1X Class
2016-2017
Welcome to 1X!
Teachers:
Amie Wallace: wallacea@sidwell.edu
Eve Eaton: eatone@sidwell.edu
The best way to reach us is through the classroom email. This ensures that both teachers receive the same information.
Class email: LS1XTeachers@sidwell.edu
Accessing Information Online
Our school has three separate logins for parents, all of which have different purposes: the Parent Portal, Educator, and Haiku.
Parent Portal: This is where you will find information about the whole school. You can login from the home page under “Parents”. From here you can access the school calendar, the online directory, find parent resources (such as PA information), update your household information, etc.
Educator: From the Parent Portal, you would login to Educator if you would like to access your child’s report cards. When new report cards are posted, you will receive an email from the school.
Our Weekly Schedule
Curriculum HIghlights
Quakerism in the Classroom
- Beginning the day with silence
- Query Reflection
- Query Writing
- Respectful Reminders
- Investigating SPICES - the Quaker Testimonies
- Quaker Meeting (see below)
EJC and the First Grade Classroom
Reading
Writing
Our time during Writing Workshop will capitalize on our First Graders’ enthusiasm for communicating through the written word! We will be reading model texts to inspire our writers and work with student partners and teachers to apply the writing skills we learn to both the content and mechanics of our writing. We will work through a simple writing process that includes pre-writing activities, composing a draft, conferencing, and publishing a final copy.
Writing Workshop activities will include:
- Using developmental spelling when appropriate, and incorporating the correct spelling of high frequency words
- Writing complete sentences using appropriate punctuation (capital letters, period, exclamation/question mark)
- Composing a variety of written pieces for different purposes (personal narrative, informational report, persuasive writing, procedural writing)
- Using legible handwriting
Math
In First Grade, the students will find familiar math materials that they used in PK and K, and are also introduced to many new materials and concepts. The following are some big ideas that are taught in First Grade working towards the goal of increasing number sense and problem solving abilities.
· Patterns
· Estimation
· Sorting, matching and classifying objects
· Graphing
· Counting forwards and backwards
· The importance of 10s
· Addition and subtraction
· Problem solving strategies
· Measurement – temperature, length, width
· Money – identifying and counting with coins and bills
· Fractions
· Geometry
· Telling time on an analog clock
Social Studies
Technology
How you can help your child at home
- Read to your child every day.
- Have your child read out loud to you on a regular basis.
- Have your child pack their backpack at night.
- Make sure your child gets to sleep at a reasonable hour. Create a routine.
- Let us know if your child has a social issue that crops up at school.
- Dress for the weather.
- Get to school on time. Students feel rushed and “out of sorts” if they arrive when the rest of the class is gathering. A late arrival is also disruptive to the other students in class.
- Talk to your child about their day. Ask what they enjoyed and didn’t enjoy. Ask why! Ask about mistakes they made. Ask what they learned.
- Check Haiku every week for possible topics to talk about - we post pictures and a newsletter weekly!
- Make sure your child has plenty of time for free play.
Homework
On Mondays students will bring home one of the just-right books they read during the previous week’s reading workshop. During the week they should spend at least 10 minutes reading (or rereading) the book out loud to an adult each night. By reading their just-right books out loud to you, they will become more fluent readers, and through talking about the book with you they will develop their comprehension skills.
Please note that a “just-right” level in our classroom may differ from what you would consider just-right when working with a child on reading at home. In the classroom, a students need to pick a book with which they can work fairly independently to figure out unfamiliar words. We match children to books that contain just a small percentage of words per page that are hard to figure out at first.
The just-right books should feel easy to your child by the time the book comes home on Monday. Keep in mind that when a child first picked out that just-right book in the classroom, he or she had to apply a variety of strategies to figure out tough words. By the time the books come home, your child has probably read them several times at school. Our repeated readings in the classroom help children develop fluency, expression, and comprehension, as well as the ability to discuss books with a reading partner.
Children should return the book to 1x on Friday mornings.
Other Homework Assignments
Many first graders look forward to having homework during their milestone journey through the year. Reading homework will be assigned each week, while other assignments will come home periodically throughout the year. Homework will include math activities and projects that support what is being explored and learned in class. Detailed instructions will accompany those assignments when they are sent home. Stay tuned!
Meeting for Worship
Changes in Transportation and Attendance
As per our new school policy, please make sure to email both LS1XTeachers@sidwell.edu and LSAttendance@sidwell.edu to make sure everyone is aware of any change (late arrival, early dismissal, or absence).
Celebrations
If your child would like to celebrate their birthday with the class, they are welcome to bring in a small treat on (or close to) their birthday. The snack can be sent in with your child in the morning and we will take it from there! Please keep in mind that snacks should all be the same type (such as 24 chocolate cupcakes). To make sure we leave time in our schedule, please send us an email 3-5 days before you plan on sending in the snack.
The class will also celebrate each child's birthday by sending home a large card signed by the class.
Open Houses
Volunteering in 1X
1. Field Trips: Over the course of the school year, we will take several trips to see various parts of our larger community. Once we have confirmed a trip, we will send out an email asking for volunteers. We will ask you to respond by a certain date, and then choose volunteers from the group who has responded. Preference will be given to families that have not yet had a chance to chaperone a field trip. If you volunteer, expect to be with the children for a full school day.
2. Veggie Cutting: We will chop veggies for Martha's Table on select Wednesday mornings (about once every 6 weeks) with another class in the school. If you volunteer, expect to be at school from about 8:30-10:30. The dates we will be cutting veggies this year are: 10/26/16 with KX; 12/7/16 with 4X; 2/8/17 with 1Z; 3/1/17 with PK; and 5/3/17 with 3Y. Please be on the lookout for communication from the room parents for this sign up.
3. Green Team: This year, the first graders (both 1X and 1Z) will take on the "Green Team" responsibilities as part of our Service Learning, which means we will be taking care of the recycling around campus. Starting in late October, we will need two parents most Wednesdays to take a group of 4 first graders from 1X and 1Z to help with recycling around campus. Please be on the lookout for communication from the room parents for this sign up.
4. Play Help: Our play is May 19, 2017. Closer to the date of the play, we will ask for volunteers to come in and help with scenery, costumes and perhaps running lines with the children. This will happen in the two weeks prior to the play. If you volunteer, expect to be at school for about 1-2 hours. Times of day will vary based on our classroom schedule.