SHARKS ATTACK!

Today we read SHARK books.  Many of the students are crazy for sharks.  When excitement and inquiry meet up....well let's just say there was some amazing creating and writing going on today! We now have created sharks to "catch" our work.  As the students do some amazing work, it will be showcased in the shark's mouths.  I will post pictures after they get laminated on Wednesday and then get cut out.  They are all unique. What is the most fun about them?  Most of the students used information that we learned from the books to choose their color schemes for their specific shark. It was fun to hear the conversations happen around what colors were being used and why.  We will have to see when sharks pop up in our learning again!

Classroom Clip Chart

Classroom Clip Chart

It is never too early to learn the importance of making responsible choices. So, in our classroom, we keep track of our behavior on our classroom clip chart. Students move their clip up on the chart for making responsible choices and move their clip down on the chart for making inappropriate choices. The best part about this system is that it gives students an opportunity to IMPROVE their behavior and make better choices, which allows students to move back up on the chart! The chart below explains how the clip chart works.

Outstanding	Students move to pink for making OUTSTANDING choices in school. This level is reserved for extraordinary behavior. This is truly a celebratory place to land!
Great Job	Students move to purple when they continue to make positive choices. This is a great accomplishment!
Good Day	Students move to blue for making positive choices, trying their best, and showing good character.
Ready to Learn	All students begin every day on green and are ready to learn. Clips are moved up and down on the chart according to choices they make in school. If your child remains on green, they had a fabulous day at school and have done everything they need to do to be successful at school! This is a good place to be every day.
Think About It	Students move to yellow as a friendly reminder to follow the classroom rules.  It is a warning to say something needs to change. They will be asked to reflect about their behavior, the choices made, and how they affected others.
Teacher’s Choice	Students who continue to make poor choices move to orange. When students move to Teacher’s Choice, the teacher will choose an appropriate consequence. It could be taking a break, loss of privileges, whatever is logical for the misbehavior and meaningful to the student.
Parent Contact	Students who move to red will have the behavior noted on the consequence form in the homework folder. This should be signed by a parent and returned to school the next day. The student may also lose recess time or other privileges. There may be additional contact from the teacher through a note, e-mail, or phone call home to discuss the student’s behavior.

Welcome to First Grade at the Beach!

Hello Parents! Welcome to a place for sharing everything that we do in First Grade this year.  It will be a fabulous way for us to stay connected without paper newsletters all of the time. :)  Check here for spelling words, updates about homework, what we are working on, and anything else that I can think of that shares what fun we have every day at school!