Homework Explanations

Hello, First Grade Families!

I hope you are having a wonderful start to the week! Today, your child brought home two homework books: one for spelling and one for math. This is new for all of us in First Grade, so I thought I would post an explanation to these booklets:

Math Homelinks:

Everyday Math lessons are complimented each day by homework called “Homelinks”.  Homelinks are a review of those skills taught in the daily lesson.  This Journal is the Everyday Math Homelink Journal that you will keep at home and use for nightly homework.

Each Monday, a weekly homework page called The Refrigerator Wrap-Up  will be sent home in your child’s homework folder.  This sheet will explain the nightly math homelink assignments.  Students are to complete the homelink assigned for a given night, tear out the homelink page, and return it to school the next day in their homework folder.  Homelinks will be collected and checked at school.

Please keep the Homelink Journal in a place that is easy for you and your child to access on a daily basis.  Homework is an essential part of your child’s learning, as it allows them to practice the skills they learn in the classroom.  We encourage you to work with your child nightly on their homework.

Spelling Homework:

Reading Street Phonics and Spelling lessons are a taught daily in 1^st grade as part of our literacy time. These lessons teach skills students need to spell grade level words.  A review of these skills are practiced for homework.  This Journal is the Reading Street Phonics and Spelling Practice Book that you will keep at home and use for nightly homework.

Each Monday, a weekly homework page called The Refrigerator Wrap-Up will be sent home in your child’s homework folder.  This sheet will explain the nightly Math and Spelling assignments.  Students are to complete the homework assigned for a given night, tear out the homework page, and return it to school the next day in their homework folder.  Homework will be collected and checked at school.

Please keep the Phonics and Spelling Practice Book in a place that is easy for you and your child to access daily.  If your child attends SAC, please keep the book in your child’s backpack so it is accessible for homework.  Homework is an essential part of your child’s learning, as it allows them to practice the skills they learn in the classroom.  We encourage you to work with your child nightly on their homework.

Thank you for your support at home! You are the best!

Take care,

Mrs. Brignac :-)

Our Classroom Promise

Hello, First Grade Families!

Thank you SO much for reviewing our classroom rules with your child at home last night. We had another great day today, and I attribute that to not only great kids and a great school, but also to the support you give each and every day at home.

Today, we reviewed our classroom rules and discussed how critical they are to creating a classroom that feels warm, safe, and conducive to learning. We signed our classroom promise, which you can see below:

We also decorated our own unique puzzle pieces to frame our classroom promise. Just as a puzzle is many separate pieces put together to make a beautiful whole, our classroom is made up of individual students who must work together to make our classroom a safe place for learning.

While we all pledge to make good choices and to follow our classroom promise, we understand that everyone makes mistakes from time to time. We discussed what happens when rules are broken. Here are the descriptions of the consequences for breaking a rule:

1. You break it, you fix it: If a student breaks or damages something on purpose (accidents need not apply), he or she must work to fix it. This refers to many things: whether it be a classroom tool, dropping something on the floor, or even hurt feelings (hearts can be broken, too!), students must work to fix their mistake. If it is something that cannot be fixed (such as a snapped pencil), students will be asked to replace that item.

2. Take a break: There are several areas around our classroom in which students may be asked to take a quick time-out. This time out (called "take a break") is a quiet reflective time that must not exceed three minutes. During this time, students remove themselves from the area, think about what happened, and reflect on how they plan on fixing the mistake when they return. Breaks are not considered good nor bad; they simply are regarded as time to "refocus." We all need this...even adults!

3. Loss of privilege: Another consequence that a student may face is a loss of privilege. This is meant to be a logical consequence for behavior- not a "punishment." The privileges that may be lost will always be tied to student behavior. For example- if a student makes a poor choice during a game, the student may be asked to sit out for the remainder of the time. If a student mishandles a classroom tool on purpose, the student will lose the tool for the remainder of the day/week.

Again, thank you for your support in making our classroom a wonderful place for learning! As always, please let me know if you have any questions or, better yet, leave a comment below!

As a bonus for reading this whole post, here are some more pictures!

Take care!

:-) Mrs. Brignac

Week 1 PICTURES!

Hello First Grade Families!

I am so excited to share photos from our first week! I was hoping for more, however (at the most inopportune time) the camera died! Tomorrow, we will have batteries and more pictures!

We have had a great first few days here at Somerset. Take a look!

I will also post more pictures on our class website *hopefully* by this weekend.

Have a great evening!

-Mrs. Brignac :-)

*Whew!* Day One was FUN!

Hello, First Grade Families!

I hope you have had a fantastic day! I just wanted to give you a quick update on our very first day of first grade! Please read below for a brief rundown of day 1 and what to look forward to on our second day!

Some things we learned:
-We learned each others' names
-We learned two new games!
-We learned arrival and dismissal routines and procedures
-We learned how to properly use and store a box of crayons
-We learned 3 class signals

Some things we did together:
-We went to music and technology
-We had an all-school assembly
-We celebrated a birthday (Happy Birthday, Ava!)
-We read two stories together
-We explored the boundaries of our outdoor play area

**Pop Quiz** (Completely and utterly optional...meant just for fun!) Ask your child, "What does the signal, 'Give Me 5' mean?"

I had such a great time today getting to know each and every first grader in our class! We have a fabulous group, and I cannot wait for us to learn, grow, and have fun together!

Coming up tomorrow:

*Gym and Music are RIGHT AWAY in the morning (7:50-8:50 a.m.)! We will have time to come down to our room, put away our bags and homework folders, and then it will be time to line up. I will meet students out front in the morning to help with the transition to assure that everything goes smoothly. Please remember to send a pair of tennis shoes with your child. If you would like, your child can leave his or her gym shoes at school during the year.

*Library is scheduled every WEDNESDAY at 9:20 a.m. Reminders to bring library books to school will go out on Tuesday afternoons.

*We will begin Math and Reading!

Looking forward to another great day!

:-) Mrs. Brignac