1. Welcome to Room 102!
First Grade
Mrs. Calkins

2. Parents’ Responsibilities
Visitor’s badge
-Sign in at the office
Absences & tardiness
- Returning child must have a written excuse
Take-Home Folders
- Check daily for school information
- Key to staying organized
- Should always contain daily behavior log so that you
have a sense of how your child is behaving at school.

3. Student Expectations
In the classroom children are expected to:
- Raise a hand to speak
- Listen carefully and follow directions
- Keep hands, feet, and objects to self at all times.
- Be respectful to each other and allow each other to
learn
- Try their best!
- We implement a lot of positive strategies to encourage
appropriate behavior.

4. Language Arts
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Journeys

5. Journeys Curriculum
Designed to meet diverse needs of all
students
A balanced literacy approach
Includes progressive skills in phonemic
awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency,
and reading comprehension

6. Balanced Literacy:
What does that mean?
Teachers support each reader’s development as
needed
Allows for differentiation through whole group
and small group instruction (LEBO Time)
Follows a continuum beginning with a teacher’s
read aloud, shared reading, and guided reading
The ultimate goal is independent reading

7. Important Terminology
Read aloud: Done by teacher to expose children
to various types of literature; develops reading
strategies
Shared reading: Children participate with the
teacher; learn critical concepts of how print
works
Guided reading: Students read text
independently following an introduction; material
selected based on an individual’s instructional
level; discussion facilitated by the teacher

8. Assessment
Observation
Running records
Small group instruction records
Weekly phonics, vocabulary, and spelling tests
Cold read assessments every 3rd story of each
unit
Unit tests
Benchmark tests
MAP testing (Measures of Academic Progress)
DIBELS testing

9. Language Arts Continued
The balanced literacy philosophy:
An effective way to help children
improve their skills one step at a
time.

10. The better your child learns to read, the more
successful they will be in years to come!

11. Writer’s Workshop
 Mt. Lebanon teaches the same writing process from
K-12th
grade
 First graders spend 45 minutes of their day in
writing workshop, 10 of these minutes are spent on
learning appropriate handwriting techniques
1st/2nd
Quarters- Rituals and Routines, Narrative Account
3rd
/4th
Quarters- Functional Writing: Reports, Narrative
Procedure

12. What is the Writing Process?
 Mini Lesson – procedures, author’s chair
 Prewriting- generate ideas, decide on purpose, focus on
the topic, arrange ideas logical order.
 First Draft – keep writing, don’t worry about mistakes-
just get your ideas down
 Revising – make complete sentences, clarify ideas
 Editing – proofread for errors in grammar, usage, spelling,
and mechanics
 Publishing – students create a “good copy” of their work.
 Author’s Chairs – Selected students share work

13. Spelling
Part of the Journeys integrated language arts
program
Lists will come home each Monday
Spelling tests will be every Friday
Invented spelling is developmentally appropriate
for regular writing assignments

14. MTLSD Math Curriculum
Our core resource is Investigations
 complete K-5 mathematics curriculum
 designed to help all children understand
the fundamental ideas of number and
operations, geometry, data, measurement,
and early algebra.

15. Math Program Highlights
 Develops a deep conceptual understanding of
mathematics
 Includes traditional learning of algorithms and math
facts
 Works to substantially expand the pool of
mathematically literate students
 Provides students multiple ways to prove that an
answer is correct

16.  Encourages student-centered work
 Provides whole group, small group and independent
learning opportunities
 Utilizes real world problems
 Makes connections within and among concepts
 Provides students with strategies and tools to solve
problems
Math Program Highlights

17. MATH FACTS
Gr 1 Quarter 1 Quarter 2 Quarter 3 Quarter 4
13-
14
Introduces concepts related to addition and subtraction and develops
an understanding of addition strategies
14-
15
Addition sums to 10
Subtraction facts with a minuend
to 10

18. Mathematics
 Investigations
 Organized into 9 units
- Counting, Comparing, Patterns (early algebra),
Geometry, Addition and Subtraction, Data Analysis
and Measurement

19. Science
A hands on approach is used, teaching children to explore,
reflect, and apply as they investigate.
 Air & Weather
 Growing and Changing (chicks)
 Insects

20. Social Living
 Heartwood
- Respect, Courage, Loyalty, Love, Justice, Honesty, and
Hope
 Weekly Reader
 Social Studies Alive
 OLWEUS Meetings
- Program to prevent bullying in the school and in the
community. Meetings every Wednesday afternoon.

21. Star of the Week
 As a way to build a strong classroom community, we will be doing a
‘Star Of The Week.’
 Each week it is a different student.
- Monday – They get to pick their classroom job.
- Tuesday –They bring in pictures from home to share with the class.
- Wednesday – Show and tell. Students can bring in something that is special
to them or talk about a hobby that they enjoy.
- Thursday – The other students will interview the “Star” student and write a
short message to them that will go in a book they get to keep.
- Friday- They can bring in their favorite picture book that they/Mrs. Calkins
will read to the class.

22. ‘Homework’
 The homework schedule that is provided is 100% optional!
 It has been provided to you because many parents have requested
suggestions as to what they can do with their children for extra
reinforcement at home.
If students complete their assignment each night and return the homework
schedule on Friday, they will get a mark on their clip.
 If you feel your child does not require the extra practice with
spelling/Words to Know, you may substitute the assignment by having them
read with you or independently.
 If you engage in nightly homework, it should not exceed 10 minutes
(computer time may be in addition to 10 minutes).
 “Words to Know” - words students should recognize
immediately. Go through these on a regular basis with your

23. Types of homework assignments:
 Reading
- Read decodable books (black and white books).
- Practice poems at home.
- * Repeated reading of poems and decodable books will increase
fluency and comprehension.
Read to your child and let them see you reading!
 Math
- Games you can play with your child to increase numeracy skills.

24. First Grade Specials
by the Day
Monday – Gym, Music
Tuesday – Spanish, Library
Wednesday - OLWEUS, Music
Thursday – Gym, Spanish
Friday – Art

25. Please check out:
Mrs. Calkins’ Blog:
http://blog.mtlsd.org/calkins

26. Last thought…
Whose Child Is This?"Whose child is this?" I asked
one daySeeing a little one out at play. "Mine", said the parent
with a tender smile"Mine to keep a little while. To bathe his/her
hands and comb his/her hair,To tell him/her what he/she is to
wear,To prepare him/her that he/she may always be good,And
each day do the things he/she should".
"Whose child is this?" I asked one day
Seeing a little one out at play
"Mine", said the parent with a tender smile
"Mine to keep a little while
To bathe his hands and comb his hair
To tell him what he is to wear
To prepare him that he may always be good
And each day do the things he should"

27. "Whose child is this?" I asked again,As the door opened and
someone came in."Mine", said the teacher with the same
tender smile."Mine, to keep just for a little while.To teach
him/her how to be gentle and kind,To train and direct
his/her dear little mind,To help him/her live by every
rule,And get the best he/she can from school".

28. "Whose child is this?" I asked once more,Just as the
little one entered the door."Ours", said the parent and
the teacher as they smiled.And each took the hand of
the little child."Ours to love and train together.Ours
this blessed task forever."
Author Unknown