I want to thank you for a truly wonderful first week! Have a very happy and safe weekend!
Homework:
- Read 20 minutes
- Blog permission slip due Friday, September 5.
- Please note that I will be checking planners for signatures tomorrow (and every Friday). Please make sure you have signed your child's planner. Thank you!
Ms. Smith
............................................................................................................................
August 29, 2014
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- Please sign and return the attached permission slip regarding our Class Blog and pictures. …
Dear Parents and Guardians,
Our school year is underway! It has been great getting to know the
children the past couple of days. We
have spent a lot of time learning classroom routines and getting familiar with
each other. We have a wonderful class!
To help you better understand how things are
working this year, I’d like to share how we will be doing a few things in our third
grade learning community.
…
Beaver Folders:
All
students have a white school-issued folder that they will bring home with them
every day. Inside the folder you will find homework that needs to be completed,
notes from myself and the office, as well as any finished homework your child
may have done. Please take a moment to
check the folder each week, and make sure your child brings it back to school
every day. It is important for us to
communicate and this is a great way for us to keep in touch.
Unfinished & Absent Work:
Any
work not completed during the day will be sent home to be finished and returned
the next day. If your child is absent,
he/she will need to complete the work that was missed. Students will have a fair and appropriate
amount of time to finish any assignment they may have missed.
Math/ Homework:
Riverside Elementary utilizes the Everyday Math program for math instruction. Specifically, third grade’s math curriculum
involves group work, hands-on activities, problem solving, logical thinking,
and decision-making lessons. You can expect your child to have math
homework every week. Math homework is
intended to help reinforce concepts learned in class. I will always
explain how to do these assignments before students are sent home. Your
child should not be spending more than 30 minutes on math homework. If
this is the case, please jot me down a note at the top your child's homework,
and I will work with your child one-on-one in the morning to complete the work.
It is important to also note that students can, and are encouraged to,
bring home their math notebook to help them in completing their homework.
Independent Reading:
The amount of free
reading done outside of school has consistently been found to relate to growth
in vocabulary, reading comprehension, verbal fluency, and general information
(Anderson, Wilson, and Fielding 1988; Greaney 1980; Guthrie and Greaney 1991;
Taylor, Frye, and Maruyama 1990). Students who read independently become better
readers, score higher on achievement tests in all subject areas, and have
greater content knowledge than those who do not (Krashen 1993; Cunningham and
Stanovich 1991; Stanovich and Cunningham 1993). Please set aside at least 20 minutes each night for your child to read
independently or even better, aloud to you.
Snacks:
Students will be allowed to have a snack at
their discretion throughout the day. We
are a Nut Sensitive classroom; please
keep this in mind when packing snacks. Thank you!
Planners:
Planners are another
way that we communicate with each other on a daily basis. At the end of
each day, we will fill out planners together with brief information in each
subject area so as to communicate what was learned each day. Please check
and sign their planner every day. By signing your child’s planner, you are
communicating to me that your child is completing their homework (this includes
their 20 minutes of independent reading each day). On occasion, I may write you a note in your
child's planner. Likewise, feel free to jot down a note in your child's
planner for me to read, as well.
Students know to show me their planners in the morning if they have
parent notes. Every Friday I will check to see that planners are signed.
I will always let students know a day ahead of time when we will be
checking planners. Students who have more than two signatures missing
will lose a ticket (for every 2 signatures missing, 1 ticket will be taken
away).
Behavior
& Classroom Management:
Our
classroom will be using a ticket management system. I have found this behavior management system
to be the most effective in third-fifth grade classrooms. Please read
below.
Each
child starts out with 5 tickets on Monday. If your child follows our
classroom expectations, turns in all homework, and has all signatures in their
planner on Friday, they will keep all their tickets throughout the week. On
Friday, we will have “Bank Day”; students who still have all 5 tickets will
receive a Smith Buck. In addition, all students will receive a new set of
5 tickets, and return their remaining from the week. Remaining tickets are entered into a raffle
where students can win a “comfy seat” at their desk for an entire week. Towards
winter break, we will have a class auction. Students will use their Smith
Bucks to participate.
Students
will lose a ticket if they: do not complete homework on time, do not
follow our classroom rules and expectations, and/ or if they are missing more
than 2 signatures in their planners on Friday. I will communicate with
you if your child is losing tickets on a regular basis. See below for an outline of our ticket
system. These policies were developed
with students.
If your child loses…
·
1
ticket = first warning
·
2
tickets = second warning
·
3
tickets = 5 minutes by me at recess
·
4
tickets = contact home
·
5
tickets = parent meeting
Class Blog: http://room13classblog.blogspot.com
Communication between school and home is crucial. The primary avenue I
will use to keep you informed about the learning of your child is through our
class blog. The purpose of this website is to keep you informed about the
happenings inside our classroom and provide you with opportunities to support
your student's learning outside of school. Here, you will find helpful resources,
information regarding curriculum, important classroom news, as well as an
updated blog. With our class blog, it is my intention, to keep you informed
about our current goals, learning, and progress throughout the year. Each day
you can expect to see any homework posted as well as upcoming reminders. Please
visit our blog frequently for the latest information on what we're doing in
Room 13!
I want to thank you again
for all your support! I’m looking forward to a wonderful year full of growth
and learning! I am best reached by email (HadleySmith@hcps.org), if you have
any questions, comments, concerns.
Thank you!
Hadley Smith
HadleySmith@hcps.org
......................................................................................................................
August
29, 2014
Parents
and Guardians,
First,
I want to express my sincere joy in meeting each and every one of your
children. We have a great class, and I
am so looking forward to a positive year of learning!
Second,
one of my professional goals this year is to keep parents and guardians as
informed as possible about our learning inside the classroom. One of the ways I plan on doing this is
through our class blog. With your
permission, I will post pictures of your children learning and working together
in our classroom. Please check one of
the boxes below. If you decide that you
DO NOT wish to have me post pictures of your child on our blog; I will make
sure no pictures are posted that have your child in them.
Please check one of the following options and sign below:
________ YES, I
want you to post pictures of my child on room13classblog.blogspot.com
________ NO, I
do not want you to post any pictures of my child on room13classblog.blogspot.com
Parent Name
(print): ___________________________________________________________________
Signature:
____________________________________________________________________________
Student’s
Name:
______________________________________________________________________
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