Introducing Our 3 rd Grade Team Kelli Cornell/Alyssa Wells Courtney Cullen Lauren Jaques Rani Martin Aarika Murphy Melissa Davis

We believe that all students should be granted the right to a positive, engaging, stimulating learning experience. We believe that students learn best in a structured, cooperative learning environment. We believe that students can reach their highest potential with the collaborative efforts of students, parents, teachers, and support staff. We believe that our role is not only to educate, but to inform, nurture, respect, and build the characters of every child we teach.

We cannot stress enough the importance of your child being at school on time every day. School begins promptly at 8:45. When students are tardy or picked up early, they are missing important instruction. We truly strive to “Make Every Minute Count” at LCM! If your child is well, we want him/her at school!! It makes teaching very challenging when your child misses school. It is especially difficult when one skill builds upon another skill (such as math and writing.) Also, with these tough economic times in education, our school actually LOSES money when your child is absent. Please make doctor/dentist appointments after school and schedule trips and special events for non- school days. Independent Contract: Please request from the front office at least two weeks in advance. $

Each child can get a lunch card from the cafeteria. You can prepay and it works almost like a debit card when your child swipes the magnetic strip. Whether or not your child plans to buy lunch on a regular basis, it would be a good idea to load your child’s account with money for those days when he/she might forget to bring a lunch. If you see a yellow envelope come home, that indicates your child’s account is in need of money. Checks should be made payable to “La Costa Meadows Cafeteria” and can be made in any dollar amount. You may also add money to your child’s cafeteria account online. Please see the La Costa Meadows website for more information. For more information please visit our school website under Child Nutrition Services!

La Costa Meadows Elementary School will join all of the other San Marcos Unified Schools in becoming a secured campus. Beginning Tuesday, September 8th, the campus will be closed to unauthorized adults before and after school. Drop off procedures will remain the same, but adults will not be allowed through the main gate or the kindergarten gate. We will have supervision at these gates, as well as on campus. If you have a scheduled meeting with a teacher before or after school, please check in with the office and follow our regular visitor procedures. As per our existing procedures, all volunteers must sign in at the front office and wear a visitor/volunteer's badge. At LCM we are very fortunate to have many parent volunteers and we want to continue to encourage this type of school and community involvement. On all flag salute days, we will allow parents to enter the school after the 8:15am bell rings. We welcome you to join us for all flag celebrations. 8:00am - Cafeteria open for students only, for early breakfast 8:15am - Gate is open for students only, parent volunteers must sign in at the office to have access on campus. Parents must have an appointment to meet with a teacher. 3:10pm - Gates unlocked for student dismissal - staff member will monitor gates.

Every day the students show up to “work” they will earn money. They will have a job that will pay weekly. They may also earn money for good behavior. At the end of the week they will pay rent for their desks. They can be fined for poor behavior, messy desks, or lost supplies. They will be able to buy different coupons with their money.

Do the right thing…Live The Dolphin Way! Do Your Best Work, Be Responsible Help Others Succeed, Be Respectful Respect Your School, Be Safe Rewards Praise Note/Call Home Dolphin Behavior raffle tickets Consequences 1st Offense = Warning 2nd Offense = 5 minute time out, sign book 3rd Offense = 10 minute time out, note home, and responsibility room 4th Offense = Principal **Severity Clause - Straight to Principal**

In class: During Language Arts rotations During silent reading After any independent work is completed Library: Before and after school Monday-Thursday; students only! No Friday library before school. No library lunch on Wednesdays. Unfortunately our classrooms are not open before or after school to take any tests. Theme, points, and levels are posted in all of our classrooms, and outside of the library.

Nightly Homework:  Reading- read 15 pages nightly  Math/Language Arts-There will also be one or two nightly assignments due the following day. Monthly Homework:  Paragraph of the Week (One week a month) Studies indicate that third graders should be spending approximately thirty minutes a night on homework assignments. If your child is struggling to finish homework within this time, please just write your teacher a note. If you want to challenge your child please have them complete their assignment and you can also visit our classroom websites for more online enrichment opportunities. Our goal is to help children become independent, proactive students. Students will be responsible for writing their assignments in a Homework Planner. ** If assignments are not returned the following day the student will be given a Homework “ Oops-a-daisy”, they must bring it back signed the next day. The 2nd missed assignment in one week will get an “Oops-a-daisy” and sent to Responsibly R oom.

The following programs may be accessed at home and will help your child excel in third grade: o Tenmarks – Common Core-aligned math program. Rigorous problem solving with embedded videos and hints. o Lexia – Individualized reading program at your child’s reading level. Develops all areas of reading including decoding, vocabulary acquisition, and comprehension. o Dreambox – Adaptive math program that matches your child’s ability level. Highly engaging!

Language Arts- Common Core Standards based; mostly done in small reading groups Math- Common Core Standards based; done in small and whole group Writing- Common Core Standards based, including Informative, Opinion, and Narrative Writing. We will also be doing creative writing and journals! Science- Light/Energy/Matter, Solar System, Animal Adaptations S.S.- Landforms/Geography, California Native Americans, U.S. Government and Symbols

Transition from California State Standards to national Common Core Standards SMUSD implemented Math and Writing common core standards in Last year, we implemented English Language Arts standards. Goal of Common Core is for students to have deeper conceptual understanding and to demonstrate higher level critical thinking and communication skills Assessments will look different Performance tasks Explain thinking in writing using academic vocabulary More complex problems with a “real world” connection Technology based… practice, practice, practice

At the start of each week, the Weekly News will be ed home and/or posted on your classroom’s website. Please be sure to check the Weekly News as it has important announcements and reminders. P.E. is twice a week (no Wednesday P.E. this year, unless as make-up days) Library is once a week. Science Garden and Music are every other week.

A suggested supply list was sent home last Spring. Another copy was provided in your folders tonight. We thank you in advance for your donations! It helps our classes run smoothly when all students have the supplies they need! We are tremendously grateful for your support.

Torrey Pines (Native Americans unit) Barter Day (Native Americans unit) Space Day (Solar System unit) Stephen Birch Aquarium (Animal Adaptations unit) Earth Day Movie (Animal Adaptations unit) Carlsbad City Hall (Government unit) Kidz College Day/End of Year Party

Conclusion Thank you for attending!