Transcript WELCOME TO 3RD GRADE - Northern Lebanon Middle School

WELCOME TO 3RD GRADE!
Mrs. Moyer’s Class for 2014-2015
In this session
 A little about me
 Specials schedule this year
 Rules and expectations
 PSSAs
 Communication
 Homework
 Dress Code
 Attendance
 Powerschool Parent
 Forms to be returned
 3rd grade content areas
A little about me
 I earned my undergraduate degrees in elementary
education and special education from Millersville University
 I have a Master’s Degree from Penn State in Applied
Behavior Analysis
 This is my 10th year of teaching in NLSD
 I spent 5 years in the middle school as a learning support
teacher
 Then I was moved to EH as a 6th grade teacher to combat a
very large class size
 After two years of teaching 6th grade, I was moved to 3rd
grade
 This is my third year in third grade
Schedule for this year
 The specials schedule will be posted on my website once
everything is finalized. It usually takes about two weeks
to get everything straight.
 Day 1 – Music for MP 1 and 2, Library for MP 3 and 4
 Day 2 – Art
 Day 3 – Book Exchange
 Day 4 – Technology (in the classroom)
 Day 5 – Gym
 Day 6 – Technology (in the classroom)
 Recess – 12:05-12:20
 Lunch – 11:35-12:05
Rules and Expectations
 Rules
 I follow the rules in the student handbook
 On the first day we also come up with some basic
classroom rules as a group
 Expectations
 My expectations are high – there is a big difference
between can’t and won’t
 During the first month or so there will be a lot of learning
new procedures and ways of doing things
Use of the planner – we will use the planner every day
to record homework assignments and upcoming
tests/quizzes
Literature circles – there are no centers in 3rd grade, we
do small reading groups using stories from our textbook
and novels
Behavior System
 New this year, the entire district will be using the VIKES
behavior program that has been used at Jonestown
Elementary
 There is a pamphlet in your child’s folder that explains
more on the program
 The behavior chart has a lot more colors on it
 Students can move up or down depending on their
behavior
 I always give a warning before asking a student to move
their clip down
PSSA’s
 3rd grade is the first year that PSSA’s are given
 Tests will be common core and are anticipated to be
harder than previous years
 There is a Reading part and a Math part for third grade
 The tests will be given in April
 I will send a note home detailing what you can do to
help prepare your child for the testing
 I will also have more information on a testing
schedule in the spring
 These tests are extremely important as they represent
me, the school, and our district
Communication
 I do not do a weekly newsletter
 I try to get a newsletter out once per month on what we’ve been
working on in class
 Because we’re trying to save some paper, I post all of the
newsletters on my website which has a link from the EH home page
 If you don’t have internet and would like a paper copy, please let
me know
 Email is the best way to contact me, phone calls during the
teaching day go straight to voice mail
 [email protected]
 I do my best to check my email in the morning, during lunch
and at the end of day so I should be able to get back to you
within the same day, unless I’m absent
Homework
 Homework is very important
 Students who consistently do homework, score better on tests and
retain content information longer
 Homework is written in the planner and checked by me at the end
of the day. Homework is not completed at school so if your child
says it’s done (maybe they finished it on the bus) ask to see it so
you know for sure
 If you have a question about a particular item on the homework,
write a note or circle it – I’m looking for effort, if you tried to do it,
you get credit
 I use a sticker chart and a reward system to monitor homework
 Completing all homework for one week earns a sticker
 After 3 stickers are earned, the student gets a homework pass that can
be used on any 1 assignment
 Every 3 stickers earns an additional homework pass except at the
following numbers
 At 12 stickers, the student will get an ice cream bar at lunch
 At 24 stickers, the student will get a full week of no homework
The Planner is Your Friend
 It is a great tool for communication
 Spelling lists will be pasted inside the planner in the beginning of the
week so that the list is with your child every night
 We write upcoming tests/quizzes in the planner as well as nightly
homework
 If there is no homework, your child will write NONE in the blocks
indicating that there really is no homework
 Using the planner early on helps to keep your child organized and
hopefully the habit of using it will continue straight through high
school
 I check planners every day – I don’t check book bags
 If you find that your child is consistently leaving their homework at school
let me know and I will address it
 I use the planner to write notes to parents if there is something
important to tell you, feel free to do the same if you need me to
know something. Just don’t write anything that needs to be turned
in to the office in the planner because I can’t rip the pages out.
Dress Code
 You can find the full dress code in the student
handbook on page 9 in your child’s folder
 Err on the side of caution, if you’re not sure about it,
don’t wear it
 Most common offenses:
 1.) No shorts/skirts that are more than 4 inches
above the knee
 2.) No tank tops, halter tops, tube tops, cut-off
shirts, crop tops, tops with straps, see-through or
mesh tops, muscle shirts (shirts with no sleeves for
boys), or off-shoulder tops
 3.) No holes or tears in clothing
Attendance
 Please make every attempt to get your child
to school on time every day
 Missing days regularly puts holes in the
information presented and can lead to
frustration and poor test scores
 When your child is going to be absent,
please call the hotline and be sure to send in
a note within 3 days of your child returning
to school (you may staple it in the planner if
you’re concerned about it getting lost)
Grades and Powerschool
 I do my best to grade things within a reasonable window of
time
 However, most of my grading is done on the weekends so
don’t be surprised if you see three or four graded assignments
put in for the same day
 Powerschool is a great tool to use to keep track of how your
child is doing
 Don’t panic over one bad grade – panic when you see many bad
grades
 If you have a question about an assignment or a grade – please
contact me
 I am human, I do make mistakes no matter how hard I try not too
 I go over all tests/quizzes with the class to make sure that I have
the assignment graded correctly – If I made an error, I fix it on the
test and in Powerschool
Grading Changes
 Reading grades
 ICA tests will be given 2-3 times per marking period and
will count for 40% of the grade
 Weekly skills tests will count as 25% of the grade
 35% will be other assessments
 Math grades
 50% of grade will be topic tests
 50% of the grade will be cumulative tests (given after 3-4
topic tests)
Forms to be returned
 Now that you’re child is in 3rd grade, I’m sure
you’re a professional when it comes to the
forms, but as a reminder, we need:
Emergency Card
Student Handbook center page
Internet Form (please have child sign the
front and parent sign the back)
Transportation Form
If applicable: medication form
Content Information
 Feel free to look through our textbooks for each subject area
 Science uses FOSS kits in addition to supplemental materials from the
Science book
 Social Studies has two books – the Communities book as well as the
Pennsylvania Story book
 Health is graded only in the 2nd and 4th marking periods
 Spelling is done weekly (unless it is a short week or otherwise noted) –
tests are on Friday
 Math uses the Pearson program that was used in lower grades so it
should be something you are familiar with
 Reading, Spelling, and English are taught from the Houghton-Mifflin
series
 Handwriting – we practice cursive and lots of it. I grade handwriting
sheets based on O – Outstanding, S – Satisfactory and NI – Needs
Improvement.
Whew that was a lot of information!
A few important reminders before you go
1. If you have other questions, just ask. I will do whatever I can to
answer your questions.
2. Work with me. As a team, there is no way your child won’t be
successful.
3. Be flexible. I do my best to keep to the schedule and get through
what I had planned for the day, but sometimes things take longer or
take less time than anticipated and I have to adjust. Nothing is ever
perfect, but I still keep trying.
4. 3rd grade is a big transition year. Many kids complain that there is a
lot of work and not nearly as much movement. This is true. We are
working toward 4th grade where you are expected to do a lot of things
independently and sit for longer periods of time. There may be some
growing pains along the way.
5. Finally, if you’d like to donate to our classroom, we are always looking
for tissues and Band-Aids (we go through A LOT!), as well as general
supplies like lined paper, dry erase markers, crayons, etc.)