Welcome Parents! As you come in: Sign up for a conference time (located on by door). Feel free to sign up and volunteer(located on by door). Find your child’s desk and use the paper on their desk to write a note back (feel free to use the materials in their pencil box to decorate your note!)

Mrs. Manuel’s 3 rd Grade Class Welcome to Back to School Night!

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

A Little Bit About Me…  I graduated from Shippensburg University with a Bachelors in Elementary Education  I am originally from Pennsylvania  This is my 15th year of teaching  I enjoy cooking, baking, taking walks, gardening and playing the piano

Classroom Expectations  Students arrive promptly and begin morning work  Students are to stay on task and not disrupt the learning process  Students are responsible for their own behavior and expected to follow the school and class rules Students will copy their homework in their agenda and hand in completed homework in a timely manner Incomplete homework will be done during recess. Chance Cards (Individual Students) Bingo Chart (whole class) Think Sheet--filled out in class and sent home for parent signature.

The First Nine Weeks MATH  Place Value  Rounding Numbers  Addition & Subtraction (inverse relationships)  Ge0metry 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 within classroom  ALL students’ are taught the same content, but activities/content are delivered according to individual needs.  Focus on integrating math instruction  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.  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 1 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

How I Grade  Formative Assessments: Ongoing Check for understanding Highest score is a 3  Summative Assessments Quizzes and Tests (quizzes less) 2 level 4 questions on all tests A ll questions correct earns a score of 4 Getting one level 4 question earns a 3+

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

Retakes on Summative Tests  Students will be permitted to retake a summative assessment 2 times if they received a score lower than a “3”  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.

Questions

General Classrom and Contact Information  Class page on Pinebrook website  Please feel free to contact me via:  Phone  Letters sent in with your child  s 