Friday, September 12, 2014

Settling Into New Routines and Lessons

Weʼve been working hard to get into the swing of things in third grade. This week weʼve been learning and practicing the routines of reading workshop and rotations in math. We touched on the routines of writing workshop, and will really get into it next week. Once thatʼs set, weʼll add in science and social studies. The students in our class have really done a fantastic job settling into things this week. Itʼs hard to believe weʼve only been in school a couple of weeks!

Today your child is bringing home their first math fact score report. This comes home every month. It needs to be signed and returned. Please understand there is a pretty big difference from their second grade math fact tests to their third grade tests. The number of problems they have to do has increased, and the amount of time they have to do those problems has decreased. This means your childʼs beginning third grade math fact scores may seem much lower than their ending second grade scores. With continued practice they will soon go up. Later this month I will begin adding another layer to their in-school practice with the use of daily addition or subtraction timed fact tests at the beginning of math. It will be a short, 2 mn test with 50 problems. Once a child is able to get a score of 90 or higher three times in a row on one operation, they will no longer have to take the quizzes for that operation (addition/subtraction, etc...), unless the score on their monthly 100 question test falls below 80. Thanks for making sure your child is practicing those math facts at home, and look for him/her to be able to recall each fact within about 2-3 seconds.

Next Friday I will start sending home weekly progress reports. These are intended to keep you informed of your childʼs academic and social/behavioral progress during the week. They will need to be signed and returned on Monday. They will probably look similar to what was used in second grade, only I ask students to write a sentence on them reflecting on their week.

There are a few things you might have around your house that are on our "wish list" for student use in the classroom. They include:
  • Plastic spoons and forks for forgotten ones at snack time
  • Zip lock bags in gallon and sandwich size - so many uses for these
  • Plastic grocery store bags - Great for when kids forget their backpack or need to carry extra stuff home. We also use these for personal trash bags during cold season.
If you're able to donate any of these items it would be greatly appreciated.

Please remember that my door is always open if you have any questions or concerns. I also check email frequently. Together we are partners in your childʼs education!

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