Mrs. Reyant’s ABC’s of First Grade
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Absences: If you know your child will be missing school on a certain day or will be leaving early, please notify me as soon as possible so I can get homework ready. If your child is absent, call the school (406-442-6779) to inform the front office. This is for your child’s safety. If a student must leave early, please sign him/her out at the office and he/she will be called from class. Inform the office or the teacher if another person is picking up your child. Help your child work on and return any make-up work as soon as possible.
Attendance: Your child's progress, both academically and socially, is influenced greatly by daily participation. Regular attendance without tardiness is a key. Many of the valuable learning opportunities we do in class cannot come home as homework. “Miss School, Miss Out.”
Arrival and Dismissal: School starts at 8:15 and ends at 3:00. Students enter the building at the main office (the door by the reader board) and go to the playground through the double red doors in the corridor. They are not allowed in the classroom or in the hallways before school unless going to breakfast or the Learning Lab to read and do homework beginning at 7:45. When the bell rings they will line up and a teacher will bring them into the building. If you would like to walk your child into the school, please observe these guidelines. At 3:00 students will be exiting through the doors by the gym. Children will wait with the playground supervisor.
Allergies: If your child has any allergies please notify the teacher.
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Backpacks: Backpacks carry many things. Helping your child check the backpack each night for important papers will help facilitate an organized routine. Checking a backpack is also a really good way to talk to your child about the day’s events.
Blue Homework Folder: Every Day (hopefully) your child will come home with a blue homework . Homework to return, books to read, letters home, Info-To-Go, forms to sign, etc. will come in the folder. Please look through the folder nightly and return it each day. Also, use this folder to send notes to the teacher. It is a valuable communication tool.
Birthdays: Birthdays are special occasions for young children. Your child is welcome to bring a treat to class. We will sing a birthday cheer and have treats around 2:00. We will celebrate summer birthdays during the last few weeks of school. You can send treats in the morning or make arrangements with the teacher for another time. The school handbook reminds us to not send party invitations to school unless all of the children are invited.
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Calendar: A calendar of school events and the monthly school breakfast/lunch menus are available on the school website www.montanacity.schoolwires.com. On Thursdays, watch for the weekly newsletter “Info-to-Go” for menus and school events.
Classroom Newsletter: Look for our weekly classroom newsletter in the blue homework folder highlighting important information for our class.
Conferences: Parent/Teacher Conferences will be held at the end of 1st and 3rd quarter. However, if you have concerns regarding your child, please, feel free to set up a time to visit. The school number is 442-6779 or you may reach me by email at mfarrell@mtcityschool.net.
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Discipline: My classroom discipline plan is built on our school vision statement “Educational Excellence, Above the Line, By Design.” Our classroom rules and our approach to solving conflict revolve around this statement.
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E-mail: E-mail is checked on a daily basis, but if something is urgent feel free to call the school 406-442-6779. mreyant@mtcityschool.net
Emergency Card: Every year an Emergency Card is collected from parents when they fill out school paperwork . If any of the emergency information ever changes please notify the school so you can be reached in case of an emergency.
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Field Trips: We will be going on a variety of field trips this year. Parent volunteers are always welcome. All students will need to fill out a bus form before riding the bus.
Fire/Earthquake/Lockdown Drills: Fire drills etc. are held throughout the year. We will practice and become familiar with procedures before our first scheduled drill.
Flexible Reading Groups: The three first grade teachers (Mrs. Myers, Mrs. Reyant and Ms. Anthony) along with Mrs. Koerth partner together and teach a phonics/reading group in which all students from the three first grades have the opportunity to work alongside students from the other classes in a group with a smaller student to teacher ratio in order to really focus on important phonics, decoding, sight word, and comprehension skills. The smaller groups create the opportunity for individualized instruction catered to your child’s learning needs. Journeys, the adopted reading program, is used during this valuable instructional time. A note will be going home in the first month of school explaining more. Be sure to return the bottom portion of the note.
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Gym: Our class will have gym class on Tuesdays and Thursdays for 30 minutes each class. The children are asked to have clean sneakers at school on those days. I also ask that each student bring an extra pair of socks for P.E. (especially in warm weather when kids are wearing sandals). Students need to wear pants, shorts (to slip on under skirts) and socks in order to participate. Please make sure your child is dressed comfortably for P.E. If your child doesn’t know how to tie shoelaces, please work on this at home.
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Hands-on Learning : First Grade is full of hands– on–learning. We all learn best by doing. Consequently, there may not be a lot of “papers” coming home everyday. Sometimes seatwork is needed and will be reviewed by the teacher and sent home in folders.
Health: Please let us know of special circumstances which may affect your child. These could include medication that may make him/her sleepy, a death in the family, etc. Also, please let me know of any allergies your child may have, especially food allergies. I sometimes cook or do food activities to complement lessons.
Home Reading: What a joy it is to sit and read a good book! Please read with your child daily. Statistics show this is the most important activity you can do to help students learn to read and love reading. A monthly reading chart will be sent home to encourage this home activity. Remember parents, you need a good book too!!
Homework: A child’s first teacher is his/her parents. Spelling words, Sight Words (“Words to Know”) will be sent home weekly. Each day your child should spend about 15 minutes reading aloud to a family member. If students would like additional homework, please talk with me and I can make some homework packets. I believe that some down time after school to play, rest and “be a kid” is really important. Keeping the TV off and getting out the toys is a good idea for “homework” for a first grade student. If your child is absent or if your child does not finish his/her work at school in the appropriate time given, homework will be sent home to be completed and returned.
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Illness: At times it is difficult to decide if a child is ill enough to stay home. Please keep in mind that the school day is long and many demands are placed upon a child throughout the day. Children are up and around, inside and outside, and interacting with many different people in a variety of situations. A healthy child is a learning child. Also, staying home when warranted helps to keep others healthy.
Independent Reading: It’s worth repeating… daily interactions with literature is essential in strengthening reading abilities. A child needs some quiet time everyday with a book. If they can only sit for one minute by themselves, start there, and try for 1 minute and 10 seconds the next day. Soon they’ll have their flashlight and a book with them in bed in order to “sneak” a little extra time with a favorite book.
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Join: PTA is looking for parents to participate in various school events. This is a great way to meet other parents and provide support for our wonderful school.
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Mr. Kloker: Most of you know the Superintendent, Mr. Kloker. He is always available for a chat with both students and parents. He’s great.
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Library: Our class will have Library with Mr. Kuhl on Fridays. Please help your child to remember to bring his/her books back so new books may be checked out. As First Graders they are allowed to check-out two books each week.
Lunch: Lunch will be from 11:00-11:40. They eat lunch first and then go outside. You are welcome to come have lunch with your child. Just let the office know for the lunch count. Check in with Mrs. Smith before heading to eat.
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Music: Everyday in First Grade is a day full of music. Music helps students enjoy school and at the same time learn a variety of skills from letter sounds to being kind to others. Also, Mrs. Nelson will be teaching our class music on Monday’s.. She’s amazing!!
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Nurse: Kristen Lamping is the school nurse. Among other responsibilities she tends to scratches and scrapes and may even give a call home when a student needs to go home due to illness. Mrs. Smith, the school clerk, also known as the second nurse helps out kids in the Nurse’s Office too. The office is located next to Mrs. Smith and Mr. Kloker’s office.
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Office Staff: Mrs. Price and Mrs. Dorrington are the people that greet you when you come into the school. Be sure to stop by there first and sign-in. They are also great if you have questions about anything about the school.
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Parties: We will be having parties throughout the year to celebrate the different seasons. We also have “unofficial” parties that include, 100th Day of School, and a few more surprise parties.
Parent Involvement: Parents are welcome in our classroom anytime, whether it be to help or just say hi, please stop by! I am working on a schedule for parents that are interested in volunteering on a regular basis.
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Questions????: You may be new to Montana City School. If you have any questions about First Grade or the school, feel free to email or stop by for a chat. I am usually available from 8:00-8:15 and 3:00-3:30 every day. Sometimes I have meetings but they usually do not occur during those times. Check the front office to see if they can locate me.
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Recess: There will be a total of 45 minutes that the students will be outside each day. Children should dress for the weather. We will only be staying inside when the temperature is below zero. This outside time helps build healthy bodies and give students practice time in building positive relationship skills. Outside helpers wear fluorescent vests and are available to assist children as needed.
Report Cards: Report cards are issued 4 times a year. Various First Grade skills will be assessed and progress monitored at these times.
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Snack: We will have time for an afternoon snack each day. During this time children may eat something from home. A healthy snack is always the best choice for these growing minds and bodies. Unfortunately, unlike Kindergarten, if a student does not bring a snack there won’t be any “spares” available to them.
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Box Tops: One of PTA’s projects is collecting “Box Tops for Education”. Each class is in competition to collect the most “Box Top for Education” coupons. There will be a special reward for the winning class. Start saving and get anyone who doesn’t have kids to save for you too.
Tests and Assessments: Students will be assessed in a variety of ways. Student progress is monitored in the classroom on a daily basis. On Fridays, your child will take a spelling test on the weekly words, your child’s understanding of the Journey’s Main Selection will be evaluated on a written test, and he/she will be evaluated on being able to read the weekly sight words or “Words to Know”. DIBELS diagnostic reading assessments are given at the beginning, middle, and end of the year to assess letter naming fluency, phoneme segmentation fluency, nonsense word fluency, and oral reading fluency. Math tests will be administered at the end of each chapter. There are just to name a few.
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Unique: A Teacher Helper will be appointed each day to help the teacher. This unique position will have special responsibilities such as line leader, pledge leader, and all around teacher helper. They are a very important part of keeping the classroom running smoothly.
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Visitors: Montana City School has a policy that ALL GUESTS (including familiar faces) check in at the school office. We welcome and encourage family involvement. It is important to remember that while this may seem inconvenient to frequent visitors, it is the goal and responsibility of the school to create a safe learning environment. Besides, the badges are stylish.
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Wish List: As the year rolls on I will be sending out periodic wish lists of things we will need for the classroom. These items may be as simple as toilet paper rolls or as delightful as ingredients for homemade applesauce or 100s day trail mix.
Writing: We will be doing a lot of writing in First Grade. Daily writing journal, writing stories and writing projects are just some of the ways the First Graders will be practicing this very important skill.
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Extreme Thirst: I do allow water bottles in the classroom. Please make sure that they are no-spill bottles. A well hydrated brain is a learning brain.
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You: You are the most important teacher in your child’s life. A fraction of a child’s learning happens in the classroom. If you ever need to chat about any struggles or questions you might have, I can help. Many parent resources are available for parents with good information, including books and personnel. We are here for you.
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ZZZZZZZs: Plenty of rest each night is very important for you and your child. A rested brain is a happy brain. Research tells us that the little ones need 10 hours of sleep a day. This helps with long term memory building as well as helps keep a healthy immune system.
In summary:
First grade will be exciting, fun and very important because the skills your child learns will provide a foundation for all of his/her future instruction. I’m looking forward to this year very much and will do my best to ensure that all students master first grade concepts, feel good about themselves and begin a journey to become lifelong learners.
-Mrs. Reyant
School Phone: 442-6779
School Website: http://montanacity.schoolwires.com
Ms. Reyant’’s Email: mreyant@mtcityschool.net checked daily.
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