Mrs. Payne’s Third- Grade Class Welcome, Students and Parents!

Welcome to Third Grade! I am so happy to begin a new year and I hope you are too!

All About Me  My background  I grew up in Maryland  I attended grammar school in MD, and came to SC to attend CCU. I graduated from CCU in May of 2007  My experience  This is my sixth year of teaching- all of that has been here at CFE!

My Family/Interests My son Preston is in first grade, my daughter Taylor is 10 months old and my husband and I have been together 8 years. I love sports, the NFL and college basketball most of all. My favorite teams are the Baltimore Ravens and the University of Maryland Terrapins. I also love to cook, garden, knit and hit the beach!

My Goals  To give you the academic and social skills you need to progress to fourth grade and further on in life.  To provide a supportive and fun classroom environment.  To help you make new friends and discover new interests.

Class Subjects  The subjects we will cover throughout third grade are:  Reading, and Phonics (Imagine It)  Writing  Math  Science  Social studies

Imagine It- Language Arts  Imagine It consists of a phonics portion- done all in school- and a Reading Comprehension portion – for this there will be reading at home.  Students will be reading many stories from many different genres throughout the year. I hope you and your child have fun reading these stories together

Writing  We will be working on the writing process all throughout the year Brainstorming Rough copy Revising Editing Publishing Students will complete many different types of writing and will write for a variety of purposes over the course of the year.

Math  We use the math series Everyday Math (EDM). There is a Student Reference Book (SRB) that students should bring home everyday that will help with games and activities students do during the day.  Websites: here are some fun math websites that may be helpful (your child will get a password for this later) – fun games to help with multiplication facts especially.

Multiplication Facts  We will begin learning the multiplication facts through the 12 times table starting in September. Please know that your child will be expected to memorize their multiplication facts. There will be weekly testing once we get started.  After we return in January students will have an opportunity to earn an a little something special if they complete and pass timed tests on all of their times tables.

Science The topics we cover include Rocks and Minerals Matter/Heat Landforms/Weathering/Erosion Animals and Habitats Motion/Sound Scientific Inquiry There will be many hands on activities that the students will engage in throughout the year in science.

Social Studies In Social Studies we study South Carolina History using Studies Weekly- a newspaper geared toward third graders and our specific SS standards. We will cover things like the Regions of SC, discovery, early settlement, Independence and the Civil War just to name a few.

Classroom Community Our classroom and school are a community. In our community, we have rules and procedures to ensure that everyone is happy and safe while here at CFE. We follow our CUBS matrix. A copy of this will come home the first day- please sign that you have reviewed it with your child and send it back with them.

Volunteers  If you would like to be a volunteer this year please fill out a volunteer form. If you need one please pick one up from the back table. It needs to be returned in order for you to go on field trips or volunteer in the classroom.

Homework  Math Homework is given out on Monday and is returned on Friday morning- there is a quiz that goes with it on Friday after we check it.  Nightly reading will be expected for our Imagine It text  For science and Social Studies- students are expected to complete study guide questions to help review the material- most students who complete the study guides consistently do well in these subjects.

“Notebooking” We will do “notebooking” in all major content areas, Math, Science, Social Studies and ELA. There will be grades and most of the content in these areas will be in the notebooks. The notebooks are composition notebooks, please do not send in spiral notebooks. Parents Please check these notebooks for completion and to see what we have been doing in class!

Tardiness  The first bell rings at 7:30 A.M. if your child comes in after the second bell at 7:40 A.M. they will be asked to get a tardy slip.  Tardies and Absences are monitored by our attendance clerk. If you are tardy or absent too many times without a valid excuse (doctor, court, etc), the school will contact you. Please be aware of this policy.

Let’s Have a Great Year!