Welcome to Room 11!*Please make sure you signed in.

**Please email me at ssapata@fcusd.org*** Please indicate “yes” or “no” on the

sign-in sheet letting me know if you have internet access.

Welcome Back Letter

“Student of the Week” : Forms, sharing, travel bags, treats

Birthdays Toys Email: I forgot the @, so it should be

ssapata@fcusd.org I will be going over Homework, Friday

Folders, spelling, and volunteers in the power point.

Friday Folders

The red Friday Folders will go home on Fridays.

They have corrected work, office & district notes, and announcements.

Please sign, makes comments, and return on Monday.

Arrivals and Dismissal

Students should not arrive before 8:00

8:00-8:20 Go to the multi 8:20-8:25 Go directly to class Students will be dismissed at 2:37

from our classroom unless it’s a minimum or super minimum day

Drop Off and Pick up/Parking: Owl Meadow-Buses only!!!!!

Fire Drills, Evacuation, & Disasters

Fire drill practices happen monthly and students are taken out to playground.

We practice what happens if there was a disaster at our school.

If we need to evacuate Russell Ranch, we walk the students to Vista Del Lago.

Autism Awareness

RRE Fundraising:Jog-a-thon, box tops, Crab &

Pasta Feed Russell Ranch’s big fundraiser is the Jog-a-

thon– PTA’s goal is $25 per student– It is scheduled for Sept. 12th, we would

love a cheering section! Box Tops are usually counted monthly

– Just turn them in with your child and I will drop them off at the office

Direct donations can be made to school or trustee account if don’t want to participate in fundraising

Daily ScheduleArrival & DismissalClass begins at 8:25, Students dismissed at 2:37

Recess• 10:15-10:35

• Library• Wednesday @ 10:40-11:00

• Computers• Wednesday @ 11-11:55

• Lunch• 11:55-12:35

P.E. • Monday (8:25-9:00) & Thursday (11:20-11:55)

Centers and Writer’s Workshop• Hoping to have Centers on Monday (10:40-11:40) & Writer’s Workshop on

Thursday (1:50-2:30)

Music Schedule• Tuesday @ 11:20-11:55

* There is a Tentative Daily Schedule in your packet

Discipline PlanClassroom Behavior Plan• “How is my Day” Board• Mustang Board• Silver Horseshoes• Treats from the apple• Stickers• Pats on the back and verbal praise• Awards/certificates• Phone calls home• Marble activities

Consequences• Green, Warning, Yellow, and Red • Separate from group/ class• Writes a note home to parents to be signed and return the

following day.• Phone call home or visit principal

• * There is a contract for you and your child to sign on his/her desk (“Classroom Rules”)

Steps to Respect AB9 Law: affective July, 1, 2012

(all California schools need to be preventing bullying)

We will be doing 10 lessons plus a literature lesson at the end of the year

There are handouts that go along with these lessons

This program will be used with our Caring School Community & BEST (Building Effective Schools Together) programs

Organization

- Text books stay at school (unless discussed with teacher in advance)* Folders and notebooks may be kept in a binder

• Folders (extra folders stay at school in binder or right side of desk)

• Homework Folder goes home on Monday and comes back daily (black)

• Notebooks*Kept at school on the right side of their desk (or in binder)

• Pencil bag kept on top shelf of desk

Homework• Daily assignments ( kept on the right side of Homework Folder,

returned the next day)• Homework and Reading Log is kept in Homework folder and

initialed nightly• Enrich math pages are extra credit (students’ responsibility to

collect)

• Spelling Contract- Keep in Homework Folder• 3 spelling jobs a week (write day and activity # on top of

assignment)• Practice test on Thursday nights with sentences• Can do additional spelling jobs for extra credit.

• Reading Log (turned in on Friday in Homework Folder)- students need to fill out nightly! * Stapled to the front of the spelling jobs.

• Please fill out the “Homework Plan” with your child and turn back into me.

• Fun (Hot Dog) Fridays- If student finishes all the homework for the week, he/she gets to “relish” in the Fun Friday activities. If the homework was not completed, he/she needs to “ketchup” during this

time.• Please communicate with me any questions or concerns • Excellent means of teaching responsibility!

Scholastic Book Orders Great way to get books with rich

academic language at appropriate reading levels.

Inexpensive (order online: HL3FQ) Go home monthly or bimonthly First orders are on your desk and are

due this Friday, Aug. 22nd Write checks out to Scholastic, not

Russell Ranch. Fantastic opportunity to build your AR

library. (5 books or 15 points per trimester)

Common Core *Students will be going more in depth within standards;

focusing on critical skills and practices to ensure students are career and college ready.

*Students will be using collaboration, inquiry, problem solving, balancing knowledge and skill, models, interactive learning/activities, coaching & teaching one another, and real life examples and lessons to take information and make sense of it.

There are two forms of instruction: 1) Information frame for instruction *This type of lesson is centered in an information frame for

instruction. *Students are focused on knowing information. 2) Sense-making frame for instruction *This lesson is centered in a sense-making frame for instruction. *Students are focused on understanding something. We often

use the language: “figure something out”. * When you are trying to figure something out, you are trying to

make sense of it. You are engaged in the process of sense-making.

Common Core Continued INFORMATION VERSUS SENSE-MAKING

* So both an information frame for instruction and a sense-making frame for instruction represent an aspect of learning that are important.

Common core wants students to know “stuff.” * But it also want students to make sense of that “stuff.” *The interesting thing is, you need to know some “stuff” in

order to make sense of other “stuff. “ * But the converse is not true, because you can know stuff

without making sense of it. There is an example of knowing “stuff” in science, but

not making sense of that “stuff” on the next slide.

Information Vs. Sense-Making

While both frames for instruction are important, research shows us that teachers in the past have primarily focused on the information frame for instruction.* The shift within common core is we need to address the sense-making frame for instruction as well!

Common Core State Standards (CCSS)

There are Common Core Standards on your child’s desk

The information on the previous slides is in your Back-to-School Packet

There is “Key Ideas for Parents about Common Core” in your packet

If you would like additional information; you can go to the FCUSD website: Go to “Parents” then “Common Core State Standards” (CCSS)- this has a great deal of information.

Math Program We have a new math program: Envision Math

Common Core * It narrowed the scope of concepts taught and

focuses deeper on what is emphasized within the standards.

*The program connects the learning within and across grades so that students are more easily able to build on and expand their knowledge.

* A rigorous program that fosters student understanding of important concepts from different perspectives. Through rigor a balance is found in real world problem solving when a student has both conceptual understanding and procedural fluency.

- Conceptual understanding: “Do you understand?”

- Procedural fluency: “Do you know how?” * Topic and DPAs (District Performance Assessments)

will be done online (eventually, this may take a couple Topics of scaffolding). In 4th grade students will be doing their homework online as well. We need to prepare our students for this change.

 

Math Continued *Five Domains are taught: 1) Number and Operations in Base Ten (Topics 1-3) 2) Operations and Algebraic Thinking (Topics 4-8) 3) Number and Operations- Fractions (Topics 9 & 10) 4) Geometry (Topic 11) 5) Measurement and Data (Topics 12-16) *The Eight Practices within our common core math

program are at the core of FIGURING OUT! The practices are highly interconnected.

1) Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them 2) Reason abstractly and quantitatively 3) Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of

others 4) Model with mathematics 5) Use appropriate tools strategically 6) Attend to precision 7) Look for and make use of structure 8) Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning * The practices can be applied in other subjects as well.

Practices Core Ideas/concepts

Language Arts (L/A) Our Language Arts program is Houghton Mifflin. There are 6 themes in

our reading series. Emphasis is placed on comprehension, fluency, vocabulary development, phonics, and reinforcing and encouraging a love and desire to read.

In third grade the focus in reading changes from one of learning to read to one of reading to learn

Scholastic News: Weekly the students will be reading Scholastic News. This provides rich academic language in all subject areas and exposes the students to nonfiction in an interesting form. The students will learn the importance of text organization (graphics, pictures, charts, diagrams, headings, and subheadings) and how to gather information about real world topics

We will be reading a variety of novels (the first one is Muggie Maggie) this year.

Writing activities will include daily language sentences which focus on correct sentence structure and punctuation, journal writing, report writing, creative writing, narrative writing, instructions, stories, descriptive writing, opinion writing, informative/explanatory writing, and poetry. We will be using the six traits of writing in our writing process. – Accelerated Reader: At least 5 books or 15 points per trimester. This

may change due to your child’s need for enrichment or modification– It is your child’s responsibility to keep track (they will have a special

book mark to help him/her with this activity)** AR Points Club is an additional motivator.

– Renaissance Home Connect is on your desk if you want to track your child as well

Learning Centers

Students are grouped to meet their instructional needs

Reading assessments will be given during the first two weeks of school

Third grade will meet to group the students

Science & Social Studies The Social Studies is Scott Foresman. There

are five units. These is primarily taught during rotations on Friday. (Land & Water in Your Area, California Indians Past and Present, Your Community Over Time, Rules and Laws, and The Economy of Your Region

Our Science program is Scott Foresman as well. There are three units in third grade. (Physical, Life, and Earth Sciences) * The Interactive Study Guide is on your child’s desk. Different units will be due on the super minimum day of each trimester (That is October 31st, February 20th, and May 22nd) I will let you know which units are due each trimester.

STEM: Project Lead The Way (PLTW) *There is more about science in your packet

under third grade curriculum.

Grades/Scores• Test/Quiz scores

• Daily assignments

• Assessments

• Homework

• Writing samples

• Teacher observations/ pupil participation & demonstration

• Extra Credit and Enrichment (challenge spelling words, Integrated spelling words-second & third trimester, enrich pages, Interactive Study Guide for science, additional presentations/reports)

• The report card is aligned with Common Core State Standards

Field Trips

We currently have the following fields trips already scheduled: Green Acres & Holiday Tapestry. We are hoping to do at least one more traveling field trip and two that will come to our school. We will keep you posted on these activities.

* We are asking for a $50 donation per student to cover the costs. Please write the check to our Russell Ranch and in the memo section write “Mrs. Sapata’s Class.” Thank you!

Supplies for the Classroom

Thank you for the beginning of the year supplies.

There is a Wish List on Target/FCUSD letterhead. Or you are welcome to donate to our class’s trustee account.

Other needed items will be mentioned in the newsletters.

Other Items Communication: ssapata@fcusd.org : Please email

me!!! I will create my parent group using these emails. I do all of my newsletters via email unless specified otherwise. – There’s a green “A Note to School” on your desk if

you would like to write me a note instead of email– I am a HUGE communicator. Please contact me with

any questions or concerns and know I will always try my hardest to answer or address them.

Powerschool Parent Portal: Only or parents who have never created an account or have NOT logged in recently. Photo/Video Opt-Out Form: I’m putting them back in

your Friday Folder if you returned it to me. There’s been a few misunderstandings.

Folsom Bond: Modernization for Folsom Schools. There is a packet on your desk.

Volunteers Please fill out the forms on the counter

– Centers, Writer’s Workshop, spelling tests, math help, work in classroom or at home, Friday Folders, science docent, Fun Arts docent (s), Yearbook, library, computer, room parents, & class parties

We will be having a Volunteer Meeting, next Monday, Aug. 25th, at 3:00 in our room.

Please take your picture Friday, Aug. 22nd (your child’s order is on his/her desk)

This year all volunteers must be cleared of Category 1 & 2. Check with me or Amanda in the office if you need to know your current status.

Thank you for coming! Please leave the forms you filled out

on your child’s desk. (“It’s Showtime”, Parent Survey, Homework Plan, picture form, “Classroom Rules”, and Field Trip Form). Or you can put them in your child’s homework folder. It is checked daily.

I am so excited to teach your child and work with you this year. (It takes a village).

The paper die cut star- message to child

Questions or comments Thank you so much!