Mrs. Marshall's First Grade Class
Ockerman Elementary
Opening Night Letter To Parent
Welcome to 1st Grade!
“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go..."
“Oh the Places You’ll Go!” ~Dr. Seuss
A Parents’ Survival Guide
2013-2014
Dear Parents/Guardians,
Hello, and welcome to a new school year!! My name is Mary Beth Marshall and I will be your child’s teacher this year. I am very happy to have your child! I will be communicating with you throughout the year about activities and important announcements through newsletters and various notes. The more the school and the family join as partners in education, the greater your child’s chance for success will be. I hope we can work together to make your child’s primary school experience a happy and productive one. The following information may be helpful to you.
**BUS TAGS- Your child will come home with a bus tag, please return this to school each day for the first two weeks of school to help your child get to his or her bus or pick-up location. The students that remember their bus tags each day will receive a treat or prize at the end of each week!! These are VERY IMPORTANT so please try to remember to send them with your child. Thanks ahead of timeJ
LUNCH- Your child can purchase breakfast and lunch or children may bring their own lunch (no soft drinks, please). Menus will be sent home at the beginning of each month or you can look on our school’s website. You may come and eat lunch with your child anytime, just sign in and we’ll meet you in the cafeteria. You are more than welcome to send in lunch money (cash or check), at the beginning of the week or month or day-to-day for your child’s lunch account, whatever works best for you. Please put in an envelope with their name on it.
*SUPPLIES- We share most supplies and thank you for sending your child’s supplies in so promptly. We go through pencils, glue, and crayons the most so if you would like to send in more of these items towards the middle of the school year that would be much appreciated!
HOMEWORK/READING/SPELLING: Homework was explained in the brochure you received at open house but I would like to explain it a little more. Your child will have spelling words to study each week, unless otherwise notified. Your child will also have some spelling homework to help them learn the words; all spelling homework will be turned in by Thursday. The weekly words and homework will be sent home on Monday and we will have our spelling tests on Friday. We will add a bonus challenge word as time goes on. Please help your child study the words so they can do their best on the spelling tests. (Reading)-- Your child will also need to read each night. They bring home a blue hardback reading book. We will also have poems that will be send about every 1/2 weeks. Please read with your child to enhance learning at school. It is okay to help your child when reading and is expected with children just beginning to read. Reading should be enjoyable and not a chore.
MATH- We use a math program called EVERYDAY MATH which builds on concepts learned and utilizes a lot of hands-on learning. A family letter is sent home at the beginning of each unit (every 10-15 lessons). Please keep this letter during the course of the unit as it is a handy reference for you and also has answers to the homework for you to look at as needed. Please don’t give your child the answers; they are there to assist the parent and to make you aware of what is expected for the homework and the unit of study. Many parents keep the letter attached to the refrigerator so that it is easily located at home. Your child will have homework (usually) four nights a week, one or two pages. Please return the homework DAILY because we will go over it together at school. Thanks ahead of time for working with your child at home!!
BINDERS- Your child will bring home a binder each day. Inside the binder will be a planner, a homework folder, spelling folder, and take home folder. Please check the planner and folders daily for homework, completed work, notes or announcements.
The planner is an excellent source for parent/teacher communication. Please look at the planners each night to check for behavior reports, announcements, and to keep the lines of communication open. Also, feel free to write notes to me in the planner and I will respond as quickly as possible. I will do my best to let you know how your child’s day was, with a color marked and a note of any problems that occurred that day. Please sign/initial the planner each night so that I know you have looked at it and discussed your child’s day with him or her. *There could be days when I don’t get to check the planners or write in them due to time constraints, but I will make every effort to keep them updated. Please send the binders back to school daily. **Any really important notes should be written on a separate paper so that I will be sure to see it in case I am unable to check planners. If it is a transportation change also notify the office. (Please remind your child to give the note to me first thing!)
SPECIAL CLASSES: Specials will be on a six day rotation schedule which was discussed in the brochure also. It is a rotating schedule so we do not have certain specials on the same day each week. I will send home a weekly schedule in my newsletter so you are aware of what class your child has each day. Remember to wear gym shoes on gym days, these shoes are beneficial to wear most days since the playground has lots of little rocks which can get in shoes and make playing uncomfortable.
BOOK ORDERS- I will be sending home book orders from time-to-time for your child to order from if he or she would like. These are discounted books and will encourage your child to read. *You may pay only by check or money order for book orders; WE ARE NOT ALLOWED TO ACCEPT CASH FOR BOOK ORDERS. Please make your check payable to the book company name, (ie. Scholastic Books), NOT TO OCKERMAN. Thanks again ahead of time!
BIRTHDAY/HOLIDAY TREATS- Birthday treats may be sent to school without prior notice. I do ask that the treats be “easy” to pass out and that drinks be in individual portions. (ie.- box drinks, little jugs, etc.) . All treats should be store bought. This allows me to read the ingredients and care for students with food allergies. (peanuts should be avoided) Thanks!
PAPERWORK- Your child will bring home a folder with LOTS of paperwork. Please fill out and return these papers as soon as possible. A checklist was sent to assist you in making sure that all forms are filled out and returned. The Youth Leader request form needs to be filled out if you would like to chaperone field trips or volunteer in any way at school. You have to send in this form to get a background check done. If you did not fill out the emergency cards at open house please fill them out and return them to school ASAP. This is the only contact information that we have if an emergency should occur. Thanks again!!
I know I have given you a lot of information but I wanted to inform you about your child’s class. I will cover more in upcoming newsletters but I hope this gives you a background and insight on how our classroom and school will proceed this year. Please feel free to contact me at school with any questions or concerns and I will respond as quickly as possible. Thanks and let’s have a great year!!
Mrs. Marshall
marybeth.marshall@boone.kyschools.us
282-4620, ext. 225