1. Ms. Torres’ 3 rd Grade Class 2011 - 2012 Welcome parents!

2. Welcome to Third Grade  Please sign up for a conference time.  Have a seat at your child’s desk.  Each student has a hope and dream posted for this school year. Please read your child’s hope and dream. Then create your own hope and dream for your child this school year.

3. Introduction  Meet Ms. Torres

4. Classroom Rules  Respect others and school property  Be responsible and make good choices  Try your best  Use self-control

5. Consequences  Lose the privilege  You break it, you fix it

6. Goals  Students develop self-control and self discipline.  Students develop good listening skills.  Students develop as independent thinkers and workers.  Students develop as responsible individuals.  Students develop respect and social awareness.

7. Specials Schedule  Monday: FLES, PE, COMPUTER LAB, LIBRARY  Tuesday: SEARCH/GUIDANCE, MUSIC, SME LAB  Wednesday: FLES, PE  Thursday: PE, MUSIC  Friday: ART  Lunch: 12:40 – 1:10  Recess: 11:00 – 11:30

8. Reading A balanced or comprehensive literacy approach is used. This includes shared reading, guided reading and independent reading as well as read-alouds, literature study and explicit skills lessons. The Skills include the following: 1)Connecting 2)Predicting 3)Questioning 4)Inferring 5)Synthesizing/Visualization 6)Evaluating/Applying

9. Writing  Writing Students write for many purposes with emphasis on explanatory and descriptive writing. Students also practice basic research skills, with an emphasis on information collection, summary and paraphrasing and identifying resources.  Grammar Usage & Mechanics  Word Study Approach Discovering patterns, rules and meaning.  Cursive Writing

10. Math  Graphing  Probability & Statistics  Addition & Subtraction  Geometry  Patterns, Functions, Algebra  Multiplication & Division  Measurement  Money  Time  Problem Solving

11. Science  Units  Matter  Life Cycles  Energy Resources  Simple Machines  Animal Adaptations  Life Cycles  Scientific Process  Asking Questions  Communicating  Gathering Data  Making Sense of Data

12. Social Studies Units 1.Map and Globe Skills 2.Communities/Citizenship 3.Government 4.Famous Americans/Explorers 5.Economics 6.Greece 7.Mali 8.Rome

13. Homework  Homework is a nightly 30 minute process  Reading…Silently/Read Aloud- 20 minutes  Projects  Content based worksheets Mondays - Thursdays

14. Assessments  Assessments will be graded with A, B, C, D, and F.  Formative and summative assessments will be used  Observations  Discussions/conferences  Work samples  Verbal and nonverbal participation  Enrichment Opportunities  A copy of the report card as well as the guidelines for achievement marks (1, 2, 3, 4) are attached

15. Communication  Newsletters  Hard copy- monthly  E-mails  Website  Upcoming events  Specials Schedule

16. Communication Continued  Conferences  Sign up sheet for 1 st quarter conferences  Additional conferences  End of the year  Thursday Folders  PTA and school information  Student work

17. Contact Methods  E-mail tatiana.torres@lcps.org  School Phone: (703) 327-7801  Notes placed in “Take Home” folder in “Notes to/from home” pocket

18. Attachments  Your packets also contain the following:  Nine week plans for 3 rd grade  Daily schedule – Keep for reference  Class wish list  Report Card sample  Guidelines for achievement marks (1, 2, 3, 4)  (Questions related to report cards/achievement marks will be answered by Dr. Bowers in October)

19. To Do List… Sign in at kidney table Volunteer sign up at kidney table Conference sheet at kidney table

20. We Are Looking Forward to a Great Year!