I've seen a ton of Open House posts on blogs lately and I have to say I'm a bit jealous. My district does not do Open House before school begins so the first time we meet our kiddos in the first day of school. The first time we meet most of the parents is a few weeks later during our Back to School Night. So, that means what is sent home on that first day is important to communicate with parents that we won't be meeting for a few more weeks.
I like to use the paperwork I send home on the first day as way to communicate class expectations as well as give the parents an opportunity to tell me about their child. I value their responses to the parent survey as a way to get to know my new students as kids outside my class rather than students in my class. This helps me to make connections to my kids and offer engaging lessons and materials that they will respond to. Here are a few items I'll be sending home on that first day.
This year I've created a Classroom Handbook. I wanted this handbook to be a place where Frequently Asked Questions would be answered. I knew this would help the parents by answering questions about lunch procedures, snack, early pick up procedures, as well as homework and spelling expectations. This also helps me those first few crazy weeks because the handbook will answer some questions that I would have otherwise needed to respond to in an email later on.
This Student Information page is helpful to me as well. We do have all contact information in our school database on our computer but having the information in my contact binder is so much easier when I need to contact a parent. I also like it because it lists days and times that would work best for families to schedule a conference or phone call.
I have also created a Tell Me About Your Child Questionnaire. I'm always so excited to get these questionnaires back because I love reading about my kiddos and their interests outside of school. I like to use these interests whenever I can to motivate and engage my students. I also included some questions about what parents expect out of this year and what they are hoping their child will accomplish in first grade.
Each year I create a Class Directory that goes home to all my families. Participation is voluntary but most families want to be included. Families often use this directory to mail birthday invitations, call families about homework questions, and set up play dates. I always have parents fill out this page so I know what information to share in our class directory.
I also send home a description of each part of our daily schedule. I want my families to be aware of the different aspects of our day so they know what we do in first grade and why each part of our day is so important.
Much of what I send home on the first day is gone over in detail during our Back to School Night a few weeks later. I think it's important to explain how our day is organized, why it's organized that way, as well as expectations during the school year.
Here is a link to the paperwork should you want to use it or take some aspects of it for your own first day paperwork. Enjoy!!
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