Special Students: In our classroom, there are several opportunities to showcase our classmates.

Each week we will have a Star of the Week. When your child is the Star of the Week, please help him/her to complete the All About Me poster and return it to school the following Monday. Star of the Week will begin in October. Once a month, Terrific Kids are chosen. Each Terrific Kid is given an award. Each child in my class will have a turn to be a Terrific Kid.

Meet Mrs. Moorlag: I live Caledonia with my husband Scott, and our children Ella (7), Carter (4), and Christian (2). I graduated from Calvin College with a Bachelors Degree in Special Education. I completed my Masters Degree at Grand Valley State University in the area of Reading. This is my 11th year of teaching in Grandville. Ive taught at Riverbend and East Elementary. This will be my second year at Cummings. Last year, I was the Resource Room teacher for kindergarten, first, and second grades. I work part time so I can do the two things I love most; be a mom and a teacher! When Im not teaching, I love playing with my children, reading, running, and playing at the lake. Mrs. Laurie Michmerhuizen and I will be sharing this room. I will teach the morning section with your child and she will have an afternoon section. I am looking forward to a fun filled year of learning!

Your Childs Routine: We find that it works best if your child starts the bus routine from day one. It is confusing for the child, school staff, and bus drivers if your child is not on the bus during the first week of school. Your childs bus may arrive later than you expect on the ride home during the first week. As part of the school experience, it is important to foster a childs independence and allow him/her to gain self-confidence. Please encourage these efforts by saying your good-byes outside or by the office and allowing your child to walk into our classroom on his/her own. Once the bell rings, your child may walk to the classroom with the bus riders. Changes in Your Childs Routine: For their protection and ours, children are allowed to change their daily transportation routine ONLY with written permission or a call to the office (254-6040) from you. Please do NOT leave these instructions on my voice mail. Please send a note or call Mrs. Schuiling to let us know about the change for that specific day. I will send your child home via their regular daily transportation unless I have a note from you or a message from the office that you called. When picking up your child, please wait outside the office area. I will dismiss children who are being picked up at the same time.

Friday Folders: Your childs Friday Folder will be sent home every Friday. Important notes from the teacher and the office will be enclosed. Worksheets and art projects will be enclosed. Please return the folder on Monday morning. I look forward to communicating with you this way. Envelopes: When sending information or money to school, please put the items in an envelope with your childs name, teachers name, and tell what is enclosed in the envelope. Book Orders: Children who read at home for pleasure improve their vocabulary, develop greater language skills, generate new interests, and expand their imaginations. Daily reading at home is critical to your childs literacy development. For this reason, I will send home optional, monthly book orders. If you choose to order books, please select the items and return the order form and payment by the date indicated. Please include an envelope or Ziploc bag with your childs name on it. Please send checks only. Make the check payable to Scholastic Book Club. Please do not make checks out to me or the school. No cash, thank you.

Snack: We have an optional snack time each day. The children will be able to bring in their own individual snack. Keep in mind that this is a quick, healthy snack. Some good suggestions are a cheese stick, dried cereal, veggies, cut up fruit, or crackers. We have a drinking fountain in our classroom, juice boxes or soda is not permitted. Our classroom will be a nut-free room. We have peanut/nut allergies. Please make sure that your childs snacks and birthday treats do not contain peanuts, peanut butter, or any other kind of nut. Birthdays: Birthdays are special and fun to celebrate at school! If you would like your child to celebrate at school, please send a simple treat* to share with the entire class (25). For those students with a summer birthday, we will celebrate half birthdays. For example if your childs birthday is July 15th, we will celebrate on January. 15th. *It is a Grandville Public Schools policy to provide students with a prewrapped store bought food items only. Food items may not be made at home. Thank you for your understanding. Treat Ideas: fruit snacks, fruit roll-ups, suckers, Starburst, stickers, pencils, etc.

Daily Schedule: I will establish a consistent schedule for our class. A typical day in Kindergarten will include: *Opening (calendar, songs, class news, and story time) *Show and tell *Jumpstart (This is small group learning time that occurs 4 days a week) *Saxon Math Lesson *Zoophonics Lesson *Handwriting Without Tears Lesson *Literacy Groups and Centers *Snack Time * Specials (Library, Music, P.E. and Computer Lab) *Center Time * The order of these activities varies each day.

Behavior Management Plan: In order to ensure that your childs classroom experience is a positive and productive one, I have developed the following behavior management plan. There are four rules our class will follow: Share with others Say Please and Thank you Take Turns Raise your hand Rewards: Students who choose to obey our classroom rules will receive praise and rewards through stickers, happy-grams, phone calls home, additional privileges, free time, recess, etc.. Students may earn whole class rewards as well! Consequences: If a child misbehaves in class, the following steps are taken: 1st time- a verbal warning 2nd time- Think about it- The child is asked to think about how to solve this problem and tell me what behavior change need to occur. There will also be time out from playtime. 3rd time- Oops! Slip to be sent home for parent notification. I will fill out the Oops! Slip and discuss it with the child. The child will take the Oops! Slip home, complete the bottom portion with a parent, and return it to school the next day. Your cooperation and involvement is greatly appreciated!

Class Materials and Supplies: Each child will need a large, easy to open backpack for carrying things to and from school. They will need to fit their Communication Folder and a large library book. This backpack should come back and forth to school EVERY day. Throughout the year we will be making projects and doing special experiments where extra materials are needed. I have written most of these items on the apples of the Giving Tree that is located outside our classroom. As our needs change, I will add new apples. If you would like to donate an item, please take the apple and return your donation at your convenience. One item that we do run out of on a regular basis is glue sticks. Glue stick donations are appreciated any time. Thank you for your generosity.

School Hours: AM session 8:30-11:36 AM (arrival time between 8:22 and 8:30) PM session 12:32-3:38 PM (arrival time between 12:25 and 12:32) Attendance: Attendance and transportation phone calls are handled by the office. These calls are not handled by the teacher. To report an absence, please leave a message at 254-6040.

Contact Information: Mrs. Liza Moorlag E-mail: [email protected] Phone: 254-6084