Back to School Night in Room 8

August 27, 2014

INTRODUCTION
Welcome
Thank yous
Who is Madeline Martin?
Whos in our class?

COMMUNICATION
Email: mmartin@nusd.org - I will respond in one day or less.
Do I have your email?
Phone: (415)897-3196 The best time to reach me is right after school.
Please be sure to keep your phone numbers updated with the office and with
me.
Quick chat Youre welcome to stop by after school for any current
questions.
Conferences Well meet officially in November. If you have a concern
before that, Im happy to set up a meeting sooner.

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.

HOMEWORK POLICY
Homework is assigned Monday through Thursday. Your child should be able to
complete most of the work independently; however, s/he may need some
assistance and direction from an adult. Please be sure to check your childs
homework for neatness and accuracy. Homework activities are designed to give
additional practice with concepts and skills that have been presented in class.

Math will be assigned most days and should take no more than 30 minutes to
complete. Each day your child will have a fluency goal on the math worksheet. It
is important for an adult or older sibling to be the Homework Helper to help
your child practice and then sign the page.

Every child is required to read a minimum of 30 minutes at least five days a week.
On Fridays, your child will get a Readers Response page, and s/he is required to
complete a minimum of one written response. Please be sure a parent signs the
other three days after you have a discussion about the topic. The page is due
back in school on Friday.

Accelerated Reader is a great program that gives your child immediate feedback
on her/his comprehension. You can check any books AR level on bookfind.com.
Please make an effort to have your child select mostly AR books for the home
reading requirement. Also, your child will soon know what her/his reading range
is and should select books in that range. We will be closely monitoring your
childs progress by checking points every week. The effort grade will reflect AR
participations and log completion.
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.

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 will be posting newsletters,
student blogs, and a link to our class photos. If you have any feedback about how
to make the website better, please let me know.

CLASSROOM SYSTEMS
RULES and SCHEDULE - See attached.
Jobs
Goals
Partners

READING:
Literacy will be taught in homeroom classes. 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. You can go to the lab
tonight to learn how to access your childs progress 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. Students are encouraged to read for enjoyment.

WRITING:
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.

SPELLING:
We will be using the Reading Street Spelling Program. The students will practice
the words in class and bring home a list on Monday. We will be practicing the
words in class several times, but you may wish to review them at home if your
child struggles with spelling. The words will be assessed 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 Expressions math series. This program provides instruction in all of
the key California third grade math standards. Quick recall of multiplication and
division facts, along with problem solving strategies, are emphasized in third
grade.

SOCIAL STUDIES:
We will study our local community, 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:
We are teaching the new Next Generation Science Standards. Our topics include:
Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions
From Molecules to Organisms: Structure and Process
Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits
Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity
Earth's Systems
Earth and Human Activity
Engineering Design

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.

COMPUTER
We go twice a week. The primary emphasis is on typing.


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 sugary treats may be brought in from home. Thank you for
understanding this procedure.

BOOK ORDERS:
Scholastic Book orders will be sent home approximately once a month, if there is
a parent who would like to be in charge of our class ordering.

FIELD TRIPS:
The third grade team is working on scheduling field trips for the school year. We
are planning to visit the Marin Museum of the American Indian at Miwok Park
and the Novato History Museum. Were hoping to schedule at least one more trip
related to our science or social studies curriculum. 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 you do not have an email address. 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.

GAMES for FUN and LEARNING SKILLS
If you have a deck of cards, remove the face cards and play these games to help
your child with math skills:
Addition War
Make a Ten
High, Low, Three in a Row
Multiplication War

THANK YOU FOR SHARING YOUR CHILD WITH ME THIS YEAR!