August 26, 2009
Dear Families:
It is exciting to begin a new school year with your children. I have taught first grade for several years and enjoy the enthusiasm that these children bring to learning. There are many skills to be learned during this year and I look forward to presenting them in ways to catch children’s interest.
Feel free to contact me at school. I know that what I do in school may be different from what you experienced previously. I look forward to hearing from you. You can contact me through my blog. My blog address is www.johnsongradeone.blogger.com . I will post newsletters and volunteer schedules on the blog. You can also e-mail me. My address is JoAnn.Johnson@CESU.k12.vt.us. Once you e-mail me then I have your address. E-mail me with your address if you would like to receive my newsletters and volunteer schedules through e-mail. It has worked very well in the past. However, do not e-mail me a change about your child going home during the day because I don’t get to check my e-mail until after dismissal. I also have a telephone in my room. If I am not with children the office will put your call through or you can leave a message and I will get back to you.
Please remember to send a note with your child about after school care. We are given bus information for getting your child home. If they do not go home, I need to know where they go. I realize that this may be a change from day to day. If your child or I is confused about where to go at the end of the day, you may get a call to clear it up. If your child has a certain schedule like a Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, one note for the year will be fine. If there is a change to that schedule then I would need a note or telephone call.
I will write newsletters to keep you informed of how I am presenting the curriculum. In grade one there are many skills for each child to learn. I have systems in place to help make this happen. I will inform you of them as they get established. I start gradually with these newsletters so that none of us gets too overwhelmed with it all.
Responsive Classroom is used throughout the school. This program provides many resources for building a strong social foundation for cognitive and academic learning. Each day we have a morning meeting. During this time your child will be greeted and will greet other students. This is done in many fun ways throughout the year. The next component of morning meeting is sharing. Individual sharing will start the first full week of school, September14th. I will attach a sharing schedule to this letter. The next component is an activity. Here we take part in a fun game. The last part of morning meeting is an interactive message. This meeting is an important part of our curriculum. It occurs the first thing in the morning and all children should be here for it. When children miss out on this part of the day, they have a more difficult time socially and just getting a relaxed start to the day. It is designed to be fun and give children a sense of belonging and significance.
Children will continue Investigations of Number, Data, and Space. We use a work book that goes along with our learning. When these pages come home children can finish them if they are not done. They do not have to be returned to me unless I specifically ask for them. These pages give you information about what we are doing.
We will start the year off with the science theme of studying organisms. We are looking for Monarch caterpillars and watching their metamorphosis into a butterfly. This is a first grade curriculum theme and is a wonderful way to learn about organisms. If you should find any caterpillars with your child, feel free to send them in. I will only keep the ones in my classroom that I know how to care for. Monarch and Swallowtail caterpillars look very similar. They both have black, yellow, and green stripes. You find Monarchs on milkweed plants.
Snack time is an important time for young children. Please send in a healthy, nutritious snack each day. We have snack at 8:20 each morning. Lunch is at 10:45. I have attached a schedule. I have also attached a child friendly schedule of specials so children can become independent on what special they have and what would be appropriate to wear—i.e. sneakers on P.E. day.
I start parent volunteers in my classroom in October. I will send home more about this later. There will also be a volunteer retired person in my classroom starting in October, 2 days a week. I will be looking for a time when parents are needed the most. I would also like to post student’s names, addresses, and telephone numbers. If you do not want your child’s information shared, please let me know by September 10.
I am sending notices in the white district folders. Please send these back each week. If you wish to keep these folders at home due to the information that is printed on them, let me know and I will supply a different folder.
Sincerely,
Jo Ann Johnson
Sharing schedule
| Monday | Wednesday | Thursday |
Specials:
Monday and Tuesday is PE, guidance is on Tuesday, music is on Wednesday, Spanish and art are on Thursday, and Friday is library.
