Prepping for Parent Orientation

Back to school means getting ready for parent orientation night. Last year we had some feedback from our parents that they didn't realize what a leap it was from kindergarten to first. We wanted to make sure our parents were informed and we also wanted them to know that on our team we all have the same expectations and we all teach the same curriculum....we may just teach it in a different way. I think this was our best parent orientation night EVER!

We started the night with a 25 minute presentation in our cafeteria addressing all of the parents. We have two brand new teammates so we started with a little introduction. We passed the microphone around between slides so we were all able to present as a team.


I'm so thankful I work with such an incredible group of ladies! Love them all!

We covered: 
*Schedule, pace, and the importance of showing up on time to school
*Reading expectations. We hope our students are at a DRA level 4 or above at the beginning of the year and an 18 or above at the end of the year. We took pictures of both a 4 and 18 to show parents what their child is working for. 
*Reading comprehension and its part in DRA scores. This is a big deal for us. Many parents know their children can read challenging books, but they don't realize that their child isn't able to remember what they are reading.
*Spelling- this year we have three mystery words that follow our phonics skill for the week. This way we can see which students have really mastered the skill instead of just memorizing the words.
*We discussed math facts and how to study them.
*Snacks, lunches
*BYOD- our district encourages students to bring their own devices
*Shoe tying! We asked that parents not send their children to school in shoes with laces if they can't tie them by themselves
*homework- reading every night
*sight words-Fry list

After our team presentation was over parents came to our classrooms for individual presentations. These covered a little bit about us (I revealed that I have a blog- I've never told parents that! EEK! My blog has always been just for me. If people figured out I had one I was ok with that but I never actually told anyone except my teammates), our personal behavior management, and other odds and ends.


Every year I end my presentation with this quote. I came across it when I read The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller. Hands down one of the best books I've ever read! If you haven't read it go put it on your wish list RIGHT NOW!
First grade is a reading grade and let's face it- all those stinkin standardized state tests are really READING tests!

My baby is due October 31st and I'm already stressing about making sure I have thorough plans and everything in place. I may have gone a little crazy with the Astrobrights paper. But I wanted to make sure my parents had plenty of information. I saw this fabulous flip book on Instagram from
 A Spoonful of Learning.  I love the end product! You can purchase your flip book here.

ugh- I see one page was stapled off center.  

*I also made two extra copies and set them aside for new students.

I found GREAT handouts on reading at home from All Students Can Shine and Fun in First.



I also needed a few other items in my room and used this SUPER cute donut themed parent donation pack from Farley! (I wanted to set mine up cuter, but swollen feet prevented me from doing much.) You can find her donut themed parent night pack right here.


At the end of the night I was exhausted but I think our first grade parents went home with lots of information and a better understanding of everything first grade entails. I {fingers crossed} hope my parents felt a little more at ease.

Hope all my teacher friends out there are off to a great school year! 
XO




Starting off on the WRITE foot

Good morning! I survived week two of school. How about you? I have lots to share about our week, but first I have to celebrate a fellow blogger! My dear friend Ashley from

Flying High in First Grade

Flying High in First Grade is celebrating a milestone and she's having an AWESOME giveaway! You can win my September/October Poem a Week pack as well as several other kick ass prizes. Ashley just had a baby girl and who knows, maybe our girls will be besties one day! 

This week we were busy working on routines, incorporating more Whole Brain Teaching, and setting up our writing journals. We want to start out on the "write" foot! LOL! Before school started I blogged about my All the Write Moves pack and the changes I had made to it from last year. You can check out that post here.

First we glued in our tabs to separate our journals into sections. Then we started gluing in all of our Writers Can pieces. I used my new Belkin Tablet Stand document camera for the first time. It was awesome. (I'll be doing a post on that in a couple of weeks after I've figured out all the cool tools!)

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Some pieces are interactive. But my main goal with having a Writers Can section was to give examples for my student to refer back to when they are working in their journals. I'm so excited to see how their writing changes and how they challenge themselves with journals set up this way.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/All-the-Write-Moves-829534
You can find my All the Write Moves pack on TPT. Just click on the picture above! 
Happy Saturday!