Introduction

My name is Ms. Laura McKee. I graduated with High Honors from the University of
Illinois in Urbana-Champaign in 2011, where I received my Bachelors Degree in Elementary
Education with an area of concentration in Sociology. I earned my Masters degree in
Curriculum and Instruction from Lewis University. I also earned my English as a Second
Language (ESL) endorsement from Lewis University. This is my seventh-year teaching first
grade at Craughwell.
I am looking forward to a successful year with your child! I believe that
parents/guardians play a very important role in their childs education and need to be aware
of what goes on in the classroom. This handbook is lengthy, but I hope you find it useful
throughout the school year. Please keep it handy.
Please feel free to contact me anytime throughout the year with any questions or
concerns. You can write me a note, send me an email, or give me a call.

School Phone Number: (815) 577 7313 ext. 6114

Email: lmckee@troy30c.org

This handbook is divided into two categories: Parent Handbook and Curriculum
Guide. Each category is in alphabetical order and contains these topics in the
following order:

Parent Handbook Curriculum Guide

All About Me Readers Workshop
Backpacks Writers Workshop
Behavior Plan Math Workshop
Birthdays Science
Book Orders Social Studies
Car Riders Morning Meeting
Classroom Jobs Homework
Field Trips
Grading/Family Vacations
Newsletters/Class Dojo
Personal Learning Time
Proud Paper
Recess
Recess W.I.N.
Room Parties
S.A.F.A.R.I. Book
Snack (no snack)
Specials
 Parent Handbook
All About Me
Beginning in Mid-September, one student will be chosen each week
to be the Star of the Jungle. Your child will bring home a poster and
instructions for how to prepare for his/her special week the week
before they will be celebrated. It is very important for students to
share their interests with their classmates in order to build our
community of learners. Therefore, each day during the week we will
do something special for our Star of the Jungle.
Monday: Share poster and interview your child.
Tuesday: Parent Letter: This is an opportunity for parents to
write a positive note to your child sharing how proud you are
of his/her hard work and to encourage and motivate him/her in
first grade. It is a wonderful keepsake and a very special
surprise for the students!
Wednesday: Read your childs favorite book to the class.
Thursday: The class will give the Star of the Jungle
compliments.
Friday: Share show and tell item.

Backpacks
Everyday your child will be bringing home important information and
nightly homework in his/her backpack. It is very important that you
check your childs backpack everyday, for it is the main source of
communication between home and school. Please help your child to
clean out his/her backpack regularly.

Behavior Plan
It is my belief that every child comes to school each day ready to
learn new things and share in the excitement with friends and
teachers. With this said, I take time throughout the beginning weeks
of school to sit with the children and develop a set of classroom
expectations. These classroom expectations closely relate to our
school-wide expectations:
-Be Respectful
-Be Responsible
-Be Peaceful
We create a classroom contract together and sign our names on the
contract to begin to lay the foundation to building a classroom
community of learners. When we experience bumps in the road or
troubles along the way, the children and I work together as problem
solvers to help one another. I hold high expectations for these little
ones and I know that with positive redirections and gentle reminders,
they will be successful as they learn the importance of making good
choices and self-correcting mistakes. It is certainly a learning
process!
**For severe or continuous infractions, please refer to the
district handbook in regards to the board implemented
discipline code and how these will be handled.

Awards and Rewards

 I foster a positive reinforcement system in our classroom in
order to promote being respectful, responsible, and peaceful. Your
child may talk about how he or she received a Terrific ticket. This is
a small incentive ticket. These are given to individual students who
are following directions the first time given, working hard, helping
others around them, setting a positive example, etc. When a student
receives 10 Terrific tickets, he or she will earn an opportunity to
shop in our Treasure Chest or save the tickets to get to 20 in order to
have a lunch bunch with me and two friends. Once a Terrific
ticket is given, it is not taken away.
To promote teamwork in our classroom, we will have a jar in
the front of our room that I will gradually fill with marbles. When we
demonstrate exceptional hallway behavior, receive a compliment
from a staff member or our principal, work well together, or
demonstrate other positive behaviors, I will add a few marbles to our
jar. A marble earned will not be taken away. There are three marks
on our jar; each mark earns the class various rewards, such as the
chance to pick a prize from our Treasure Chest, an extended recess, a
small classroom party, or other fun rewards to be shared by all
members of our classroom family. The higher the marbles get in the
jar, the greater the reward becomes.
In addition to our own classroom reward system, our school-
wide incentive program also works to foster a positive learning
community where all students are encouraged to try their best and
work cooperatively with their peers.

Birthdays
We love to celebrate every students birthday in our classroom! If
your childs birthday falls on a weekday during the school year, we
will celebrate it on that day. If it is on a weekend, we will celebrate it
on Friday or the following Monday. If your childs birthday is in the
summer, then we will celebrate it at the end of the school year.

On your childs birthday, he/she will receive a birthday crown and a

birthday pencil. If your child would like to pass out something in
honor of his/her birthday, please make it a non food item such as
pencils, bookmarks, erasers, stickers, etc. Since we have many
students with food allergies, please consider recognizing your childs
birthday by sending in a non-food treat such as pencils, a book
donated to the classroom library in honor of the birthday girl/boy,
bubbles, or stickers. If you decide to donate a book, I will make sure
to read the book aloud to the class and write who it was donated by
inside the book cover for this and future classes to see!! Inspiring
children to read is always important! These donated books will be
kept in a special book bin in our reading corner. If you decide to send
in a food item, it must be within the wellness guidelines. I will not
pass out any cookies, cupcakes, or similar treats due to the
wellness policy and food allergies within our classroom.

Birthday invitations cant be passed out at school. This is a

school policy and is implemented to prevent any hurt
feelings. However, you can sign up for the class
directory/class list and reference the class directory for
addressing invitations. Please see the letter from me about
sharing your information for the class list that is included in
this bag of papers.

Book Orders
I will be sending home Scholastic book orders periodically throughout
the year. It is completely optional to buy any of these items. These
book orders allow you to buy books and other educational items for
your child at a discounted price. For every dollar that is ordered a
bonus point is earned. These bonus points then allow me to order
books and materials for the classroom. If you wish to purchase any
of the items, please return the order form with your childs name on
it, and a check made payable to Scholastic Books by the due date
provided. DO NOT SEND CASH! You may also order your books
online and have access to more books than what is listed in the flyer.
Online orders are paid by credit card at www.scholastic.com.

Car riders
If your child will not be riding the bus, then a note must be sent to
school with your child for the days that your child will be a
car rider. If your child does not have a note, then he/she WILL be
sent home on the bus. If your child will be a car rider for the entire
school year, then one note at the beginning of the year will be
sufficient.

Classroom Jobs
Each week students will be selected to perform a classroom job. This
helps the students to feel responsible for our classroom. Each week
the children will rotate through the jobs. Your child will not have a
job every week as there is not a job for every child each week.

Field Trips
We will tentatively have 2 field trips in first grade. You will receive a
field trip form before each trip, which must be filled out completely.
Parents will have an opportunity to chaperone on the field trips this
year.

Grading/Family Vacations
The most recent version of our report card for first grade this year
can be found on the district web site at www.troy30c.org. This report
card is a standards based report card and provides information to
monitor your childs progress in developing key concepts and skills in
first grade. Your child will not be given letter grades.

Since consistent education is a priority in our school district, it is

strongly encouraged that parents try their very best to refrain from
scheduling a family vacation during the school year, in which your
child will miss school. Work is not typically sent home ahead of time
because there is no guarantee that the skills will be covered during
the time period when the student is absent.
** In terms of graded work, it is our districts policy that
students be given a maximum of 50% credit for all formative
assessments (graded class work) missed due to a family
vacation or other unexcused absence. These are typically
checkpoint assessments that allow the teacher to
determine whether or not a student will need additional
enrichment or support on a taught concept or skill. For
summative or culminating assessments (tests), students will
have the opportunity to make these up for a possible 100%
credit.

Newsletters
To keep you informed and updated, I will be sending home frequent
newsletters that will preview upcoming activities and skills that will
be learned. The newsletter will include pictures of the students and
our weekly activities. Please check your childs green Take Home
folder for this newsletter.

I will also use a website/app that will help share moments from our
day, reminders for upcoming events, and other pertinent information
in a digital way. The website/app is called Class Dojo and can be
downloaded on smartphones. The aspect of Class Dojo that I am
most excited to use is called Class Story where I can post status
updates and pictures of our learning. Only those signed up for our
classroom and approved by me (parents/guardians of these first
graders) will receive notification of these postings and can comment
on them. Please refer to the Class Dojo form I have provided for
more information and directions on how to sign up on the website to
be a part of our Class Dojo communication. The Class Dojo app was a
huge success last year and parents commented that they loved
seeing all of the fun photos that were shared frequently. The photos I
post are a great conversation starter with your child to get more
information about the school day.

P.L.T. Time
P.L.T. stands for Personal Learning Time. There are two blocks,
8:50-9:10 and 11:50-12:20, throughout each day where students will
receive interventions of enrichment and support at their individual
readiness levels. During these blocks of time, I will be pulling small
groups of students for guided reading mini-lessons and guided math
mini-lessons at their individual levels.

Proud Papers
Throughout each week I will be sending home papers in the students
take home folders as I check them so you can see how your child is
doing on his/her schoolwork. Please have your child look through
these pages each day. There may be a page that needs to be
corrected and returned the next day or finished and returned the
next day. It will always say on the paper if that is the case.
There is a spot in the classroom that I hang individual work up
for the students. I will select the first piece to be displayed for the
whole class. Beginning in a few weeks, I would like your child to
choose which piece of his/her schoolwork he/she is most proud of
from the week. As you look through papers sent home, please put
aside any papers your child is proud of. On Fridays, A zip-loc bag will
come home with a My Proud Paper sticker on it. Please put the one
paper that your child is most proud of and would like to be displayed
for the following week inside the bag. If your child does not return a
proud paper, then the current paper will continue to be displayed.
This is a great way for your child to self-assess his/her work. I will
hold on to the Ziploc bags throughout the week and send it home
every Friday. Please return it with a paper inside every Monday.
Some weeks, we will select the papers together in class so you will
not always receive a Proud Paper bag every single Friday.

Recess
We will have recess every day before lunch at 10:50. Please dress
your child appropriately for the weather. Socks must be worn at
school. If the weather is cold, please make sure that your child has a
coat, mittens, scarf, and a hat.

Recess W.I.N.
One of our goals in first grade is to work to help students
demonstrate homework responsibility. Students will have a short
written homework assignment Monday through Thursday in addition
to at least 10 minutes of nightly reading. Our school has a zero-
tolerance policy regarding homework. Therefore, if nightly
homework is not complete or is forgotten at home, students will have
to attend Recess W.I.N. during their recess time on a given day. For
first grade, Recess W.I.N. will be facilitated by a first grade teacher
and will allow students the opportunity to complete homework that is
incomplete or forgotten at home.
**You will be informed when our regular homework
schedule starts. In the beginning, we try to slowly work them
into the routine of having homework. Please check their
green Take Home folders for homework.

Room Parties
There will be three classroom parties this year in first grade. The
celebrations include a Halloween Party, a Christmas Party, and a
Valentines Day Party. Opportunities to volunteer for these parties
will be available.

S.A.F.A.R.I. Book
S.A.F.A.R.I. stands for Students and Families are Responsible and
Informed. It is a binder that will be brought home each day of the week. It
will contain important information and hold the following contents:
money/notes pouch, contacts page, All-Star Reading Log, nightly homework,
spelling words, and sight words to practice. All communications, such as
notes for the teacher, should be placed in the clear pouch located at the
front of your childs S.A.F.A.R.I. book. This binder will serve as the main
source of communication between home and school. Please keep all
information in this binder unless otherwise stated!
Snack
First grade will not have a snack time each day. This is because we
are lucky enough to have our lunch time in the middle of our day
(approximately three hours upon arriving and three hours before the
end of the day).

Specials
We have specials Monday- Friday from 12:50 p.m. to 1:50 p.m. this
year. The schedule is as follows:
Monday Computer L.A.B (30
mins)
Tuesday Music
P.E
Wednesday Art (one hour)
Thursday Library
Music
Friday Library
P.E.

Curriculum Guide

Readers Workshop
Reading is done daily in first grade using our Ready Gen curriculum.
There are many elements included in our reading curriculum. These
are specified below.

Regular reading is important to your childs reading development.

Therefore, your child will have reading homework every night.
Reading is assessed through observation and monitoring skills and
strategies in guided reading and strategy groups in addition to
one-on-one conferences.

Accelerated Reader (AR)

Our school uses the Accelerated Reading program to motivate
students to read. This is an online program that allows students to
read books at their reading level and then take a comprehension quiz
on the computer to earn points. The points are not part of any childs
grade. Our school uses an incentive program in which students earn
various prizes and rewards for earning points. Each time a goal is
reached your childs name will be announced over the intercom
during morning announcements. Your child will begin AR once he/she
is able to read independently. Typically, this begins closer to the
middle of the year in first grade.

All Star Readers -At Home Reading Program

I have set the bar high for these little ones! I am challenging them to
read at least 100 books at home by the end of first grade. Each time
a book is read at home, whether it is for homework or enjoyment,
please fill out the At Home Readers Log. Each log records 10
books. If you are reading a chapter book, please count each chapter
as one book on the log. Once your child has filled in a log, he/she will
turn it in and receive a new log. There will be a chart in our class to
keep track of how many books have been read. Every time your
child reads 100 books, he/she will earn a special prize! Please
encourage and support your child throughout this process!

Daily 5
The Daily 5 is a management system for building independence in
literacy. Students will visit the following centers/stations: Read to
Self, Listen to Reading, Word Work, Work on Writing, and Read to
Someone. One unique quality about the Daily 5 is that the children
slowly build their stamina over time so that all students are working
the whole time during these 20 minute rotations. We will do Read to
Self daily and then the students will complete 2 rotations of the
remaining centers each day.

FACE
The FACE is a menu of strategies in which students will be working on
during independent reading as well as guided reading to better
understand the face of a good reader. The letters in FACE stand for
Fluency, Accuracy, Comprehension, and Expand vocabulary. This
menu will be displayed in the classroom and strategies will be added
throughout the year as we learn them. All of these strategies will
benefit your child as he/she develops as a reader.

Guided Reading
Throughout each week, the children are involved in guided reading
sessions. Guided reading groups consist of children who are grouped
together based on particular needs. Grouping remains flexible
throughout the year, as I continually observe the children and gather
groups with similar needs. The focus of guided reading groups is on
helping children learn strategies to construct meaning in reading.
Guided reading groups are used to support childrens understanding
of any particular aspect of reading.

Phonics
Phonics is an important part of decoding words. We use many
methods in our daily practice of phonics, phonemic awareness, and
phonological awareness. Our phonics program is embedded in our
language arts study throughout the day with reading writing, and
spoken activities.
Vocabulary
The students will be exposed to new vocabulary words each day.
These words will be from the texts provided in our ELA curriculum.
Your child can begin to expand his/her vocabulary and associate new
words with words that are already known.

Word Wall Words/High Frequency Words

Our high frequency words are words that appear frequently in the
English language such as the, a, and is. In Kindergarten, your child
was exposed to many words. These words will be reviewed
throughout the year. The wall becomes a reference for the children to
use when they read and write. Once the word is on the word wall,
your child is expected to spell it correctly in his/her writing. You will
find a list of our current high frequency words in your childs SAFARI
binder, please practice reading these at home. If your child can
already read these words, please have him or her practice writing the
words in sentences.

Writers Workshop
Your child will have a daily writing lesson. I will do a lot of modeled
writing so that your child will be able to witness best practices of
good writers. These lessons will occur at the beginning of Writers
Workshop. I will also show examples of good writing and writing that
needs improvement. We will connect the literature from our reading
lessons so the children are able to see how good writers organize and
format their work. We will also share the pen and write together in
interactive writing experiences that will help these young writers
grow and develop in their journey. Writing lessons are focused on the
different forms of writing and how we can see them in the world
around us (i.e. lists, personal narratives, informational writing, etc.).
In order to help our young writers, please have your child help with
creating writing-based products at home, such as grocery lists,
invitations, stories, etc.

Each day your child will practice using different skills and strategies
in his or her writing. At the end of each writing unit, they will take a
piece through the writing process.
The writing process consists of 5 stages: prewriting, drafting, revising
and editing, redrafting, and publishing. They will write a story or a
paragraph. Then, using the techniques of the writers workshop they
will revise, edit, and publish their work. Children are encouraged to
be creative and eventually work as independently as possible.
During the editing stage, I will conference with each child individually
and work with each student to improve his/her work.

Grammar
The children will have daily and weekly grammar lessons that will be
transferred to daily and weekly writing pieces they create. Please
emphasize the importance of using proper grammar at home. Your
support is always appreciated!
Spelling
Spelling of the sight words we are reading is very important. While
your child is learning to read new sight words, we will work on
spelling sight words previously taught. They will practice these
words during Word Work centers and morning work throughout the
week. While there will not be a weekly spelling test, we practice
these words so that they will be spelled correctly in your childs
writing.

Handwriting
We will be using Zaner-Bloser as our handwriting curriculum this year.
Please pay close attention to letter formation. We will learn and
practice correct formation of all letters and numbers. By the start of
the second trimester, I will expect the children to be forming letters
and numbers correctly without errors. Best handwriting is expected
on all work! Reversals are common at the beginning of first grade,
but should self-correct by the end of the year. If your child is using a
lot of letter reversals, help him/her look over his/her writing when
complete and correct any reversals.

Math Workshop
We work on math daily in first grade using Origo Stepping Stones.
Topics include: number sense, place value, addition and subtraction,
graphing, geometry, measurement, fractions, and problem solving.

The way in which our math block is scheduled is intended to provide

students with hands-on experiences with math tools in order to build
number sense and instill a love for working with numbers and math
concepts.

Math Centers
Each day your child will independently practice math skills with
either a small group of peers or independently. During this time, I
will be pulling small groups to either review a skill/concept or extend
a concept with the groups.

Science
Our district uses StemScopes as our science curriculum. Stemscopes
aligns to the Next Generation Science Standards. The topics focus on
life science, physical science, and earth/space science. The
expectation of the Next Generation Science Standards and
curriculum is that students are learning and working like scientists
and engineers. They will first explore topics through activities,
investigations, and experiments and the instruction will come behind
these experiences to scaffold learning. This inquiry-based instruction
is hands-on and helps students build on prior knowledge while
growing as a scientist and engineer. This is not a graded subject in
first grade.
Social Studies
Social Studies is not a graded subject; however, it is a very integral
part of our curriculum. I will teach Social Studies using a thematic
approach. For example, at the beginning of the year, we will be
learning About Me. We will discuss the community, as well as learn
about different themes that correlate with the calendar. Topics
include: Decision Making and Social Skills, Map Skills, Columbus,
Pilgrims, Native Americans, Martin Luther King Jr., Holidays around
the World, Families, Our Country and Government, and the
Presidents.

Morning Meeting
Several times a week, our class will participate in a morning meeting.
The goal of a morning meeting is to strengthen social and emotional
skills. Elements of a morning meeting include greetings, group
activities, sharing, and a message.

Homework
Your child will benefit from having a regular study time set aside each
and every day. Taking into account the grade level of your child, this
study time should be about 10 20 minutes every night. If at any
time your child receives an assignment that you feel took much
longer than the targeted time, please let me know. The goals of
homework include building strong study habits, reinforcing concepts
taught in class, and building responsibility by bringing home an
assignment, completing it, and returning it on time. Your child will be
given math facts and sight words to practice each night as well as a
written assignment. In addition, your child should be reading a book
for at least 10 minutes each night.

Inside your childs S.A.F.A.R.I. book you will find a homework planner
sheet each week. Your child needs to have the homework planner
sheet signed and filled out daily. This will explain what your child is
to read for homework each night, as well as provide a place to write
comments or notes to either myself or your child about their
homework performance.

When going on vacation, homework will be given upon returning to

school as stated in the school handbook. The reason for this is
because I have lesson plans prepared, but due to the changing
student needs, it is not guaranteed that I will get through them in the
planned time frame. Therefore, I do not want to give work that the
other students may not have complete yet.
Thanks for reading this handbook. I hope you found the information
helpful. Please feel free to contact me with any questions. I am
looking forward to a great year together!

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