Kathleen H.

Wilbur Elementary School

Classroom Handbook
2017 - 2018

Mrs. Potts and Miss Warner

Room B-1
Kathleen H. Wilbur Elementary School
Dear Families,

Welcome to Kindergarten! We are very excited to be teaching your child this year, and
we are already off to a great start! This is going to be a wonderful year filled with fun,
learning, and growth for every child. As your childs teachers, we will encourage and
challenge each child academically, emotionally, and socially. Nurturing the whole child is
not only a large part of Kindergarten, but also something that we take very seriously.

During the year, the children will learn to become readers, writers,
mathematicians, scientists, and good citizens. The children will also learn how to
become problem solvers, follow the rules, be good listeners, use kind words, and will
become more independent in their thinking and abilities. This is going to be a very
busy year!

To make this year a success, it is important that we work together to create the
best learning environment for every child. Please feel free to contact us with any
questions or concerns that you may have, or even just to say hello! Also, please
remember to place any important notes in your childs red folder because it will be
checked everyday!

Please take the time to read through our Classroom Handbook. Thank you for
your support and we look forward to working together with you to make Kindergarten a
great year for everyone!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Potts and Ms. Warner
 Kindergarten B-1 Schedule
8:20 8:50 Arrival / Morning Routines / Breakfast / Open Centers

8:50 9:10 Calendar / Team Building or Class Building

9:10 10:10 Core ELA Block

10:10 10:25 Als Pals Social Skills Lesson

10:25 11:00 Reading Centers / Small Group Instruction

11:00 11:30 Lunch

11:30 11:50 Fluency Practice

11:50 12:05 Recess

12:10 12:40 Math Core Block

12:40 1:10 Math Centers / Small Group Instruction

1:10 1:40 Science / Social Studies

1:45 2:10 Writing

2:10 2:20 Pack Up

2:20 3:05 Special (Rotating Weeklong Schedule of Each Special Art, Gym,
Music, Library, STEM)

3:05 3:15 Story / Goodbye Song

3:15 Dismissal
 Classroom Behavior
A large part of Kindergarten is learning how to follow rules in a classroom setting. For
some students, Kindergarten is their very first experience in a classroom setting. Other
students have attended preschool or daycare where they have experienced following a daily
routine and schedule. In Kindergarten, we will be working very hard to learn our new routines
and schedules, as well as appropriate behavior for the classroom. All of the skills that your
child will learn in Kindergarten will help them become excellent students and citizens in the
future!
The number one rule for Kindergarten is to be a good listener. Listening to the teachers
directions the first time, as well as being quiet, polite, and attentive while the teacher or other
children are talking is very important. We will be learning how to walk silently in the hallway
in a nice straight line, how to share and take turns with friends, waiting our turn patiently,
raising our hand when we want to talk, working together to be good problem solvers, learning
to use kind words, what to do to make a friend feel better when we have hurt their feelings,
and to always keep our hands and feet to ourselves. Finally, it is important in Kindergarten to
always try your best! Reinforcement of these rules at home on a regular basis is extremely
helpful!
Our classroom management system is based on Love and Logic. Love and Logic is an
approach to discipline that gives children choices, helps them to own their own choices and
behavior, builds their self-concept, and allows children to solve their own problems.
It is an approach that:
1. Puts teachers in control
2. Teaches students to think for themselves
3. Raises the level of student responsibility
4. Prepares students to function effectively in a society filled with temptations,
decisions, and consequences.
When dealing with behaviors, we work hard to be proactive and move quickly to correct
them. However, if there continues to be a problem, students are given natural consequences to
teach them how to correct their behavior in the environment. A student will receive one verbal
warning before losing a point on Class Dojo. If the problem continues, the child will be required
to take a break from the group or activity so as not to disturb the learning of others. The break
lasts long enough for the child to collect themselves and rejoin the group showing me the
appropriate behavior that they should be doing. For a major problem or disruption to our
classroom environment (defiance, putting hands-on in a mean way, etc.) then the child will
receive a note home through class dojo. If need-be, a student might receive a referral to the office
to see the assistant principal, or principal, following school policy. When this occurs, you will
also be contacted.

We would like you to know that in school, we handle the childrens behavior as needed and
give out consequences immediately following the behavior so that the children can learn from
them. If I send a note home, it is not for the child to be punished again, but rather so that you can
talk to them about the importance of the rule that they had trouble with, and why it is important to
follow it.

B-1s Class Rules

1. Listen and follow directions the first time

2. Complete work in a timely manner while staying in your seat
3. Raise your hand to answer / ask a question
4. Make safe choices (walking feet, hands to self, etc.)
5. Work carefully with an inside voice at the table
6. Use teamwork and be a good partner to everyone in the classroom
7. Use kind words
8. Persevere when things seem difficult
9. Be the best you that you can be
 Food
Wilbur is officially a peanut free school. It is school policy that no food is eaten in the
classrooms as well as no peanut products sent in for lunch. You can request a snack order form to
be sent home in which you can order a class snack from the cafeteria for special occasions. We
ask that snack order forms are turned in no later than one week from the date you would like it
served. Due to diet restrictions and allergies throughout the school, this will be helpful in making
any arrangements that may be needed.

Volunteering
During the month of September and into October, we spend a lot of time getting to know
each other as a class, getting acquainted with the building, and learning our new classroom rules
and procedures. We appreciate your support in giving us this time to allow the children to adjust
to their new learning environment. Beginning in the middle of October, feel free to contact us if
you would like to come and help out in the classroom, or even if you are available to help with
copying (We love our copy helpers!!!). For now however, the cafeteria is always looking for
extra hands to help with Kindergarten at lunchtime from 11:00 11:30! We would love to see
you there! Thank you in advance for everything you do for us!

Spare Clothing

Accidents happen to everyone, so please send in an extra outfit of clothing for your child
that can be kept in the top of their locker throughout the year. Please be sure to include a seasonal
shirt, a pair of shorts and/or pants, underwear, and socks. Please send the clothes in a bag that is
marked with your childs name. If your child needs to change during the day, the soiled clothing
will be sent home that afternoon in your childs book bag.

Newsletters / Red Folders / Class Dojo Report Cards

Each month, a newsletter will be sent home in your childs red folder to keep you updated
with the events going on in our classroom. A copy of the newsletter and calendar will also be
posted to our class website at www.msfetters.weebly.com.

The red folder has one side labeled Keep at Home and another side labeled Return to
School. Please make sure to check your childs red folder EVERY DAY for important
information coming home. Your child should bring this folder to school with them every day as it
is important for parent communication. If you need another red folder, please let me know and
we will supply your child with another one.

You will receive your childs Class Dojo report card every day by e-mail. I have sent home
an invitation on the first day of school with your child. If you have misplaced it then please let
me know and I will send home another form with your childs special code on it. If you have any
problems with it, please let me know and I will do my best to assist you with it! If you ever have
any questions or concerns about your childs report, please dont hesitate to e-mail us! Also, if
you could please go over the report with your child and remind them of good listening rules in
any areas that they are struggling with, then that would be great!

Homework Requirements

The children are extremely excited to be having homework already! They are working very
hard during the day and we know how difficult schedules can be during the week. Therefore, we
will be sending a homework packet home at the beginning of the month, and your child will have
all month long to complete it. The homework is optional; however, it is sent home to reinforce
the skills they are learning in the classroom, so please make sure that your child completes it
carefully and in their neatest work. The homework will not be too difficult or time consuming,
and I only ask that you please complete what you can with your child. This one-on-one time
offers you a chance to show your child not only how important a strong work ethic is early in life,
but it also allows you to talk with your child about the things that they learned during the week,
or any special things that they would like to share with you. It also allows you to see what skills
your child might need extra practice with at home. To help keep your child excited about school
and homework, it is important that you are enthusiastic about it as well!
Reading a story will always be a part of your childs homework since a shared reading
experience is such a valuable part of their development. Focusing on the concepts of print, such
as the front cover and back cover, title, author, illustrator, where we begin reading, and tracking
the print along with their finger as you are reading will all develop your childs reading readiness
skills. As the year progresses, your child will be moving closer to being able to read the story to
you, so have them pick out the letters that we are learning as well as the most common words that
they are learning that week!

Curriculum
Language Arts: Common Core State Standards Discovery Intensive Phonics
This year we will be using very rigorous curriculum with the children called Discovery
Phonics. This is a high-paced and interactive curriculum that uses a multi-sensory approach to
focus on letter identification, rhyming, and syllable manipulation, while also giving children the
important skills to encourage emergent reading such as: phonemic awareness, phonics, high-
frequency words, concepts of print, reading comprehension, spelling, vocabulary, and shared
writing experiences. Each day during whole group, students will learn to recognize letters and
their sounds, read high frequency words and use them in sentences, and listen to stories, later
discussing the characters, setting, beginning, middle, and ending events of that story.
This curriculum also focuses on small group experiences in which each child has the
opportunity to practice these skills at their current level. Students will be divided into small
groups of 4 or 5 depending upon the skills that we are working on. Groups will change
throughout the year. During small group, students will review the main lesson of the day, read a
story on his/her current reading level, participate in activities related to the story, complete
letter/sound recognition activities, and high frequency word activities. Small groups provide
teachers with the opportunity to guide each student at his/her individual level. This is a time
where students will be challenged to meet individual goals which are reinforced throughout the
day.
 Literacy centers include many activities such as: library, literacy based websites on the
computers, journaling in the writing center, alphabet centers, word family centers, word building
centers, letter/sound knowledge centers, word/picture sorts, etc. Students are assigned to literacy
centers on a rotating eight day schedule.
I refer to our high frequency words as popcorn words because they are words that should
just pop right out of your childs mouth as soon as they see them. Below, I have listed the
words that we will learn throughout the year. We will also be coming up with our own cheers
for each word in which the children get to make up hand and/or feet gestures to help us spell out
the words in hopes that it will make it easier to remember when we spell them or are stuck when
we are reading them. My goal is that by the end of the year, your child can read and write these
words without difficulty. Please continually practice these words with your child at home.

1. The 16. As
2. Of 17. With
3. And 18. Are
4. To 19. They
5. In 20. I
6. A 21. At
7. Is 22. Be
8. You 23. This
9. That 24. Have
10. It 25. From
11. He 26. Or
12. On 27. One
13. For 28. Had
14. Was 29. By
15. His 30. Word

Fluency will also be a large focus of our year. We will have a specific time every day
dedicated strictly to reading fluency. Our goal is to have as many children fluently reading by the
end of kindergarten as possible. We will accomplish this by allowing students to practice reading
as quickly as possible: letters, then sounds, then slides, then cvc words, then eventually building
up to nonsense words. The quicker the students become at a given sheet, the better. Once they
have mastered the fluency sheet with no mistakes in one minute or less, we will change out their
sheet and eventually the skill based on their accuracy. We will eventually send home a weekly
fluency sheet to practice with your child at home. You can time your child to see how long it has
taken them to read the sheet throughout the week. Our hope is that the childrens time becomes
increasingly smaller as the week goes on. Practice makes perfect so any time you can devote to
practicing these sheets at home would be very helpful!
Math: Common Core State Standards Terc: Investigating Investigations
Our math curriculum is based in the Common Core State Standards and is called Terc:
Investigating Investigations. Through this curriculum, the children will be doing hands-on
activities and exploring with math manipulatives in order to understand the basic framework of
mathematics and in order to gain problem solving skills. Instead of memorizing addition facts,
the children will be learning and investigating why the problem works. The children love this
curriculum because it is hands-on, and I love this curriculum because it gives the children the
background knowledge and basic mathematical framework that is needed to become excellent
mathematicians in the future! The main math lesson will be taught whole group, and then we will
break into small groups during math workshop. Math workshop is designed to reinforce the
skills that are being taught and to give the children a chance to explore with the materials in order
to expand their mathematical thinking. Math workshop may include: exploring pattern blocks,
exploring shapes, exploring colors, exploring sizes, making patterns, and playing math games
that explore numbers, tens-frames, counting one-to-one, addition, subtraction, order, etc.

Science: Next Generation Science Standards

Our units this year will include: Trees, Push, Pull, Go, and Weather and Me. The
first kit is going to be Trees where the children will take observation walks, observe different
kinds of trees and leaves, visit our adopted tree on the playground, and discuss the difference
between living and non-living things. The second kit is Push, Pull, Go where the students will
be using a variety of kinex materials to create different types of moving systems. By the end of
the unit, the children get to create their own invention where all of the parts of their systems need
to work together to create a movement. The last unit will be Weather and Me where the
students will discuss what the weather is like today, how it is different from yesterday, discuss
why we predict the weather, as well as learn about the effects of sunlight on the earths surface.
The children will even be challenged to build a structure that will reduce the warming effect on
an area. All of these kits allow the children to learn through observation and hands-on activities.
Each child will have the opportunity to become a scientist and explore new materials! We cant
wait to see what we will find!
Social Studies: Harcourt Horizons
Our social studies curriculum is called Horizons. It teaches the children about their
community as well as the world around them. We will focus on what it means to be a good
citizen in our school and community. We will learn about holidays such as Constitution Day,
Thanksgiving, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.s Birthday, Presidents Day, and more. Before winter
break, we will take a look at how people celebrate holidays around the world. Through this
curriculum, the children will be learning important rules to follow, who our leaders are in the
school, and most importantly, how to become good citizens!
Handwriting without Tears
Handwriting and fine motor development are very important to our daily activities. During
handwriting, we focus mainly on the construction of letters. We begin our lessons with a song
reminding us to start our letters at the top. The lessons are interactive and use kid-friendly
language to help students learn and remember how to properly write each letter. We begin the
year with capital letters, because they are easier to write, and then we proceed to lowercase
letters. We use wooden pieces to demonstrate big line, little line, big curve, and little curve.
Before the children practice writing in their workbook, we practice on the chalkboards with Wet,
Dry, Try. First we use tiny wet sponges to write our letter. Then we use a cut-up piece of a tee-
shirt over the wet letter that we just wrote. Finally, we try it on our own with chalk. The children
LOVE this part of our handwriting activities!
Social Skills and Resiliency Skills: Als Pals
Als Pals is an interactive program that teaches children healthy ways to recognize and
handle their feelings. There are three puppets, Al, Ty, and Keisha. The puppets teach songs, tell
stories, role play situations, and ask questions and advice to teach the kids how to problem solve
and make healthy choices. Al also has his own place in our classroom where the children can
go if they are having big feelings (angry, frustrated, sad, etc.). Als Place is a special part in
our classroom separate from all of the other activities that are taking place at that time. There is a
beanbag chair with a couple of posters reminding the students what they learned from Al, and
also a poster to make the children think about how they are feeling now, and how they might
want to feel after leaving Als Place. Al encourages steps to calm down which are: take three
deep breaths, count to 5 slowly, and tell yourself to calm down. Al also encourages problem
solving steps by telling the children to: stop and think about the problem, say how you feel,
brainstorm ideas, try the best one, and see what happens. If the first idea didnt work, then try
another idea until you solve your problem.

Assessments and Grading Procedures

Colonial is adapting mastery based learning this year for Kindergarten. Through mastery
based grading, you will be able to easily see your childs growth through all areas of the common
core state standards throughout the entire year. I will be assessing the students in a variety of
ways, including using the curriculum assessments, along with the district-wide assessments. The
district assessments will be given at the beginning, middle, and end of the year to identify your
childs progress. I will also be assessing for report cards through our two semesters, as well as at
intervals throughout the year where you will be able to check interim reports through the
computer. The most important thing to remember is that we are grading based on the continuum
 of where we want your child to be by the end of the year. We are not expecting students to master
the standards by the beginning of the year, but that is why it is important for us to keep the lines
of communication open, so that we identify any areas of difficulty for your child and we are able
to take the next steps to help them be successful before the end of the school year. You will be
given more information regarding mastery based grading soon.

Parent / Teacher Communication

Keeping an open line of communication is extremely important for the success of every
child in the classroom. Please use any of these following ways to contact me for any questions or
concerns that you may have during the year.
1. Phone (302) 832-6330 extension 3001
2. E-mail amy.potts@colonial.k12.de.us or directly through class dojo
*quickest way to get a hold of me I check both accounts before school, at planning, after
school, and in the evening*
3. Notes sent into school through your childs red folder
4. Class Dojo you can check this for your childs behavior, communicating with me, or even
pictures of important things happening in the classroom through the class story section
5. Check out our class website where we will be updating information on a regular basis:
www.msfetters.weebly.com
6. Follow our class on twitter - @MsFetters or search for #wilburinspired
7. Please remember to sign up for B-1s Remind 101 number I will keep you updated with
reminders about things we are doing in the classroom, and special days coming up throughout the
year! Text @f73666 to 81010 to sign up now!
8. Student-led conferences in November, March, and then Celebration of Learning in
June