Third Grade Room 6. Ms. Jessica Silver

Transcription

1 Welcome back! Third Grade Room 6 Ms. Jessica Silver Jessica.Silver@nlcinc.com About the Teacher This is my second year at Merryhill School Calvine. I hold a Bachelors degree in Liberal Studies and a Minor in History and English from Sacramento State University. I also have a Multiple Subject Teaching Credential and hold further credentials. My parents live in the Napa area. My mother is a retired teacher who now works in banking and my step-father works with computers. I have a cat named Chloe and recently added Pepper, our class pet, to my family. Parent Board The Parent Board is located near the front door of the classroom. I will post all important information on the parent board and I will send reminder s of important dates as well. Parent Drawers All completed work will be placed in your child s Friday Folder. I will collect the completed and graded assignments throughout the week and send them home on Friday. Your student s folder will be placed in their drawer. This year we have a set of colorful drawers, which are located by our classroom door, instead of hanging files. I will also place any other important information in these drawers. For example: Scholastic Book Orders, weekly newsletters, fundraising activities, snack cart letters, etc. Cubbies/Backpacks/Desks Students have tables this year! In between each table is a set of drawers. Each student has been assigned a drawer to put their personal belongings, as well as their workbooks and folders. Their cubby is solely used for hard covered textbooks. I try to stress that placing water bottles inside their cubby and/or drawer is not a good idea, just in case they drip. Students also have a hook located under their cubby to hang their backpacks and jackets. Each area should be kept orderly, so that the students can find things easily. I will be doing random checks and we will regularly have time set aside to clean these areas. Homework Students will copy homework from the board into their student planners. I allow time each day for students to write their assignments in their planners, and I will check the planners before passing out the homework. Some work that was not completed during class time may be sent home as additional homework. Study hall will be held in our classroom from 3:45-4:15pm Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. Teachers have staff meetings on 1

2 most Wednesdays and there is no study hall on Fridays. Note: Study hall in the past took place form 3:30-4:00. Student s will have a short snack time between class ending at 3:30 to allow students to recharge before beginning their homework during study hall. The majority of their homework will be completed during this time. Students will be completing a weekly reading log. This log is different from last year. The log asks students to simply write the title of the book, the author, the amount of time read, it asks the student to mark if they liked/disliked the book, and asks for a parent signature. I would like to clarify that a parent is not required to sign each night. I know you are very busy and most students finish their homework during study hall. Whoever see s you student reading can sign. I have attached a blank reading log and one can be found on our class website. The reading logs are given on Monday and not due until the following Monday to give the students plenty of time. Students may be assigned other reading activities that link to the novels being read in class as well. Students will receive weekly spelling words that correlate to the phonic pattern found in our weekly Reading Street story. Challenge words that link to other subjects, such as Science and Social Studies will be added occasionally. Their spelling test will occur on Fridays. They will also have nightly math homework, among other possibly assignments, such as writing prompts. Grading Scale Students will take a big step this year. They will no longer receive E, G, S, and N markings for academics; however, students will still receive these grades for effort. This year students will receive: A+ 100% or higher B % C % D % A 93-99% B 83-86% C 73-76% D 63-66% A % B % C % D % Honor Roll Students will also take part in the quarterly honor roll ceremony. There are three levels of honor roll: Gold, Silver, and Bronze. All honor roll students must have an S or better in Specialty classes. Gold honor roll Silver honor roll Bronze honor roll Students must earn an A (90% or better) in each of the core subjects. Students must earn at least three A s and can earn no more than three B s (80-89%) on their quarterly report card. Students can earn four or more B s on their report card but no C s. Principal s List can be achieved when a student earns A s in all of their core subjects. The students should also have an S or better in all of their specialty classes. Principal s List is a high honor only awarded to those students who show exemplary effort and achievement. They are models of respect, kindness, and generosity. Not only are they stellar students, they are model citizens. I feel that students have to go above and beyond in every way to earn this top honor. I know there will be many students receiving this award this year! Student of the Month 2

3 This year only one (1) student will be chosen to receive the Student of the Month award per class. This is a school-wide decision. There are 9 awards and currently 12 students in our class. I plan on giving class awards at the end of the year as well, which will allow all students to receive an award! The character traits for this year are: August/September Courtesy October November December January February March April May Generosity Respect Creativity Thoughtfulness Teamwork Empathy Humor Perseverance Parent-Teacher Conferences There will be Parent-Teacher Conferences held throughout the year. The conferences are held at the end of each quarter. I will post a sign-up sheet on my door prior to the conference day. The conferences will be a time where we meet and we will review the student s report card, their Personal Learning Plan (PLP), and other important documents. This will give us the opportunity to discuss your child s strengths and any areas of concern. 365 Grateful This school year we will start our day with a Grateful Gathering. These gatherings will begin each morning at 8:25am as a morning assembly, which will take place on the blacktop on the younger grades side of the school. We will discuss our monthly character trait as well as other opportunities to recognize the important things and moments to be grateful for. Feel free to stop in for one of our gatherings to see what they are like. Also, located outside of Room 7 is our new 365 Grateful board where Ms. Bolen will be posting new pictures and information regarding how our school is incorporating 365 Grateful into our school culture this year. We will be participating in many great activities, which should be fun! Attendance Please have your child at school on time. Regular attendance is very important. Remember that school starts at 8:30am. Instructional time ends at 3:30pm, with study hall from 3:45pm to 4:15pm. (snack time will be here from 3:30pm-3:45pm) Absences/Vacations 3

4 If you plan on going on a vacation or taking your child out of school for a few days at some point during the academic year, please let me know in advance. I will create a folder with assignments that your child can complete, while they are away from class. Please give me at least one week notice to compile the appropriate materials together. Classroom Agreements Students are expected to be courteous, generous, respectful, honest, and follow directions. My hope is for students to work together towards common class goals. Students are also expected to: Reward Systems Dollars Follow directions quickly Raise their hand to talk Take care of our classroom Make good choices Use kind words Be respectful when someone is talking Be respectful of the classroom and supplies Be kind, caring, and generous Always be prepared and organized Participate and try our best For positive reinforcement, I give the students New York City Class Cash dollars when they are following the classroom agreements/expectations. Students will also receive a weekly salary when they complete their classroom job throughout the week. Students will save the dollars in their duct tape wallets they made earlier this week and will be able to purchase items from the class store at the end of each quarter. Table Group Points The students will sit in table groups throughout the school year. Each table group will collaborate in order to choose a name for their group. Points are given to the table groups when they are supporting each other on class assignments and group projects or are showing me they are listening and ready to learn. A group prize will be given to the table group that earns the most points each month. In addition, the group with the most points (or tally marks) at the end of the week receive two (2) dollars on Monday and the group who receives the second most points will be given one (1) dollar for their hard work from the past week. Celebrity of the Week Each student in the class will have the opportunity to be the celebrity of the week at some point during the year. The student of the week will be given a poster to complete. The poster will enable the student to share facts, 4

5 hobbies, and interests about themselves with their classmates. Students will also be able to bring certain items in throughout the week to share with the class. For example: their favorite book, a trophy or award they received, their favorite toy, pictures of their friends/family, etc. The poster will be placed in the classroom for the week. Furthermore, the rest of the class will write a letter and draw a small picture for the student of the week. Field Trips We are in the process of planning some amazing field trips linked to our curriculum in order to bring the curriculum to life for the students. I will provide specific information as soon as plans are finalized. We will be accompanied this year on our field trips by Ms. Stephen s class, who is the other Third Grade class! Chaperones will be required for most, if not all of our field trips. A sign-up sheet will be placed on the door prior to the field trip date asking for volunteers. THANK YOU in advance for your help on the field trips. On field trip days, students are allowed to wear jeans with a Merryhill logoed shirt. They may be required to bring a jacket or wear closed toe shoes or possibly tennis shoes depending on the field trip. They also might need to bring a cold sack lunch if the field trip takes place during lunch time. Parties Some of the classroom parties will involve both Third Grade classes. There will be a sign-up sheet posted on the door for food and supplies. Thank you in advance for contributing to our classroom parties Birthdays If you would like to bring class treats to celebrate your child s birthday, please let me know ahead of time. This will enable us to set a time in order to celebrate and for the treats to be distributed. Water Bottles Students are allowed to bring water bottles to class and may be kept at their desks. Please put your child s name on the water bottle. They will have opportunities to refill their water bottle if needed. Merryhill Calvine Science and Engineering Fair Merryhill School Calvine (MSC) transitioned from hosting a traditional science fair to host a science and engineering fair. While the goals of the fair remain the same-- giving students an opportunity to apply writing, mathematics, and logic, and critical thought to their own areas of interest-- MSC will now include engineering projects in the scope of the fair. Communication I will regularly check my school . Please allow me 24 hours in order to respond to your . I will do my best to respond quicker. Also, I will be in my classroom before and after school, if you would like to meet in person. Jessica.Silver@nlcinc.com 5

6 Specialty Schedule Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Spanish Technology 10:00-10:45 Art PE PE 1:00-1:45 Library 2:00-2:30 Music Spanish 2:30-3:15 Teacher Led Tech 2:00-3:00 This year students will be attending Spanish twice a week rather than once a week like last year. Also, there will be a monthly Specialty Newsletter explaining what students will be learning. I will do my best to write if there are any tests or homework assignments in a specialty class on our class homework board. Last year I studied and reviewed the key terms learned in Spanish class with the student s prior to any quiz or test. This allows the students to receive extra practice and it also allows me to know what they are currently learning and enables me to enhance my limited Spanish vocabulary I hope to continue this trend in Third Grade! Scholastic Book Orders I will pass out Scholastic Book Orders every other month. Located at the top of the book order, you will find our class activation code (ND2TD) and the date the order is due. Please place all orders online. Scholastic will alert me when an order is placed and I will confirm and send the order. Our class activation code and the due date can also be found on the parent board and on our class website. Once an order has been submitted, books should arrive in less than two (2) weeks later. Our first book order is due Monday, September 14 th. Being a Third Grader This is a big year for the students! They are growing and advancing in their education. They are becoming more responsible and independent. Please allow the students to do more on their own as they learn to be more responsible. For example, please allow them to be responsible for their own belongings (making sure they have their homework completed and turned in to the correct basket in the morning, they should place their lunch box in the lunch box bin, etc). Thank you in advance for your help this year. I m looking forward to having a lot of fun and learning ahead of us. Let s have a great year 6