Welcome to Third Grade Ms. Valdez or Merriam Park

Classroom Management Classroom Rules: –I will be polite, kind, and honest –I will keep my hands, feet, and objects to myself –I will be prepared, and get my work done neatly and on time. –I will raise my hand and not talk while others are talking.

Classroom Management If a student is unable to follow one of our rules, he/she will be asked to change the color of their card. The following lists the consequences for changing colors: –Green: GREAT –Yellow: Warning –Orange: 2 nd Warning –Pink: Principal’s office/note or call home You will get a note home every Friday on how many cards your child pulled. If they pull more than 5 cards they will miss out on an extra recess/free time on Friday.

Specials Monday: PE/Music Tuesday: Library Wednesday: Art Thursday: CC/Music Friday: CC/PE Lunch: 11:25-11:50

Grading : The grade students earn in 3 rd grade are: S = Satisfactory S = % I = Improving N = 70-79% N = Needs I = 60-69% Improvement U = Below 60% U = Unsatisfactory

Grading Grades are based on the following: 1. Assignments/Tests 2. Homework 3. Work Habits 4. Ability to remain on task 5. Responsibility

Homework Students will bring a homework assignment home every night and their planner. This will be used to remind students if they have any daily assignments that need to be finished. You may choose to sign it. The homework square should indicate what color card they were on for the day. Homework consists of: Monday: spelling 3x each/5 math problems, Tuesday: math and/or spelling page/5 math problems Wednesday: math, spelling, or reading page/5 math problems Thursday: study for spelling and math tests/5 math problems Friday: Work and correct with your child what they may have missed on their tests. I also encourage nightly reading! District guidelines state that homework for 3 rd grade should take minutes nightly.

Reading We will be using a new reading series for reading, language arts and spelling this year. Wonders, the new series believes strongly in integrating reading and writing. Many language skills will be taught through this program.

Reading This year, students in 3 rd grade will be receiving 90 minutes of core reading time, plus 30 minutes of workshop. Workshop activities may include small group time with the teacher to cover more intensive practice on comprehension skills, small group work on novel units or author studies, and independent work time, which will be used to reinforce objectives in other curriculum areas such as social studies and science. Some students may use workshop time to meet with a reading specialist. The needs of these students to receive additional instruction will be reviewed and changes will be made as needed.

Spelling We will be using the new Wonders series. A pretest will be given on Monday and will be sent home with the list of words. Students who get 100% on the pretest will not have to take Friday’s test. I will adjust list for moderation or enrichment as I feel necessary. There are 20 words per week. A dictation test, consisting of 5 sentences will be given on Thursday. Homework for Thursday will be to study spelling for the test on Friday. However, it will be necessary to study the list at home throughout the week.

Math Third graders receive 90 minutes of math instruction daily. This will include daily computation practice as well as daily drill on concepts. We will be using Envision Math. Another big focus for 3 rd grade is learning multiplication and division facts, as well as problem solving.

Math Third graders are given a quarterly basic skills test the first 3 quarters of the year. The daily concepts and computation skills are correlated with these tests. We will also be doing the MAP test, Measurement of Academic Progress 3x this year to help us see the progress of each student.

Social Studies The focus of the 3 rd grade social studies curriculum is communities. We will be using the text book to explore topics such as goods and services, landforms, citizenship, rights and responsibilities, and economics. We will discuss rural, urban, and suburban communities. Map skills will also be emphasized.

Science Many hands-on experiences will be given as the class moves through the Scott-Foresman series. There are many topics covered including: matter, energy (sound), plants, animals, cycles of the earth and forces. Throughout the year we will be getting the students comfortable with the scientific method.

Language Arts We will be integrating much of our language instruction with our reading. In 3 rd grade we also begin to use cursive writing. We will be teaching the Zaner-Bloser method of cursive. By 4 th quarter, I really encourage all students to be using their cursive skills in everyday work.

Testing Third graders will be participating in two major types of tests this year: The MAP (Measurement of Academic Progress)test will be given at the beginning, the middle and the end of third grade. This test is designed to measure individual growth in the areas of math and reading. We will also be giving the Math and Reading sections of the Kansas State Assessment in the Spring. We will be preparing for and discussing these tests throughout the year.

FYI When your child is absent, please request homework through the office as early in the day as possible. We do go out for recess all days that the weather permits. Please make sure that your child is dressed appropriately. Birthday treats are fine however please do not send party invitations to school to be passed out. This avoids hurt feelings if all students are not invited. Please let me know ahead of time when the child will celebrate his/her birthday in the classroom. We will be ordering from the Scholastic Book orders this year. Book orders will come home once a month. Please make checks out to Lucky Books. Online code: LDGZH Do not feel like you have to buy!

Together we will enable your child to achieve their potential TODAY, so that they can be proud of their YESTERDAYS, TOMORROW!

Any Questions?