Marshall Elementary School 2016-17 Welcome to 3rd Grade Marshall Elementary School 2016-17 Please sign-up for a Parent/Teacher Conference using signup.com while you wait! 3rd Grade

NOTES FROM HOME Please send a note in with your child if they: - have or will be absent - have a scheduled appointment - will dismiss early - have a transportation change (Transportation is requesting that you list the address or the bus stop on any note that is a change to a bus number) These notes can be sent to school in your child’s purple daily folder. Plan to pick up your child early from school? Please sign them out at the front office. The office will call the classroom to have the student dismissed.

Student lunch times are available on homeroom teacher’s website. When your child’s account is below $5, you will receive a notice from the cafeteria showing the remaining balance. When sending in lunch money, label the envelope with the child’s name and teacher’s name. Student lunch times are available on homeroom teacher’s website.

Third Grade School Store is open on Wednesday mornings only Money sent to school If you send money to school for any reason, please be sure you place it in a sealed envelope. Label with your child’s name, teacher’s name, and purpose of money. Third Grade School Store is open on Wednesday mornings only

BRING HOME BINDER (BHB) The BHB will come home every school night. The agenda and purple folder should to be checked by parents each night and papers on the keep at home side should be removed each day. Students will write assessment dates or additional homework that is assigned. A HELPFUL SUGGESTION Keep your own folder at home with important information, study guides, etc. for easy access and review throughout the year.

Reading Centers WHAT IS DAILY 5? The Daily Five is a literacy structure that allows for differentiation in the classroom and provides consistency. It is integrated literacy instruction and classroom management system for use in reading and writing workshops. It is a system of five literacy tasks that teaches students independence. Reading Centers Read to Self Work on Writing/Grammar and/or Literature Center Computer – Spelling City (side note: ear buds-at the school store for $6) Vocabulary Small Group Instruction With the Teacher (Guided Reading) Groups will be fluid between Mrs. Dempsey and Miss Lincoln.

PHONICS/SPELLING/WORD STUDY/VOCABULARY BUILDING Where is word study OR A SPELLING LIST? Our focus in third grade is to build our vocabulary and have practice with spelling during our reading block. Working on phonics and vocabulary is critical to developing readers, writers, and communicators. Students will be working on a computer based program titled, “Spelling City.” Each week they are assigned a list of words for language practice. This is not designed as a spelling test and students will not be assessed on these words. This is not assigned as homework. Students will: Experiment with words for learning and practice spelling patterns Memorize high frequency words Generalize spelling patterns Add to the knowledge and curiosity of unique and interesting words.

HOMEWORK - Reading log 20 Minutes per night (Mon-Thurs) Choosing “Good Fit” Books (I-PICK) I choose a book. Purpose-Why do I want to read the book? Interest-Does it interest me? Comprehend-Am I understanding what I am reading? Know-I know most of the words. Encourage your child to log books read on Reading Rewards each week or turn in a paper copy of their reading log. ReadingRewards.com READING LOGS ARE CONSIDERED WHEN ASSIGNING A WORK HABITS GRADE

Math instruction u.p.s.c. Please see your child’s notebook and Miss Harrington’s and Miss Flores’ websites for examples of the Prince William County UPSC Computer Software: IXL and SuccessMaker *These can also be used at home!

HOMEWORK – MATH FACT FLUENCY (5 Minutes Per Day) Addition/Subtraction/Multiplication/Division Knowing basic number facts is an important skill for students. Every day tasks such as telling time, measuring, shopping and handling money depend on fluency with number combinations. Fact fluency supports problem solving and helps students judge the reasonableness of their results. It also involves quick recall, but also number sense, operation sense, and an understanding of our number system. We will work on fact fluency in class until mastery. If your child has not mastered addition/subtraction fact fluency, please have your child continue to practice facts for a few minutes each night. Multiplication/Division fact fluency practice is just around the corner! Website: http://resources.oswego.org/games/mathmagician/cathymath.html Apps: Math Bingo

The third grade team uses a blended approach to Mathematics. We teach students the traditional algorithms alongside other strategies. Students are taught a variety of approaches and are encouraged to use the strategy that works best for them. Examples of strategies will be in the students’ notebooks which are kept in their binders. Therefore, math notebooks should be coming home every night.

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ASSESSMENTS Students will be taking weekly reading comprehension and math fact assessments. Unit tests will be announced several days prior to administration. Study guides will be sent home as applicable OR can be found on teacher web pages under files and documents. It is the students’ responsibility to bring home study guides and write in agendas daily.

Third Grade Grading Scale A = 90 – 100 B+ = 87 – 89 B = 80 – 86 C+ = 77 – 79 C = 70 – 76 D+ = 67 – 69 D = 60 – 66 F = 0 - 59 Third Grade Grading Scale

Interims Interim for our first quarter is today. Interims will be sent home with students on October 11. Interim report cards have generalized statements that apply to our entire class unless there is a specific concern. Quarterly report cards are student specific. Please note, we have a limited number of characters we can use in the comment section.

VOLUNTEERING Each classroom teacher will have their own sign up form for parents to help out in the classroom. All parents coming into the school or attending a field trip must complete a confidentiality form. A new confidentiality form must be completed each year. All visitors to the school must sign in at the office before coming into the classroom.

Classroom management S O A R SAFE ORGANIZED ATTENTIVE RESPECTFUL SOAR TICKETS

Urgent Notifications: Please telephone the office at The Other stuff Birthdays: Must be celebrated in the cafeteria Scholastic Book Orders: Codes will be provided by Mrs. Dempsey and Miss Lincoln Urgent Notifications: Please telephone the office at (703) 791-2099

Thank you for coming tonight! Our class web pages are updated often with class specific messages including class celebration days, homework, unit test dates, book order due dates, etc.