BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHT PACKET:
Dear
Parents,
I
would like to welcome you all to room 14 and the 3rd grade here at
Dilworth Elementary. I look
forward to working with your children this year. I hope to provide them with the social and academic skills
that they will need in order to be responsible and productive citizens.
Classroom Management
Working together, the class has come up with a set of agreements to ensure that our days run smoothly. Students have all agreed to the following:
- Always be kind
- Always be respectful
- Always be safe
- Always raise a quiet hand
- Always follow directions
- Always cooperate with others
Students
are aware of the consequences if they decide not to follow any of the
agreements. Warnings are given as
a chance to correct their behavior.
Students who persist will miss part of recess so that the two of us may
sit down and discuss the problem and possible solutions. If the problem still does not improve,
then he/she will sit down with me again during recess and fill out an Action
Plan, which will need to be signed and returned the following day.
Homework
It
is important that there be a block of time set aside each night for your child
to complete homework, 20-30 minutes for 3rd grade. Homework is meant to be a review and done
independently. Parents are
expected to help as needed and to check that the work is complete. I expect all homework to be returned
the following day unless otherwise noted.
Please ask your child about their homework log and help him/her to
develop organizational skills this year.
Homework
will generally be assigned Monday through Thursday and not given on weekends or
holidays. Students may sometimes need to work on long- term projects on
weekends (the use of time management on the students part will determine
this). Be sure to watch your
child’s homework log, and newsletters for due dates of special reports and/or
projects as well as for test dates.
Every
Friday, the Friday Folder will be sent home with completed work samples as well
as notes and information from the school.
Please look through these with your child, sign, and send the folder
back to school every Monday.
Communication
Communication
is the key to making this year a productive one for your child. Since my job is to educate your child,
we will be in close contact throughout the year. Conferences are scheduled in October to set individual goals
for achievement. This year they will take place October 4-10. We will be talking about where your
child currently is and where we want them to be by the end of the school
year. Progress reports will
be sent home only for those who are not meeting grade level standards. Report
cards come home 3 times a year on November 30, March 22, and the last day of
school in June. If you have
social or academic concerns about the school day please send a note with your
child, call me at school at 253-2850 ext. 214, or email at
barkve_jessica@cusdk8.org. Also please be sure to check out our classroom
website when you have the chance.
The address for our site is http://dilworthroom14.blogspot.com/
I try to update it as often as possible with my classroom newsletters, important
dates, spirit days, etc. Please
let me know any way that I can assist your family with your child’s learning
this year.
Math
The
main priority for math instruction is teaching for understanding. Students will be taught to follow
directions and to analyze their own errors. They are always allowed to make mistakes but it is important
that they learn from them. It is also VERY important that students show all their work when completing math
assignments even if they can do the math in their head. A portion of the focus in math is on
the process students go through to solve problems, not just the result. Much of the grades for this
subject will be based on end of chapter tests, unit tests, class participation,
class work and homework assignments.
We will be using the district adopted text, Houghton Mifflin Mathematics, as well as other supplemental materials
this year.
Reading/Language Arts
The
district has adopted the Houghton Mifflin Reading program for all grades. We will occasionally be using this
series as well as other supplements such as National Geographic Explorer
Magazine throughout the
year. In addition, we will be
using Step Up To Writing
to teach writing skills throughout the year. It is important that each student spend time out side of
class reading, I recommend no less than 20 minutes a night. I will be assigning a book report once
a trimester and will give more details when they are assigned.
Students
will write in all subject areas.
Many assignments are graded for content only and are intended to foster
creative thinking and joy in writing.
At other times, the writing process is emphasized through pre-writing,
drafting, revising, editing, and publishing.
Spelling
Most
spelling practice will be completed for homework this year. Each child will be
working on an individual list and set of activities throughout the week. I will be pre-testing students at the
beginning of the week on a large set of words. The first 10-15 words that they spell incorrectly will
become their spelling words for the week.
After completing their spelling activities they will once again be
tested on their words at the end of the week (usually Friday).
Social Studies
We
are using the social studies curriculum by Scott Foresman, which was selected by
the district and meets the California State standards.. Much of the focus will
be on California and the different regions found here and how people adapt to
their surrounding in order to build communities. Students will learn about the
past and be able to sequence some historical events.
Science
The
science curriculum is composed of three units of study that meet the state
standards. The three units of
study will be Structures of Life, Sun, Moon, and Stars, and Matter and Energy.
These units are put together by the district and focus on inquiry, making
observations, predicting, analyzing, and concluding results. These units are very hands on. We will begin the year with Matter and
Energy. Also throughout the
year we will look into Too Good For Drugs, the districts drug and alcohol
awareness program.
Fine Arts/Music
Art
and Music activities will be interspersed throughout the school year. Students will receive 30 minutes of
music instruction weekly with Ms. Weston. In addition we will complete art activities
in class. Many of the activities
will focus on developing particular skills or will tie in with what we are
working on in the academic areas.
Technology
Technology
will be integrated into the curriculum when ever appropriate. Students will have access to the
computer lab for various units of study. At the beginning of the year, third
grade students will participate in a program that helps them to develop
keyboarding skills.
Physical Education
Students
will have P.E. this year once a week for 30 minutes with a P.E. teacher where
they will participate in a variety of activities. The remaining of their P.E. will be with me during the
week. It would be wise to
encourage children to wear comfortable attire those days, especially
shoes. We also will be using a new
program brought to the district by Santa Clara County called Fit For Learning,
which teaches children the importance of making healthy choices for themselves
involving diet and exercise.
Book Clubs
I
will be sending home book orders approximately once a month with your child. You
are under no obligation to buy anything. I will send
home forms from Scholastic Lucky and any other special editions that look
good. These clubs offer a variety
of books and many different reading levels. They are a great way to add to your child’s library and the
prices are usually very good! The
more books ordered by you, the more bonus points that the class gets, and the
more books that I can get to add to our classroom library.
Birthdays
Birthdays
are a very special time in a child’s life. If you would like to celebrate your child’s birthday with
the entire class, please let me know a week in advance. In order to promote healthy choices for
children and because of food allergies that many students have, I ask that you
not send in cookies, cupcakes, or other sweet treats. A box of juice and/or a goody bag (pencils, stickers, etc)
work well. You could also donate a book to the classroom or the Dilworth
Library instead. Students with birthdays in the summer are also invited to
celebrate during the school year.
If your child is going to have a birthday party, please make sure that
unless EVERYONE in the class is invited, invitations are not to be passed out
at school. You will need to
arrange for invitations to be given outside of school. This will prevent hurt feelings because
someone was left out.
Field Trips
We
have planned a number of wonderful and exciting field trips for the year that
will tie into the 3rd grade curriculum. You will get permission slips before
all field trips. If you are
interested in chaperoning any of our trips just volunteer on the permission
slip. Remember that even
chaperones on field trips must have a current PPD (TB) test on file with the
office. I will try to inform
you of all the dates as early as possible so that you can make arrangements
ahead of time. We make a field
trip T-shirt four each of our students to wear on the field trips. This way it is easy for us to spot our
students. We are asking for a $10
donation to cover the cost of the shirts.
Checks should be made out to Jessica Barkve. If you wish to use last years shirt that is fine, just
please send in your child’s shirt so that I have it for all our field
trips. I will have the shirts by
our first trip.
I
look forward to a wonderful year of working together with you and your child.
Thank
you,
Jessica
Barkve
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