Welcome Letter
Dear Parents and Students:
Welcome to Ms. Pearson’s 5th Grade Class at Highland Arts Elementary. I am looking forward to an exceptional year of learning and fun. Please review my expectations and procedures. Throughout the year, I will communicate with parents through a weekly newsletter sent by email. You are welcome to contact me at any time and for any reason. My email address is loreenpearson@gmail.com. We are going to make it a great school year!
Classroom Rules
1. Please respect others and their property. No one has the right to interfere with the learning or safety of others.
2. Please raise your hand to speak or leave your seat.
3. Please be prepared and ready to learn. Do what is expected, and do it the best you can.
4. Please follow directions and work hard.
Rewards and Consequences
Students who chose to follow the rules and be responsible for their own behavior will be rewarded with intrinsic satisfaction, as well as the benefits of a healthy learning environment. As teacher, I may also reward those students with verbal praise, an extra recess, or positive reports to parents. Students who choose not to follow the rules may suffer the following consequences: warnings, loss of recess, or time outs in or out of class. For more serious infractions, parent conferences will be held and behavioral contracts signed. If inappropriate behavior persists, administration will be included for a possible in or out of school suspension.
P. A.T. Motivation
I offer a weekly class reward to students who are performing to the best of their ability, academically and behaviorally. Points will be given for prompt adherence to class procedures, good behavior, productive work time, on-time work, high quality work, and high scores on quizzes and tests. Points will be taken away for the opposite behavior such as missing homework, lost materials, or disruptive behavior. At the end of the week, students who earn a preset amount of points will be given 15 minutes of free time on Fridays. This is call Preferred Activity Time (P.A.T.). Working together, the teacher will have students chart their daily points in their calendars (see below). The goal is to have all students earn this weekly reward. This system keeps students in charge of their behavior and work habits so that consequences are predictable and directly related to their performance.
Calendar
Each student will be given a calendar each month for the entire year. Please emphasize to your child how important it is to take care of this calendar. It will be used by students to record homework assignments. It will also be a communication tool between the teacher and parents. Please make it a priority to check and sign your child’s calendar every day. Having you sign the agenda is considered one of your child’s homework assignments. Students will keep their calendar and daily homework assignments in a loose leaf binder that will be transported back and forth from school to home every day.
Homework
Students will have homework every night, Monday through Thursday. Unless otherwise noted, it is due as the student enters the following day. Partial credit may be given for homework that is up to two days late. Assignments that are not turned in are circled in ink on your child’s calendar and will lower your child’s grade. Homework should not exceed 50 - 60 minutes on any day.
Reading Log
In addition to written homework, students are expected to read each night for at least 30 minutes. Research shows that the more we read, or are read to, the better readers we become. Please help your child keep track of his or her reading on the monthly reading log. Reading logs will be turned in at the end of each month for a grade. The reading log should be kept in your child’s homework folder which will go home daily.
Graded Work
Graded work is sent home each Friday. Please review it with your child each week so that you are aware of your child’s progress in our class. I do not keep graded work, so if you are seeing your child’s graded work, you will have a very good idea of your child’s progress. Your signature on Friday’s calendar lets me know you have seen you child’s graded work, so please ask for it.
Expectations
With my assistance, I expect students to take responsibility for their behavior and academics. I expect each student to do his or her best work and to follow school and classroom rules. Each student’s best is personal. If a student is not making mistakes, the work is not challenging, and this is a mistake. Please help your child by allowing him or her to make mistakes and to have the opportunity to learn from those mistakes. That is how we grow and progress.
In closing, thank you for your attention to our classroom procedures and expectations. I know that working together with a positive attitude will help make it a fun and productive year.
Respectfully,
Ms. Loreen Pearson
Highland Arts Elementary
602-989-0814
Open House Outline
- Welcome parents to the school’s Open House Night and express appreciation for their attendance and participation.
- Review the Welcome Letter, which includes classroom rules, rewards and consequences, expectations, homework and more.
- Pass out a daily Class Schedule and Weekly Specials (Music, P.E., Media, etc.)
- Give curriculum highlights such as -
- Science Camp at Lake Pleasant
- Christmas Carol Reenactment
- Westward Expansion Celebration
- Pass around a volunteer sign-up sheet for -
- Field trips and special events
- Holiday parties
- Room Helpers
- Art Masterpiece Guide
- Special interests, career or hobby to share
- Leave a notecard for parents to write a short note of encouragement for their student to read on the first day of class.
- Assign first homework assignment: an interest inventory worksheet for the student to fill out and return the first day of class.
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