at home, as well as those they need to return to school. This folder needs to be checked and returned to school on a daily basis. The side marked “Return to School” is where papers will be transported that you will need to check, possibly sign, and then return to school. The “Keep at Home” side is for papers that may be kept at home after you are done looking at them. I ask that you check this folder daily as it will help you get a perspective of what we are working on in our classroom on a daily basis. Reinforcing the concepts and strategies you see in their folder can only strengthen their learning!

*ALL notes, forms, book orders, and lunch envelopes should be put in this folder as I will check the folder each morning when I check in with your child.

Newsletters

I will send home weekly newsletters every Friday. Newsletters will provide information of what we will be covering in our academics for the upcoming week, what Specials the students will have so they can be prepared, and any other important reminders or information that may need to be shared.

Parent-Teacher Conferences

Parent-Teacher Conferences are held twice a year. The first conferences are held the week of Thanksgiving Break. These meetings provide parents and teachers the opportunity to sit down and discuss each child and ways to continue to help them continue to grow and meet success. These conferences are mandatory so please plan accordingly. Conference papers will be sent home several weeks prior to conferences. Hereford teachers take special care to try and plan conferences based on the family’s preferences and the siblings they have in our building. Our school policy states that ONE conference will be scheduled per child. The second set of conferences will happen in March and will be by request only. These requests can come from either the teacher or the parent.

Reading Logs

At Hereford Elementary we send home monthly reading logs. Due dates for these reading logs will be marked on the school calendar as well as weekly newsletters. Students who complete their reading logs will be able to participate in special activities throughout the year! Students are required to read 20 days out of the month. They are then required to share about their reading with 5 people.

Report Cards

Report cards will be issued in trimesters to communicate how your children are meeting grade-level expectations, both in academic areas and in social skills. All students will receive an S, D, L, NE in all subskills.

‘S’ Secure - consistently demonstrates skill

'D' Developing- intermittently demonstrates skill

'L' Limited- minimal demonstration of skill

'NE' Not Evident- has not begun to demonstrate skill

These grades are determined by both student performance and teacher observation.

Sight Words

Sight words are words that are recognized “on sight” without having to be sounded out, or words that are taught as whole words because they are irregular or unusual, as opposed to being learned through phonics.

Below you will find some “fun” suggestions on how to practice sight words with your child. The internet may also offer other exciting ways to practice these words! Again, is it important to study these words every night, as they are crucial to your child’s reading development.

This year the words your child is expected to master in kindergarten will be introduced through 'Rainbow Word Lists'. THe 92 required words are broken into chunks of 12-14. All students will begin with the 'Red Words' and will progress at their own individual pace through the words. Please contact Mrs. Goodwin with any additional questions or concerns!

How to Study Sight Words

Have your child write each word in “rainbow” (using a different color for each letter)

Write their sight words on index cards and use them as flashcards, hide them around the house, etc.

Write the words in sentences and have your child read the sentences

Play Hangman with the sight words

Have your child read the word, then clap or snap each letter as he/she spells the word

Have your child locate sight words in our weekly phonics library stories

Time your child to see how fast they can read all the weekly sight words, see if they can beat their time

Create a 3 x 3 grid and play sight word BINGO

Students pretend that they are writing on a large chalkboard. As they say each letter, they “write” it as large as they can. After each word is spelled, students say the word as they “erase” it

Think of a sight word. Give your child clues to guess the word. When your child knows the word they must write it down

Spell sight words using magnetic letters or alphabet noodles or cereal

Skyward

Skyward is an online grade book that teachers in the Upper Perk School District utilize to maintain their grading systems. Parents will be provided with log-in information that grants them access to their child’s information. I will be posting your child’s grades onto Skyward on a weekly basis. I welcome you to check the site frequently to track your child’s progress and contact me at anytime if you have a question, comment, or concern.

Specials Schedule

Day 1: Art

*Please send an art smock to school labeled with your child’s name to wear over their clothing during art class. It will be returned to you at the conclusion of the school year.

Day 2: FLITE

*Fundamentals Learned through Innovation, Technology, and Exploration

Day 3: Music

Day 4: Gym

*Please remind your child to wear appropriate sneakers and socks to school on gym days. Not being prepared for class could mean that your child may not participate in the day’s activities.

Day 5: Library

*Please help your child remember to have his/her library book in school for each library class. A new book cannot be selected if the old book is not returned. Look for library book reminders on their homework logs to help remind you!

Day 6: Rotating Special

*This special will rotate throughout the year and will cycle through all five specials. Keep an eye on your child’s homework log for when their extra special changes.

Please never hesitate to contact me if there is any way I could better assist you and yourkindergartener this year. I look forward to working closely with you to provide a most enjoyable, successful year for your child. Thank you in advance for your support!

Thank you for all you do!

Mrs. Goodwin

At Hereford, we have four major goals:

to be safe

respectful

responsible

and kind.

These goals are referenced in all areas of our school, by all staff.

This is what being safe, respectful, responsible, and kind

looks like in the classroom.

In our classroom, we will use classroom DOJO to track behavior. We will focus on positive reinforcement by earning dojo belts.

•All students start with a white belt.

Although our focus will be to reinforce positive behavior, DOJO does allow me to communicate when a student is struggling to make good choices. Specific feedback can be sent to parents on areas of concern.

For the first half of the school year the schedule will be as follows, with the PM class having specials:

The second half of the school year the schedule will be as follows, with the AM class having specials:

Your child’s homework will come home each week in the form of a 'Weekly Homework Packet'. The tasks contained in these packets review the concepts being taught that week. They also serve as a way to communicate to you as parents what concepts are being worked on so that you can see it in action.

Homework packets are due back to school the following Monday, allowing a full week to complete the tasks. It is important to establish a routine that provides a special time and place for homework to be completed. It is also important to help your child develop responsibility by allowing him/her to put all work and materials in their school bag to return to school. Your help may be necessary to supervise this to ensure papers are placed in the proper spot. Please be sure to encourage your child to follow the directions on the homework and to complete their work neatly.

Homework Bin/Station

I suggest that you have a 'Homework Bin' or station at home where you can keep both your child's weekly homework packet and supplies that will be needed to complete homework tasks. In your bin you should have pencils, crayons, scissors, glue, erasers, pencil sharpener, and dice for math games.

"Read Every Day" (R.E.D.) Folders

Once the school year gets into the swing of things we will be having guided reading as a part of our daily routine. This is simply a small-group work time. During this time students will be working with teachers and also in literacy centers, both of which are aimed at improving their literacy skills. We start at the beginning in kindergarten but its not long until we are emerging readers. Once we have a good foundation of reading skills, the students will bring home weekly reading folders. These folders will contain a book that is written at their independent reading level and activities that can be completed daily with that text.

Homework Folders

Your child will be using a “Homework Folder” to keep track of all of the papers they need to keep at home, as well as those they need to return to school. This folder needs to be checked and returned to school on a daily basis. The side marked “Return to School” is where papers will be transported that you will need to check, possibly sign, and then return to school. The “Keep at Home” side is for papers that may be kept at home after you are done looking at them. I ask that you check this folder daily as it will help you get a perspective of what we are working on in our classroom on a daily basis. Reinforcing the concepts and strategies you see in their folder can only strengthen their learning!

*ALL notes, forms, book orders, and lunch envelopes should be put in this folder as I will check the folder each morning when I check in with your child.

Newsletters

I will send home weekly newsletters every Friday. Newsletters will provide information of what we will be covering in our academics for the upcoming week, what Specials the students will have so they can be prepared, and any other important reminders or information that may need to be shared.