Welcome to 3 rd Grade

1. Welcome to 3rd Grade Mrs. Ryan Room 313

2. About Mrs. Ryan • Teaching and working in District 97 the past four years in grades 1-5 • Live in Oak Park with my husband and two sons • Love to swim, read, and work in the garden • Attended 3rd grade in Tennessee, then moved to and grew up in Miami, FL

3. Communication • Email: aryan@op97.org (preferred) *Please let me know if you have not received an email from me. • Longfellow 708-524-3060 (office) • Teacher Web Pages www.op97.org/aryan • Notes in Assignment Notebook and Home Folder

4. Technology • Elmo Document Reader, Apple TV • Links on my website • Netbooks • Connect Ed • 1:1 iPad Initiative (TBA Informational Night, Website, Look for Table Downstairs)

5. Progress Monitoring • Family Conferences (October and January) • Report Cards (December, March, June) The report cards will be different this year.  The district hasredesigned the report cards to be more in line with our curriculum. This year our instruction will be driven by the Common Core State Standards, and these standards will be on our report cards.  Students will no longer receive an overall grade in reading and math, but instead will be assessed as to whether or not they exceed, are proficient with, are approaching proficiency with, or are not proficient with a standard.  The report card will explain the delineation between these achievements.  This work is just wrapping up so I do not have a sample to show you, but we can discuss this further at our mid-quarter conferences. • CCSS Parent Guides http://www.op97.org/teach-learn/documents/Grade3.pdf

6. Assessments • District report cards are being revamped to align with the Common Core Standards • ISATs – math and reading (week of March 3rd) • Fluency checks (DIBELS) 3x/year • MAP testing (Measurement of Academic Progress), reading and math computer tests taken 3x/year • Weekly Spelling tests • Formative and Summative aligned with Common Core

7. What is the focus of 3rd Grade Math • Continue to develop strategies for addition and subtraction within 1000 • Multiplication and Division Concepts • Number Sense and Place Value • Fact Fluency of products with factors up to 10 • Fraction Concepts • Measurement and Data • Geometry • Moving away from rote memorization and helping students develop strategies for problem solving. More real world word problems. • Everyday Math materials will be used to supplement the Common Core Math Curriculum

8. What is the focus of 3rd grade Writing • Writing – Narrative, Persuasive, Expository/Research • Multiple modeled writing opportunities • Following 6 +1 Writing Traits in assignment notebook (ideas, organization, voice, word choice, conventions, sentence fluency, publishing) • Writing in response to literature, daily quick writes, Monday Morning Memo, practice revising and editing • Incorporate Technology • Check back section of assignment notebook for writing resource pages

9. What is the focus for 3rd grade Language Arts • Grammar Practice (Grammar Books) • Building Vocabulary (prefixes, suffixes, root words) • Daily Language Review (editing practice, fact vs. opinion, spelling, using context clues, etc.) • Spelling (spelling activities, weekly pre-and post-tests, Spelling City)

10. What is the focus for 3rd Grade Reading • Reading various genres of Literature • Reading Informational Text (Time for Kids, Scholastic, etc.) • Practicing many reading strategies (building background knowledge, monitoring, inferring, summarizing, predicting, determining what is important) • Passport to Reading: Meets 4x/week with various teachers, school-wide initiatives, meets need of all learners, initial screening process, groups are fluid and change often • Independent reading (20 min/night, chapter book at school) • Fluency (benchmark is 110 words/min, read aloud practice) • The Treasures Materials will be used to supplement the Common Core Curriculum

11. Science & Social Studies Social Studies Units: Citizenship, Government, Cultures, Economics, Geography, History • Read Unit Family Letters that go home • Scholastic News will address current events Science • Earth: phases of the moon, day/night, solar and lunar eclipse • Physical: Newton’s Laws of Motion/Simple Machines • Life: Plant Growth and Development • No Textbook – Science literature to take home

12. Oak Park Education Foundation • Non-profit organization separate from District 97 • Provides a variety of excellent programs for our schools • Third graders participate in “Geared Up Legos” which brings engineering, physical science, math, and technology challenges to our students. Geared Up uses Lego motorized mechanism sets to teach exciting hands-on lessons, with students testing their own ides and working in teams of two. • Science Alliance (Global Village) – Scientist Sally • To learn more visit www.OPEF.org

13. Homework • Approximately 30 minutes/night which will mostly include reading for 20 minutes, studying spelling words, and math pages as needed, and unfinished classwork. • Assignment Notebooks should be updated and signed daily (Bear Necessity) • RedHome Folder brought home each night, even if empty

14. Specials Schedule Monday Music Tuesday Spanish & Gym Wednesday Library Thursday Art Friday Spanish & Music

15. Snacks and Celebrations • Snacks are fresh fruits and vegetables only • Students should bring a water bottle daily filled with water only • Non-food celebrations (games, crafts) • Students may bring in a small party favor for birthday celebrations (stickers, pencils, etc.), in lieu of birthday treats

16. Rewards & Consequences • PBIS (Positive Behavior Intervention and Support) • Bear Necessities • Weekly Raffle • “How I’m Doing”, Green (sticker on star chart), Yellow (warning, no sticker), Red (phone call, note, or email home) • Treasure Chest • Gem Jar • Whole class reward

17. Grown – Up Homework(Please turn in before you leave) • Walking Fieldtrip Permission Slip • Emergency Contact Form - please note student ID on form. This is needed to pay fees online. • Parent Volunteer Form • Note to your child