Recent ActivityClass Announcements Valentine's Party Third grade will celebrate Valentine's Day on Friday, Feb. 10th. We will decorate our bags at school.
Please do not send Valentines to school until Thursday, Feb. 9th or Friday, Feb. 10th. Our parties will begin at 2:15. The students LOVE to read their cards to each other. Come join us if you can!! Field Trip The third graders thoroughly enjoyed the music field trip to the Arvada Center. The actors made Flat Stanley come alive. After the program, two of the actors came out for a tech talk. They answered our questions about set and acting. It was great getting a "behind the scenes" peek.
Conferences Thank you, parents, for attending your child's conference. Working together, we can help your child succeed. Please continue to help your child practice his/her reading and memorize facts for their flashcards.
AnnouncementNew Policy for Birthday InvitationsTry to imagine being the only child in a classroom who did not receive a birthday invitation that a classmate passed out during school. What a devastating experience for anyone, yet it has happened several times at Running Creek. As a result, we are asking all families to please mail all party invitiations instead of having your child bring them to school to distribute. Thank you so much for your understanding and cooperation. Important Routines and Information for Third Grade Students and Their ParentsGeneral Classroom Information 2011-2012
Supplies
Supplies tend to run out during the year. Please remind your child to check throughout the year. We use all of the supplies on the list. I do collect all of the pencils, and I will give them out as needed. Thank you for making sure your child has the supplies necessary. I know it can become very costly.
Positive Behavior Support
Our entire school is using the PBIS (Positive Behavior Intervention Support) model. Our belief is that teaching students about good behavior is more important than telling them. With PBIS we have a building-wide, consistent system in place for behavior expectations. We are
using the acronym ROAR . Respect, Own it, Act safely, Responsible
Completed work
Graded and ungraded work will be sent home with your child in their Friday folder. The children in the class do the paper distribution, so you may get papers that don’t belong to your child. Return them in the folder the following Monday. Please sign the cover sheet of their folder so I know it has been received.
On papers I may put a couple of unusual codes next to a word or math problem. A circled word or SP above a word means “check your spelling”; this is usually on words a child should know. C next to a word or math problem means the problem has been corrected by the student. R on a paper means REDO. I have the students redo mistakes, especially in math, so they may learn from their mistakes. TIC means work has been done together in class. A star or check means I have checked this paper but it has not been graded.
Explore
EXPLORE may be a new term for you. We have tied our curriculum into the state standards of science, (earth, physical, and life) social studies, and health. The third grade team will be breaking up the curriculum into two week blocks. Later in the year, the students will switch to another third grade teacher for certain Explore units. Third grade themes include disabilities, tropical rain forests, and Native Americans. We also cover Japan, Hawaii, and Washington D.C.
Literacy
A child who cannot read is hampered in so many areas of life that we see learning to read as critical to school success and in turn, the self-esteem of the child. Our reading block includes a phonics program. Students are assessed and will be exposed to this program if needed. During that time other students will be reading at their instructional levels. Students will rotate to other teachers for 30 minutes a day until the end of December. So we will be spending a lot of time on reading skills necessary for success. This carries over to the homework. We think it is vital your child reads at least 15 minutes a night. You will be asked to sign a reading record sheet which is located in their reading folder coming home in October. Of course, reading beyond 60 minutes a week would be terrific!
Daily 5 is used in the classroom for structuring our reading time. It
includes Read to Self, Read with Someone, Word Work, Listening to reading,
and Writing. The Cafe Menu supports comprehension, accuracy, fluency, and expanded vocabulary. Each student is taught strategies within each area to strengthen his/her reading.
Math
Our math program is called Everyday Math. Our school has adopted a new computation and vocabulary program called Stand Out Math to compliment our current math curriculum. The goal of this program is to have our students master their math facts. Each grade level, K through 5th, will be responsible for a portion of the facts.
I need your help at home to review these facts with your child. Memorization makes the problem solving we do at school so much easier.
Spelling
Your child’s spelling list will be words that are frequently used in their writing. A pretest is given on Wed. and edited by the student. A list is given to the student along with the pretest to take home. Each child should study every word on the list. The students who get a 100% score on the pretest will have a separate list of challenge words to study. Spelling tests will be given on Tuesday.
Handwriting
We are beginning a new program called Handwriting Without Tears. The clean style of this cursive leads students to greater fluency. Workbooks are provided to learn and to practice cursive. We will share them with you at conference time.
Field trips
We will be taking two or three field trips this year. The notice for field trips is sent out at least 2 weeks ahead of the trip. We usually need at last 2 volunteers to accompany us on the trip.
Parties
Parties are scheduled for December (winter holiday) and Valentine’s day. I will call 4 or 5 parents each time for treats. If you would like to send birthday treats for your child, you may do so on or near his/her birthday. I do summer birthdays in May.
Recess/snack
A morning snack is scheduled. One snack and a drink is allowed. The children may bring a healthy snack from home or buy a snack from the deli. Students may leave at any time to use the restroom. Our third grade recess is from 2:00-2:15.
Water bottles are encouraged. Reusable water bottles need to be taken
home for cleaning every Friday. Third Grade is Awesome!!! Third grade is a very special year for students. Please visit your teacher's classroom and their web page.
Discussion Topics |
3rd Grade Schedule Third Grade Schedule 8:10-9:00 11:25-12:05 Math/ Spelling 12:05-12:50 Lunch and Recess *Library lessons are from Library books are due early on your class library day. (Metherd-Tuesday, Uyemura–Wednesday, Storch- Friday) |
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