Ms. Smith’s 1st Grade General Education 

Classroom Rules, Policies and Procedures 

October 15, 2020 

Hello Fredonia Parents, 

I am looking forward to this coming school year! I have so many fun activities and projects 
planned for our class this year. For each student, it will be important for parents to read the 
weekly letter sent home every Friday which will allow them to see the following week’s plan. This 
plan will include homework assignments and any other information about what will be 
happening within our class, grade and school (Ex. spirit days, field trips, and class rewards). 
Students can easily forget these assignments and events and it would be extremely helpful if 
you would be able to assist your child, and myself, in keeping track of everything. If you have any 
questions or concerns at any time about something on the weekly letter, feel free to send me an 
email and I will respond as quickly as possible. I would like to thank you ahead of time for your 
dedication to your child’s academic success this school year. 

Family time at home is very important for every child, because of this, I will never assign 
homework for the weekend (this excludes the weekly letter). When I assign homework on 
weekdays, it will take a maximum of 20 minutes to complete and they might need your 
assistance in order to complete it the best they can. I will only give homework three nights a 
week. Although homework I will give is minimal, I feel it is critical that students put their best 
effort toward it. The homework will reiterate materials we learned in the classroom that day and 
it will help students retain information and improve their skills when it comes to that topic. I 
would also like to mention that each and every child should be reading for at least 15 minutes 
every day at home. Reading 15 minutes a day will improve the students’ reading skills, 
comprehension and vocabulary a drastic amount. I have a small book library students will be 
able to pick books from to read and I might even send students home with a book I choose 
encouraging them to read it with your assistance. Reading is fun and so important! 

While it is important to have fun in school, there are some rules I will be using in the classroom I 
would like you to be aware of: listening bodies, helping hands, quiet mouths, walking feet, 

 
  

helping hands and caring hearts. I will explain these rules to the students within the first 
couple of days. I have chosen these rules because I feel they are self explanatory and easy 
for the students to understand and remember what they mean. These rules will be enforced to 
the best of my ability and I hope you will be able to support me from home with these rules. I 
feel it is important for students to learn to be kind, respectful and safe in every situation. First 
grade students are still developing these kind, respectful and safe behaviors and I will 
encourage them to keep up the good behaviors. 

New and exciting materials will be learned every day as the year progresses! I do not want you 
to worry that there will be chaos within the learning. I know what you are thinking and yes, 
sometimes chaos does occur, but I have a couple daily routines I will include in every day’s 
lesson plan which will allow consistency and comfort for the students. One thing I will plan to do 
every day is to go over the calendar. This will take place first thing in the morning after the 
students arrive. I will use calendar time as a way to teach the students how months, weeks and 
days work and what their names are. This is important to do at the beginning of the day because 
I like the idea that each day is a new and exciting day. Discussing each day will also open up 
conversations about related topics such as weather, birthdays and holidays. I also like how 
calendar time unifies the class and set the day off on a familiar path. Another daily task I will 
have students partake in is reading stations. I will have three stations which students will rotate 
through each day assisting them in improving their reading and comprehension skills. These 
stations will be a little different each day but they will always encourage students to work with 
themselves, others or myself when it comes to reading and understanding what they are 
reading. At the first grade level, most students are still learning sight words and how so sound 
other words out. My hope is to encourage the students to improve their fluency and 
comprehension while reading throughout the year. 

Thank you for your time and I cannot wait for a fun school year with your child! 

Best regards, 

Tess Smith 
smit3344@fredonia.edu 
SUNY Fredonia 
280 Central Ave 
Fredonia, NY 14063