To 3rd Grade Curriculum Night Welcome To 3rd Grade Curriculum Night

Mrs. Shari Sawyers This is my 13th year at Chandler! My kids: Jake, Katie, Marcie, and Daniel I love traveling, reading, Disney, Harry Potter, shopping (for books mostly), Starbucks, and meeting authors! I read 50 books this summer! Instagram: @mrssawyersreads, where I post book reviews, book/author-related thoughts and pictures. You can also follow my Twitter account @MrsSawyers3rd The best way to reach me is through email at sharon.sawyers@allenisd.org.

Ms. Shelby Caraway This is my 2nd year at Chandler! I am so happy to be here! I am currently working on my Master’s Degree in Curriculum. I have a dog named Theodore. I love reading, painting, and spending time with my friends and family. I am going to Egypt next summer! Twitter: @mscaraway3rd I tweet about our classroom experiences and what we are learning about. The best way to reach me is through email at shelby.caraway@allenisd.org

Conferences Allen ISD conference day is October 22nd. Parents will meet with all of your child’s teachers. If you do not have any concerns or questions at this time, you do not have to schedule a conference. We will let you know if we see a need for one, and you can request a conference anytime throughout the year as concerns come up. Email is another great way to reach us and ask questions or express concerns. Please fill out the “Parent Teacher Conferences Form” that will be sent out by homeroom teacher. We do have paper copies if you would rather fill one of those out. We ask that you complete this by October 12th so that we are able to schedule and let you know your slot as soon as we can. You will be notified of your time. Please notify us ASAP if you need to reschedule.

Volunteers All volunteers and chaperones must have security clearance! Security clearance must be done each year. The link can be found on the Chandler website.

Field Trips October – Dallas Zoo 4 chaperones/class Go to the webstore to pay online STEAM Center- January Spring Field Trip- TBD

Homework Shift the responsibility to the student 10 minutes of math facts This can include: Imagine Math, Xtra Math, Prodigy, Flash Cards, even Sudoku or logic puzzles! I have a list that keeps growing with student input, so if you need ideas, just let me know! 20 minutes of reading Occasional assignments which should be written down in the agenda. Study Guides

Binders Communication - from school to home Conduct Chart – Parents only need to sign the Take Home Folder if the student received a signature at school.

Cheetah Challenge School wide intervention time 2 days each of Math and Reading Hands-on activities, small groups, focus on skills

Reading Instruction Reading comprehension skills are taught in mini lessons and modeled with our read-aloud, then students practice with independent reading. Silent sustained reading is necessary for students to become better readers. 30 minutes of reading is our goal at school. 20 minutes of reading is what we expect nightly at home. Read-alouds are encouraged at home! They are an excellent way to build vocabulary and schema, and emphasize to your children that reading is important.

Math Expectations All year we practice strategies that will help increase students’ ability to solve multi-step word problems, show their work, and complete assignments independently. By the end of third grade students need to be fluent in their multiplication facts (know them within 4 seconds). Please be practicing math facts nightly!!

What are STEAM challenges What are STEAM challenges? It stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math. These challenges utilize several different areas to get students more involved with hands on projects. This year, we will be sending home a monthly STEAM challenge to go along with our Science curriculum. This is for the students to utilize their knowledge and put it in action. This is completely optional! We ask that you do not purchase supplies, but use what you have at home. We will send home the challenge (after it has been talked over in class) along with a recording sheet. You do not have to send in your completed project, but I would LOVE pictures! We have the STEAM center opening later this year, so we will be teaching the students the process that they will learn about when we go on our field trip to the STEAM center in January.

Grades 60% of our grades are for daily work. 40% are tests and quizzes. Work that is corrected must be completed at school. The highest grade possible on corrected work is 70. Grades may be seen in Skyward.

STAAR Test State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness is our state mandated standardized test which tests reading and math skills based on 3rd grade TEKS Simulations (practice) will be Feb. 20-21 May 14– Math May 15– Reading Please check the TEA website for more information.