Mrs. Castleberry

School begins at

8:15Breakfast is from 7:45-8:05. If students arrive

before 7:45 they must go to the lunchroom even if

they are not eating breakfast. Please have your child in the room

and ready so our day can begin on time, and they

will not lose learning time.

Attendance

• It is very important that your child be at school everyday.

• If your child is absent, please send an excuse for the absence the day your child returns to school.

o In third grade we are working on creating independence in our students. We encourage our students to walk to class by themselves, unpack their own book bags, go to breakfast, and follow morning procedures. o At home encourage independence in such ways as : choosing their own clothes for the next day, fixing their own plate at supper, cleaning up after themselves. o If you encourage independence – your child will be independent!

CLASS SCHEDULE7:45-8:15 Homeroom

8:20-10:20 Reading First8:20–8:45 Read Aloud

8:45-9:30 Workstations/Small Group9:30-10:20- Whole Group10:20-11:20 Math10:20-10:55 Whole Group10:55-11:20 Small Group

11:25-12:15 Rotation/Planning 12:20-12:35 Math (Small group)

12:35-12:55 Language Arts/Writing1:00-1:30- Lunch

1:30-2:10 Language Arts/Writing2:10-2:40 Social Studies/Science

2:40-2:55- Recess2:55-3:02- Pack-up/Announcements

Parent Conferences: As our day is filled with many activities and LOTS of learning it is very important that you schedule conferences as opposed to just “popping in” to talk. Before school and after 3:15, as well as during rotation time, which is my planning, is the best time to reach me for a conference. Please call ahead to schedule conference at 783-7353 or send in a note.

CLASSROOM MANAGEMENTCLASSROOM MANAGEMENT Rules are displayed in the classroom and referred to weekly. School Rules

Be Safe Be Responsible Be KindBe Respectful Be Cooperative

Classroom Rules1. Keep hands and feet to yourself.2. Follow directions at all times.3. Be respectful of adults and classmates.4. Raise your hand before speaking.5. Take care of YOUR business!

When rules are not followed there are consequences. Yellow = Warning Orange = Lose 10 minutes of recess Red = Lose all recess-Detention/Note sent home Blue = Office Visit

REWARDS:Praise, hugs, Principals Award at the end of each nine weeks, and pride in a job well done!

CLASSROOM MANAGEMENTCLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

• Each child is given a weekly behavior grade.– G = Great (green card)– S = Satisfactory (yellow card)– N = Needs Improvement (orange)– U = Unsatisfactory ( red or blue)

• I am pleased when children receive a G or an S. Children like adults are not perfect and may get in trouble at times. I will be concerned and contact you if it is a continuous behavior problem.

Morning Procedures• Come in with a smile

• Go to breakfast• Sharpen 3 pencils • Turn in Homework assignments• Copy homework in your agenda• Complete your morning work • Read a book quietly• Sit quietly and listen when announcements

come on

Homework Practice of what we do at school. Should take only 30 to 40 minutes - this is what is

developmentally appropriate for third grade students.NEVER do your child’s homework for them. Find a quiet and

comfortable place for them to do homework – without distractions (ex. TV., other children, toys)

Teach your child to pack his/her homework and folder up immediately after completing – don’t wait until the next morning. Your child is responsible for turning his/her homework in daily, another reason for independence.

Look at your child’s homework and discuss it with them so you will know what they are learning at school.

Agendas should be signed on the appropriate day. DO NOT sign the agenda for the whole week and ONLY sign it if the homework has been completed and checked.

Homework • Homework is a very important part of school.

It reinforces what we are learning in the classroom.

• When homework is not completed or agenda is not signed the student must move a clip.

• This is a great way of teaching the students responsibility.

Read WITH your child EVERY night It will be easy reading because they have read it and worked with it at school.Children learning to read will use various reading strategies:

•Using pictures•Knowledge of talking language and sounds in words

Children begin at lower levels than they are tested because there is much more to reading than calling words.We work on fluency, vocabulary, comprehension and higher level thinking skills. 3rd graders should be reading 120 words per minute at the end of this school year (Georgia Performance Standard)

REMEMBER TO READ ALOUD EVERYDAY TO YOUR CHILD

We do not teach with work sheets very often – worksheets do not teach children. They are used to reinforce a skill already taught. Students learn through authentic reading and writing activities. Hands on work that engages the whole student – body and mind. Stations that you might find in our classroom:

WORD STUDY WRITINGLISTENING COMPUTER

READING

Children write throughout each week. Writing is about thinking and composing.Learning how to put ideas on paper and

making meaning with what we write. Spelling and conventions are taught but not

during composing time. Spelling is developmental and children learn

spelling over time. We encourage children to write the sounds

they hear in words when they do not know the correct spelling.

We do not spell for them because that just makes them dependent on adults for spelling and inhibits their spelling development.

Conventional spelling will emerge as we work with words during word study.

We keep all of the children’s writing throughout the year. Children will use some of their pieces to get ideas for new stories and learn how to revise and edit previous pieces.

Children in 3rd grade are given a writing assessment in March. This is not a test. We review all writing throughout the year to see how the student has progressed.

The children are learning to use 4 types of genre in writing. They are: personal narrative, informational, persuasive, and response to literature.

MATHEMATICS• Georgia Performance Standards

– Even/odd numbers to 50– Counting on to add- Adding and subtracting two whole numbers up to 4 digits each with regrouping- Understand multiplication as repeated addition and use multiplication table - Understand and compare fractions - Measurement: length and temperature- Tell time to the nearest 5 minutes - Describe and classify plane figures according to the number of edges and vertices- Types of angles: right, obtuse, acute – Estimation: rounding to nearest ten – Subtraction and fact families – Word problems– Recognizing money/values/make fair trades with money– Recognize/count/order numbers 0-50– More less/one more,less/10 more, less– Compare sets >, <, =– Skip counting 1’s to 50, 2’s forward and backwards to 50, 5’s to 50, 10’s to 50 forward and

backwards– Tally marks– Place value– Calendar– Graphs

Grading & Report Cardso Report cards are issued every 9 weeks.o Progress reports are issued in the middle of each 9 weekso We do not grade everything the students do-usually only if we

have taught it, reviewed it, and practiced it already so we can tell the students progress and identify strengths and weaknesses. (Some papers may just have a check, sticker or smiley.) However, we do look over all of their work as a guide to the direction that our teaching should be headed.

o Our grading system consists of number grades. 90-100=A, 80-89=B, 70-79=C, below 70=F.

Grading & Report Cardso Graded papers are sent home on Tuesdays or Wednesdays. You will also find the student’s weekly behavior grade on the signed papers. Please sign the papers and send them back to school the next day. Please return all test that are attached. As always, stay in contact with me if there are questions or concerns about grades, etc.

Important Dates *PTO Meetings: September 18th

December 4th March 5th April 16th

*Parent Teacher Conferences: October 21st (6:00-9:00 P.M.)

October 22nd (1:30–4:40 P.M.) March 19th (4:00–9:00 P.M.)*3rd Grade Writing Assessment: March 19th - 20th

ITBS: March 24th – 27th *CRCT: Test Window April 20th – 30th ( 5 days)

Handouts• Third grade “cheat” sheet• Reading the CRCT – strategies for

success• Websites for Kids

That’s All Folks!

Thank you for coming.I look forward to working with you and your child

this year!