Third Grade Information

Agenda:

Our classroom agenda will be written on the board each day. Your child will be expected to fill out his or her agenda every day, no matter what! The agenda should travel from home to school each day. It contains what your child learned through the day, your child’s behavior, your child’s homework for the evening, and important notes. It also contains a section for you to record your child’s reading minutes. Please look over the agenda and sign or initial it nightly. If the agenda is not filled out, please ask why! (Students have numerous opportunities to fill it out during the day). Please note that the agenda contains a section of space for comments/notes. This is a wonderful home to school connection tool! J Please feel free to jot down any questions or transportation changes you may have for your child. I check each student’s agenda every morning for notes and parent signatures!

Classroom Behavior:

Students are expected to follow GBE’s school policy of being respectful, responsible, and safe. In my classroom, I use a behavior chart for personal accountability. For my chart, each student is given three cards, one green, one yellow, and one red. Each student begins his or her day with a green card. If disruptive behavior occurs during the day, students may be asked to pull a card. Students will record their daily color in their agenda at the end of the school day. This is to let you know how your child’s day was in the classroom. Please note: Students can (and will) be given think sheets, minor, or major referrals in addition to flipping a card due to specific inappropriate behavior. More information about referrals can be found in the GBE school handbook.

Grading Policy:

Classroom assignments, projects, tests, and quizzes will be graded using an S, P, N, and U standards based grading system. Various forms of assessment and classwork will be used to determine if your child is performing at: satisfactory (S), progressing (P), needs improvement (N), or unsatisfactory (U) levels.

Friday Folders:

Friday Folders will be sent home with your child each Friday afternoon. Included in the folder will be your child’s graded homework from the week, my classroom newsletter, and other notes and letters from the school. Please review my comments section located in the folder, empty the contents, sign or initial the folder, and return it to school with your child each Monday.

Snacks/Birthdays:

3^rd grade will not be having a classroom snack time due to an early lunch period. Birthdays (and half birthdays if your child has a summer birthday) are an exciting time and are welcomed to be celebrated. Please contact me in advance if you wish to send class treats to school.

Spelling Tests:

Weekly spelling lists will be sent home each Monday and students will be tested over the words on Friday. Please make sure that your child is studying his or her spelling words throughout the week. Tackling 4-5 words each evening with consistent review is much more beneficial than “cramming” the night before! J Should you accidentally misplace the list of spelling words, a list can be found on my classroom website (on the newsletter) or I will be happy to send another copy home.

Reading Counts:

Reading Counts is a reading program in which all Gratz Brown Students participate. In summary, students read books (identified with a yellow label in the library) and take computerized quizzes over the books that they have read. The Reading Counts program tracks how many points students accumulate throughout the school and throughout their time spent at GBE. In 3^rd grade, students are expected to acquire at least 10 reading counts points per month. Monthly incentive prizes will be given to students who earn over 10 Reading Counts points each month. Students will also be recognized at Awards Assemblies when students meet various point increments such as 25, 50, 100, & 250 points. Students will be trained how to use the Reading Counts program in the library and will be given their own user name and password to log onto the program. Students are only able to access the Reading Counts quizzes at school.