1. Welcome to Curriculum Night! Olson Elementary 3 rd Grade 2015-2016

2. Welcome Parents! 3 rd Grade Teaching Teams  Mrs. Evans- Math  Mrs. Witt- Reading and Word Work  Mrs. Payne- Writing, Science & Social Studies  Mrs. Hogsett- Math, Science & Social Studies  Mrs. Allen- Reading, Word Work and Writing Tonight will give you an overview of our year and show you what 3 rd grade is all about!

3. Math  Fact Practice-addition/subtraction essential in order to be successful in multiplication.  Multiplication– starts in October.  Problem solving strategies- UPS check, word problem strategies, not just computation. Most skills are embedded in multistep word problems  EnVisions: students have log-ons and can access from home. It is our textbook material.  Ask your teacher for ideas for practice or additional help.  Visit technology pages for areas to explore

4. Language Arts This year we are “reading to learn” !  Novels, guided readers, picture books, book boxes, big books, basal readers  Literature, news magazines for children (Scholastic)  Reading logs at school to encourage finishing books  Home reading every night –minimum on homework assignment for Mon-Thurs is 15 minutes. Reading HW will change at semester.  Reading skills, critical readers and thinkers.  Writing Skills-journaling and drafting  Word work- we will be teaching phonics, rules, & high frequency words in class and students are practicing on homework. No need to send in word work practice from homework, parent signature means you have seen it/child has done it. No spelling test.  Cursive-strokes will be taught at school and practiced at school and occasionally at home.

5. Science & Social Studies  Hands on science group activities  Science journals  Scientific process and skills  Integration of curriculum  Typically in three week segments  Examples- Allen History, Solar System, Communities, Lab Safety, Inventions, Systems

6. OTTER Time  A great opportunity for teachers to work in depth with small groups  Extension of Math and Language Arts  30 minutes/day M-TH right after lunch  Every child will be mixed in groups with different teachers to meet individual student needs

7. Assessments:  STAAR – Reading & Math -in May  We want to get to know our students!  Variety of forms of assessment – daily, weekly, rubrics, checklists, class work, observations.  Unit tests  District benchmarks in November  Testing Simulations in February  STAAR test- not the focus of our year, just a PART of our year, but it is important being their first year to take a state mandated test. 3 rd grade STAAR

8. Communication Between Home and School  3 rd grade……big responsibility- HW, Go home folder, Thursday folder, behavior, level of independent work.  Thursday Folder-please look over papers.  Communication/HW chart- simplified. Please sign nightly.  Teacher email will be weekly with updates and learning for the week.  Sweaters, water bottles, healthy snacks.  Allen ISD website-please register to be a volunteer online. You must register every year if you wish to volunteer.  Please communicate with teachers on change of transportation home as soon as possible.  Rainy Day plan- This will be the same as every other day.

9.  Lunch on stage is for you and your child only- inviting friends isn’t allowed.  Avoid sending birthday party invitations unless you are inviting the entire class.  Please ask your child’s teacher before bringing in any type of treat to the class. We have a few peanut allergies in 3 rd grade this year. We are asking that you don’t send cupcakes.  Email is our best way of communication, let us know if you need anything!

10. Thank you! Third Grade Otters are outstanding!