My Educational
Background
I attended Champaign Unit Four School Lottie Switzer
(now Judah Christian), Franklin Junior High (now
Franklin Middle School), and Champaign Central High
School Class of 1972. I attended Illinois
State University, Normal, IL for two years before
transferring to the University of Illinois. I
completed my Bachelor of Science in Elementary
Education in 1978. While at the U of I, I
enrolled in the Bristol (England) Exchange Program.
From January to June 1977, I attended the College of
St. Matthias, Fishponds, England. While in
Fishponds, I attended classes with other U of I
exchange students, student taught in a primary
class, and traveled throughout the United Kingdom on
the weekends. During the month long spring
break, I backpacked through Europe from France to
Greece. My graduate work was also completed at the
University of Illinois. I received my Masters
in Education in 1989. I have continued my
education attending numerous workshops and
conferences on reading, writing, math, science,
social development, social behavior, teaching the
second language learner, diversity, differentiated
learning, collaboration, and technology.
During the summer of 2007 I actively participated in
a 9 hour workshop for Units of Study for Primary
Writing: A Yearlong Curriculum; two 6 hour
technology classes; and University of Illinois
Cha
My Learning Profile
The Keirsey Bates Temperament Sorter
states that, as a Guardian,
I represent about 38% of the total U.S.A. population.
There are a number of descriptors for the
Extraversion Sensory Feeling Judging Guardian (eSFJ).
One of the many descriptors that I feel is relevant to my
daily teaching is endurance. I work
tirelessly both at school and at home (just ask my
husband). I understand the responsibility I
have teaching young children and I give 100% of my
thinking to preparing for the task. It might
be easy to say I give 100% of my time, but somewhere in
there I must take care of household chores, attend
Illinois football and basketball games, enjoy my
hobby of scrapbooking, eat and sleep, but most
important, pay attention to my husband!
Thinking & Learning
Thinking Style - I am a concrete sequential
thinker; based in reality. I process information in
an ordered, sequential, linear manner. I am
hardworking and dependable.
I
can be adventurous using my curiosity and creativity
to try new things. However, I need to
see an example of the finished product or feel I
have a full understanding of the outcome before I am
comfortable to begin the adventure. All of
these traits help me to work with children because
my lessons are organized with spiral learning and
time built-in to review and re-teach. I may also
plot lesson plans for up to 4 weeks to see the big
picture of where I am going and where I want to be
by a target date. Then, I work on the details of
how to get there each day.
I enjoy creating an optimal learning situation for
my students that helps them to see the big picture
and peaks there curiosity and desire to learn more.
Brain Dominance - RIGHT! Although we all know
that left and right brain dominance are
generalities, not absolutes, I can definitely feel
my comfort zone in right brain activities. I
see the big picture first and then I develop the
details. This is just as I explained above in
'Thinking Style'. Right brain people tend to be
random workers having many tasks to complete at one
time. However, to compensate for what seems to
be disorganization to some, right brained people
will prioritize and do the important tasks first.
This is why it is not stressful for me to manage the
needs of 25 first graders at once! When
dealing with the children on a day to day basis, I
prioritize our day's goals and then take care of
their unplanned needs as they arise. First
things first! Also, since right brain people need to
experience the concrete, it makes good sense to me
to present as much material as I can using concrete
objects. Young children's first experiences
should include objects they can see, feel, hear,
smell, and taste for optimal learning!
Multiple Intelligences - The three
intelligences that I am strongest in are
visual/spatial then verbal/linguistic and
bodily/kinesthetic.
Influential People
We have all
had people that have influenced our lives and the
decisions we have made. Hopefully, most of the
time we have experienced positive influences.
My family has always been there to support my dreams. Without their support I would not
be where I am today- a person with a strong work
ethic and blessed with love and concern for others.
Today, I am a teacher because I had many
wonderful teachers in my early school years.
By the time I was in third grade I knew I wanted to
be a teacher. All through my school years I
never wavered in my desire to be a teacher. I
had many teachers, even in college that encouraged
me to be a teacher. During my teaching career I have
observed children teaching
their peers how to subtract using the counters, how to
fold a paper into four equal squares, how to spell a word, how to find a
word in a word search, how to tie a shoelace, how to
write using the lines on the paper, translating
directions from English to the first language, and on
and on. Often, I stand amazed and proud of the
compassion for others that I observed. And
often, I tell those children what a great job they
did helping another child to learn a new skill. Then, I plant
the seed of what a great teacher he/she would make!
The teaching profession needs strong and
compassionate teachers and I hope that my teaching
will influence others to enter the teaching
profession just as my former teachers encouraged me!
The Year at a Glance
In first grade the main teaching goal is to
guide students to learn reading strategies that
will enable them to become fluent readers for
life. Each student will achieve the goal
of becoming an independent reader in his/her
developmental time. Learning to read is a
team effort and the team- teacher, student, and
parents together will keep our eyes on the
goal! Books will be sent home for your child to
read to you familiar texts he/she has learned to
read independently. Writing Workshop will
enable the development of learning to write like
writers. Reading and writing are so closely
linked that each discipline will support and
strengthen the development of the other!
Reading and writing are also
integrated into every discipline taught. Progress is often dependent on the
child knowing someone cares they have learned to
read and write even just one word.
Celebrate with your child the gains made
in reading every day!
"Imagining something may be the first
step in making it happen, but it takes the real
time and real efforts of real people to learn
things, make things, turn thoughts into
deeds or visions into inventions." --Fred
Rogers, The World According to Mister Rogers
Important Things to Remember |
Jezale, DreAnna,
Kennedi, and Virtuous share their Reader's
Theatre Goldilocks and the Three
Bears.
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State Standards
Unit Four curriculum is aligned to the Illinois
State Learning Standards. For more information
go to: www.isbe.net
First Grade
Curriculum
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READING
Good Habits
Great Readers (Celebration Press 2007) is the
2007 adopted instructional reading program
for grades 1-5. Good Habits Great
Readers consists of Shared Reading
and Guided Reading lessons.
Shared Reading uses
larger texts like Big Books or chart-size
texts where instruction takes place in a
whole-group. All the children can see
the text and are involved in reading
the text modeling the habits, skills, and
strategies used by proficient readers. The
teacher models and instructs good habits for
reading independently. During
Guided Reading the
teacher works with a small group of children who have
similar learning needs. The
teacher selects texts matched to each groups
current instructional needs. Direct
instruction in reading skills and strategies
are taught during Guided Reading. Words
Their Way: Word Study in Action (Pearson
Learning 2005) is the program used for the
phonemic awareness, phonics, spelling, and
vocabulary component of the reading
instruction. The classroom
library, Guided Reading familiar read books,
library books, magazines, and books from
home provides material for students to read
on their own or with partners for
Independent Reading.
English / Language Arts Curriculum
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WRITING WORKSHOP
Units of
Study For Primary Writing: A Yearlong
Curriculum by Lucy Calkins (FirstHand,
2003) is the K-2 writing curriculum.
Daily teacher guided mini lessons introduces
strategies writers use to convey meaning.
The students are then sent off to write
independently using strategies taught in the
mini lessons. Lucy Calkins says that
the mini lessons are like giving,
"...youngsters training wheels in writing."
Individual teacher conferences help to guide
students at their developmental writing
level. The seven units of study are
Launching the Writing Workshop, Small
Moments: Personal Narrative Writing, Writing
for Readers: Teaching Skills and Strategies,
The Craft of Revision, Authors as Mentors,
Nonfiction Writing: Procedures and Reports, Poetry:
Powerful Thoughts in Tiny Packages.
Celebrations are a big part of Writing
Workshop. We want to encourage writing by
sharing what is being produced by our own
students and celebrate each other's
successes.
English / Language Arts Curriculum
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MATH
Everyday
Mathematics (The Wright Group, 2004) is Unit Four's math program. Everyday
Math's six content strands (numeration,
operations, patterns, functions and Algebra,
Geometry, measurement and reference frames,
data and chance) are instructionally
spiraled through grades 1-5 building and
extending concept understanding. EM
uses a problem solving approach based on
everyday situations that develops critical
thinking. Many hands-on activities will be
used with cooperative learning and partner
groupings. The 2005-06 school year
will be the first year for Everyday
Mathematics in Unit Four. I
have worked several years with the program
and was a proponent of its adoption. I
feel it is a strong math program and over
time will prove its value to our student's
understanding of math concepts.
Mathematics Curriculum |
SPELLING
develop phonemic awareness,
sound-symbol awareness, and phonetic skills. These lessons support the
daily word work. Five spelling words
are introduced each week. These words
are used for word study activities
throughout the week. The five spelling words
and five word work words will be used for the weekly
spelling test. The five spelling words will be added
to the interactive Word Wall that grows
throughout the school year. The spelling
words then become our official Word Wall
Words (WWW) are a
valuable resource for independent writing.
English / Language Arts Curriculum
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HANDWRITING
The continuous
stroke, vertical manuscript is taught using
ZanerBloser. Legibility criterion uses
four keys- shape, size, spacing, and slant.
English / Language Arts Curriculum |
SCIENCE
Seeds, Animal
Habitats, Magnets, and Sun, Moon, and Stars
are the science units of study. These
units are a part of the spiral science
curriculum for K-5. These units were
originally written by Unit Four teachers.
The units have been realigned with
Illinois State and National Science
Standards. Units are inquiry-based
allowing students to take on the role of a
scientist as they inquire and process
information learned. Literature and
writing connections are a part of the
lessons.
Science Curriculum |
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HEALTH
Your Health
(Harcourt) lessons includes knowledge,
life skills, consumer skills, and thinking
skills to achieve good health. A Big
Book text for whole class reading covers the
topics of feelings, senses, teeth, body
care, nutrition, food groups, staying well,
medicines and drugs, safety, and community
health workers. The Big Book is also
available for independent or partner reading
after the lessons. Literature and writing
connections are a part of the lessons.
Physical Education, Health, and Athletics
Curriculum
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SOCIAL STUDIES
We The People
Grow and Change (Houghton-Mifflin) has
six theme units. The themes are We Are
Family, We Work Together, We Celebrate, We
Explore, We Care, and We Discover. A
Big Book text for each theme allows whole
class interaction. The Big Book is
also available for independent or partner
reading after the lessons. Literature
and writing connections are a part of the
lessons.
Social Sciences Curriculum |
Grading Procedures
Unit Four Schools
has adopted a standards based report card beginning
in the fall of 2007. The standards based
report went through several committees before being
piloted by many K-5 classroom teachers. All
classroom teachers had several opportunities to
review the standards based report cards responding
to parent and teacher feedback during the pilot
process. Since the Unit Four curriculum is in alignment with
the Illinois State Standards it is desirable that
the report cards also be aligned with the state
standards.
Homework Assignments
First grade does have homework. Everyday
Mathematics provides a Home Link for
every new lesson taught. The Home Links
are copied on pink paper to easily identify the math
homework. A new lesson is typically taught
daily. Therefore, you can expect the pink math
Home Link to be sent home nightly. The
Home Link should take approximately 10 minutes
to complete. Home Links are required
work and should be returned the next school day.
Your child should read 10-15 minutes a night also.
Books will be provided for students to choose a book
to read at home. The book will come home in a zip
bag labeled with your child's name and classroom.
The book your child chooses will be from a
collection of first grade readers. Rereading
books is encouraged, so your child may bring home a
favorite book more than once. Rereading a book
becomes a familiar book or just right book to
your child. Rereading familiar texts
promotes fluency. Your child will also bring
home the yellow Carrie Busey Galaxy of Readers log
to record their at home reading time.
From time to time extra
homework assignments may occur in other subject
areas. When this happens, a timeline is
usually provided in which to complete the
assignment.
Homework should take no longer than 15-30
minutes to complete. Enjoy the time with your
child as he/she shares their learning with you.
Feel free to write me a note, phone, or email me if
you have any questions about homework assignments.
Click on each title to view helpful guides
to use at home when working with your child.
Good Readers...
When A Reader Gets Stuck:
Five
Finger Retell
Everyday Math
Web Sites for Everyday Use At Home or School
Carrie Busey All-School
Programs
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Galaxy of
Readers
At home reading
is recorded on yellow Galaxy of Readers
forms. Each form requires 120 minutes
of reading. Students may complete as
many Galaxy of Readers forms as they would
like each month. At the end of the
month first grade students with 2 or more
completed forms are intrinsically rewarded.
Students with 3 or more forms qualify for a
class
drawing to receive a book for the Carrie Busey Library and their personal library.
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Golden
Pencil
Each month 2
students are identified for their writing
growth and achievements in class. One
writing piece is chosen by the classroom
teacher and given to the principal.
The principal will call the students to the
office to have the students read their story
to the principal. The students receive
a certificate, a golden pencil, and have their
picture posted on the Golden Pencil display
in the front hall.
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Star
Student
Each month a
student exhibiting good citizenship is
nominated by their classroom teacher to be a
Carrie Busey Star Student. The Social
Worker meets with the student sharing why
they were nominated and takes their picture
for a display in the hall.
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Math Super
Stars
The Carrie Busey
Enrichment Specialist manages Math Super
Stars. During the first semester
students are given an enrichment math
activity sheet. Students have about 5
days to complete the activity sheet at home.
The Enrichment Specialist grades the math
papers each week. A chart in the hall
recognizes all students who
participate and those with a high percentage
of accuracy receives a golden star.
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Geography
Genius
The Carrie Busey
Enrichment Specialist manages Geography
Genius. During the second semester
students are given an enrichment map or
geography activity sheet. Students
have about 5 days to complete the activity
sheet at home. The Enrichment
Specialist grades the geography papers each
week. A chart in the hall recognizes
all students who participate. Points earned
for accuracy accumulate throughout the
semester. At the end of the semester
students with a high percentage of accuracy
are awarded a certificate of achievement.
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Resources
www.google.com
www.yahoo.com
www.ask.com
Parent Involvement
| Parents, guardians, and immediate adult family
members are always welcome in my classroom. I
may have you listen to a student read or guide a
student through an assignment, so be prepared!
Young children love to have adults just look
over their shoulder for reassurance. There
will also be opportunities for you to volunteer
for class projects where extra pairs of hands
are VERY VALUABLE! School buses are
required for field trips, so chaperones will be
requested as needed for trips.
If you have any special gifts (we all do), that you
would like to share with the students, we would enjoy
having you share your talents or interests. For example, if
you enjoy reading to your child at home, you might
enjoy sharing a story with the whole class.
The sky is the limit for opening up the world of six
and seven year olds! |
Volunteers assist
students in being an extra pair of hands to hold
up the walls while building their gingerbread
houses.
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"Just
Right" Reading
Students spend time
daily reading "Just Right" books. We use the
Goldilocks Principle to independently read books
that are "just right". To determine books that
are "just right" the children are taught to count
the number of words unknown. If there are five
or less unknown words in a book, then the book is
"just right". The children record the book
titles of the "just right" books read independently.
A class graph records every 20 books read.
Class total of
"Just Right" books read to date________________:
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