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

Student Activities Fund

$30.00 per student, used for…

• Field trips and guest speakers

• Scholastic StoryWorks subscription- used in class

• Supplies for hands-on learning activities in class

Please pay ONLY Mrs. Gould or Mrs. McRae

Checks should be made payable to Steck

Volunteering

NEW this year: 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)

Our volunteer needs:

-Field trips (more info to come)

-Reading/writing conferences with students

-Grading/clerical

Birthday Celebrations

• Last Friday of each month at 2:30**

• You’ll receive an email with other parents’ names- please coordinate to ensure all children receive a very similar treat

• No nuts of any kind (tree nuts, peanuts)

• Add your email next to your child’s name- sheet in hallway

**August/Sept combined, Nov/Dec/Winter Party combined, May/June/July/EOY Picnic combined

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 these expectations are not met after three redirections, the student will be sent to another classroom to complete a “think sheet.” 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 home.

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

• Volunteer sign-up information

• This slideshow and BTSN resources (We’re going paperless!)

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

• Nightly math page (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 require a signature from parent(s) on a homework slip, and must be turned in by the next school day. 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

Components: vocabulary practice, skills practice, reading comprehension practice

Monthly writing assignment: assigned on the first Monday of the month, collected the last Friday of the month. Children practice the writing skills they’ve learned in class. Various prompts throughout the year.

Example Homework Page

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 Page for Parents

Math Homework

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

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

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

This year, we will be learning…

Math:• Adding/subtracting larger whole

numbers-using various algorithms

• * Multiplying and dividing-Major Goal for third grade

• Place value and decimals

• Geometry

• *Fractions-greater emphasis on fractions

• Measurement/Data- graphing vocab, interpreting information

• Probability

Math Performance

• Unit tests that follow our district benchmark format (No longer look like EM tests).

• Recognizing Student Achievement (RSAs)

• Constructed Response-claim and evidence

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

• Spelling quizzes with relevant math words.

Math Fluency Facts

Timed math tests will be given twice per week

100 problems in 5 minutes

Subtraction and multiplication

Practice timed tests available on the 3rd grade website

Also on 3rd grade website: Math Magicians-free website to practice facts.

We will also be learning…

Social Studies

• Justice

• State Geography

• Colorado/Denver History

And also learning…

Science

• Life Cycles

• Electricity

• Objects in the Sky

Key Ideas in Literacy

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

Writing an essay with a clear topic, supporting details, and conclusion

Distinguishing important information v. interesting information, identifying point of view and fact v. opinion

Key Ideas in Literacy

Writing descriptively to entertain, inform, or persuade; supporting our claims with evidence

Analyzing characters, events, themes in texts and showing our thinking through written responses

Tl;dr: Learning how to organize our thinking while also being able to identify and evaluate how authors organize their ideas

This year we’ll be learning…

Readers Workshop

• Fiction

• Non-fiction/Research (multiple units)

• Author Study (Allen Say)

• Poetry

And also learning…

Writers Workshop

• Personal Narrative

• Expository (multiple units)

• Persuasive

• Literary Response (Author Study)

• Poetry

Literacy Assessment

District interims, DRA2, informal classroom assessments (reading and writing samples, spelling inventory, etc.)

Ongoing work: Daily writing and reading responses; participation in guided groups

End-of-unit publications

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• 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

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…

Please notify Mrs. Gould, Mrs. McRae and the office if someone other than you 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 up your child often, please ask the office to add that person to your child’s authorized pick-up list.