Welcome to Back-to-School Night

and to Mrs. Graham’s 3rd Grade

September 18, 2014

Tonight’s Agenda

1. While you’re waiting, jot a note for your awesome third grader and tell him/her how spectacular you think he/she is!!

2. Introductions ~ who is Mrs. Graham?3. Daily Schedule

4. Homework, Planners, and Folders5. Grading

6. Third Grade Expenses7. Classroom Rules and Behavior Management

8. A peek at the curriculum areas…science, math, and language arts9. STAAR!

10. Wrap up and Questions! 

The mission of Cowan Elementary is toeducate every student every day.

About Mrs. GrahamI was born in Austin and have lived here my whole life.

I went to four different elementary schools in SouthAustin, Porter for junior high, and Johnston and Bowiehigh schools…I was in the second graduating class atBowie!   I went to Texas State University where Iearned my Bachelor and Master degree in Elementary Education! 

Being a true Austinite

automatically makes me a

LONGHORN!!

My FamilyThis is my crazy, awesome family.  My husband Jason and I have two incredible little dudes.  Andrew is 11 and is in 6th grade here at GMS.Ethan is 4 and is in PreK here at Cowan!I love my family to the moon…and back!!

And we can’t forget our cute little doggie, Jack!

Certifications and Awards

• Capital City Writes Teacher Certification• National Board Certification (Early Childhood Generalist, 2003.  Recertified, 2012)

• HEB teacher of the year, nominee• Disney World teacher of the year, nominee• Cowan Elementary Teacher of the year, 2011• Austin ISD Elementary Teacher of the year, 2011

Back To School Night!!! Mrs. graham’s 3RD Grade

The one thing I hope you learn about me this year is that I LOVE teaching children! I hope you will take comfort in knowing that I will treat the children in my class as if they were my own. This means a lot of things: showing respect, treating them fairly, praising where it is earned, and holding very high expectations – both behaviorally and academically. Here are some of the things I expect from every child every day!

*I expect them to come to school every day ready to learn!*I expect them to work hard every day!*I expect them to follow all the rules every day!*I expect them to be kind to each other!*I expect them to treat me with respect!*I expect them to become incredible readers, writers, scientists, and mathematicians!All of these things will happen this year, and much more! I hope that we will ALL work together to help your child be a successful third grader and to work on becoming a life-long learner!

TEACHER*Be in the dining room by 7:25 every day.*Create meaningful learning experiences daily.*Provide students with strategies to become better readers and writers.*Communicate daily with families.*Hold at least 2 conferences per year.

STUDENT*Be in the dining room by 7:25 or classroom by 7:45 every day.*Make one year’s progress in reading, writing, and math.*Follow all classroom and school rules.*Actively participate in classroom activities.*Do homework on time.*Do the very best possible on every assignment every day!

FAMILY*Make sure your child is in the classroom by 7:45 every day.*Listen to your child read EVERY night.*Check homework, sign planner, and check and read papers in folder every night.*Attend parent/teacher conferences!

Classroom rules

Be kind!

Be safe!

Always do your best!

Please don’t hesitate to call if you have any questions at any time! 841-2710

trgraham@austinisd.org

(purple)WOW! I am having a

WONDERFUL, FANTASTIC, SUPER STAR kind of day!! 4

(green)I am having a GREAT day and

making EXCELLENT choices! 4

(yellow)Reflection – I need to fill out a

reflection about my choices and work hard to make better ones! 2

(orange)I need to spend some time in another classroom and think

about my choices. 1

(red)I need to visit with an

administrator in the office to discuss my behavior! 1

Mrs. Graham’s Class Schedule

7:20 – Morning Assembly

7:45 – Morning Meeting

8:00 – Math Block

9:30 - Recess

10:00 – Language Arts Block (Soc. St. integrated)

11:48 – LUNCH

12:20 - Read Aloud

12:40 – Special Areas

1:25 – Science

2:00 – Writing Workshop

2:40 – End of Day Jobs

Our Daily Schedule7:20 – Morning Assembly

7:45 – Morning Meeting

• 8:00 – Math Block

• 9:30 - Recess

• 10:00 – Language Arts Block (Soc. St. integrated)

• 11:48 – LUNCH

• 12:20 Chapter Book Read Aloud

• 12:40 – Special Areas

• 1:25 – Science

• 2:00 – Writing Workshop

• 2:40 – End of Day Jobs/Dismissal

Homework, Planners, and Folders

• Homework…Monday – ThursdayMonday – spelling and read for 20 minutesTuesday – math and read for 20 minutesWednesday – language arts and read for 20 minutesThursday – spelling, math, and read for 20 minutes

*Homework is designed to last 30-40 minutes for the typical 3rd grader! *We will not grade homework in class…I’m counting on you to check over

your child’s homework and have your child make any necessary corrections before turning homework in the following day!

**We will have book report projects a little later in the year and you will receive all of the information for those assignments in plenty of time!

Planners and Folders

LOOK for homework

assignments!

LOOK for reminders and what’s

coming from the mailbox!

CHECK your child’s behavior and sign EVERY night!!

Look for a weekly goal

and this week’s spelling words!!

*LOOK in your child’s folder EVERY night…that is where homework is stored and Papers coming home from student’s mailboxes to be read and/or signed and returned!

GRADING!

• Assessments/Projects 35%• Quizzes/Check-ins 30%• Daily Practice 20%• Participation/Homework 15%100 – 98 A+ 89 – 88  B+ 79 – 78  C+97 – 94  A 87 – 84  B 77 – 74  C93 – 90  A 83 – 80  B- 73 – 70  C-

Below 70  F

Third Grade Expenses• A one time payment of $45.00 is due on October

1st, 2014. These fees are collected for:

• All field trips and travel arrangements…

**We would love to have you join us on most field trips!  If you think you might be interested in attending a field trip, please register ASAP at:  

www.austinpartners.org/volunteer

• Scholastic News weekly magazines• Third grade class t-shirts• End of year celebrations

       Classroom Rules/

ManagementWe have THREE classroom rules and they pretty much cover EVERYthing! Respect is #1 in our classroom…both ways!

• If your child has to move to yellow, orange, or red, please take it seriously. It means they were given verbal warnings and chose to continue the behavior!• Third grade begins new and more responsibilities and I expect even more than before in terms of managing choices and being held accountable for actions!

Curriculum Sneak Peek (math)*Math:  math makes sense…it’s not just about memorizing (although 

this is important too)…it’s also about THINKING and understanding different strategies to solve different problems.

Typical Math Block:~math warm-up – usually includes 10 review problems~quick check and mini-lesson – usually in our math journals and 

includes something to get kiddos thinking and excited about what we will learn today

~small group lessons and stations – small groups work with Mrs. Graham based on need while students work in stations that include games, computer work, paper/pencil practice, numerical fluency practice, etc.

~wrap-up – share and discuss learning and strategies from math block

Curriculum Sneak Peek (science)

• Science in THIRD grade is about asking questions, being curious, and trying things out!

• We do lots of hands-on activities, go outside to find real-world examples of what we are learning, conduct research to learn more, and regularly implement the scientific process skills!

Curriculum Sneak Peek (language arts)

Typical L.A. Block:• DEAR time (independent reading)• Literacy Warm-up (includes grammar, spelling, reflecting, and editing & 

revising)• Shared Reading• Read Alouds• Guided Reading while students work in stations (word study, paper-pencil 

practice, computers, grammar, reading response, social studies integration, etc.)

• Writer’s Workshop

SPELLING: 5 patterned words, 5 high frequency (non-negotiable) words, 5 vocabulary words, and 5 unknown words

STAAR TESTThe STAAR test has proven to be extremely rigorous and assesses student skills at a deep level of cognitive complexity. In reading, emphasis is given to critical analysis rather than literal understanding. In math, students are expected to show their understanding of math concepts through multi-step word problems. Students must be fluent in their reading and math skills because there is a four-hour time limit for completing the test. We will be working hard all year to prepare students for success on the STAAR test. You can help at home by listening to your child(ren) read and asking them inferential, comprehension questions, checking their homework and talking about/having them correct mistakes, and by utilizing resources that I make available to you! We need to be on the same page with high expectations and holding students accountable!

WEBSITE* At the Cowan website, under “School Staff” (left hand side) click on “Third Grade Team,” then click on my name to get to our class page. * Our page opens to the most recent Announcements.

* Each of these areas include importantinformation about our class that you can access anytime.

About the Teacher – Get to know Mrs. Graham!

Wish List – I LOVE PARENT VOLUNTEERS and WISH LIST ITEMS!

Class Schedule – You’ll always know where we are and what we’re up to!

Announcements – This is the first page that opens up and is always full of EVERYTHING you need…and maybe some you don’t!

Calendar – See what’s coming up! Forms – The place to go if you need another copy of a form!

Photo Album – We are busy and cute…look at us!

Special Pal/Favorites – List of goodies and things to know about our Special Pal (Ms. Martha) and me.

www.cowancoyotes.org

THANK YOU!!What questions do you have for me??

Together, as a team, will work very hard to make this the best year yet and to help your THIRD grader be as

successful as he/she can be!!