1. Welcome to Mrs. Eldred’s First Grade Classroom

2. A Arrival- Students are allowed to enter the classroom at 7:15. Any student who enters the building prior to 7:15, he/she must go to the gym. If your child arrives to school after 7:30, he/she will be considered tardy and will need to sign-in at the office. It is very important for the students to be in the classroom on time as they will have tasks that will need to be completed. Attendance-It is very important that your child be at school every day. However, I do understand that there may be a day when he/she will be absent from school. When this occurs, please send in an excuse note. Awards Day- At Stewartsboro, we love to recognize the students that are excelling in the classroom. At the end of each nine-weeks, an awards assembly will be held in the gym. You will be notified if your child will be receiving one and of the day and time.

3. B Backpacks- Each child will need to bring a backpack to school every day. Please make sure that it does not have wheels, as these do not fit in our lockers. Also, help your child to keep his/her backpack cleaned out. I do not ever check in the students’ backpacks. Behavior- Behavior is a very important part of first grade! We will be taking part in many exciting activities this year, and in order to continue doing these each child will be expected to follow all class/school rules! The rules will be discussed thoroughly the first few weeks of school. We will use several different methods in the room. 1. Class Dojo! This is an online animated system. Each student will have a monster. Students will earn positive points for making good choices and negative points for bad choices. The points will add up throughout the day. I will have this up on the big screen during the day where the students can see. At the end of the day, the student will earn a penny for every positive point, and will lose recess time for every negative point. Their money will be kept in his/her piggybank inside their desk. If a child is playing with their money, it will become mine again. Every other Friday, the Token Store will open! The students will be allowed to go shopping using their money. In the store, there are pencils, erasers, and small toys to purchase. If you ever have items to donate, let me know!

4. 2. Saddle Bag! Each class has a saddle bag that will go everywhere that the class goes. If a child does not follow one of the school/class rules, it will be noted in the saddle bag and a negative point will be given. Any teacher in the building has the option to make a mark in the saddle bag. Birthdays- I always like to celebrate the students’ birthdays! You are welcome to send in a special treat on your child’s birthday. Just send me in a note/email letting me know, so that I can plan for it.

5. C Communication- It is very important that parents and teachers communicate. The best way to reach me is through email- eldreda@rcschools.net. If you send in a note, please be sure to place it in your child’s DOT Bag inside of his/her DOT Folder.eldreda@rcschools.net Co-Curricular- At Stewartsboro, we have a rotating schedule. I will send home the schedule once it is set and in place. I will also put it on the weekly newsletter. If it is a gym day, please have your child wear tennis shoes. Celebrations- We will have several celebrations throughout the year that I will need your help with. I will assign everyone an item to send in and volunteers are always welcome to join us.

6. D Daily Work-During the school day, lessons will be taught and new skills will be introduced. We will complete all assignments in the classroom. If a student is unable to complete an assignment in the given amount of time, he/she will place it on their clip board. He/She will be given time to complete the assignment throughout the day and will be required to turn it in at the end of the day. If the students do not finish this in class, they will take it to LOP during recess. Students will only receive grades from their daily work, not homework. Dismissal- The school day ends at 2:30. If your child does not have an older sibling (3 rd -5 th ), they will dismiss out of the K hallway. If there is an older sibling, your child will dismiss out of the café in the front parking lot.

7. 7 DOT Folder- Each student will have a binder that we will call their DOT Folder! This will help keep the students organized. A plastic pouch (DOT bag) will be at the front. This is where you will place any money that needs to come to school. In the middle will be an agenda. Check the agendas nightly for your any negative points that were earned, notes from me, and homework. You will need to initial this nightly! These will be sent home daily and should be returned the next morning. I check these every morning for money, homework, and notes. 7

8. E Estimation Jar-Each week our estimation jar will come home with one of our students. Parents will fill the jar with small items, ex. erasers, individually wrapped candy, seasonal items…and then each Friday the students will guess how many items are in the jar. It is always great to see how their estimation skills improve by the end of the year. We also work on various math skills on Friday when we count the items. Thanks in advance for your help with this! Emergencies- Please always keep myself and the office updated on phone numbers to call just in case there is an emergency at school. Email- eldreda@rcschools.net! A great way for me to send out class reminders is through email. Please make sure that I have your email address today!

9. F Field Trips- We will go on several field trips this year! I will do my very best to send the permission notes home to you in a timely manner. When you receive these notes, please make note of the day, sign the permission slip, and send in the note and money in a sealed envelope or baggie labeled with your child’s name and what it’s for. This will help me in organizing the trip and getting everything turned into the office. I also reserve the right to ask that a child not be able to attend the trip without a parent who continues to not follow classroom rules. I always love to have parents join us.

10. G Graded papers- Papers will come home every day. When papers come home, please review the ones that are incorrect. These do not need to be returned unless it is marked on the paper. Tests will come with a stamp for you to sign and return. I will keep these on file in the classroom. Grade scale- 1- student is beginning to develop the standard, not able to produce grade level work 2- student is progressing towards the standard, producing grade level work with teacher assistance 3- student is meeting the grade level standard and producing grade level work 4- student is exceeding the grade level standard and is producing quality work consistently

11. H Homework-I feel that homework is a time for parents to spend time with his/her child. Children need to see that their parents are interested and involved with his/her schoolwork. Homework will always be a review of a skill that has already been taught and I feel that the class needs to review. Please assist your child with the work that comes home, this will help him/her the next day in class with a better understanding of the skill. There will be a pocket in each child’s DOT Folder that will have the homework listed for each night. The homework will need to be completed nightly on the homework page in the DOT Folder. Your child will also have nightly reading! By working and practicing with your child at home, your child will progress! Students will take their homework to LOP if it is not completed.

12. I Illness- If your child has an illness and needs to be absent from school, please send in a note. Ice Cream- First Graders are only allowed to purchase ice cream from the café on Fridays. Ice Cream is $0.50. You may send the money in a baggie labeled with your child’s name.

13. J Journals-Each child will have a journal that we will write in daily! I will give the class a topic/writing prompt each day to begin their writing. Students will be given time in the classroom to complete their writing. The journals are a great way to monitor each child’s writing progress throughout the year. These will be sent home at the end of the year.

14. K Kindness! We will work all year long on kindness. I feel that my job is to not only teach your child the curriculum, but to also teach him/her how to treat others. We will learn to treat others as you would want to be treated.

15. L Lunch- This is a very important part of the day that your child will look forward to each day! We will eat lunch from 11:10-11:35. Please send in lunch money labeled with your child’s name and lunch money. Your child would love for you to join us for lunch!

16. M Money- When you need to send money into school, please label the envelope/baggie with your child’s name, teacher, and what the money is for. Morning Meeting- Every morning, we will come together on the carpet for our morning meeting. We will discuss the plans for the day, anything that happened special the night before, complete the calendar board, and review skills.

17. N Newsletters- These will come home every Friday filled with lots of information! I will include the next weeks skills, co-curricular rotations, wish list items, and class updates. Please always check these out! Notes- If you need to send in a note, please put it in the DOT Bag of your child’s DOT Folder or write in the agenda! I will check there every morning for notes/money. I will address the issue on your note and respond to you.

18. O Online Activities- Students will be on the computer daily at school- sometimes individually in our classroom, in the computer lab, and sometimes whole group. Computers are a wonderful tool for me to use in the classroom. I have updated my links page on my webpage with activities that you can use at home with your child. Outside time- I believe that children need time to run and play. My goal is to allow the students 20 minutes of recess each day, depending on the weather. Students that have negative points for misbehavior during the day will lose time outside. Students that did not complete all class work will complete it during LOP before having free time.

19. P Projects- There will be several projects that will come home this year. Remember that these will need to be completed by the student. Parents will need to assist, but all writing will need to be completed by the student. Please have these in by the due dates. Students will be given grades in class as they give their oral reports. Rubrics will be sent home with each project. Pictures/Photo Stories- I will be taking lots of pictures this year of the class. Please let me know if you do not want your child’s pictures to be on the webpage.

20. Q Questions- If you have any questions about anything, please email me or send in a note.

21. R Report Cards- This year we will be on a nine-week grading period, which means that the report cards will come home four times.

22. S Schedule- We will follow a pretty tight schedule. First grade is a year full of new standards and lots of skills will be taught. Snack- This year we will have individual snacks. Please send in a healthy snack for your child daily.

23. 23 Spotty- We have a class pet, Spotty. He is a stuffed animal that loves to spend the weekends at his classmates houses. Every Friday I will choose a friend that has had a great week to take him home. He will come home with this friend along with his journal. Please have your child write down in the journal what he/she and Spotty does over the weekend and include pictures. Please send him back to school on Monday. The child will read the journal entry during morning meeting. 23

24. T Transportation- Please always notify myself and the office of any transportation changes. The office requires a written note if there will be a transportation change. T-shirts- We will be ordering class t-shirts this year. The students will wear these on field trips and special days at school. I hope that you choose to purchase one for your child. Testing- There will be lots of testing this year. We will have benchmark tests that the students will do. These will chart the growth and progress of each child. Weekly tests, that test the skills that were taught that week. Flunency tests that will check the reading level of the student. I will use these tests to adjust the reading groups for each child and see who needs modified instruction. These scores will be told to you, so that you can address the areas needed at home as well. Toys- Children are asked NOT to bring toys from home. They are very distracting. I will not be responsible for broken toys or hurt feelings caused by them. There may be special days when items will be asked to be brought in to share. Notes will come home about these.

25. U U- You are very important in your child’s learning success! I hope that you will be involved in the learning process at home. Working together with help your child succeed!

26. V Volunteers- I always need extra hands in the classroom! Please let me know if/when you are able to come into the classroom to help with a bulletin board or with a small group of children. If you are not able to come into the classroom, but could cut/glue at home please let me know this as well. I can’t do it all by myself!

27. W Webpage- We have our own class webpage. You can go to www. ste.rcs.k12.tn.us, click on faculty, 1 st grade, Mrs. Eldred to find it! I will do my best to keep this updated with the current words, dates, and events. Your child will learn how to navigate our page at school and should be able to get on it at home. He/She can go to our links page to play games that will review skills taught at school.

28. X Xcited!- I am very excited about this year! I hope that we will be able to work together and watch your child grow and succeed!

29. Y Younger Siblings- It is best for the class and your child, that if you choose to volunteer in the classroom to leave any younger siblings at home. This can be a distraction to the entire class. Thanks for your help with this.

30. Z Zzzzzzz’s- Make sure your child gets plenty of rest. A first grade room is a busy place and you will probably find your child exhausted at the end of the day. Setting and keeping a bedtime is a wonderful gift you can give to your child. It will help them to be alert and ready to learn each day!

31. If you would like to receive text reminders from me text………. @mrseldred2 to (615) 454-9177