3rd Grade Back to School Night August 20th, 2015

Ms. Noura Wakim I was born and raised in Austin, TX. I graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with high honors. I speak Arabic and my family is from Lebanon My sister also taught at UTES I have one older sister and one younger brother I have one beautiful niece and another on the way! I enjoy outdoor boot camps (workouts) I have no pets I taught fifth grade for two years before this and had the best math scores in fifth grade in the Del Valle district and the best science scores in the school (our school was under performing). My favorite colors are purple, burnt orange and dark green.

Ms. Michelle Hernandez I was born in Texas but raised in northern California. We moved to Austin when I was 15. I earned my Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Texas State. This is my 14th year in education. Before coming to UTES, I worked in schools in Austin, Pflugerville, Dallas, and New York City. I’ve taught 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade. I have a 6 year old daughter named Maya. My mom is from Korea. I have two younger brothers. I have a 17 year old nephew, 4 year old niece, and a niece or nephew on the way! I love going to the movies! I enjoy traveling and exploring Austin with my family.

Contact Information Conference Time: 1:00-1:40pm or 3:45-4:15 (by appointment) Emails: michelle.hernandez@austin.utexas.edu nwakim@austin.utexas.edu School Phone: 495-3300 Extensions: 320-Hernandez 321-Wakim

Drop off / Pick up Procedures 7:15-8:00 - Drop-off/Arrival – use Hidalgo circle drive/entrance to new Healthy Horns Hall 8:00-4:15 – Use Front Office entrance to enter school. Pick-up/Dismissal – at 3:30 use 6th Street Entrance. Bus and van pick-up will be at Hidalgo. The YMCA will meet here at UTES café, gym, and library.

School Rules Listen to others. Follow directions on first request. Respect self, others and property. Make safe choices. Always do your best!

Classroom Management Systems Classes earn special rewards and privileges by doing their best. Time Out / Break Time – is utilized to give students a break. It is not a punishment. It is simply used to give students time to themselves. They may return to class activities when they are ready. Reflection Sheets and notes about concerns will also come home in student agendas. Phone calls will be made when necessary.

School-wide Behavior Consequences 1. Verbal warning 2. Redirection to an alternative activity 3. Cool down (in an alternative classroom if needed) 4. Note or call home to parent 5. Office Referral

Color Reflection System Our school wide management system is a color system where students earn colors through out the day. After each block with a teacher, your child will decide if he/she has met expectations and earned their color. If they feel they have not met expectations then they will not earn their color. Each student reflects on their own behavior and goals. It is up to the teacher and student to decide if they have earned a color. Color order: White(everyone begins on white), Yellow, Green, Purple, Red, Orange. At the end of the day your child with record his/her final color in their Agenda. The agenda needs to be signed each day.

Expectations Agendas must be filled out by students and signed daily by a parent, guardian, or other adult mentor. Homework packets are due by Friday with individual assignments due as indicated in Agenda. Progress Reports will go home half way through each quarter and are due back signed by parents. Reflection Sheets will be sent home if behavior concerns arise. They also need to be signed and returned.

Homework Provides important practice of skills taught and reviewed. Will be graded but will not count toward overall grade. Completion counts toward Lil’ Longhorn Leader responsibility recognition.

Book Reports Each student will write about their reading by doing book reports. Book reports will be due every two weeks on Fridays. Students will have choice in what types of book reports they do. Students can do the reports at home OR at school. If your child gets behind on book reports, Ms. Hernandez will notify you.

STAAR Testing Dates Math – May 10th, 2016 Reading – May 11th, 2016

Grading Tests/Assessments 50% Daily Work 40% Homework 0% Participation 10% Total 100%

Tutoring Before or after school sessions will be provided. Dates and eligibility will be announced at a later date. Benchmark data, daily classroom data, and past test data will be used to determine eligibility.

Report Cards and Awards Assemblies Report Cards go home each 9 weeks Progress Reports go home at 4 week intervals Awards Assemblies will be held twice this year – at mid-year and end-of-year. Recognition Ribbons will be given based on achievement in academic areas, special areas, and behavior. Distinguished Achievement (All A’s) Recognized Achievement (A’s and B’s) Effort (A’s, B’s, and C’s) Longhorn Leader Excellence in Conduct Award (All E’s) Perfect Attendance (No Absences and 3 or fewer tardies) Special Area Ribbons

3rd Grade Curriculum Language Arts Social Studies Science Math Students will be learning about different genres of reading. This will include, non fiction (expository), fiction, realistic fiction, fables, folktales, fairytales, advertisements, and poetry. We will also be learning how to comprehend text using skills. Please see First Nine Weeks “Big Ideas” in the Important Documents section online. Social Studies We will be studying communities, government, maps, geography, and economy and culture in third grade. Social Studies will be integrated into language arts. Please see First Nine Weeks “Big Ideas” in the Important Documents Section online. Science We have 6 main units of study in science this year. Each unit will include experiments and project work. The six units include an Introduction to Science, Matter and Energy, Force, Motion and Energy, Patterns in the Sky, The Changing Earth and Life Science. Please see First Nine Weeks “Big Ideas” in the Important Documents Section online. Math This year we will work on efficient methods for addition and subtraction and use the operation in multistep word problems. We will work to grasp and understanding of multiplication and division as well as continue our understanding of fractions. Geometry will be focused on classifying 3D shapes, finding perimeter and area, and standard measurement. Interpreting a variety of graphs will also be a main focus this year. Please see First Nine Weeks “Big Ideas” in the Important Documents Section online.

3rd Grade Special Areas STEM – taught by Ms. Felicia Adams Wellness – taught by Mrs. Rebecca Vore Multicultural Arts – taught by Mr. Rashid Amrani Physical Education – taught by Mr. Robert Knipe (Coach K)

Website Directions http://www.utelementary.org/ Click on Classrooms  3rd Grade Staff Pick a Teacher Important Documents Look at bottom of right side of page. You will see all the important documents. Click on Classrooms  3rd Grade Staff Pick a Teacher Links  Look at bottom of the right side of page. You will see links.

Field Trips (Tentative) WAYA – October 23rd UT Astronomy Lab / Imax (Date TBD) McKinney Rough’s Rafting (Date TBD) Others TBD

Join Little Longhorn League! Christie Hay is the President christi.hay@gmail.com Events will be announced throughout the year. Thank you for joining the L3 and helping raise money for our school.