Classroom Background & Expectations
Take Home Binder
Each child will bring home a binder daily. Please check it every evening for important information and send it back to school on the following day. Any notes for me or the school that need to come back to us (i.e., scholastic orders, field trip money, etc.) should be placed in the corresponding folder and any homework your child will need to complete will be in its corresponding folder. We will also have a folder for writing in which we’ll keep our ideas and compositions. This binder helps me to communicate more easily with families and it helps the children learn to be better organized.
Planners
Your child will write his/her homework in their planners each day. I will initial them at the end of the day and ask that a parent also initial their planner nightly. I will check planners each morning and reward a sticker to those students who have their planner signed. This lets me know that my students’ parents are informed of their child’s assignments and allows parents to check on the completion of their child’s work. Students will also keep track of their daily behavior by writing the appropriate color in their planner. This is a way for parents and me to track our student’s behavior.
Classroom Rules
- Be respectful to God, others, and yourself
- Be polite
- Be prepared for class
- Make good choices
Behavior Plan
Our classroom behavior plan uses a card system where each card turned will hold a different consequence. Each child will have a sticker chart that they will be working to fill, and for every day that they do not turn a card they will earn one sticker. When their chart is full of stickers, they will earn the reward of “shopping” at the classroom store or “saving” their stickers to accumulate “interest.” Students will keep track of their daily behavior by writing the appropriate color in their planner. This is a way for parents and me to track our student’s behavior. The colors and consequences are the following:
White: Great job! No problems (earn 1 sticker)
Green: Warning (lose sticker for the day)
Yellow: Lose recess
Red: Lose 2nd recess and fill out behavior report for parents to sign
Students who receive a red card will be required to write a behavior report that is taken home and signed by a parent. The purpose of the report is to get the student thinking about his/her actions and to help them learn to take part in solving the problems associated with their negative behavior. I hope that by working together we can achieve a more positive learning environment. In severe instances, the student may be sent to the principal and parents will be contacted. I hope not to take this last step, but it is important to have a plan if necessary.
Whole class behavior: Our class will be working to “catch compliments” by showing love and kindness to fellow classmates, teachers, and the rest of the student body. We will track the compliments we receive in our catcher’s glove, and the entire class will be rewarded when we reach 25 compliments.
Curriculum, Routines, and Procedures
Absences: I will send home the work your student misses the next day that they are present for class. Students will have one day for every day they missed to complete their work. If your student misses a test, he/she will take it the next day he/she is in class.
Art, Music, and PE: Currently, we have Art scheduled on Fridays with Mrs. Beckemeyer, Music on Tuesdays and Thursdays with Mr. Monroe, P.E. on Mondays and Wednesdays with Mrs. Dehne and me, and Technology Education on Mondays and Wednesdays with Mr. Cluck. Please make sure your child has a pair of non-marking gym shoes to keep in their cubby at school and remember to dress appropriately on P.E. days (shorts or pants instead of skirts or jumpers). Students will also need a paint shirt to keep in their cubbies for Art.
Book Orders: Forms for Scholastic book orders will be sent home monthly. If you choose to order books, please send the money in the form of a check made out to Scholastic Book Clubs. You also have the option of placing your order online and paying with a credit or debit card. I encourage you to order online because the book selection is greater and we earn a FREE book for our classroom library every time a parent places an order online. I just ask that you send me a note telling me you ordered online so I remember to send the orderJ
Book Reports: The students will have one book report each month which will cover a different reading genre (i.e., mystery, fantasy, non-fiction, realistic fiction, etc.) They will have advanced notice which will give them enough time to read a book, write a report, and make a visual aid. The students will receive several different choices on how to present their report (write a commercial, interview a character, create a scene, etc.)
Computers: We have been blessed to receive laptops for 3rd & 4th Grade! As a staff we are working on creating a technology curriculum this year for all of our students. Third and fourth graders will have a technology education class twice a week in Mr. Cluck’s room while I teach 5th-8th grade P.E.
Grades: Homework and class participation is worth 40% of a student’s grade. Tests are worth 60% of their grade. I will allow students to complete extra credit if they wish to raise their grade in a certain subject.
Homework: Schoolwork will be given daily and becomes homework if it is not finished in class; however, students will have ample class time to work. Memory work and spelling words should be practiced nightly and students are encouraged to read for 20 minutes/night.
Students should turn in their homework to the appropriate tray each morning when they arrive at school. I will collect it from the trays first thing in the morning. If homework is turned in late, the student’s grade will be reduced one letter grade and they will be expected to finish it during their own time. I will remind students only once of their late work. It is their responsibility to finish it and get it to me.
I will send home graded work on Fridays. Please sign the sheet in your student’s “Graded Work” folder indicating that you have seen their work and your student can return the signed folder to me the next school day. Students may keep their graded work at home. Students who return their folder the following school day will earn a sticker and students who have not returned their folder to me by the end of the week will lose their recesses until their folder is returned. I feel it is important that my students’ parents are aware of their child’s progress and this system will let me know that you are reviewing their work.
Lunch: Your child may bring his/her lunch, or he/she may purchase a hot lunch daily. Lunch count will be a part of our morning routine. Lunch bills are sent home at the end of the month.
Religion: We have chapel every Wednesday at 9:00 a.m. The other four days of the week we have religion in the classroom. Pastor Schuessler teaches religion in our classroom on Mondays. Students will have memory work each week. They will have the entire week to say it and are welcome to break it up into smaller parts, but it must be said by Friday morning. Students who are absent on Friday will be required to say their memory work on Monday morning.
Reading Homework: Students are encouraged to read for 20 minutes a night. We will also start the Pizza Hut Book It and Blues Bookworm reading programs in October and participate in the Six Flags reading program later in the year. Your child’s 20 minutes/night of reading can be put towards all of these reading programs to earn rewards like a Personal Pan Pizza from Pizza Hut, a ticket to a St. Louis Blues hockey game, and a free ticket to Six Flags.
Snacks: We will have snack each day after 1st recess. It is up to the student to bring his/her own snack. I will not provide snacks for them and will not allow sharing. Only healthy snacks are allowed (fruit, yogurt, crackers, etc.): no cookies, chips, or candy. Snacks must be kept in your child’s backpack, not in their cubby. Students are also allowed to keep a bottle of water with them.
Spelling: Students will have weekly spelling tests. They will receive their words on Monday and keep them in their homework folder. There will be a test on Friday.
Tardiness: I start class promptly at 8:00 a.m. Students who arrive after class has started will be counted tardy. A student who is tardy 4 times in a quarter is counted as one absence.
Tests: We will review for all tests the day before they are to occur, but I also encourage the children to take home their textbooks to study with their parents. You might ask them the questions at the end of each lesson and the questions at the end of the unit or have them tell you what the vocabulary words mean.
If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact me! I will be more than happy to discuss them with you. Let me emphasize again, I am very excited about the opportunity to have your child in class! I know we will learn and grow together in Christ’s love and abundance.
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