Welcome Parents! As you come in: Sign up for a conference time (located on my desk). Find your child’s desk and read the paper they wrote you. Fill out your side of the paper and then look at what your child wrote

Ms. Baxter’s 3 rd Grade Class Welcome to Back to School Night!

Agenda  Teacher Introduction  Classroom Expectations  Schedule  Nine Week Plans  Math Grouping  Homework  40 Book Challenge  Retakes  Vacations  General Classroom Information  Contact Information  Questions

A Little Bit About Me… ● This is my 3rd year at Pinebrook but I'm starting my 17th year of teaching ● I have a Master's Degree in Reading because that is my passion ● I am originally from Herndon VA when it was a small town ● I now live in the Shenandoah Valley and love to trail ride my horse ● I have a daughter and a son and 4 grandchildren. One grandson and ● 3 granddaughters ● I love to travel ( I have been all around the world), and spend time at the beach. ● I now have 2 dachshunds and a horse

Classroom Expectations  Students arrive promptly, unpack, and begin morning work.  Students are to stay on task and not disrupt the learning process.  Students are to be respectful, responsible, and ready. Students will copy their homework in their agenda at the end of the day and hand in completed homework in a timely manner Incomplete homework will be done during recess. Bingo Points (Whole Class) P.A.W.S Think Sheet--filled out in class and sent home for parent signature.

Class Schedule Our class schedule can be found on Ms. Baxter’s Pinebrook class page and in your packet

The First Nine Weeks MATH  Geometry  Place Value  Rounding Numbers  Addition & Subtraction (inverse relationships) SCIENCE  Scientific Investigation  Matter  Natural Cycles (Sun, Earth, Moon)

The First Nine Weeks (cont’d.) SOCIAL STUDIES  Government  Famous Americans ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS  Effective Communication Skills  Word Analysis Skills  Reading Strategies (fiction/non-fiction)  Demonstrate Comprehension of Fiction  Descriptive Paragraphs (Personal Narratives)

Math Grouping  Differentiated—classes switch  ALL students’ are taught the same content, but activities/content are delivered according to individual needs.  Meets needs of all students.  Meeting increased demands of SOL test.  Fall and Spring pre-assessments for re-placement

Homework  Students will receive approximately 30 minutes of homework every night.  Word Study and Math will be every night.  In addition students are expected to read minutes every night.  Students are expected to use their agendas daily.  Parental supervision of agenda use is strongly encouraged.

40 Book Challenge -Students will be reading from a variety of genres in order to explore books that you might not ordinarily read and to develop an understanding of literary elements, text features, and text structures. -Students will record the books they are reading at school or at home. -Any book that a student reads that has more than 350 pages counts as 2 books. -Students may only use 2 book from a particular series. Ex. They cannot count more than 2 A-Z Mystery books as 2 of their fiction books.

40 Book Challenge

Grading Teachers will use the following grading scale for student work: 4– Consistently goes beyond established goals for achievement/contributions or explains & justifies reasoning behind an answer  -Consistently transfers, applies, and expands skills  -Routinely applies problem-solving and critical-thinking skills across areas of the curriculum  -Consistently shows originality, creativity, and intuitive thinking beyond standard expectations 3– Meets established goal for achievement  -Demonstrates all required knowledge of content area  -Frequently transfers, applies and expands skills  -Periodically demonstrates originality, creativity, and intuitive thinking  3 + : applies some of the “4” expectations

Grading 2– Demonstrates partial knowledge of established goal for achievement, but is progressing toward complete knowledge of standard  -Infrequently transfers, applies and expands skills  -Progressing toward expressing original, creative and intuitive thinking  -Rarely applies problem-solving and critical-thinking skills across areas of the curriculum  2+ : applies some of the “3” expectations 1-Has difficulty/does not meet established grade-level goals for achievement and expectations  -Requires support to meet established goal for achievement  -Seldom or never understands, transfers, or applies skills  -Does not apply problem-solving and critical-thinking skills across areas of the curriculum  -Rarely shows originality, creativity, or intuitive-thinking skills in completing assignments  1+ : applies some of the “2” expectations

How I Grade  Formative Assessments: -Ongoing -Check for understanding -Highest score is a 3  Summative Assessments - Quizzes and Tests - 2 level 4 questions -Getting all questions right earns a score of 4 -Getting one of level 4 questions earns a 3+

Retakes on Summative Tests  Students will be permitted to retake a summative assessment if they received a score lower than a “2”  The highest score a student can earn on a retake is a 2+

Vacations If you are planning on taking a vacation that will be more than 3 days, you must Mr. Thiessen to have them approved. Early Dismissal be sure to contact the office Before 2:15 by filling out form on the web page

Contact Information  Please feel free to contact me via:  Phone  Letters sent in with your child  s   baxter3a.blogspot.com baxter3a.blogspot.com

Questions

Thank you for coming! I look forward to a great year!