Third Grade Handbook 2018-2019
This handbook contains the expectations for our classrooms, a summary of what to expect this year, and ways to communicate with us. Please read this packet and the agenda with your child. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact your child’s teacher. We know we are going to have a great third grade year!
~ Mrs.Matheny, Ms. Munn, & Mrs. West ~
Dear Families, We are excited to get to know your child and we look forward to having a productive year together. We believe that with confidence, a good attitude, and hard work, each student will have a very successful year in third grade. Every year we look forward to building relationships with our students and teaching them the skills they need to be successful in life and school. We appreciate all of the support you provide your child at home to help him/her perform to the best of their abilities in the classroom. You play an important role in your child’s education. For best results, most of the homework in third grade requires parental involvement to support what the students have learned in the classroom. As you know, this is the first year that your child will be taking the Virginia SOL assessments in Math and Reading. We will work very hard together to prepare for these assessments throughout the year. The current SOL tests are administered online and contain technology-enhanced items (TEI). Technology-enhanced Items require students to indicate their responses in ways other than a multiple-choice format, such as fill-in-the blank, select all of the correct answers, and dragging statements to appropriate spots on a graphic organizer. We will practice identifying TEI questions and how to answer them throughout the year. You may also see them at home in your child’s homework and Monday Folders (graded work). In order to prepare for online SOL tests, the majority of our classroom tests will be given online to allow students to use the online tools and familiarize them with answering questions on a computer screen. The Virginia Department of Education has implemented Computer Adaptive Testing (CAT) for both Reading and Math SOL tests to improve the testing experience for students. The assessments will be customized for each student. The difficulties of the questions will be determined in response to how the students answer the previous question. A correct response will lead to a more difficult item. An incorrect response will result in a less difficult item. We will partner together in order to ensure your child has a successful 3rd grade year! Please do not hesitate to contact us, should you have any concerns or questions. Sincerely, Mrs. Matheny, Ms. Munn, & Mrs. West
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School Information Central Elementary School 575 Union Hill Road Amherst, Virginia 24521 phone: (434) 946-9700 fax: (434) 946-9702 website: http://ces.amherst.k12.va.us/ Principal: Ms. Wanda Smith Assistant Principal: Mr. Derek Adam Secretary: Mrs. Nina Ferguson School Counselor: Mrs. Lauren Kershner Health Assistant: Ms. Olivia Snyder Speech Pathologist: Ms. Cynthia Mikesell Vision Specialist: Ms. Pam Jungerson TAG (Gifted Program): Mrs. Beverly Brown
Your child’s teachers will be: Classroom Teachers:
● Mrs. Ruth Matheny - Science [email protected] ● Ms. Kristie Munn - Writing [email protected] ● Mrs. Shana West - History [email protected]
**Each teacher will provide Math, Reading, and Word Study instruction to her assigned homeroom unless otherwise indicated.**
Reading Specialists:
● Mrs. Sue Ellen Petchul ● Mrs. Christine Spicer ● Mrs. Renee Dolder
Resource:
● Mr. Larry Thomas – Health & P.E. ● Mrs. Melanie Lewis – ITRT in Computer Lab ● Mrs. Elizabeth Marcais – Art ● Mrs. Michelle Abbott - Music ● Ms. Nancy Johnson – Library Media Specialist
Special Education Services:
● Ms. Melanie Hyman ● Mrs. Heather Ware
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Your child will be taking the Standards of Learning (SOL) tests this year. Please refer to your child’s weekly newsletter regarding what specific skills we are currently working on.
Reading is a very significant part of third grade. Students will be expected to read each night for at least 15-20 minutes. After completing reading homework, please check it off and sign your child’s Homework Log. The Homework Log is located in the front of their WILDCAT binder in a sheet protector. Homework Logs will be checked daily. Please note that other reading homework may be assigned, as needed. We will be refining previously learned skills/strategies and studying many new topics in reading this year, such as:
● The Seven Comprehension Strategies (Connecting, Visualizing, Questioning, Inferring/Predicting, Determining Importance, Summarizing/Synthesizing, and Self-Monitoring)
● Reading with fluency and accuracy ● Expanding vocabulary ● Using print and electronic resources (encyclopedia, dictionary, thesaurus, online reference
material, table of contents, glossary, index, charts, etc.) In order for your child to be successful in third grade, he/she must read every night. We will also be working on test taking skills for reading this year that include:
● Read and re-read until you’ve understood what you’ve read ● Take breaks while reading to ensure you’ve understood what you’ve read so far (self-monitoring) ● Highlight keywords in the question and important information from the story ● Think about the answer to the question before reading the answer choices ● Find evidence in the text to support your answer (prove it) ● “Slash to the Trash” – get rid of answer choices that are
obviously wrong or don’t make sense The school-wide test-taking “Triangle Strategy” for reading tests encompasses all of these test taking skills. It requires the students to identify (highlight) keywords in the question to help them understand what the question is asking, highlight evidence to support the answer in the text, and highlight the keywords in the answer choice that matches the evidence.
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The Seven Comprehension Strategies
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Your child will be bringing home a collection of spelling words weekly that have been introduced in class. Generally, word sorts will be introduced on Mondays and tested on Fridays. Each night of the week, your child is expected to do a different activity to ensure that these words and the spelling patterns are mastered. These activities have been modeled and practiced in school, so your child can teach you how to do them at home. You will be provided a list of word study homework activities and instructions. In addition, these activities will be located at the front of their Word Study Notebooks (marbled composition notebook) for your reference.
Please be sure your child puts the date at the top of each page in their Word Study Notebooks when they complete their homework! On Friday, we will have a test and students will turn in their Word Study Notebooks for us to check weekly homework.
Each week your child will be provided with a Parent’s List that shows how the entire word list should be sorted. Please do not let your child use this page when working on their homework! This is a reference for you to help your child with word study activities. All word study activities should take 10 minutes or less to complete. PLEASE DO NOT SPEND MORE THAN 10 MINUTES ON WORD STUDY! After 10 minutes of working on the activity and it has not been completed, just write a note and initial in Word Study Notebook.
The Writing Process
Ms. Munn will be teaching about the writing process and how to generate different types of writing throughout the year. Writing will be focused on the following types of pieces throughout the year: narrative, expository (informational), descriptive, letters, and persuasive. We will incorporate the use of “Thinking Maps” to help us plan our writing. The 6 major steps of the writing process are:
English/Grammar
We will be weaving grammar and English lessons throughout our studies in writing. Our focus this year will be writing complete sentences; using proper capitalization and punctuation; using parts of speech properly (nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs); use of commas; abbreviations; apostrophes in contractions and possessives; and much more!
Handwriting
Your child should have been introduced to cursive writing last year in 2nd grade. In third grade we will continue to extend our knowledge of cursive writing. It is important that your child practice this at home. You might encourage your child to write the grocery list or practice the letters while waiting in a restaurant. We will follow the traditional Zaner-Bloser cursive style. Students will be expected to write their first and last name legibly in cursive.
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Math is an EXCITING time for students in third grade! Students will have math homework on a consistent basis. Most of the time math homework will consist of a couple spiral review questions each night. Students should already be familiar with how to answer these types of questions and we will review them as a warm up at the beginning of math class each day. As we learn our multiplication facts and study our flashcards, we will begin to take weekly multiplication quizzes. In math, we will be learning about:
● place value up to 999,999 ● rounding whole numbers to the nearest ten, hundred, and thousand ● proper and improper fractions, including mixed numbers ● adding/subtracting fractions ● comparing whole numbers and fractions ● order whole numbers 9,999 or less (limited to a set of 3 numbers) ● related facts “fact families” (addition/subtraction and multiplication/division) ● single-step and multi-step word problems (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division) ● multiplication/division facts 0-10 ● counting money up to $5.00 and making change ● measurement of length, volume, mass/weight, time to the minute, elapsed time, temperature,
area, and perimeter ● plane/solid figures ● polygons - up to 10 sided figures ● congruency of plane shapes ● points, line segments, rays, angles, and lines ● probability ● graphing – bar graphs and pictographs ● patterns
In Social Studies, Mrs. West will be teaching about Map Skills, Ancient Rome, Ancient Greece, Ancient Mali, Ancient China, Ancient Egypt, Artifacts, Primary & Secondary Sources, Citizenship, Government, and Economics. Students will have a set of flashcards to study Monday-Thursday night and a parent must sign the Homework log verifying the student studied the cards. They may not have flashcards to study every week. The flashcards contain all the essential information for the SOLs taught, so studying them for about 5 minutes each night will be very beneficial to your child. Students will also have to study for assignments and tests.
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In Science this year Mrs. Matheny will be teaching about simple machines, the scientific method, the physical properties of matter, animal adaptations, food chains, ecosystems, resources, the importance of soil, plant and animal life cycles, earth/moon cycles, the water cycle, the interdependency of plants and animals, human influences on living organisms, and energy sources. Students will take notes, as well as complete assignments and tests. Students will also study flashcards each night to study the vocabulary terms associated with each unit. In addition, students will have the opportunity to participate as a class in the Central Elementary Science Fair in the spring.
We use Thinking Maps to stimulate the brain's natural tendency to detect patterns and establishes a common visual language that crosses all content areas.
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Your child will need the following supplies for 3rd grade.
1. Book bag/backpack (1)
2. 3-Ring Binder 2-inch with the clear view
pocket on the front (1)
3. Colored Pencils (2 packs of 12)
4. Dry Erase Markers (2 packs)
5. Erasers (2 packs pencil top)
6. Glue Sticks (5 packs of four or five)
7. Clorox Wipes (1 container)
8. Pencils #2 (6 packs of 24)
9. Pencil Pouch with 3-rings to clip into binder (2
pouches)
10. Scissors (2 pair)
11. Tissues (2 boxes)
12. Highlighter (2 packs)
13. Plastic Pocket Folders with fasteners - (1)
red, (1) yellow/orange, (1) blue, (1) green, (1)
purple, (2) student choice
14. One-Subject Notebooks - (1) red, (1)
yellow/orange, (1) blue, (1) green, (1) purple
15. Composition Notebook (1)
16. Notebook paper (1 pack)
We would also appreciate any plain white copy paper you could donate!
● Homework is to be completed and turned in on-time. You are responsible for having your parents sign your Homework log each evening.
● Neatness counts! Please do your best to make sure your work is neat, as well as keeping your area clean (floor, desk, etc.)
● Do your best! Stay on task and complete assignments to the best of your ability.
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Part of being a class involves working together as a team. This year we will be using Behavior Bingo as a whole-class reward system. When your teacher or another adult in the building compliments the whole class for their behavior, they will get a randomly generated number for their Bingo Board. If they get a compliment from the principal, they get to pick two numbers. When they get 5 numbers in a row, the whole class gets a treat!
For individual behavior, we will be using a Behavior Chart on a clipboard that travels with the class to their other teachers/classes. If a student completes homework each day, maintains a positive attitude, makes positive behavior choices, takes initiative, and cooperates with his/her classmates throughout the week, he/she will be able to attend Friendship Fridays.
On the chart each day, students will get a mark for negative behavior choices.
H-Homework incomplete S-No Supplies T-Excessive Talking D-Disrespect P-Peer Relations O-Off Task B-General Behavior N-Not Following Directions
Each day students will receive rewards or consequences based on their choices for the day. Daily Consequences (for the next day) 1 mark = Warning 2 marks = 2 Recess Laps 3 marks = 4 Recess Laps 4 marks = 6 Recess Laps & Student Note Home to Parent 5+ marks = 8 Recess Laps, Silent Lunch, & Conference with Principal Rewards
3 or less behavioral marks and all homework completed for the week (weekly)= Attend Friendship Friday
During Friendship Fridays, students will be able to bring their lunch to the classroom, eat lunch with their friends, and watch a movie or show. Students who did not earn the opportunity to attend Friendship Fridays will eat lunch in the cafeteria as usual.
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One of our most important goals this year is to keep the lines of communication open with you. If you have any questions or concerns throughout the year, please contact us via a note in your child's agenda, a phone call, or an e-mail. We check our e-mail daily, so this is the most efficient way to contact us. Sometimes students do not give us the parent’s note until they are walking out the door, or they may forget to give it to us altogether. If we have not answered your question in a timely fashion, PLEASE contact us again! Please contact the office immediately, if your phone number, address, or child’s emergency information changes.
We will use the agenda to communicate to parents about any issues that may have come up
throughout the day. If you have a note for us, please staple it to your child’s agenda on today’s page, rather than writing the note in the agenda.
It is essential for you to check your child’s Homework Log and agenda each day to ensure
both you and your child are aware of the homework assignments. We appreciate your
support in this matter!
We will send home a weekly newsletter with information about what we are studying for the week, as well as strategies you can use at home to reinforce what we are learning in class. It will
also include any upcoming events. Please check your child’s Monday Folder for the newsletter
on Mondays. If your child comes home and says they do not know what they learned, you can ask
them about the general topic listed in the newsletter!
Your child’s graded papers will be returned on Mondays in your child’s Monday Folder. Please look through your child’s papers to see how he/she is doing on his/her assignments. By reviewing your
child’s graded classwork, you are helping them understand what they missed, why they missed it, and how to correctly answer the question or problem in the future. We usually make notes on the students’
work on how they should have correctly solved/answered the question. In addition, any important school-wide communication papers will be sent home in the Monday Folder. Please be sure your child
returns his/her Monday Folder to school on Tuesday.
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Students in third grade are given letter grades. Keep this chart handy in order to check your child’s progress. Students’ grades can be checked on PowerSchool (see information below).
Grade Percentage
A+ 98-100
A 93-97
A- 90-92
B+ 87-89
B 83-86
B- 80-82
C+ 77-79
C 73-76
C- 70-72
D+ 67-69
D 63-66
D- 60-62
F 0-59
Please refer to this chart to see how assignments will be weighted in the grade book.
Reading English Spelling Math Science Social Studies Tests – 40%
Classwork – 50% Homework – 10%
Tests – 40% Classwork – 50% Homework – 10%
Tests – 50% Classwork – 40% Homework – 10%
Tests – 40% Classwork – 50% Homework – 10%
Tests – 40% Classwork – 50% Homework – 10%
Tests – 40% Classwork – 50% Homework – 10%
PowerSchool’s Parent Portal gives parents and guardians real-time information including attendance, grades, school information, and student course requests. The PowerSchool Parent Portal is a valuable tool, helping you stay well informed of your student’s academic progress and attendance. **We will be updating grades on PowerSchool weekly, if not sooner.** Please ask Mrs. Ferguson in the front office to help you get access to PowerSchool Parent Portal if you’d like to create an account.
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Time Activity 8:40-9:05 Arrival, Breakfast, & Morning Work
9:05 Announcements, Pledge of Allegiance, & Moment of Silence 9:05-10:00 Math
10:00-10:45 Resource 10:45-11:15 Math (cont.)
11:15-11:45
Content Block 1 Matheny Homeroom → Social Studies with West West Homeroom → Writing with Munn Munn Homeroom → Science with Matheny
11:45-12:15
Content Block 2 Matheny Homeroom → Writing with Munn West Homeroom → Science with Matheny Munn Homeroom → Social Studies with West
12:15-12:45
Content Block 3 Matheny Homeroom → Science with Matheny West Homeroom → Social Studies with West Munn Homeroom → Writing with Munn
12:45-1:15 Lunch 1:15-3:15 Reading 3:15-3:35 Recess 3:40-3:45 Pack up & Dismissal
(Resource Schedule rotates every three weeks)
Mrs. Matheny’s Class Week Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
Week 1 Library PE Music PE Guidance Week 2 PE Music Library Art Library Week 3 Music Computer PE Library Art
Mrs. West’s Class
Week Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Week 1 Music Computer PE Library Art Week 2 Library PE Music PE Guidance Week 3 PE Music Library Art Library
Ms. Munn’s Class
Week Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Week 1 PE Music Library Art Library Week 2 Music Computer PE Library Art Week 3 Library PE Music PE Guidance
*Please be sure to wear sneakers on P.E. days! Students may not be able to participate in all activities if proper shoes are not worn.
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Mornings are a very busy time for us! Please make sure your child arrives at school on time. Breakfast is an important component to keeping your child's brain awake and ready for learning. Due to a grant this year, every child will have the option of a free breakfast in the classroom. If you want your child to get breakfast at school, please make sure your child arrives to school early enough to eat before class begins.
Each morning, students will go to the restroom/water fountain on the way to class! Students MUST be in my classroom by 9:05 AM. Once they arrive in class, students will get everything they need for the day out of their backpack and hang their backpack and jacket on their hook. Once unpacked, students will take out their homework and agenda to be checked or turned in. Then, students will pick out 2-3 books from the classroom library to read during the day. They may then read or work on any Reading or Math work that needs to be completed or corrected.
The WILDCAT Binder is our way of staying organized at home and at school. It is a 3-ring binder that contains valuable information always at our fingertips. WILDCAT stands for Weekly Information, Learning, Daily Communication, & Assignments Too. This is where your child will keep his/her agenda, pencil pouch, Homework Log, homework folder, word study notebook, and other important information. Please make sure your child brings his/her WILDCAT Binder to and from school every day!
We believe homework is an important part of a child’s education. It is valuable because it is an important tool in developing independent thought, self-direction, and self-discipline. Homework can assist in the student developing good work habits and time management, as well as reinforcing the skills taught in class. Homework will typically be assigned on Monday through Thursday nights. However, students are encouraged to read every day, including weekends. Because homework is worth 10% of your child’s grade, it is extremely important for your child to always complete homework in a timely manner!
It is important for your child to be at school daily. However, we understand that there are times when they will have to be away from school. In the event that your child is absent, please call the school and notify the office, and upon return to school provide a written excuse of his/her absence. Your child will receive his/her missed work upon their return to school, unless you have made other arrangements for the pickup of materials. Your child will have 5 days to complete any assignments missed during an absence, unless otherwise arranged with your teacher. If you know ahead of time that your child will be absent, please make arrangements with your teacher to get the assignments he/she will be missing to ensure he/she is not behind when returning to school.
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If you would like to bring treats to celebrate your child’s birthday, please do so during lunch. Again, we have lunch at 12:45 PM.
Chaperones and volunteers must complete a background check prior to serving as a chaperone or volunteer. There is no charge for the background check. However, results of the check can sometimes take several weeks. Therefore, you should complete the background check well in advance of scheduled field trips or activities you wish to chaperone or participate in as a volunteer. Please also consider joining our PTO (Parent Teacher Organization).
We are looking forward to a great year!
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Please sign and return this page to your child’s teacher by August 24, 2018.
My signature below indicates that I have read the Third Grade Handbook and the agenda with my child, ______________________.
✓ I understand that homework is an integral part of my child’s success in 3rd grade and that I must sign my child’s Homework Log each night.
✓ I understand that I must work with my child at home for him/her to
be successful in 3rd grade.
✓ I am aware that if I have any questions regarding any of the information provided, I may ask them at any time.
_________________________ ________________ Parent Signature Date
_________________________ ________________ Student Signature Date
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