Mashburn Elementary

1
Mashburn Elementary Curriculum Night 2007
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All About Mrs. Wallace

• I was born and raised in North Carolina and moved
  to Georgia after marrying my husband, Jarrett, in
  2001.
• I graduated with undergraduate and graduate
  degrees from East Carolina University in
  Greenville, North Carolina.
• I became certified with the National Board for
  Professional Teaching Standards in 2004.
• Ive taught Kindergarten for seven years in both
  Fulton and Forsyth Counties.
• Im becoming a mom in December!

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Our Schedule
Morning Work Calendar Meeting Phonics Reading/Writ
ing Groups Language Arts/Reading Lunch Recess Math
Specials Science/Social Studies/Health Snack/Sto
ry/Dismissal
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Math

• Counting Money
• Help your student identify dollars and coin
  values as well as determining change amounts when
  spending money during/after family shopping
  trips.
• Give your student a combination of real coins and
  have them determine the value. Allow them to show
  you a different way to make the same amount.
• Set up a store at home and allow your child to
  buy items from you. This is a good way to work on
  counting coins and making change.
• Hold coins in your hand so that your child can
  not see them. Give them clues to guess what you
  have (Example I have three coins in my hand.
  Theyre worth 0.16. What do I have?)
• Great Websites
• http//www.toonuniversity.com/flash.asp?err569
• http//www.little-g.com/shockwave/cents.html
• http//classroom.jc-schools.net/basic/mathmoney.ht
  ml

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Math

• Math Facts
• Practice with homemade flash cards, dice from a
  board game, or a regular deck of playing cards.
• Use the following website, or many others like
  this one to play math fact games.
  http//www.harcourtschool.com/activity/thats_a_fac
  t/english_4_6.html
• Print some worksheets and time your child. See if
  they can beat their time. Need a challenge? Print
  some 2nd or 3rd grade worksheets.
  http//www.mathfactcafe.com/view/view.aspx?tPg1
  
• Practice counting by 5s, 10s, 2s, and 1s.
  Count both forward and backward. When learning
  allow your child to use the 100 grid, and then
  work towards doing it independently.

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Reading

• Read to your child every night
• Have your child read aloud to you, encouraging
  them to
• Sound out words
• Look for clues in the pictures
• Retell the story
• Phonics readers are sent home two times a week.
  Students have learned the rules to read all of
  the words in each story (they may code them if
  needed).
• Additional websites to help your child with
  reading
• http//starfall.com

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Comprehension

• After reading a story, ask the following types of
  questions to increase your childs understanding
  of the story
• What happened in the beginning, middle, end of
  the story?
• Who were the characters?
• Where did the story take place (setting)?
• What was your favorite part of the story? Why?
• Additional websites to help your child with
  comprehension
• http//www.marin.cc.ca.us/7Edon/Study/7read.html

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Dolch sight words

• The Dolch sight words are words that often cannot
  be sounded out, and therefore must be memorized.
• There is a PowerPoint presentation on our
  classroom website that flashes the words for 3
  seconds which is the amount of time the
  students have to read the words - with no
  assistance.
• You can help your child practice these words at
  home by making flashcards, writing the words in
  sentences, spelling them in shaving cream,
  finding them in newspaper articles, highlighting
  the words in magazines, etc.
• Some websites that can be used to help practice
  sight words are
• http//www.theschoolbell.com/Links/Dolch/Contents.
  html
• http//www.fcboe.org/schoolhp/shes/sight_words.htm
  
• http//www.learningbooks.net/xLPDolch.html
• http//www.quiz-tree.com/Sight-Words_main.html

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Saxon Phonics

• incremental lessons
• repetition
• rules that work
• hands-on practice
• strategies for decoding
• homework component
• weekly spelling lists that focus on mastery of
  particular skills

WARNING!!! Grown-ups who were not taught with
Saxon Phonics can become very confused. If this
should happen to you, please seek immediate
assistance from your childs teacher.
(Many parents have been confused before-therefore
you are not alone. Additionally, you are still
smarter than a first grader. It is a thorough
and effective program that works best when you ,
the parents, understand what your child is
learning. So, PLEASE dont hesitate to ask.)
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Phonics Basic Training

• As a parent working with your child, it is
  important to
• talk to your child about what he/she learned in
  school that day
• read the note to parents on the nightly
  homework page
• monitor your childs work for completion and
  accuracy-your level of assistance should be based
  on your childs level of need
• help your child make connections between weekly
  spelling words and what has been taught in
  class
• refer to your Phonics Cheat Sheet for Parents
  as needed and contact your childs teacher when
  in doubt

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What we know so far

• All vowels have AT LEAST two sounds, long and
  short.
• A vowel followed by a consonant is short code it
  with a breve.
• An open, unaccented vowel is long, code it with a
  macron.
• Two same letters together (twin consonants) make
  only one sound.
• Suffix s at the end of a word means more than
  one of something.
• The letter s sometimes makes the /z/ sound and
  should be coded with a voice line.
• The word I is always capitalized.

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Writing

• First grade teachers have modified the 5 star
  system used by the Kindergarten teachers for
  writing (see next slide).
• Students can practice writing at home and use the
  5 star system to check their work.
• Students can improve their writing by working at
  home on things such as keeping a journal, writing
  about their weekend, writing about a vacation,
  writing letters and thank you notes to friends
  and relatives, etc.
• Some websites to help with writing are
• http//www.angelfire.com/wi/writingprocess
• http//freedom.up.net/msbones/ww01000.htm
• http//www.greatschools.net/cgi-bin/showarticle/ca
  /409

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Writing

• The five star system for first grade is

Capital letters (beginning of sentences and
important names) and end marks
Correct spelling using the phonics rules learned
Best handwriting
Multiple, detailed sentences that make sense
Write a story with a beginning, a middle, and a
logical conclusion
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Homework

• Phonics homework is sent home in your childs
  folder every night, Monday through Thursday.
  Please have your child complete this on his/her
  own. Please review what your child has done and
  discuss corrections with them. There is always a
  note at the bottom of the page explaining to
  parents what was learned in class and what is to
  be done on the homework sheet.
• You can also help your child by reading to or
  with them every night. Please encourage them to
  sound out words and refer to the Phonics rules
  learned in class.
• PLEASE NOTE Math homework books are being sent
  home this week. These books are to be kept at
  home in a safe place. These homework pages will
  be assigned each week in the weekly newsletter
  and are due no later than the following Thursday.
  If your child wants to turn the homework in
  before Thursday, that is fine, but all of the
  papers need to be turned in together. Please
  note there will be an 8.00 charge for lost
  homework books, so it is imperative that you do
  not lose the book.
• We strongly encourage you to look over your
  childs homework and discuss errors you see.
  This is a great way for them to learn from their
  mistakes. However, we ask that you make sure it
  is the student doing the work. Homework is
  always a review of things we have already
  learned, so the students should be able to
  complete it on their own.

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Accelerated Reader

• First graders will be allowed to check out two
  books this year.
• Students will pick books according to their
  level.
• Books may be read at school and at home.
• When students are ready, they will be able to
  take the AR test at school.
• Once a student has taken a test, he or she will
  go to the library and check out more books
  independently.
• Class library trips are scheduled once every two
  weeks.

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Grading

• 3 Student consistently and independently
  achieves the standard
• 2 Student is progressing toward achievement of
  the standard
• 1 Student has made limited or minimal progress
  toward achievement of the standard
• Instruction is incremental in nature. Students
  are assessed at different levels throughout the
  year.

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Meeting the Needs of the Individual

• The different needs of individual children or
  groups of children are met in a variety of ways.
  Examples of how the curriculum is often
  differentiated for children are
• Self-paced A.R. levels
• Small groups
• Co-teaching
• Individual and group instruction for specific
  skills
• Collaboration with special area teachers

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A few reminders...

• Nightly phonics homework is to be completed by
  the student and returned the following day in
  his/her folder.
• Weekly homework is sent home with the Friday
  newsletter and is due the following Thursday.
  Please turn all pages of the weekly homework in
  at the same time. The weekly home work will come
  from the Math Workbook sent home. If any books
  are lost students/parents will be charged an
  8.00 replacement fee.
• ALL transportation changes must be made in
  writing (sent in childs folder) or through the
  office. Please do NOT call the classroom to
  change transportation.
• Please send any lunch money in a sealed envelope
  with your childs name and our class code (1SW)
  on it.
• You are ALWAYS welcome to send me a note, email,
  or call me with any questions or concerns. If you
  prefer to call, please make sure you do so before
  or after school hours, so as not to interrupt
  instructional time.
• If your child is absent, please make sure you
  send in a note. You have 5 days after the child
  returns to send in a note if you are wanting it
  to be excused. You may also email notes to Terri
  Handrop at thandrop_at_forsyth.k12.ga.us

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Check It Out!

• Please visit our classroom web page located on
  the Mashburn Site
• Go to Staff then click on Susan Wallace
• http//www.forsyth.k12.ga.us/130920727215051403/si
  te/default.asp
• Please let me know if there is anything you would
  like to see on the web site.