Back to School Night in Room 8

HOMEWORK POLICY Homework is assigned Monday through Thursday. Your child should be able to complete the work independently; however, s/he may need some assistance and direction from an adult. Please be sure to check your childs homework for corrections, neatness, and completeness. At times, it may be necessary for a student to take home incomplete class work please have your child do the work. Homework is not assigned on holidays. Math will be assigned most days and should take no more than 30 minutes to complete. In addition, your child is required to read a minimum of 30 minutes every school night. It is recommended your child read 30 minutes on the weekend, as well. The minutes read must be recorded daily on the reading calendar and include parent initials. Each child has a Readers Response Journal and s/he is required to complete a minimum of one written response in the journal each week. Homework activities are designed to give additional practice with concepts and skills that have been presented in class. These websites offer a variety of worksheets and activities for parents and students: www.kidzone.ws/math/index.htm www.edhelper.com --- An extremely useful website www.primarygames.co.uk/ www.lusutton.org This is where you access Lu Suttons Lab Links How to access our class webpage: Go to www.lusuttonschool.org Go to TEACHER WEBSITES Click on Third Grade Click on Ms. Martin The website is new and under construction. I hope to be posting newsletters, student blogs, other information for parents, photos, and possibly a link to a learning site. If you have any experience with websites and would like to assist me, please let me know. If your child likes doing homework, and/or you feel s/he needs more practice, there are many activities that I would recommend. Examples are: 1) writing letters to friends, 2) making grocery lists and tallying money, 3) reading the menu at a restaurant, 4) writing in a daily journal, 5) reading and following the directions in a recipe, and 6) visiting museums. BOOK REPORTS: There will be approximately five book reports during the year. Detailed instructions and the due date will be included in the project description.

ATTENDANCE: It is very important that your child come to school every day, unless he or she is ill. It is also very important that your child arrives at school on time and ready to enter the classroom at 8:30 a.m. Please do not leave your child unattended before 8:15. Supervision is not provided before that. Watch for information on intervention classes and the running club. READING: All students at Lu Sutton are placed in literacy groups that are appropriate for the specific academic needs of the children. Our Reading and Language Arts curriculum includes the program, Reading Street, as well as supplemental materials that address the third grade language arts standards. The students will be taking a reading test on the computer every Friday. Please refer to the parent letter, which explains how you can access your childs progress and home assignments on the Pearson website. The following skills will be stressed: comprehension, phonics, vocabulary development, spelling, and oral reading fluency. SSR (Sustained Silent Reading) will be scheduled weekly in the reading groups. Students are encouraged to read for enjoyment. WRITING: Writing will be taught in homeroom classes and WIN groups. The students will develop writing skills by working through the steps in the writing process: prewriting (brainstorming, mapping), drafting, revising, editing, and publishing (completing a final draft). Not all writing activities will follow this entire process. The following skills will be stressed: grammar, capitalization, punctuation, spelling, sentence structure, paragraphing, letter writing, informational writing, and creative writing. WIN WHATEVER I NEED This program focuses on language and writing skills. Third grade students are grouped and placed in a class based on their instructional needs in oral and written language. The Pearson English Language Development Program and SixTraits Writing Program will be the curriculum used during WIN. SPELLING: We will be using the Reading Street Spelling Program. The students will bring home a list on Monday. The words will be assessed in class on Friday. Once the words have been tested in class, all students will be expected to spell those words correctly in all their writing. ORAL LANGUAGE: Students will be required to speak fluently in front of the class. Emphasis will be on oral fluency, expression, clear presentation, and interaction with audiences

(including eye contact). Examples of presentations include: journal sharing, book report presentations, and group project reporting. HANDWRITING: Neat and legible writing is expected on all work. Over the course of the year, cursive writing will be taught and practiced in class. MATH: We use the Houghton-Mifflin math series. This program provides instruction in all of the key California third grade math standards, which are: *Number Sense *Algebra and Functions *Measurement and Geometry *Statistics, Data Analysis, and Probability *Mathematical Reasoning Quick recall of basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts, along with problem solving strategies, are emphasized in third grade. Essential standards will also be covered during Board Math. SOCIAL STUDIES: We will study our local community, as outlined in the California State Framework. We will learn about Californias geographical regions, how the different areas resources are used, the history of the Miwok Indians, and the history of our local community of Novato. SCIENCE: Using the Foss Science Program, students will perform scientific investigations as outlined in the standards. The third grade science standards incorporate the study of the following units: Sun, Moon, and Stars Matter and Energy Structures of Life ART: Art activities will be incorporated in most areas of the curriculum. We will also have an art docent to teach art lessons on a monthly basis. MUSIC and PE: Most of the standards and curriculum will be covered by the district music and PE teachers. We will also be having music and PE as part of our regular classroom program. BIRTHDAYS: Birthdays are special days for many students; however, not all children and parents celebrate them. To recognize those students who do celebrate birthdays, I pass out a birthday pencil and we sing to the birthday child. As per our school policy, no treats of any kind can be brought in from home. Thank you for

understanding this procedure. BOOK ORDERS: Scholastic Book orders will be sent home approximately once a month. We will be exclusively using online ordering option where you can place your childs book order directly on the Scholastic Book Clubs website. Please do not send in any paper orders or checks (or cash). Look at the first order form which will have our class code on it. FIELD TRIPS: The third grade team is working on scheduling field trips for the school year. Our class is scheduled to visit the Guide Dogs for the Blind Center in San Rafael on September 30. We are planning to visit the Marin Museum of the American Indian at Miwok Park and the Novato History Museum later in the year. At the end of the school year, we will have our picnic at Miwok Park. Parent volunteers are encouraged to join us on field trips. Please remember that once you sign up to chaperone, we are counting on you to come. If you are unable to join us, please let me know as soon as possible. Requests for parent volunteers will be sent along with your childs field trip permission slips. CLASS NEWS/UPDATES: Class news will be sent to your email address and posted on the website. I will not be printing out hard copies, unless I receive a specific request to do so. Our district is working to become greener by reducing the number of copies made each week. CLASSROOM VOLUNTEERS: There will be sign-up sheets during Back To School Night. If you were unable to attend and would like to volunteer, please send me an email of day(s) and times that you can come in. Thank you for any help you can provide for our class. REPORT CARDS: The report cards will be sent home at the end of each trimester. We will have a conference at the end of the first trimester to review your childs progress in third grade. If you would like an additional conference, please email me at [email protected] or call 897-3196 and leave me a message. Short chats are welcomed after school on most Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. THANK YOU FOR SHARING YOUR CHILD WITH ME THIS YEAR!