Welcome to First Grade!

I want to take this opportunity to welcome you and your child back to West Hollywood Elementary School. We are looking forward to working with you throughout this year to make your childs year a success. First Grade is a time of excitement, wonder, exploration, and discovery. Through fun, developmentally appropriate learning activities, your child will work hard to academically prepare for Second Grade. I hope this handbook will provide you a helpful overview of our First Grade procedures and expectations. We look forward to the opportunity of building a learning community at West Hollywood Elementary School with the students, parents, and staff.

Sincerely, Ms. Salgado

Curriculum Overview

Social Studies We will be using the district curriculum. The following units will be covered: Citizenship People and places Our Country Changes over time Celebrate Cultures Good & Services Science Foss is the district adopted science curriculum. We will be learning about: Air and Weather Plants and animals Solids and Liquids

Literacy Our district has adopted Readers Workshop and Writers Workshop as our literacy curriculum. It is comprised of the following components: Read Aloud Shared Reading Guided Reading Independent Reading Word Study/Spelling Writers Workshop

Math Using the EnVision Mathematics program our students are exposed to a wealth of mathematics activities including measurements, geometry, patterns, data collecting, addition & subtraction facts, time, and money. Project Based Learning (PBL) PBL is a large cross-curricular, meaningful project that engages students in critical thinking and problem solving. It is centered around a driving question/scenario and students work toward a final product which they will then present to an audience.

Communication
Your child will take home a HW folder on Monday. Inside you will find important notices, homework information, and other important information. As needed, we may send home other notices on Wednesday or Thursday. However, we are trying to minimize how much paper we use in our school so most information will be sent electronically. Please check out our school website at http://westhollywoodelementary.net/ If you need to contact us please dont hesitate to send a note in your childs folder, e-mail, or leave a phone message. My email and classroom phone number is listed below: 310-274-5313 Ms.salgado@westhollywoodelementary.net Mssalgado.weebly.com

Report Cards and Grading

Your child will receive a report card three times in First Grade. The first report card will be coming home at the end of the first trimester. The second report card will come home at the end of the second trimester. The final report card will come home the last day of school in May. On the report card, you can expect the following grades: 1- Limited Progress 2- Making Progress toward Standard 3- Meets Standards 4- Exceeds Standards

Students are expected to meet or to exceed the district and state standards by the end of the year, and therefore graded by end of the year expectations . It is appropriate on the first report card for your child to receive a 2, with the goal being a 3 on the final report card. Updates will be coming home throughout the year to keep you posted on your childs progress. Not all activities are formally graded, as some are for practice and reinforcement. However, we are formally observing children each day and documenting our observations as to how the children are progressing toward the standards.

Conferences
Parent/Teacher conferences are held in the fall and the spring. At the fall conference, we will discuss your childs progress on the assessments. We will be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Homework
As children enter First Grade they are eager and ready to learn. First Grade homework lays the foundation for good work habits in later years. Furthermore, positive homework helps establish the home/school connection and involves parents as partners in their childs daily learning experiences. The homework activities your child will do this year are: Daily reading (to be recorded on the weekly reading log and turned in each Monday) Weekly spelling practice (3 activities) Weekly Writing Assignment (1 activity) Weekly Math journal (2 problems)

Volunteers
We enjoy having parent volunteers come to school to help our students learn. We need support with clerical work, party planning, classroom projects, and fieldtrips. We will be using Sign up genius.com to have parents sign up to be volunteers. Your help is greatly appreciated. Parent volunteers make a huge difference in the education of our little ones!! Please get a TB shot and fill out forms in the main office before you volunteer.

Field trips
Throughout the year we will schedule field trips into the community to enhance our curriculum. Permission slips and cost information will be sent home prior to each trip. You will have the opportunity to serve as a chaperone for a field trip if you desire but due to space requirements, the number of chaperones may be limited for each trip. Due to liability, siblings will not be able to join us on field trips. If we have more volunteers than spaces, we will take out names of parents who have already chaperoned a trip and then draw names. Please understand that we will make every attempt to give each parent the opportunity to go on at least one trip. Chaperones will be responsible for helping the teacher monitor and keep track of students while we are away from school. Since not all parents can go on every trip, please do not purchase souvenirs, extra activities, or food for your child or any other child in your group. Everything will be provided. Thank you for your cooperation.

Water Bottles
You are encouraged to send a water bottle with a lid to school with your child. Please ONLY water will be available for children to drink in the classroom. It should be taken home at the end of each day or it may be thrown away after a few days.

Book Orders
Book orders will be sent home periodically. These orders help us earn free books for the classroom. Please order online with our class code HBF3R or send a check made out to Scholastic or the exact amount of cash in a sealed envelope with the childs name on it.

Lunch Money
Lunch is $1.50 and Breakfast is $1. Students have accounts that you can load money into. Please see Ms. Mercedes to load money or send it with your child in an envelope so I can have them give it to her during recess.

Birthdays

We love birthdays! We have a simple routine celebration for students whose birthdays fall during the school year. If your child has a summer birthday, you may choose to have an unbirthday celebration sometime during the last few weeks of school. On your childs birthday, or unbirthday, you may provide simple birthday treats for the class. Cookies, cupcakes, and wrapped treats work best. Again, no treats containing nuts or nut products will be allowed . Please do not plan to send a cake. Unfortunately, they are too difficult to manage. Please try to give prior notice so we can be prepared to celebrate, usually during the last 15-20 minutes of class. Plan to arrive around 2:20 and set up at the lunch tables outside under the trees.

Daily Behavior
As you know, positive behavior and learning go hand in hand. Simple class rules have been established to ensure your child experiences a positive and safe learning environment. Consequences include warnings, loss of recess time, and note/call home. Even at the young age of 6, children need to learn the importance of accepting responsibility for their actions. West Hollywood Elementary has adopted the Best Behavior model. Through this model, we philosophically believe that by teaching the behaviors we want children to use in our school, and recognizing those behaviors on a regular basis, we can extinguish undesirable behaviors and replace them with positive ones. Students are rewarded for positive behavior with Bee Bucks which can be accumulated for rewards in our Bee Buck Store every other Friday.

Specials Classes
The children will be attending special classes: PE (M), Music (W), and Visual Arts (F), and Dance (TBA). Please have your child wear athletic shoes on PE days!!

Finally...
Our First Grade team is very excited about our new year. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. Were looking forward to a great year!