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ABSENCES
When your child is absent, please notify the
school nurse. If you would like me to
gather work for your child to send home by
the end of the day, kindly give me some
advance notice so I can do so. You can
do this by sending in a note with a sibling
or neighbor, asking the nurse to tell me, or
calling my voicemail directly. I will
not send work home the day of the absence
unless you request it.
In general, I ask that the work sent home
for an absent student be completed and
returned within the following week of
school. Hopefully, this gives enough
recuperating time!
If you know your child will be absent for an
extended period of time, please let me know
as soon as possible.
BEHAVIOR MANAGEMENT
Over the years, I have tried an assortment
of classroom management plans. Some were
ineffective, some were impractical, and some
worked wonders! Having tried so many
different things enabled me to come up with
a system that fits my teaching style, and is
easy to implement. Plus, students
understand exactly what is expected of them!
I use a tiered behavior system similar to a
stoplight. It is housed on a pocket chart.
Each student has a star on the chart, and
each day begins with everyone in the “green”
zone. When a student chooses not to follow
our code of conduct, the star is moved to
the “yellow” zone. This serves as a
reminder to the student that s/he needs to
slow down and think about making wiser
choices for the remainder of the day.
If the student continues not to follow the
code of conduct, the star is moved to the
“red” zone.
Because positive reinforcement can be even
more powerful than negative consequences, I
also include a “purple” zone on the pocket
chart! When students behave in ways that I
would like to encourage other students to
emulate, their stars are moved to the purple
zone. This is how students earn BUG tickets
to trade in for rewards.
BIRTHDAYS
To make birthdays special,
we sing a not-so-traditional song to
whomever is celebrating a birthday!
The class also signs a card for the birthday
child to keep.
You may send birthday treats to school with
your child if you would like. Please
have enough for every child in the class.
Our current class enrollment is
20
students. Just drop the goodies off in
the office, or have your child bring them to
our room in the morning. At lunch
time, the birthday student chooses a helper,
and the treats are passed out and enjoyed
then.
EXTRA
CREDIT OPPORTUNITIES
Students can earn extra credit by doing
additional short assignments or research.
Every child will have the same opportunities
to improve his or her grade. Extra
credit is marked with a plus sign, followed
by the number of points earned, and EC.
So, you may see this on your child's paper:
+3EC
I encourage all students to complete extra
credit, because it really can help bump a
grade up into the next category!
Even more importantly, it instills curiosity
and the desire to learn more independently
in children.
FAMILY FUN
Recently, I began planning a few fun family
activities outside of the school day to get
together with my students and their families
in informal settings. In past years, we
have had Movie Nights and Skating Nights!
It was fun to relax and talk with family
members, and I know my students enjoyed
being together without the pressure of
completing work. I got to know my
students and their families better, and they
learned a little more about me, too! I
hope that you will take part in at least one
of the events as they are planned this year.
You'll know when they are coming up, because
they will appear in our newsletter,
and in your child's assignment book.
Everyone is welcome!
GRADING
Beginning in third grade, students' work is
evaluated based on the district
grading scale.
In order to arrive at a final grade in a
particular subject area, I gather many
different types of information. First,
students performance on tests, quizzes, and
class work is graded. I also compile
information about homework completion, class
participation, and on-going observation to
help me give parents an accurate picture of
their child's performance.
Any work that has a letter grade (A, B, C,
etc.), or percentage (100%, 89%, etc.) on it
has been used to determine a student's
grade. Writing assignments will be
graded using a 5-point rubric, with 5 being
the top score. Rubric scores are
then converted to percentages, and averaged
in with other graded work.
Some work will be checked for completion,
rather than "graded". When using
checks, a
indicates that work is complete and
acceptable. A
+
means the work exceeds expectations. I
usually use this for work that is very
neatly or carefully done -- work that shows
extra effort. Last, a
-
would tell the student that although the
work is complete, it is not done to third
grade expectations. Usually this means
the work is not finished or was done
carelessly.
Sometimes, I will simply do a quick check of
work using a star, smile face, or "- 2".
This means the work was for the purpose of
practicing only, and will not be used to
determine the child's report card grade.
HOMEWORK
Homework will be
assigned Monday through Thursday. The only
Friday night homework is to get the Feedback
Chart signed by a parent.
Math homework will be assigned on a
day-to-day basis. Because our pacing
through the Everyday Math program may vary
from my lesson plans from time to time, I
will only give math homework to students
when I feel confident that they are ready to
attempt the assignment. This means
that there may be a few times during the
year when math homework assignments are
listed , but were not given
to students. When a math homework
assignment is cancelled, students will note
it in their assignment books.
If your child has trouble with his/her
homework, please jot a quick note at the top
of the page, so I can spend some extra time
working with your child.
Incomplete class work may also be sent home
if the student does not finish it in the
time allotted.
INVITATIONS
There are few things more heartbreaking for
a teacher to witness than a child who has
not been invited to a party. Though it
may be convenient to have your child hand
out invitations to parties at school, kindly
consider mailing them instead. I would
be happy to hand out invitations to all of
the students in my class, if you are willing
to invite them all to the party.
POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT
THE HONEYCOMB-
Each time our class does a great job, they
are rewarded by filling in one cell in our
honeycomb. This can be for silent walking in
the halls, working cooperatively together,
or just having a terrific day! When the
entire honeycomb is filled up, the class
gets to have a party.
BEING UNUSUALLY GOOD (BUG) TICKETS-
Each time a child is "being unusually good",
s/he earns a BUG
ticket. These can be saved up to trade
for things in the “BUG Bag”, which contains
a variety of small treats!
SUPPLIES
If your child runs out of something, please
replace it as soon as possible. Part of
being a responsible student is being
prepared for class, which includes having
all of the supplies
needed to complete the activity.
TESTS
All test results will be sent home to be
seen by a parent. If you have any questions
about a test, please contact me so we can
set up an appointment to discuss your
concerns.
Whenever a child earns a
failing grade (below
70%) on a test, he or
she will have the opportunity of taking a
retest. The two grades will then be
averaged together, and the average score
will be recorded.
WORD STUDY (Spelling)
In Washington Township, elementary school
children are screened each year to identify
their developmental spelling levels. They
are placed in groups based on these levels,
and each group receives a different word
list. Students will work with their lists through a ten-day cycle, after
which they are quizzed to check for mastery.
WORD WALL
Word Wall words, which all students must
spell correctly 100% of the time, will be
posted in the classroom. Each student will
also get a copy of the current word wall
words to keep in the BEE Book. Since we use
these words daily, I will test the class on
them at the end of every month to note
progress toward mastery.
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