August 18, 2008
Dear Parents and Students,
Welcome to third grade! I am very excited to begin this new school year with you and I wanted to take a few minutes to introduce myself and explain some important information that will help all of us do our best and have a happy and enjoyable school year.
Third grade is a turning point in the elementary education system. The curriculum is considerably more challenging than in previous years. This year also begins the FCAT testing; therefore I will require a great amount of effort to be put forth on all assignments and classroom participation from each student everyday.
My expectations for conduct and academic standards are high. To be successful this year it is going to take a cooperation of parents, teacher and students. This requires a great amount of communication for all of us. I am looking forward to meeting and getting to know each one of you and I am hoping that if you have any questions or concerns you will contact me right away. I can be reached by calling the school at 446-6720 or by email at carrollj@flagler.k12.fl.us . Email is the best way to communicate with me because I check it periodically throughout the day.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Carroll
Please look through the packet provided to find: Class schedule, Supply list, and other important information about our classroom procedures.
Communication:
Communication between home and school is vital to your child’s success in the classroom. To keep you informed, I plan to send home a folder with papers and tests your child has completed in all areas of the curriculum every Monday. The folder may also contain a newsletter from me sharing noteworthy classroom news, important information from the school administration or specific notes regarding your child. I will also occasionally write notes in the student’s daily planner and I would appreciate you checking the planner daily and initialing it so that I can make sure that we continue to have open lines of communication. I will also look in these places for notes and information from you. It is just a couple of options for communication that seem to work well.
Your child’s Monday Folder may contain papers with low scores. Please do not be overly concerned with an occasional low score on daily work; however, if you begin to see several low scores in a row please contact me. I will also let you know if I see an area of concern. Low scores on tests are completely different. By the time I assess the students on a skill they should be able to master the skill and therefore no low test scores are acceptable.
Homework:
Homework has a definite place in the education process. It is an extension of the learning experiences children have during the instructional day. I will assign homework each week on Monday and it is to be completed and returned by Friday of each week. Periodically throughout the year students will be required to complete a long term project which will have a set date that may extend beyond the normal Friday homework deadline and may require some additional weekend time.Absences:
Should your child be absent, please send a note or call the WES Sick Line to report the absence. All missed work will be placed in a folder for them to complete upon returning. Should your child be absent for more than a day, they will have one day for each absent day to complete missed work (ex. absent 4 days = 4 days to complete work). No credit for missing assignments will be given after that date. If you contact me the day before an absence or the morning of early I will be happy to get the work ready and send it to the office for you to pick up.
Transportation:
Your child’s safety is of the utmost importance. A verbal message form your child is not sufficient for me to allow him/her to leave the school other than the records on file indicate. Therefore, your child must give me a dated and signed note from you if you wish to make a change for a particular day.
Classroom Website:
Please check out classroom website often. It will include information about the classroom, projects, links to great websites that can be a wonderful home extension of the school day. Our classroom textbooks are also links to the website so that students do not have to lug home those heavy books to study or complete work.
Volunteers:
I would love to have parent volunteers. It is such a wonderful experience for both parents and students to interact during the school day. Jobs can be provided at your comfort level. You will not be asked to help a child with math if you feel uncomfortable doing so. You will need to fill out the volunteer form at the front desk of school. If you need a form let me know and I will send one home with your child.
Comfort:
We all learn best when we are physically comfortable. There are four areas to address in that regard.
1. Restroom- I have an open policy regarding restroom use; I only ask that students not leave their seats during the teaching of a lesson and until assignment directions have been given if at all possible. However, if your child seems to spend an inordinate amount of time in the restroom, I will contact you to discuss the situation. Also, if your child has any health problems that would cause them to need to use the restroom frequently, please advise me of the nature of the problem.
2. Water- If your child would like to have a bottle of water at their desk for emergency drinks, a small container may be brought to school. Should the drink become a distraction, the bottle will be removed. We also have a drinking fountain available in the classroom.
3. Temperature- The temperature in our classroom may be hotter or cooler than is comfortable for your child. I would suggest layering when dressing in the morning or leaving a sweater here at school as I cannot adjust the thermostat.
4. Hunger- We will be eating lunch at 12:00-12:30. This is earlier than previous years so I will be allowing a snack time in the afternoon to hold off hunger. Snacks are meant to provide additional energy; therefore I would like snacks to be healthy snacks not candy, chips or cupcakes.
Classroom Schedule:
9:00-9:30 Morning procedures and review activities.
9:30-11:00 Reading Block
11:00-11:30 Social Studies
11:30-12:00 Writing
12:00-12:40 Special Area
12:45-1:15 Lunch
1:15-1:45 P.E.
1:45-2:45 Math
2:45-3:15 Science
3:15-3:25 Dismissal
Supply List:
1 5- subject spiral notebook
5 pocket Folders
1 pack 3x5 index cards
1 pack 3x3 yellow post it notes2
packs of pencils
3 packs of wide ruled paper
1 box of gallon or quart sized zip lock bags
1 box of tissues
1 pack of crayons, colored pencils or markers (your choice)
2 glue sticks
1 pair of scissors
1 pack fine point expo markers
1 headphones
( These will be used with the lap tops. They can be headphones from the walk man or home computer. These can be found at the dollar stores often.)
(Having extra folders, notebooks, paper and pencils on hand is a great idea as they get used up quickly. They are least expensive this time of year to stock up on them!)
Special Area Schedule for the Year
You may want to hang this on the refrigerator or someone where you will see it often so the students are dressed appropriately for P.E. days.
August 18-September 5: Health
September 8-September 26: Technology
September 29-October 21: P.E. Coach Cocchi
October 22-November 14: Music
November 17-December 5: P.E. Coach Griffis
December 8- January 15: Art
January 20- February 6: Health
February 9- February 27: Technology
March 2-March 24: P.E. Coach Cocchi
March 25-April 24: Music
April 27- May 15 P.E. Coach Griffis
May 18-June 5: Art