3rd Grade Information
Agendas
In order to keep you informed of activities that are occurring both in the classroom and school-wide, your child will be required to use an agenda book. Please check these daily! This will prove to be the most beneficial tool for home/school communication. I will check the agendas for parent signatures and notes on a daily basis. Daily work will be written on the board, and students are required to copy the assignments from the board into their agendas. It is then the responsibility of your child to make sure their assignments are taken home and completed on time. Please sign your child’s agenda book every night (except Friday) whether or not homework has been assigned. If agenda is signed each night a reward will be given at the end of the week.
Pirate Binder
To help keep your child organized, each student will use a Pirate Binder. The binder will contain a contract, a money/note pouch, a “boomerang” folder, and your child’s agenda. We will spend time in class to assemble and explain this notebook to your child. As your child rotates between different classes (reading, math, language arts), he/she will carry the Pirate Binder to the rotating classes to write assignments for each class and to place homework in folder. The binder will be sent home, and your child will be able to show you how it works and go over the contract with you. The notebook will travel to and from school daily with your child to help him/her stay organize.
Monday Folders
Once a week, your child’s graded work and other school notes will come home in a Monday folder. Please take the opportunity to view and discuss the work with your child. The emptied folder should be signed on the back and returned to school each Tuesday. If your child has not returned the folder by Wednesday, they will be required to miss recess.
Homework
There will be times when your child will be assigned homework. Classwork that is not completed turns into homework. If your child uses his or her class time wisely, there should be little to no homework on a nightly basis. I am flexible with sending work home as long your student is using their time wisely most of the day. For students that habitually waste class time (playing in desk, talking to others, staring into space) work will not be sent home to be completed. This is where students spend all day in the class and don’t try to complete any of their work. If this occurs work will be collected at the end of the day and graded as is. This is to insure that your child learns the importance of using their time wisely and completing tasks in a timely manner. All students are expected to study at home (spelling words, math vocabulary, multiplication facts, etc.) All homework is to be completed and turned in the following day. If there is a legitimate reason why your child is not able to finish homework, please send a note of explanation on the day that the homework is due. I do understand that occasionally situations do arise at home that might interfere with homework. I feel that parents are the key to making homework a positive experience for their children. I ask that you make homework a top priority, provide necessary supplies, and a quiet homework environment.
Lunch Guests
Lunch Guests
Students love when they have guests for lunch. There is a special table in the cafeteria for guests to join students for lunch. Although you are welcome to come any day you wish, Friday is not the best day to visit for lunch since we eat lunch in our classroom. We do not have space in our classroom to accommodate extra guests. If you do choose to come on a Friday, you and your child will be able to eat together in the cafeteria.
Monday Folders
Once a week, your child’s graded work and other school notes will come home in a Monday folder. Please take the opportunity to view and discuss the work with your child. The emptied folder should be signed on the back and returned to school each Tuesday. If your child has not returned the folder by Wednesday, they will be required to miss recess.
Classroom Management Policy
In order for each child to receive the education he or she deserves, good behavior must be maintained. This year Heath Elementary has adopted a school-wide behavior record management. Please note the following colors and consequences.
Pink - Outstanding
Purple - Excellent Choice
Blue - Great Effort
Green - Ready to Learn
Yellow - Warning (Think About It)
Orange - Consequence: Level 1
Red - Consequence: Level 2
Student will begin each day on green, “Ready to Learn” and will have the opportunity to move up the chart and be rewarded for exemplary behavior. To encourage this good behavior, I will use different incentives and activities. I give plenty of praise and encouragement and often reward students with small prizes and candy when appropriate behavior is observed. If a student demonstrates inappropriate behavior or disrupts the learning of others, student will move clip down to “Warning: Think About It” (yellow). If the behavior doesn’t improve during the class time, student will move clip to “Consequence: Level 1” (orange) and will miss half of recess. clipboard. If behavior continues, clip will move to “Consequence Level 2” (red) and student will miss all of recess. At the end of the day, students’ agenda will be used to inform you of the level your child reached and the level in which he/she ended at the end of day.
Using this classroom management practice, your child will learn to demonstrate positive behavior that is appropriate for school. But as we all know, there are times we have bad days, and our bad days can cause us to make bad choices. If a child demonstrates inappropriate behavior and moves his/her clip down, this child will also receive a check on my clipboard. Checkmarks are also given for missing work (classwork or homework). Anyone receiving less than four checks will get the privilege of eating in the classroom and watching a movie on Fridays. Those who get four or more checks will eat in the cafeteria as usual. If this type of behavior becomes a practice, parents will be contacted to help change this type of behavior. If an office referral becomes necessary, grown-ups will be contacted by Mr. Cooper or Mrs. Harris.
To get to know your child better and to build a relationship with your child, I go in order from my class list and eat lunch with each child every Tuesday. The lunch student of the week gets to choose a lunch buddy, and together we will eat lunch in our classroom for a time of fellowship as friends.
Book Orders
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I will send home Scholastic book order forms each month throughout the school year. These books are very reasonably priced, and I encourage you take this opportunity to build up your child’s home library. Any book purchased earns our class points towards earning free books and other classroom resources to enhance learning in our classroom. Please make checks payable to the book club (NOT to me or HES!!) when placing orders. You can order online using an online code I will send with the book order.
NO CASH PLEASE
Transportation
*Please remember to send a signed note if your child will be picked up early, will go on a different bus, or will be picked up by a different person (someone other than the usual approved guardian). If transportation plans change throughout the day, please send a note via fax to the school with your signature on it authorizing the change. Our school’s fax number is (270) 538-4061. In effort to keep your child safe an email or a phone call will not safely identify you.
*Please call the school to let us know if your child will be absent.
*Please do not send your child to school if he/she has had a fever, diarrhea, or vomited in the previous 24 hours. This is for the well being of the others in the classroom.
Depratmentalized Classrooms
This is a new concept this year. I am your child’s homeroom teacher, but your child will be traveling to different classrooms for different content areas. I will teach reading to the entire third grade. Mrs. Barnett will teach math to the entire third grade. Mrs. Collins will be teach writing to the entire third grade. If you need to contact Mrs. Collins or Mrs. Barnett please email: