Guess Who Portraits

1. Guess Who Portraits • After listening to My Best Friend is As Sharp As A Pencil our class made self-portraits out of things that they like/are like • See if you can find your first grader! Names are under the flaps!

2. Teachers*Students*Families…. Together we can make good things happen!

3. About Me • Jillian Daly • New York • BC • B.A Early Childhood Education and Human Development • M.Ed Curriculum and Instruction (focus in English Language Learners) • Boston College Children’s Center • 5th Year in Lincoln, First in First Grade • Child centered, whole child learning

4. Communication • Website • Lincnet.org/page/788 (or teacher websites, Daly) • Static information, important to know • Blog • Live info, updated more frequently, photos, songs, etc. • Emails • Most common, class and individual, be sure you’re on my list and class parent lists • Phone calls • Less common, but protocol for certain things • Time sensitive

5. About our Room Parents • Ginger Reiner and Michelle Doyle • Provide a link from me to the family community • Collect and distribute information, i.e, directory • Organize collection of supplies, volunteers, etc. • Work with Ms. Daly to plan events that invite families into the classroom

6. Sharing • Birthday Books • Blondie the sharing dog • Mystery reader (later on)

7. Updates/Upcoming • New (to us) Classroom Assistant, Nancy Ponn • All School Meeting, Friday 8:25-8:45 • Class T Shirts • School Closed Wednesday September 23, Yom Kippur • Conferences, be sure to sign up

8. About First Grade • Still early childhood, we still want kids to • Become lovers of learning • Acquire tools for learning • Develop work habits • Develop Social Skills • These are essential to successful subject matter learning • In addition, we are increasing academic rigor as the students become ready

9. Have You Filled A Bucket Today? First Graders are Bucket Fillers! We all carry invisible buckets that have one purpose…holding happy thoughts about ourselves

10. Daily 5/Reading an Writing 5 Curriculum Guides Words Their Way Guided Reading Continued practice using HWT formation Everyday Math with supplements

11. “Take a Break” • Consistent “Responsive Classroom” language across the school • 2 ways to use a break, a teacher can ask you to take a break, or you can decide that you need a break • What to do when you’re on a break? • Cool down • Calm down your body enough that you will be able to rejoin the group • Volcano breath • Counting • Picturing a peaceful place

12. Morning Meeting • Morning meeting is a part of responsive classroom • Greeting • Sharing • Message • Activity

13. Yoga I am trained through “My First Yoga” check out www.myfirstyoga.com for more information Benefits to the body and mind Strength and flexibility Ability to be still and calm Ability to self-soothe, and calm down through breathing Savasana

14. Purpose of homework in First Grade To build a sense of responsibility Take it home, complete and return To provide some continued practice at home NOT to get every single question right/be perfect NOT to cause stress or upset NOT to take all night Should not take more than 10 minutes to do math, in addition to reading Setting Up for homework Help your child find a quiet space with the materials he/she needs Work with your child to build a homework routine What time will they start? Will they have snack before? Etc (consider picture routine) Homework!

15. What will it look like in our room? Reading (see next slides) A bit of math each night You will get a packet of math sheets from EDM and a menu Your child will choose 4 math activities for the week and complete one per night Return menu (with signed reading agreement) and completed work on Fridays I will not correct each piece, but rather look to see that it is completed and look for major misunderstandings, then return with a stamp/sticker/etc showing that I saw it Homework Continued

16. Homework Continued

17. The most valuable homework there is • Research: Undeniably, children who read at least 20 minutes a day do better in school long term Reading At Home • Readers are born on loved ones’ laps • It’s okay/great if part of the 20 minutes are you reading to your child • Reading behaviors are passed down in homes • Have your child see you read • Point out important people in your life that you see reading • Make reading fun • I will handle the “this is your serious job at home” message, try to make this something to look forward to at home

18. Reading At Home, part 2 • What will it look like in our room? • Every Monday the kids will book shop in books at their independent reading level and bring home a bag of books to use as part of their 20 minutes • (This ensures everyone has a book that is just right for practicing fluency and comprehension independent of teacher instruction, but you can supplement with favorite books from home as well) • Students will sign their homework sheets promising that they did their reading and return with their math work on Fridays

19. Daily 5, aka “Reading and Writing 5” Read to Self~Word Wall Work~Listening~Read to Friend~ Write About Reading (Comprehension) Reading and Writing Strategies and Skills Sight Words Behaviors of a Reader Practice reading Guided Reading Starts earlier BIG focus on comprehension at a deeper level Example of an F&P Question Writer’s Workshop Increasing stamina Increasing demands on conventions Focus on details Increasing experience and expectation writing in different genres Poetry collected and kept in class, unit of study in writing Words Their Way Word Sorts and spelling New group of words each week, based on needs of students Handwriting Continued practice using Handwriting Without Tears formation Language and Literacy (Speaking - Listening - Reading - Writing)Important Components of our Program:

20. Continued Learning Counting (expands to include reading, writing, using 0-120 counting from any number, counting by 5s, 2s, 10s, and 1s) Measurement Geometry (expands to includes halves and fourths of shapes) Problem Solving (number and complexity increase) Data (sorting by category/attribute, comparing those) What will be new Tally marks Counting Money Telling time to the half hour Math Facts (all facts +/- 0-10 by June) Place Value Mathematics Everyday Math, plus supplements from Investigations and Kathy Richardson

21. We focus on the development of observational skills, inquiry and building scientific thinking through these different units of study Science Weather*Engineering*New Life Science Unit

22. Getting to know one another Respecting and embracing diversity Sense of self, “Who am I? What am I good at?” Sense of community, “How do we all live, work, and play together peacefully?” Community on a larger scale (school, town, etc) Very early map and location skills Concepts about money, tied to math Social Studies Sense of self and community

23. Stickers/Happy Faces/Etc Invented Spelling Growth Mindset language Notes about Student Work

24. Grading/Scoring K-5: 4 pt scale: 1,2,3,4 for Academic Achievement based on meeting grade-level expectations: 3: Achieving 2: Progressing o 1: Performing Below 4: Exceeding Frequency scale for Growth as a Learner: Consistently Often Sometimes Infrequently Standards Based Report Cards

25. Children need sneakers on gym days, Tuesdays and Fridays Mr. Leahy keeps track, this becomes part of report card for gym Library books are due back on Wednesdays Children can’t take out another book until the first book is returned Please pack healthy snacks and lunches of a manageable size for small children Think fruits, vegetables, whole grains rather than processed snacks to give your child lots of good “fuel” for their day We are tree-nut free Scholastic book orders are available online, I encourage online ordering, but can get you a flier if you would like one! Important Reminders

26. Thank you for sharing your children with me (again!)! You are their first teachers and are doing a great job! They are friendly, polite, happy, curious, engaged and wonderful little people! I am so happy to have the opportunity to get to know them and to be a part of their first school experience Feel free to contact me via email, phone, or note whenever you have a question or concern or if you would like to set up a time to meet in person! jdaly@lincnet.org 781-259-9404 ext 2127 Thank you!