Dear Third Grade Family,
Welcome to a new year at Dick Scobee Elementary! We are excited to be teaching, and we are looking forward to a learning-packed year with your child.
The third grade team has put together this packet of information to empower you to be highly involved with your child's education. Attached are notes on school supplies, classroom discipline, grades, and other necessary information. Please take time to review it with your child so that everyone knows what to expect this year.
Third grade is a transition to the intermediate grade levels. Third graders receive letter grades on report cards and work hard on the organizational and study skills they will need to be a successful student in the years to come. We will be sending home Assignment Sheets each week, as well as periodic letters and progress reports to let you know what we are working on and how your child is progressing.
We believe that parents and families are a very important part of the educational process. Please feel free to contact any of us throughout the year with any questions, concerns, or comments. Thank you in advance for your help. We are going to have a GREAT year!
Respectfully yours,
The Third Grade Teachers
Curriculum
The State of Washington has spelled out the skills and concepts that third graders will be taught. These are called Grade Level Expectations, or GLE's. You can view these on the OSPI website at www.k12.wa.us .
Our new reading series is packed with phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension activities, and the materials needed to help students meet the reading GLE's. In addition to our reading books, children will be reading a variety of other media at their own level during SWARMs, our 45 minutes of daily reading group time. Silent reading time each day will allow students to choose books on their own, and story time will expose them to a wide selection of other literature.
Third graders will do many types of writing activities. By the end of the year students should be able to write a multi-paragraph paper that includes a clear beginning, middle, and conclusion. Children will work hard to include rich details and dialogue. In class we call this “digging deep.” They'll also learn to choose specific, powerful words, including strong verbs and vivid describing words. Of course, they'll also be expected to learn to use correct capitalization, punctuation, and spelling.
Math will be exciting this year! Third graders finally get to learn multiplication and division, along with a myriad of other “big kid” skills. Children will be exposed to a wide range of concepts and skills, and we are so fortunate this year to have a “Math Helping Corps” teacher with us! Paula McPhee will continue to guide us in planning and instruction of required grade level expectations.
The third grade team will be teaching social studies, science, health, and technology to all three classes on a rotating basis. Technology and Health: Mrs. Mattox
Social Studies: Mrs. Raines
Science: Mrs. Jones
Assignment Sheets
Assignment Sheets are an important communication tool. Each day, your child fills out his or her assignment sheet. The top section briefly describes what we did in class for the day. The bottom section lists any work that is due the next day. Your child may need your help to develop responsibility for completing work at home when necessary.
Every Thursday your child's teacher will fill out the back of the assignment sheet. We ask that you sign these and send them back the next day. The weekly assignment sheet serves as a mini-progress report, and is our way—along with the weekly packet of graded work--of frequently informing you of your child's individual growth. We do our best to make sure your child shows you the assignment sheet each week by holding them accountable. No signature, no recess!
Please do not remove assignment sheets from binder !
Binder
The binder is an essential piece of equipment. It should be brought to school each morning in a backpack, and needs to be brought home every single afternoon. Papers, including homework, incomplete assignments, and notes should be kept organized using dividers labeled as follows:
Reading/L.A.
Spelling
Science/Health
Social Studies
Math
Homework
Notes Home
Assignment sheets, monthly calendar, and a pencil pouch should go in the front of the notebook. Lined paper should be kept in the back. Please use only a partial package of paper for this and keep the rest at home for replenishing.
Please, please, please, don't “clean out” your child's binder. Some important papers are to be kept for months on end, and parents can't be expected to know what's important to hang on to and what isn't. As a general rule, the “Notes Home” section belongs to you, and you can (and should) pull those papers out daily. All other sections of the binder should be left in the perfectly capable hands of your child. J
Thursday Papers
Thursday is the day the whole school sends home flyers from P.T.A., the school office, and outside agencies. These papers can be found in the “Notes Home” section of your child's binder.
Supplies
The following supplies are necessary for success in third grade:
• Binder (We provide the first one, with dividers.)
• Pencil pouch
• 12 pencils (#2 lead)
• 1 Pink Pearl eraser
• Crayons or colored pencils (no larger than 64; 24 is ideal)
• Notebook paper (wide ruled)
• White glue and glue stick
• Ruler (inches and centimeters)
• Scissors (sharp-tipped)
• Small school box
If possible, please consider donating:
• Baby wipes
• Gallon plastic zipper bags (with the zipper pull)
• Kleenex
• 1 ream copy machine paper
Your child will also need a backpack, gym shoes, and an emergency kit. Water bottles with lids are recommended.
No pens or mechanical pencils, please!
Homework
Third grade homework will consist of assignments not completed during class time, as well as short assignments sent home on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Any homework sent home should take approximately 20-30 minutes to complete. The amount of time required to complete unfinished work varies. All homework is due the following morning at 8:40 unless otherwise noted on the assignment.
It is recommended that third graders spend some time each night studying spelling words and reading a book of their choice. You can help by providing a quiet, well-lit place to study, and a regular time when work can be completed each day.
Absences/Tardies
Frequent absences and tardies can result in many missed activities and learning opportunities. Many of these cannot be made up. Please make attendance a priority! Children need to be in seat and ready to begin at 8:40 sharp. Students should be arriving at school no later than 8:35 , earlier if getting breakfast.
If your child is too sick to come to school, please call the school to let us know he or she will be absent. We will place an “Absent Folder” on your child's desk, and place a copy of any papers we worked on in the folder. Students will be responsible for completing assignments sheets for the days missed, and for bringing home all materials necessary for completion of missed work. Work completed at home should be turned in within 3 days of returning to school.
Grades
Students have some opportunities to correct scores that are 70% or below. He/she needs to turn the corrected work back in to be re-graded. This needs to be done within three days of receiving the graded assignment. Tests cannot be corrected for a better grade.
The third grade grading scale is as follows:
96-100% = A
90-95% = A-
87-89% = B+
83-86% = B
80-82% = B-
77-79% = C+
73-76% = C
70-72% = C-
67-69% = D+
63-66% = D
60-62% = D-
0 – 59% = F
Scobee students EARN their grades. They are responsible for doing the work required of them in class and for completing homework each day. They are responsible for putting their names on their papers. They are responsible for giving you graded work—it should be in the “Notes Home” section of the binder. They are responsible for sharing their assignment sheets with you each Thursday. Responsible students should not have grades that are a shock to the adults in the family!
Late and Missing Assignments
Late work will be accepted as follows:
1 st Trimester – Assignments will be accepted the day after it is due, but 30% will be deducted. An assignment is considered late as of 8:40 a.m. of the due date. Students will be given one homework pass to use on a homework assignment any time during the year.
2 nd and 3 rd Trimester – Beginning the first day of the 2 nd Trimester in November NO late assignments will be accepted. A limited number of assignment passes will given to each student at the beginning of each term.:
2 nd trimester—2 late passes and one homework pass
3 rd trimester—3 late passes and one homework pass
Students will be able to use these to be excused from assignments that they are unable to turn in on time. Homework passes must be turned in the day the assignment is due, late work passes must be attached to the assignment the morning after the due date . Papers without a name will not be graded.
Missing work is usually an assignment that was never turned in, was turned in too late to be graded, or was submitted with no name. Missing work has a major impact on grades. For example:
100% 100%
85% 85%
70% 70%
92% 92%
89% 0%
436 – 5 = 87.2 = B+ 347 – 5 = 69.4 = D+
Emergency Kits/Medication
Emergency Kits can be purchased through the PTA. These are very important to your child's security and give you the assurance that your child has necessary supplies in the event of an emergency. The cost to purchase these ready-made kits is $10.00.
Any medication that your child needs during the school day should be brought by an adult and given to the nurse with specific instructions for use. Cough medicine and cough drops are not allowed at school without a written doctor's note. If a child brings medication without written permission it will be given to the school nurse until parent contact is made.
Book Orders
Throughout the year, each teacher will send home book orders. If you order from more than one club, please be sure to send a separate check/money order for each club that you order from. Please remember also that it is a district policy that we cannot accept cash for book orders.
Parent Volunteers
Each teacher has different needs for parent helpers. Please see your child's teacher individually concerning volunteering.
We hope this information helps you to be highly involved in your child's education even if you can't volunteer in the classroom.
Here is our contact information to help you keep in touch:
Phone: (253) 931-4984
e-mail: Braines@auburn.wednet.edu
link to Mrs. Mattox's home page |