Welcome

1. Welcome Mrs. Blaine’s First Grade John Adams Academy 2013-2014

2. About Me -I have been a teacher for over 13 years. The last seven have been serving in the Western Placer Unified School District in Lincoln. Prior to that I taught in Southern California -I have taught every K-6 grade except 4th grade! -I earned both of my teaching credentials from Chico State University

3. What To Expect This Year • High Expectations for Academic Excellence with an emphasis on our 10 Core Values • First Grade will focus on learning our National Symbols • Scholars will have Social Studies with Mrs. Benson, Ancients of the World with Mrs. Lamboy and Science with Mrs. Blaine • We will be using the Writing and Spelling Road to Reading and Thinking using the Riggs Institute for our Language Arts Curriculum and Saxon Math for math instruction • Stay tuned for field trips. All volunteers must have TB and livescan as well as the driver packet on file 10 days prior to trip

4. Communication • Agendas that will be filled out daily, please check them each day and return them the following day • Daily Behavior Calendar, please initial and return • Email update from me weekly, please make sure I have your correct email address • Homework folder will have notes and forms as well as nightly homework • Grades will be entered on Aeries, you should have received an ABI number at Patriot Day • Progress Reports will be sent home each quarter • Parent/Teacher Conferences are scheduled for the last week in October and March • Check out our Class Website regularly on the JAA website • Parent Volunteers use Sign Up Genius for scheduling your class hours with me. All volunteer hours are to be logged on JAA website by you!

5. Agendas • Written in EVERY day • Homework & Classwork listed • Important Reminders • Signed EVERY Night and returned to school each day

6. Star Patriot • Each student will have an assigned week: • Scholars will bring home a poster to fill out neatly and with pride on Friday • Poster needs to be at school the following Monday • Scholars can bring in 3 additional items to display for the week and they will get a chance to share them with the class. This is the only sharing that will take place in our class. • Your scholar will bring home a completed class book with letters from other scholars

7. Behavior Management • Earn classroom tickets if they put their behavior card on purple • 5 tickets earns them a trip to the prize box • Nightly behavior calendar for monitoring individual choices, please initial each day • Learning and using the 10 Core Values throughout each day • Bucket Fillers earn table pom-poms for working together and following class rules • The table with the most pom-poms earns a trip to the prize box at the end of the week • Scholars who have difficulty following the class and school rules on a consistent basis will be sent to the Dean of Scholars and an action plan will be put in place. They will be monitored daily and your support will be critical in helping to turn their choices around • We are a very academic environment and scholars are expected to behave so everyone can have the best opportunity to excel!

8. Graded Work • Progress Reports sent home quarterly & report cards by trimester • Effort Grades based on our 10 Core Values • Grades will be posted on Aeries under the following categories: Writing, Math, Social Studies/ Ancients of the World/Science, P.E. and Reading • Assignments that are incorrect or incomplete will be sent home for correction and completion • It is your scholar’s responsibility to follow directions in class and complete classwork on time • Not all papers are graded but are used to drive instruction

9. Homework • Homework is to be completed each night and returned the following day: • Written in agenda DAILY • Monday – Thursdays ….Math, Language Arts and Math review sheet, Spelling and Reading Every Night. Students who do not turn in homework will see it reflected in their grades • Spelling will begin in a few weeks after we master many of the phonograms. Students will have 6 words and then they will build up to a list of 30 words. Several spelling assessments will be given throughout each quarter • Reading at home each and everyday for 20 minutes. Mid-year fluency passages will come home for nightly practice • Look for special projects and their due dates throughout the year

10. Absences &Tardiness • It is your responsibility to let the school know when your child will be absent, if you plan on being absent over several days a travel study request must be made two weeks in advance: • Make-up work will be sent up to the office in the afternoon if you call in and request it or when your scholar returns it will be sent home in their folder. All incomplete work that is sent home needs to be returned ASAP • Not all work can be made up • Call the office and let them know the reason why your scholar is absent • Send in an excuse letter for me to send to the office whenever your scholar has been absent • School begins at promptly 7:50 any scholar entering campus after that time is marked tardy. After 8:10 your scholar must be walked into the office to sign in and receive a tardy slip • After multiple absences/tardysa letter is sent home from the school/county • Remember, excessive tardies have a negative impact on student achievement

11. Other Info… • Birthday Treats- will be served at lunch they need to be individually wrapped (so far no known food allergies) • Snacks need to be healthy and labeled with scholars name on it when possible • Monthly book orders will go home, please make out all checks to Scholastic Inc. NO CASH ALLOWED or order online so we can earn free books! • If your scholar comes home with a traveling bag please return it to class the very next day

12. Thanks ! I look forward to working with you and your scholar this year. It is going to be a wonderful year filled with exciting learning opportunities! I can be reached @ Amber.Blaine@johnadamsacademy.com