Welcome to third grade!I am excited to be a part of the Foothill community and a part of your child’s education. I will strive to make this a challenging and fun year. My goal is to help each student become effective problem solvers, communicators, and team members, who take responsibility for his/her actions. In addition, I hope each student will walk out of our class loving the learning process and confident in his/her ability to seek out and find desired information.
The following information pertains to important policies, events, instructional materials and practices in our classroom and at Foothill.
Standards-Based Report Cards
- Provide a clear message to parents about what their child knows, what they are able to do, and what they need to learn.
- Provide a reporting system that is aligned with standards-based curriculum and instruction.
- A tool that can be used to drive instruction.Report cards come out in November, March, and June. Conferences are scheduled for November, and March conferences are optional. Conferences in March will be requested by the teacher. June’s report card goes home with your child on the last day of school. Your child can attend conferences if you would like.
Homework
Homework is given out Monday through Thursday. Homework should take between 20-40 minutes each night, according to School Board guidelines. Please make sure your child is doing their homework each night of the week. If your child is spending too much time on homework, please let me know and I will adjust the homework accordingly.
If your child does not understand an assignment or is unable to complete their homework without considerable help from you, please let me know in writing so that I can further assist your child. The primary purpose of homework is to teach accountability and study habits. To help your child at home please:
- Provide a structured time and place to study.
- Provide some assistance, but encourage your child to do the work on his/her own so that I can gage their true understanding of the material and provide your child with a greater sense of ownership toward finished work.
- Explore study strategies to help your child understand how he/she learns best.
- Encourage your child to review his/her work and independently check for spelling and grammatical or mathematical errors.
- Be positive and supportive of assignments.
Thursday Envelopes
An envelope containing corrected work and school correspondence will be sent home each Thursday. Also in the Thursday Envelopes will be a weekly student progress report.
Behavior Management
Class rules were discussed and posted on the first day of school. We review the rules when necessary. Listening, following directions, respecting each other, and always trying to do our best are very important. I make my expectations very clear at the beginning of the school year and remind students of expectations when appropriate.
We try to be consistent and fair. We try to create a classroom atmosphere of mutual respect, where students can celebrate their achievements and share their difficulties without the risk of failure in anyway.
Consequences for breaking the rules can be any of the following:
- A verbal warning.
- Teacher will talk with the student about their behavior privately.
- Student will Make a Plan for improving their behavior and they might be asked to write a letter home explaining the problem.
- If the problem continues, the student will be sent to talk with the Principal, we will create a behavior contract and I will notify the parent.
Third Grade Curriculum and Materials
Language Arts
- Lucy Calkins Reading and Writing / Daily 5
- Core Literature selection: Various – TBD by teacher
- Core literature selection: Mr. Popper’s Penguins
- Core literature: Charlotte’s Web
- Daily Language Review focusing on grammar, sentence structure, punctuation, etc.
- Poetry
- Response to Literature, Personal Narrative Writing, Narrative Writing, and Research Reports
- RAZ Kids
Math
- Eureka Math – Engage NY
- Daily Math
- Dreambox
Social Studies
- Social Studies Weekly Newspaper
- Research skills-library and Internet
- Field Trips
- Geography
Science
- TWIG Science
- Inquiry investigations and scientific method (in class investigations)
- Science Fair
Music
- Weekly lessons with music specialist, Barbara Jones
Art
- Art Literacy via CSMA – instructor TBD
- Class projects
Physical Education
- Weekly lessons with physical education specialist, Miss Evanoff.
- Yoga with Ms. Bader
- Additional P.E. in class
- Emphasis on physical fitness, motor skills, movement, and sportsmanship
- Field Day in June
Computers / Makerspace
- Weekly computer lab time and in class Chromebook
- Lessons with computer specialist, Kelly Booth
- Emphasis on new application programs, multimedia, keyboarding, and word processing.
- Makerspace
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