Welcome to OPEN HOUSE! Maria Holland Batesville Intermediate August 26, 2014

Welcome Parents! Thank you so much for being here. Purpose of this meeting: To help you understand the work your child will be doing throughout the school year. To explain my expectations of your child. To share information about how you can support your child’s learning.

ALWAYS REMEMBER:

About Me Bachelor’s Degree-University of North Alabama Master’s Degree-University of Mississippi Hometown-Tupelo, MS Experience with children-VBS, camp counselor, pre-school

Family Lynn-dad Tina-mom Natalie-sister

BIS Goals Achieve 50 points in Accelerated Reader. Achieve growth of 1.0 or better on the STAR test. Improve fluency rates to at least 90 words per minute in reading and 20 correct digits in math.

ATTENDANCE IS ESSENTIAL! Please make sure your child is here everyday. If one person is out, we will struggle to meet our class growth requirements at the end of the year. * If they have a fever, please keep them home for 24 hours so the rest of us don’t get exposed.

In-Class Activity It will only take a few minutes… Write a note to your child on the provided index card. Write two or three sentences that will make him or her smile.

Educational Websites Here are several websites that are beneficial for children. Some are interactive and some you can be printed off as practice worksheets

Class Rules Follow all adult directions. Walk at all times. Use kind words and actions. Keep your hands, feet, and other objects to yourself. Use quiet voices. ABSOLUTELY no bullying.

IMPORTANT I stress to my students that we are a TEAM. Please encourage your child to work together with other students in a positive, uplifting manner. Let’s be awesome!

REWARDS Students will be rewarded for good behavior. They are also encouraged through “Good Week Tickets” and “Show What You Know Tickets”.

CONSEQUENCES ALL teachers utilize the 4 QUESTIONS to help discourage student misbehavior. The questions are: 1. What are you doing? 2. What are you supposed to be doing? 3. Are you doing it? 4. What are you going to do about it? All students will begin the day on GREEN! If anyone misbehaves, the 4 Questions will be asked and the student must move to YELLOW….This is a WARNING! You will be notified via the communication folder if your child changes colors.

CONSEQUENCES If the 4 Questions need to be asked a second time, the color changes to ORANGE and a classroom consequence will follow. silent lunch lose 5-10 minutes of recess time The 5 th Question will be asked at this point. “What’s going to happen if you choose to misbehave again today?”

CONSEQUENCES If the color turns to RED, you will be contacted and we will have a conference regarding the choices made. If the color turns to BLUE the student will be referred to an administrator for administrative discipline consequences.

COMMUNICATION FOLDERS BRING TO SCHOOL EACH DAY (Red Folders) INITIAL EACH EVENING DOES NOT COME HOME ON FRIDAYS. IF BEHAVIOR IS AN ISSUE ON FRIDAYS, YOU WILL BE CONTACTED BY ME.

Signed Papers *Papers will be sent home on Wednesdays. *Please initial the graded papers and have your child return them the following day. * You may keep all other practice work, foldables, and projects at home.

NEWSLETTERS Placed in red folder on Mondays. Should remain there all week for safe-keeping. Important information: * skills taught for week * spelling and vocabulary * important dates

HOMEWORK Comes home everyday except Fridays. Return it the following day. AR – 20 minutes per night!!! The more you read the better reader you will become. Practice spelling, vocabulary, and math facts every night in addition to homework! If your child doesn’t complete an assignment in class, it will be sent home for homework.

PROJECTS Not sent every week. Relate to what we are studying in class. Family oriented. DON’T WAIT TILL THE LAST MINUTE!

ACCELERATED READER Monthly goals will be sent with signed papers on the top sheet with your child’s progress indicated. Goals are set based on how well your child does the previous month. ENCOURAGE your child to read to increase their reading levels! Read aloud to your child!!! Classroom rewards will also be given for AR tests that they take. AR will be part of their grade at the end of the nine weeks. Work hard to meet your goal.

Cold-read Passages The students will be given a weekly reading passage with five to ten questions each week on second grade level. The cold-read will be taken as a weekly grade. When going over these with your child, please emphasize to have them look back in the passage and highlight or circle the answers. There are no surprise answers…They are in the passages. Review the strategy at home to always mark out the answers they know are incorrect and narrow down their choices. Circle key words. Testing Strategies become essential in second grade!

EnVision Math Program Teach from the Envision Program, as well as, use supplemental math program that touches on a new skill each day. These skills will be reviewed weekly all year long. Soon, we should have a way to allow you to access the eText online. Please check over your child’s math homework and review the missed skills with them. Let me know if you have any questions or concerns about the program or homework. Be sure to practice your addition and subtraction facts at home. We will begin multiplication after Christmas.

Ways to help study… Math facts- Create flashcards at home. Practice a few each night. They should be recalling their addition and subtraction facts out quickly. Reading- Have your child do as much of the reading as possible. Encourage them to be readers! Vocabulary- Create flashcards with the weekly vocabulary words on them. Have the students read through the cards as often as possible. Keep them in a stack and add to them whenever you come across a word they need to review. Have them discuss the words and meanings when possible. Spelling- Have students orally spell and write the words. Use the parent center next to the school. They have already made flashcards and materials that you can check out.

Get Involved! Please join the BOOSTER CLUB!!! It is only $5! It helps our school. You don’t even have to come to the meetings!