Welcome to 3rd Grade!

April Gould and Kerry McRae

Overview of 3rd Grade

Your child is in a class with two teachers , each of whom specialize in specific content areas:

Mrs. McRae: reading, writing, grammar

Mrs. Gould: math, science, social studies

We are both available by appointment

Please send any communication to both teachers

Communication

Major School-Wide News/Events: Steck homepage and Steck E-Newsletter (steck.dpsk12.org)

Third Grade Monthly News: Room parents Katy and Sonya

Important Updates about PT Conferences, Field Trips, etc.: Emails directly from Mrs. Gould and Mrs. McRae

Meet Our Room Parents!

Katy and Sonya

Student Activities Fund

$20.00 per student, used for…

• Field trips

• Supplies for hands-on learning activities in class

Please bring payment directly to teachers

Checks should be made payable to Steck

Volunteering

DPS requires all volunteers who will have contact with students to complete a volunteer application form and return to the Office of Volunteer Services. Processing time varies (approx. 2 weeks). Sign-up sheets are available in the hallway tonight. Those who have already completed a background check are on file in the office.

Our volunteer needs:

Field trips, one-on-one support with students, grading, clerical duties

See sign-up in hallway

Birthday Celebrations

• Last Friday of each month at 2:30**

• No nuts of any kind (no tree nuts or peanuts)

• Please provide your email address next to your child’s name on the sheet in hallway

**August/Sept combined, Oct./Halloween Party combined, Nov./Dec./Winter Party combined, Feb/Valentine’s Day

combined, May/June/July/EOY Picnic combined

Birthday Celebrations

Volunteers are asked to help with set up and clean up

Additional volunteers needed for October, February, and April celebrations- consider if several parents share your month

Please sign up in the hallway if you’re interested!

Behavior Expectations

Each third grade classroom has agreed upon a list of classroom expectations to ensure that all students will succeed academically and socially. Students must respect the expectations created.

If three redirections are given, the student will be sent to another classroom to complete a “think sheet,” which allows the student to reflect on their choices. This needs to be signed by a parent or guardian and returned to the teacher the next school day. If the form is not returned with a signature, we will call or email parents.

Student Think Sheet:

Student reflects on action, its consequences for self and others, what they can do differently next time

If three are issued, next step is a referral and a parent-teacher- student conference

Office Referral:

Issued immediately if behavior is a safety concern or if student has completed 3 student think sheets in a trimester.

Referrals are documented in Infinite Campus

3rd Grade Wiki Pagehttp://steck3rdgrade.wikispaces.com

• 3rd grade policies and behavior expectations

• Our general schedule and curriculum overview

• Volunteer sign-up information

• This slideshow and other BTSN parent resources

• We’re trying to go paperless!

Homework Policies• Monday: All homework will be assigned- see yellow folder.

• Nightly math page from packet passed out on Mondays (Please don’t work ahead.)

• Nightly practice of math facts (Fluency tests are on subtraction and multiplication.)

• Nightly reading and spelling practice (signature required)

• Literacy packet

• Friday: All homework is due! Students should keep all their work in their yellow folder. Fridays are also spelling test days.

Homework Policies

• Any homework that is not turned in or is incomplete will receive a zero. Several missing assignments will affect SBPR grades.

• Homework is a communication tool between school and home. The work we assign is intended as a review of concepts already taught in class. Please let us know if your child is struggling with homework.

Literacy Homework

All homework is assigned on Monday and collected on Friday.

Homework will be reviewed in class on Fridays. This gives students to opportunity to self-evaluate their work and ask questions. Missing work prevents this from happening.

Weekly packet: spelling list, grammar review, reading comprehension practice

Nightly reading: 30 minutes

Nightly spelling practice

Sample Homework Planner Given Each Month

Million Word Reading ChallengeGoal: Increase reading fluency and comprehension by reading regularly outside of school

Third grade expectation: Read 25 grade-level chapter books over the course of the school year and complete a written response for each book. (Assignment available from Mrs. McRae.)

Students should be self-motivated to meet this goal and understand the purpose behind it.

Celebration in May for those who have met the goal.

Math Homework

All pages of homework assigned every Monday of each week, due on Friday.

Students will practice the skill of self-correcting their homework, while learning how to identify mistakes or misconceptions.

Faster feedback on completed work will help your child clarify their learning.

This year, we will be learning…

Math:• Properties of Multiplication and

Division

• Multi-step story problems

• Place Value

• Multiplication and Area

• Geometry

• Fractions

• Collecting and Displaying Data- graphing vocab, interpreting information

• Measurement: US Customary and Metric, conversions

Math Performance

In-class participation and assigned classwork

Mid-Module and End of Module (Unit) Assessments.

Exit Tickets

Constructed Response-claim and evidence

Frequent practice with short, in-class writing assignments with emphasis on pertinent vocabulary.

Spelling quizzes with relevant math words (later in the year).

Math Fluency Facts-Math Masters

Timed math tests will be given once per week

100 problems in 5 minutes

Subtraction and multiplication

Practice timed tests available on the 3rd grade home page

Flash card practice with nightly homework

Math Fluency Facts-Math Masters v. Sprints

At home: Flash card practice recommended as an addition to the assigned nightly homework (5-10 minutes)

In class: Math Masters

In class: Sprints (with some lessons) – 2 minute practice problems, given twice within 10-15 minutes

Online Math Resources

Google search: Math Magicians (Oswego school district-free website to practice facts.

www.coolmath4kids.com

www.engageny.org

The right side of the toolbar on their website has a Parents and Families option for available resources for educational activities online.

Standardized Math Assessments

District Benchmarks (Interims) given three times throughout third grade-fall, winter, spring

PARCC/CMAS given twice per academic school year for third grade-March and May.

Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers/ The Colorado Measures of Academic Success

Recommended practice PARCC tests available online: www.parcconline.org

We will also be learning…

Social Studies

• Social Scientists

• Exploring the Northeast, South and Midwest Regions

• Exploring the Southwest and West Regions

• Local Government

And also learning…

Science

• Life Cycles

• Electricity

• Objects in the Sky

Experiential Learning-Field Trips

Late Fall/Early Winter: In-class visit from the Butterfly Pavilion to extend learning of Life Cycles science unit.

Late Fall/Winter: In-class visit from the Denver Center for Performing Arts dramatic learning workshop regarding Economics and Personal Finance

Spring: Planetarium (Destination Solar System) and Space Odyssey Exhibit at the Museum of Nature and Science. Extension of Objects in the Sky science unit.

Key Ideas in Literacy

Reading closely and leaving evidence of our thinking through annotations

Reading closely to locate explicit evidence

Responding to texts: Providing a clear claim and giving text evidence to support it

Finding the main idea of a variety of texts, identifying key supporting details

Key Ideas in Literacy

• Identifying the author’s point of view

• Determining fact v. opinion

• Analyzing characters, events, themes in texts

Key Ideas in Literacy

Writing to inform, persuade, or entertain

Grounding our writing in evidence

Structures used in third grade: essay, short constructed response, narrative

In a Nutshell: Learning how to organize and support our thinking while also being able to identify and evaluate how authors do the same

Literacy Curriculum: Expeditionary Learning• Aligned to Common Core State Standards

• Each unit/module includes fiction and non-fiction texts focused on a common theme

• Connection to other content areas: geography, social studies, science

This year’s units:Beginning of Year: Reviewing the genres, learning year-long reading strategies and writing structures

Fall: The Power of Reading: How do people around the world access books?

Winter: Researching to Build Knowledge and Teach Others- Connecting Literary and Informational Texts to Study Culture Then and Now

Spring: Analyzing Narrative and Supporting Opinions: A Study of Peter Pan

Literacy Assessment

District Assessments: interims, DRA2

Ongoing classroom assessments: reading comprehension and application of strategies, writing samples, exit slips

Participation in whole- and small-group discussions

End-of-unit assessments, including written publications

PARCC Literacy Assessments- March and May

Common Core State StandardsObjectives

Closer alignment of standards state-by-state

Prepare all students for college or careers after graduation

Designed to focus on clear, specific expectations

Major Shifts in Literacy as we move to CCSS and E.L.• Greater emphasis on content-rich nonfiction

texts

• Increased rigor in written work: grounding our thinking in text evidence

• Increasingly complex texts and regular practice with academic language

Grading Practices

3 = Regularly meeting grade level expectations independently

2 = Meeting grade level expectations part of the time and/or with consistent help

1 = Performing below grade level

This Year Third Graders will take CMAS! (aka PARCC)Colorado Measures of Academic Success

• Replacing TCAP (formerly CSAP) as our state standardized testing program

• Sessions in March and May- all on the computer

• The more keyboarding your child can practice at home, the better!

Sample PARCC Math Problem

A library has 126 books about trees.

Part AThe library has 48 fewer books about rivers than about trees.Select from the drop-down menus to correctly complete the statement.

The number of books the library has about rivers is...4878174

And the total number of books the library has about trees and rivers is...174204300

Part BTwo students borrow books about trees. Each student borrows 8 books. How many books about trees remain in the library?

Enter your answer in the box.

Please use our link on the 3rd grade website to take a practice English Language Arts PARCC

test.

The same website will also allow you to access a Practice PARCC math test. To review your performance, it is necessary to keep track of your responses to the questions. The website does not score your practice test and provide a grade. Instead, you will need to check your answers against the answer sheet located on the homepage of the PARCC website.

A Friendly Reminder…Thank you for being so patient at dismissal. We’re trying our best to dismiss quickly.

Please notify Mrs. Gould, Mrs. McRae and the office if another person will be picking up your child (even if it’s another Steck parent that we know and trust). Thank you! Your child’s safety is important to us.

If another adult will be picking your child up often, please ask the office to add that person to your child’s authorized pick-up list.