2011-2012

Kindergarten Handbook

Welcome to an Ocean of Fun!

        Welcome to the Bluford Grade School Kindergarten Program. I realize that many times parents have concerns that their child will be frightened to go to school, but often it is the parents that are the uneasy ones. I work very hard to make sure each child feels safe and comfortable while in my care. I have developed this handbook in order to answer any questions you may have and to explain how my kindergarten class works. Please contact me if you should ever have any concerns or questions about your child’s progress or any other classroom concerns. I want you to feel comfortable as well. I hope to work together with each parent so that your child will have a successful and memorable first year of school.

 

Kindergarten Teachers: Jonna Gieselman & Tracie Steward

 

First Full Day of School for Kindergarten: Wednesday, August 17, 2011

 

Breakfast Fees - $1.50/day ($.30 reduced fee)

 

Lunch Fees - $1.75/day ($.40 reduced fee)

 

Snack Fee - $5.00/month (Aug./Sept. combined), paid at beginning of each month, $45.00/year (not part of the free/reduced lunch program)

 

Book Rental Fee - $30.00 (payable first week of school)

 

T-Shirt Fee - $5.00

 

School Phone – (618) 732-8242

 

My Email – jgieselman@blufordschools.org

 

Arrival and Dismissal Policies

Children will NOT be allowed inside the school building before 8:00 a.m. If your child arrives before 8:00 a.m., they will meet at the playground and line up in the designated area. A supervisor will then dismiss them to the classroom or cafeteria for breakfast when the bell rings. On rainy or snowy days, children will meet in the old gym right outside our classroom.

Kindergarten car riders will dismiss at 3:00 p.m. Your child will be walked to the walkers exit (the old entrance) and will meet you there. Parents are asked NOT to walk to the classrooms to pick up their children. If you will be picking your child up early, please go to the school office and sign them out and the office staff will call me so I may send your child to meet you in the office.

Your child will NOT be released to anyone unless you have sent me a note or have called the office. If possible, please inform your child if someone else will be picking them up from school. This eliminates worry for your child. Please contact the school office if there is anyone NOT ALLOWED to have contact with your child.

Also, if your child normally rides the bus home, he/she will be put on the bus unless I receive a note from you or you call the office. A note or a phone call is extremely important so that I can get your child to where he/she needs to be. Please DO NOT rely on your child to relay this information, because children often forget or become confused and relay the information incorrectly. 

Your child’s attendance is crucial to his/her success in school. Most of our learning experiences will take place within the classroom environment. Therefore, it is important for your child to be on time and attend school daily.

It is also important that your child receives the proper amount of sleep each night and a good breakfast in the morning so that he or she is awake and ready to learn and participate each day.  

Visitor Policy

Please know that it is OK to walk your child to class to drop them off the first few days of school. However, after that time, it is best if they can establish some independence and walk to the room on their own and unpack their things. We are quite busy in the mornings and need our time to get things started.

Our visitor policy will begin on the first day of school. Visitors are required to leave classrooms by 8:20 a.m. Every minute with our students is valuable and we have to get our day started and use our time to the fullest amount.

        If you are volunteering in a child’s classroom, you will need to read and sign the Volunteer’s Handbook before doing so. These will be sent home soon.

Outdoor Recess

The children will be going outside for recess everyday unless it is raining, snowing, or extremely cold. Please keep this in mind when helping your child select clothes for the day. We have several pieces of climbing equipment, so please keep this in mind when selecting shoes. Cowboy boots, sandals, and dress shoes are less than ideal. Flip flops are NOT allowed to be worn to school. For the most part, if your child is well enough to be at school, he/she is well enough to participate in outdoor recess. However, on days that your child stays in, I will need a written note from your child’s doctor. Also, your child may wish to bring a light jacket to keep in his/her backpack. It sometimes gets a little chilly in our classroom when we run the air conditioner.

Money

On occasion, it will be necessary for your child to bring money to school. Always send money in a sealed envelope with the following information written on the front: Child’s name, amount of money, purpose for the money (lunch money, snack, book order, etc.), teacher’s name.

With all the Kindergarteners to keep track of, this helps me out tremendously and reduces the likelihood of errors. Also, if the envelope gets left on the bus or dropped, this information helps the money to be returned to the correct classroom.

Toys-

It is school policy that children DO NOT bring toys to school. This eliminates fighting and damage to personal property. There may be occasions that certain items will be allowed, such as during our Teddy Bear Picnic and sometimes for Show-n-Tell.

Box Tops for Education & Soda Tabs

Be sure to look for Box Tops when you shop at the grocery store. Box Tops allow our school to receive cash that can be used to buy things for our school and our classrooms. Simply snip off the box top label and send it to school with your child. We will also be collecting soda tabs for the Ronald McDonald House Foundation.  Box Tops for Education look like this:

 

Book Orders

Your child will bring home a book order form about once a month. If you would like to order, simply fill out the form and send the correct amount of cash or check in an envelope. Please make checks payable to SCHOLASTIC. You will also be able to order books from the book order online. I will send home information on this with the first book order. These book orders are provided as a convenient way for parents to purchase quality books for their child at a reduced price. It also allows us to receive free books for our classroom. Book orders usually take about 2 weeks to arrive.

 

Birthdays

Birthdays are special occasions for young children. If you wish, your child may bring treats for the class on his/her birthday. It is the school’s policy that all treats must be STORE BOUGHT, not homemade. Please contact me in advance so I can give you the correct number of Kindergarten classmates. Party invitations may not be passed out at school unless every child in our class receives an invitation.

 

Class Parties

Room parents are asked to plan the Fall Harvest, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and Easter/Spring parties. A Party Chairperson will be designated for each party. This person will be in charge of contacting the other parent volunteers and planning the party. If you would like to help with a party or plan one, please let me know as soon as possible. You should have signed up for these on “Meet the Teacher Day.” If at anytime you would like to volunteer to help with a party you have not previously signed up for, just let me know so I can update my list. I appreciate any help you are willing to give.

 

Class Programs

Your Kindergartener will study many thematic units throughout the year. At times, there will be programs that associate with these units or you may be asked to donate items to go along with a special project. Watch my weekly newsletter for any programs and/or special event announcements.

 

Field Trips

We will take various trips relating to our thematic units through the year. Our big trips are the Pumpkin Patch/or Apple Orchard and the St. Louis Zoo. Chaperones are encouraged and needed for some of these trips. If you might be able to attend field trips, please make sure you have marked so on your information form. I will always try to give you a couple weeks notice before scheduled trips if possible.

 

Snack Time

Kindergarten will have an afternoon snack. Milk fees for snack time are $5.00 per month or $45.00 per year. Snack money is due on the 1st Monday of each month. It is important that you pay this fee on time. This $5.00 fee provides milk each day for your child. Snack is not considered part of the free lunch program. Parents are asked to send snacks for the entire class at the beginning of the year.  As we run low, a note will be sent out to replenish. Snack ideas include: pretzels, goldfish crackers, fruit snacks, graham crackers, etc.

Kindergarten through 4th grade are PEANUT FREE grades. Please DO NOT send ANY snacks that have peanut butter or peanut products. We also ask that if your child brings a lunch that the lunch is also PEANUT FREE.

 

Take Home Folders

Each day, your child will bring home a Take Home Folder. In it are the papers that your child has worked very hard on. Please take the time to look over these papers each night and talk with your child about these papers. Please check the Take Home Folder for important information. Occasionally, I will ask you to sign and return a paper, especially if it is an area of concern. I will also send notes from school in this folder, along with daily behavior reports that should be initialed and signed each day. Please make sure the folders are checked and cleaned out EVERY night and returned the next day. The take home folder is also where you need to place all notes and money envelopes. I check folders every morning. Your child’s first take home folder is the one you are receiving today so PLEASE send it back to school with your child tomorrow!

 

Lunch Fee Policy

It is school policy that lunch money be paid in a timely manner. After 10 unpaid lunches, the student will not be allowed to receive a hot lunch. When sending money for lunch, please try to send the exact amount if possible.

 

Weekly Newsletter

At the end of each week, you will receive a newsletter, which will indicate what themes we will be studying and the skills that are being introduced in class. This letter will include any upcoming activities or special events and accomplishments of the previous week.

 

Rewards & Consequences for Behavior

I feel that it is very important for all children to learn that their behavior is followed by consequences. Inappropriate behavior results in the loss of opportunities to participate.

Students will have their names written on a “Manners Monster.” Students will start out with their monster underneath the green pocket. This means they are “ready to learn.” In most cases, if misbehavior occurs, one verbal warning is given before there is a consequence. (I have a very strict HANDS AND FEET TO SELF RULE. I remind the kids each morning of this rule and am very strict when it comes to moving monsters for this misbehavior.) When a child breaks a rule, he or she will have to move his or her “Manners Monster” to the yellow pocket. Any student with their “Manners Monster” inside the yellow pocket will lose 5 minutes of his or her recess time. If misbehavior continues after this, the child will be asked to move his or her “Manners Monster” to the red pocket. A “Manners Monster” in the red pocket results in loss of 10 minutes of recess and a note or phone call will be given to parents. Should misbehavior occur after this, the student will be taken to the principal’s office with his/her “Manners Monster,” all recess time will be lost, and parents will be contacted.   

Any child that has their “Manners Monster” on green every day of the week OR moves their “Manners Monster” into the yellow pocket no more than two times during the week will earn a trip to the treasure box on Friday. If a student moves his/her “Manners Monster” into the red pocket at any time during the week, they will not be allowed in the treasure box on Friday.

 A behavior report for your child will be sent home daily in your child’s take home folder. This behavior report should NOT be removed from the folder. The behavior report will need to be initialed by a parent/guardian each night and returned each day. If a “Manners Monster” was moved, the rule that was broken and the consequence given will be listed on the behavior report.

A small reward, such as a piece of candy or a sticker, will be given at the end of each day to students that had a green “Manners Monster.”  

 

Bucket Dippers & Bucket Fillers

        While I work hard to ensure that I am providing my students with the best academic instruction on a daily basis, I also take the time to teach my students to be good citizens who care for and respect each other. On the first day of school, we will read the book “Have You Filled a Bucket Today?” This book explains to students that we all carry an invisible bucket in which we keep our feelings about ourselves. When our buckets are full, we are happy; when they are empty, we are sad. “Bucket fillers” are those students that help without being asked, give hugs and compliments, and spread their love and good feelings to others. A “bucket dipper” is a person who hurts other people’s feelings, essentially dipping into their invisible bucket. Each child will have a bucket. When I catch them being a “bucket filler,” I will allow them to place a popsicle stick into their bucket. If I catch a student being a “bucket dipper,” I will ask that child to remove a popsicle stick from his/her bucket. When a student has a completely full bucket, they will receive a prize. If a child is asked to dip into their bucket a remove a popsicle stick and they do not have any to remove, then they will owe me 5 minutes of recess time. When making choices in the classroom, I will ask my students “Are you being a bucket filler or a bucket dipper?”

 

Other Rewards

Periodically, I will send home various awards and certificates to students who are doing an outstanding job or are showing improvement. Students will also be given treats or rewards from “Max the Manners Monster” or the “Hello Kitty Gumball Machine” when I catch them using good manners throughout the school day or whenever we get a compliment for being quiet in the hallway from another teacher.

 

Homework

One or two times a week I will send home a name writing,  handwriting practice sheet, skill paper, or a book to read for homework. This homework should never take longer than 10-15 minutes (if that) to complete. It is important that your child complete his or her homework with a pencil and that you encourage him/her to use the proper formation when writing the letters. On occasion, you may be asked to complete family projects such as decorating a paper turkey for Thanksgiving. The kids really love sharing their creations!

I will also send home monthly homework packets and a reading log for Book-It! These are NOT optional, and your child should complete them for a grade that will be given on mid-term reports. I cannot stress enough how important it is for your child to complete their homework with your help. The more you work with your child at home, the more they will succeed in school. The homework packets practice skills introduced in class.

Occasionally, your child may bring home a book for you to read to them. When we begin guided reading groups, students will be bringing home books that they should be able to read to you. Mid October to early November (sooner if your child is ready) is when I start sending home simple reading lists for your child to practice his/her reading. These reading lists will contain words that your child will be able to sound out and read to you.  My goal is to have every child reading by the end of the school year. With your help, I will be able to reach this goal. At the end of last year, almost all of my students were fluently reading and comprehending books containing 200+ words.

 

Reading Groups

        Your child will receive reading instruction in a small group setting. We will start out by reading predictable text books and then gradually move into reading leveled readers and decodable phonics readers. We will read the same book every day for a week, followed by literacy activities afterwards. These activities may be in the form of a worksheet, a hands-on activity, or a learning skill game. Your child’s reading group book will be sent home each Friday. It is extremely important that you allow your child to read this book to you at home each week. In the beginning, they may need some assistance, but you will see how quickly they will soon begin reading on their own. Encourage them to “track print.” This simply means to put their finger under each word as they read it. You should also save these books and practice reading them from time to time. At the end of last year, almost all of my Kindergarten students were fluently reading 200+ word books.

 

Bird Words

Throughout the year, you may hear your child talking about

“Bird Words.” “Bird Words” are what we will call our sight words in Kindergarten. Sight words/Bird words are words that a reader instantly knows without having to sound out. They are important and frequently used words in written language. Children need to know these words at a quick glance. If a reader can quickly identify these words, he/she can focus their attention toward unknown words and comprehension. Research has confirmed that reading skills grow with the growth of a reader's sight word vocabulary.  Every week we will add a new "Bird Word" to our list. Your child will be tested periodically over his or her ability to recognize the bird words.

Below is a list of bird words that your child will be exposed to and taught in Kindergarten. Your child will be expected to recognize these words by sight and will be tested over them at every midterm and report card time. For example, at first quarter midterm time, your child will only be tested over the sight words learned during that first quarter. We introduce one to two new sight words each week.

 

I, love, you, go, the, see, a, like, can, to, is, it, am, me, my, did, and, for, play, was, in, said, are, have, will, that, your, she, he, look, of, all, this, what, with, we, be, where, when, come, they, has, off, on, who, do, if, or, make, not, went, could, from

 

R.T.I. (Response to Intervention

We are required to screen all of our students three times a year to see where they are performing. We use a testing program called AIMS WEB. This process is called R.T.I., which stands for Response to Intervention. Students identified as needing additional assistance based on these screenings will receive extra assistance and interventions to try and help them become successful in school. Our goal is to find where students need assistance and catch it early enough so that we can provide the resources they need in order to be successful. Students are tested in the Fall, Winter, and Spring. These tests are scientifically based. Each test has a 1 minute time limit. In the fall, each child is tested on letter naming fluency, number identification, oral counting, quantity discrimination (which number is larger), and missing numbers in a sequence.  In the winter and spring, other tests will be added such as a letter sound fluency test, phoneme segmentation fluency test, and nonsense word fluency test. Those identified as “below level” will be progress monitored to record any improvements in scores. They will be progress monitored once per week or every two weeks depending on the assistance needed. Each child is initially tested in September and will be tested again in the winter and spring. This is just another tool for us to use to make sure we are doing everything we can to reach each and every student. Listed below is a more detailed description of each test. Please let me know if you have any questions. Ramona Eyre is our R.T.I. Specialist and will be the individual administering the test.  If your child is identified as needing additional assistance, you will be notified and your child will be given approximately 15-30 minutes of intervention time daily to help strengthen those areas of struggle.

 

Letter Naming Fluency Test – Each student is shown capital and lowercase letters in random order. Each student has one minute to correctly name as many letters as he or she can.

 

Letter Sound Fluency Test – Each student is shown lower case letters in random order. Each student has one minute to correctly produce the letter sounds of as many letters as he or she can.

 

Phoneme Segmentation Fluency Test – Each student is read a word such as “mop.” After I say “mop,” the student has to tell me all the sounds he or she hears in the word “mop.” So, if I say “mop,” the correct answer will be /m/ /o/ /p/. A point is given for EACH correct sound. So the word “mop” is worth 3 points. Students have one minute to take this test.

 

Nonsense Word Fluency Test – Students are shown a list of nonsense words. They have to look at the word and sound it out or they can just say the entire made up word. For example, one word on the test is “miv.” A correct response could be just saying “miv” or producing the /m/ /i/ and /v/ sound. Each correct sound is worth a point – making each word worth 3 points. The point of this test is to see if children can sound out words by putting sounds together to form a word. It also tests to see if your child can correctly identify all the sounds within a word.

 

Oral Counting Test – Each student is given one minute to count as high as he or she can. The stopping point is 100.

 

Number Identification Test – Each student is shown numbers 0-10 in random order. Each student has one minute to correctly name as many of these numbers as he or she can.

 

Quantity Discrimination Test – Each student is shown a group of two numbers. They are given a minute to verbally tell me which number in each group is the largest number. For example, if they are shown 8 and 6, they have to tell me that 8 is the larger number.

 

Missing Number Test – Each child is shown a sequence of three numbers. They have one minute to tell me which number was missing from the sequence. For example, if they are shown 6 __ 8, they have to tell me that 7 is the number that is missing from the sequence.

 

 

 

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