Dear Parents/Guardians,
Welcome to Third Grade!
I hope you had a wonderful summer with your family. I would like to take a minute to introduce myself. My name is Moira Lake, and I will be your child’s third grade teacher this school year. I graduated from Penn State University in 2009 with a degree in Elementary Education. I am currently working towards my master’s degree in Education from Cabrini College. I began my teaching career as a long-term substitute teacher in 6th grade at Haverford Middle School from 2009-2012. In the past two years, I taught both fourth and fifth grade here at Chestnutwold. This will be my first year in third grade. I am looking forward to this new adventure, as well as the start of a new school year and getting to know your child!
I look forward to engaging the students in various types of learning throughout this school year. I will be introducing concepts, which will cover mathematical computations, scientific explorations, and communities. I plan to work with students in both small and whole group settings to continue to build their reading and writing skills. I will also spend a great deal of time encouraging positive relationships and interactions in our classroom. My ultimate goal is to create a warm and safe learning environment for your child.
I strongly believe that a good parent-teacher relationship is important for maximum school success. Together, as parents and teacher, we can create a comfortable, exciting, and challenging environment for your child. I will keep you informed about your child’s growth and classroom activities throughout the school year. Please know that I will always welcome your input and support.
I have put together a packet of information to help you and your child become familiar with my expectations for the school year. You may want to keep this packet in a special place so that you may refer to it throughout the year. If you have any concerns or questions, please do not hesitate to email me at . I also look forward to meeting you and answering any questions you may have at our Back-to-School night on September 10th. I look forward to seeing you soon!
Sincerely,
Miss Moira Lake
The School Day
School is open for students at 8:35 each day. Students are not permitted into the building before 8:35 unless they have permission from a teacher. Students are expected to be in their classrooms, unpacked, and ready to learn by 8:45. Attendance is taken promptly at 8:45 and your child will be marked tardy if they arrive after the bell (unless a bus is late). Morning announcements begin immediately after the 8:45 bell. Arrival after this time is very disruptive to our morning routine. If you need to pick your child up early, please send a note to me. Email and phone messages are not always accessible, so a note is your best bet. You might also want to call the office to inform them of the early dismissal. The student will be called to the office at the appropriate time.
DAILY AGENDA
8:35-8:45Arrival
8:45-9:05Morning Meeting
9:05-10:05Humanities/Specials
10:10-11:15Mathematics
11:20-11:50Language Arts
11:55-12:45 Recess/Lunch
12:50-2:25Language Arts
2:30-2:40Quiet Time/Snack
2:40-3:20Science/Social Studies
3:20-3:30Pack up/Dismissal
*Our Humanities Schedule follows:
Monday: Guidance (A Week) Library (B Week)
Tuesday: Library
Wednesday: Art
Thursday: Gym and Music
Friday: Gym and Music
Change of Dismissal
Please make sure your child knows his/her after school plans before they get to school. All changes to their dismissal routine should be communicated to me with a note. Relying on a voicemail message or email alone is risky as these can be inaccessible at times. Without a note, all children will be sent home their usual way. Please make sure you check the Chestnutwold calendar for after school club and activity dates and times. The kids become very upset when they realize that there is an after school activity that they want to attend (or have been told to attend) but they do not have a note.
Communication/Notes
Please send in a note if:
· Student has a change of transportation
· Your child was absent
· If there is an issue/incident that needs to be brought to my attention.
· If your child is to stay for an after school activity
A great resource for you throughout the school year will be my website. I will keep it updated with nightly homework, pictures, and curriculum information and activities. You can access the website on the Chestnutwold site. Just go to eFaculty and click on my name.
Materials Needed
Small container to store pencils, erasers, etc.
2 Glue Sticks
Crayons – box of 24
Scissors
Sharpened red pencils (1 dozen)
Sharpened regular #2 pencils (3 dozen)
1 pack of four large tip Expo markers (donated to class stock)
The following items are optional and will be added to the class stock:
Quart and snack sized ziploc bags
Washable markers- thin and thick
Colored pencils – sharpened
The following items are very helpful in keeping our classroom clean and healthy and would be very much appreciated:
Tissues (we use lots!)
Disinfecting Wipes (such as Clorox wipes)
Classroom Rules/Responsive Classroom
The third grade team uses the “Responsive Classroom” approach to teaching. This approach emphasizes students’ social growth in addition to their academic growth. Social skills such as cooperation, assertion, responsibility, empathy, and self-control are taught directly and indirectly throughout the day.
Morning Meeting: Each day begins with a morning meeting where students have uninterrupted time to greet one another, play games and share important things that are going on in their lives. This meeting helps build community and creates a positive climate for learning.
Classroom Rules: In each classroom there is a clear and consistent approach to discipline that fosters responsibility and self-control through rules and logical consequences. As a class, we will construct positive guidelines (rules) that will enable us to effectively and efficiently reach our goals. Our guided discussion will result in these three rules:
1. Take care of yourself
2. Take care of others
3. Take care of things/materials
These rules will be posted visibly in our classroom, where the students can access for daily reminder. In conjunction with our rules, we will be Interactively Modeling all activities and appropriate behaviors that occur throughout the school day (Teacher will demonstrate the behavior, students will observe and then practice the behavior themselves) to ensure student understanding, success and confidence.
After the students have a decent understanding of the rules and appropriate behavior for school, we will talk about the consequences for their actions. A principle that I firmly believe is that every action has a consequence, either positive or negative depending on the elicited behavior. As a class, we will discuss the consequences to all behaviors so the students will know the result if they happen to choose not to follow a rule.
Discipline (1,2,3 Magic)
Because of the responsive classroom activities, we find that disruptions to the classroom are minimal. However, along with our logical consequence approach, discipline problems will be handled in the following way. This is a school-wide behavior plan.
The first time a student breaks a classroom rule they will receive a verbal warning and will be told they have been given a “1.”
The second time a student breaks a classroom rule they may be asked to “Take a Break” for five to ten minutes in order to regain self control and will be given a “2.”
If the student can rejoin the group with control, disciplinary action stops here. If however, they rejoin the group and cannot maintain control (third time) they will be given a “3”. The child, with the teacher’s help, will complete a behavior reflection form. The student is expected to bring the form home to get a parent’s signature and then bring it back the next day. If necessary, they may be removed from the group for the remainder of the activity or they may be sent to the principal’s office. At this point, parents will be called to discuss the incident and determine the appropriate course of action.
Class Discussions/Meetings: When they are needed, we will hold class meetings where students learn to speak freely, yet respectfully about problems that they may have. Students are challenged to work together to solve their own problems. Class meetings may also be used to give the students an opportunity to share feelings of friendship, thanks, hurt, or disappointment with one another. Students learn how to pay a compliment and express hurt feelings in a non-threatening way. This practice allows students to see themselves through their peers’ eyes and is very effective at teaching social responsibility.
Additional Information
Bucket Fillers
We will be reading the story Have You Filled a Bucket Today? in class. This book helps get the message across that it is important to fill each other’s imaginary buckets by saying positive things. It also stresses that one can be a bucket dipper by saying negative things to someone. Each student will have his or her very own bucket that is displayed in our classroom. During their free time, students will have the opportunity to fill each other’s buckets by writing positive comments on the designated bucket slips. Students will check their buckets occasionally and at the end of the year they will have a ring full of slips to take home and treasure. This is now a school-wide program and students will have the opportunity to fill other teachers’ buckets as well.
Snacks and Food
During each afternoon, the class will have snack time that will last approximately 10 minutes. Please send in a small snack that may include one item and a drink. Snacks should be healthy. Examples of small, healthy snacks include crackers, pre-cut vegetables, or cheese. Please do not send in foods high in sugar such as candy, cake, or cookies. Any food left over after snack time is finished will be thrown out. Food cannot accumulate in the lockers and leftovers will not go home.
**Homeroom parents will provide safe snacks (using the safe food list) at all school parties.**
Birthday Celebrations
Your child may choose to celebrate his/her birthday in the classroom with advance notice. Please contact me in advance of when you would like to celebrate your child’s birthday. If you cannot make it in to school, we as a class will still acknowledge your child’s birthday by singing and giving them special birthday privileges. Please take note that we will no longer welcome food as a way to celebrate birthdays. This is a school-wide rule. You may consider the following as alternatives:
-Donate a book to our library that includes a note from the student. The child can read the book/note to the class.
-Choose a game or activity to teach and play with the class.
-Engage the class in an activity that centers on reading, drawing and/or other exceptional abilities your child may have.
-Show a talent! Perform for the class or for the school on the morning announcements!
Please keep in mind that we only designate about 10-15 minutes for birthday celebrations.
ACADEMICS
Language Arts
The Third Grade Language Arts curriculum is divided into a few parts: Reading, Writing, Spelling (a separate handout about our spelling program will be sent home after the first week of school), Speaking/Listening and Handwriting. The Reading component of Language Arts encompasses: Phonics/Decoding, Reading Fluency/Sight Words and Comprehension. Third Grade starts to move from learning to read, instead to; reading to learn. We have a heavy focus in teaching the students many different comprehension skills to aid in the understanding of their reading. Some of the comprehension strategies that are taught are:
*Predicting/Inferring/Drawing Conclusions
*Sequencing
*Cause/Effect
*Monitoring/Clarifying
*Summarizing/Evaluating
*Identifying the Topic/Main Ideas/Details of a Selection
*Identifying Story Elements (Setting, Characters, Problem/Solution, Events, etc.)
The Houghton Mifflin Reading Program (2005 Series) is utilized to instruct the students in Phonics, Vocabulary, Spelling, Fluency and Comprehension. In addition, we use Cunningham’s Four Blocks Language Arts Programs to aid in frequently misspelled words (Word Wall), prefixes/suffixes and the root meanings of words, in addition to opportunities for self-selected reading.
The Houghton Mifflin Program is broken down into four themes:
Theme 1: Off to Adventure
Theme 2: Traditions
Theme 3: Incredible Stories
Theme 4: Animal Habitats
Each theme has three or four stories (plus a theme review) that teach the necessary phonics, spelling and comprehension skills. In my classroom, we will work approximately two weeks on each story of the theme. Using the stories, I will be giving direct whole group instruction on vocabulary, decoding skills and targeted comprehension skills (that change every story). In addition, during the two-week period, we will be breaking into smaller guided reading groups where I will provide a deeper focus of instruction in reading fluency, vocabulary and the targeted comprehension skills. At the end of the two-week period the students will be tested on the application of the comprehension skills and strategies that were taught. These tests are a good indication of whether your child is understanding and applying the material that is being taught.
During Writing class in Third Grade, we focus on teaching and bringing students through the whole Writing Process: Prewriting, Drafting (Rough Copy), Editing/Revising, Proofreading, Publishing (Good Copy) and Sharing. The students will be writing about various topics in the different writing modes:
* Imaginative / Narrative: Writing in which the main idea is to tell a story.
* Descriptive: Writing in which the author “paints a picture” for the reader.
* Practical / Informative: Writing in which the main intent is to provide clear
information.
Some milestones for writing in Third Grade include: learning to successfully set-up a paragraph, friendly/formal letters, learning to write with powerful language, using transition devices to tie thoughts together and writing multi-paragraph essays.
Students in my class will also be writing friendly letters throughout the school year to communicate what they have been reading about during their independent reading. Each week students will write a letter to myself to share their understanding, likes/dislikes, and thoughts about their book. I will respond to each student and we will have an on-going conversation about his or her reading.
Finally, the Third Grade Handwriting Without Tears Program introduces cursive writing. Through this program students will receive instruction in the correct cursive letter formation and connection skills, printing of smaller letters on narrower double lines and will build greater speed and writing fluency. The Handwriting Without Tears program offers easy to learn curriculum that works for all students, child friendly language, methods to eliminate backward letter and number writing, and a simple, vertical style of cursive that is easy to read and write. We will start the program sometime in October and continue through the school year.
Mathematics
Third Grade is the first year that the students may have a different teacher for Math class. Some students may stay with myself or switch to Miss Mikulich, Mrs. Kintzley, or Mr. Reynolds. After switching, your designated teacher will provide more in-depth information about their policies and procedures. This year your child will be introduced to the district’s new math program called Math in Focus (Singapore Math) that was implemented last year in grades three and above.
The Singapore math program will help students’ build a solid conceptual understanding through a focus on problem solving. Students will both acquire and apply the mathematical concepts and skills in a wide range of situations, including non-routine, open-ended, and real-world problems. The mathematical concepts will be taught in depth and at a higher and deeper level to allow for content mastery. Students will learn to use physical objects to demonstrate how to solve equations and they will also be taught how to draw a diagram of the concepts they are working on. They will learn to use model drawing to solve and better understand word problems. The pictorial approach allows students to have a tactile experience instead of trying to imagine the problem in their heads. By having students diagram the elements of the word problem they develop a strong understanding of why a solution works.
The program has a unique framework with a focus on building problem-solving skills and an in-depth understanding of essential math skills. Students are not just talking about concepts but seeing it through hands-on activities. They are not just learning it for the tests, there are re-teaching and enrichment opportunities to retain lessons, which are foundational mathematical pieces that build upon the skills that students need for the real world.
Science
This year, we hope to take an in-depth look at three major areas: Earth Science, Life Science, and Physical Science. The National Geographic Science program introduces students to real scientists and experts and gives concrete examples of scientific study in practice throughout our world. Students will participate in investigations and activities that will engage them in scientific inquiry.