We are always busy exploring and learning through experiences in classroom 123! 

We love active, hands-on activities...

we learn on our feet--not in our seat!!!! 

Homework Policy: 

Please make sure you read with your child at least ten minutes EVERY night!!  This is the most important part of our homework policy!!!!  As you read, all you have to do is fill in the reading log in your child's take home folder.  We will also send home a homework calendar in our take home folders each month that will give you activities to do with your child each night.  You can work with your child on these activities at home and return them on or before Friday of each week.  These are fun activities that are not meant to be stressful!!  We just ask that you work with your child on what they have been working on at school throughout the week, and send the completed homework back to school in the take home folder by Friday of each week.  The reason for the calendar is to give you prior notice of upcoming events and content, and to help you budget your time.  We know that you are very busy with your families at home, so all we ask is that you spend about ten minutes a night working on these activities with your child.  If you know you have an outside event coming up, you can use the calendar to work ahead!  Once again, the most important thing is that you are READING WITH YOUR CHILD FOR AT LEAST TEN MINUTES EVERY NIGHT and completing the reading log in your child’s take home folder!!!!  Your child may read to you, you may read to your child, or you may read together!

 

Take Home Folders:

Take home folders come home every day.  Please make sure you check your child's backpack EVERY night and look inside the folder for important information, your child's reading log, and homework.  If you have any important papers for us, please send it to school in the take home folder. 

 

Planners:

Our school sends home student planners each night.  Please make sure you check your child's planner EVERY night, check your child's daily behavior, look for any important messages from the teacher, and sign your initials each night.  There will be a green, yellow, or red dot in your child's planner each day to show what color your child was on that day.  You may also write any messages or questions that you have for the teacher in your child's planner.  Please make sure your child's planner returns to school each day in his or her backpack.  We love having daily communication with our families!!!

 

Classroom Newsletters:

I will send home a classroom newsletter each Friday.  This will tell you some of the exciting and educational things that we did during the week, will give you lots of useful information from our classroom and our school, and will provide you with lots of fun and important dates coming up...make sure you read the newsletter every Friday!!!

 

Counting Jar:

The "Counting Jar" will come home with one student each Monday and needs to be returned to school by Thursday of that week.  Each child will get at least one turn to bring it home this school year.  When it is your child's turn, he or she will fill it up with any item of choice (cotton balls, candy, pennies, toothpicks, beans, beads, etc...candy is the class' favorite!) and bring it back to school.  While at home, you and your child will count the items carefully and write the total number down on a little slip of paper and put it inside the counting jar with the items.  Back at school, your child's friends get to guess the number of items in the jar!  We do this each week throughout the school year and it really increases our number sense...and it is so much fun!!!  Look for the counting jar in your child's backpack this year! 

 

Mystery Box:

Each week, one child will be picked to bring in an item for our class "Mystery Box"!!  The child will bring the item back to school by Thursday, will sneak the item into our "Mystery Box," and our class will ask questions until they discover what is inside the mystery box.  When it is your child's turn to fill the mystery box, you may help your child come up with clues that describe the mystery item.  This is so much fun for our little scientists, and it also is great for their little minds!!!

 

Rules:

1. Keep your hands and your feet to yourself.

2. Follow directions the first time.

3. Listen to the speaker with your eyes and your ears.

 4. Use kind words and actions.

5. Start and finish each activity.

 

Behavior Plan:

This year, we are all going to "stay on track!!!!!"

We work on making good choices and we constantly praise students for making good choices.  We love to catch students making good choices, rather than to catch students making bad choices.  We never tell students that they are “bad;” we let them know that they made a bad choice and we keep working toward those good choices.  On our team, each day is a brand new day and we always start off on a positive note.  Also, if a bad choice is made at any point in the day, we try to “turn our day around” and start over, of course depending on the severity of the behavior.  One of the biggest parts of our behavior management plan is modeling.  We do not expect the students to follow our expectations, rules, and procedures if they do not know what they are and what they look like.  Therefore, there will be LOTS of modeling the first few weeks of school.  Our guidelines are age appropriate and we understand that this school year is a learning process.  We will be practicing, practicing, practicing at the beginning of the year to be sure that this school year is a success, and a lot of fun as well! 

In our classroom, we have a stoplight.  All students start on green each day and are allowed one verbal warning before they have to move to yellow or to red for not following directions or rules.  If your child stays on green all day, you will see a smiley face in his or her planner.  If your child moves to yellow, you will see a straight face.  If your child moves to red, you will see a frowny face for that day in the planner.  With a straight face or a frowny face, you will always have an explanation of the behavior so that you are well informed and you can then talk to your child about the behavior at home.  

Depending on the severity of the situation, students may have to see the principal and/or an office referral may have to be completed.  Time outs may also take place at any time, once again, depending on the situation.  Time outs are not meant to be a form of punishment, but a time to cool down, be removed from the group temporarily, and think about our choices.  Time outs may take place in another classroom.  Family members may have to be contacted in some situations, but you will always be aware of your child’s daily behavior through our planners.  Please check your child’s planner each day!  If your child had a great day, please praise them at home!!! 

We will have weekly rewards on Friday (“Fun Friday” activities, treasure chest) for our students who have a great week!!!

 

Treasure Chest:

If your child has a great week, he or she gets to choose a prize from the treasure chest at the end of the week!!!  Look for a treat in your child's backpack each Friday!

 

Mrs. Stephens' Smarties:

If a student does their very best work, they can be sent to the "Smartie" jar, their work may be posted on the "Smartie" board and we may have a "Smartie party" for them!!  If your child ever brings home some "Smarties" candy, that means he or she is one of Mrs. Stephens' Smarties!!!!!       

 

Hawk Feathers:

Since our new school's mascot is the hawk, our school gives out hawk feathers to kids that get caught doing a good job.  Anyone in the school (other teachers, special area teachers, the principal, our assistants that are on cafeteria duty...) can hand out a hawk feather to your child.  Each child writes his or her name on the hawk feather and puts it in our class basket.  The school draws out feathers each day and those students get to pick a friend and eat in the Liberty Cafe during lunch time!

 

There are also several other positive rewards put in place by our school this year.  You may hear about your child earning student of the month, you may get a positive phone call home from someone in the office, or you may get a special postcard in the mail telling all the great things about your child!  We are all working together to make sure your child succeeds!!!!!!