I grew up in Jackson and graduated from North Carolina State.

I received my Masters in Elementary Ed.

I love basketball, soccer, tennis and reading to my daughter.

I have been teaching for 16 years. I’ve taught 2nd , 7th , and 8th grades but

third is my favorite.My Daughter started 1st grade this

year.My Wife teaches Kindergarten.

Your child has entered a new and exciting stage of his/her educational journey.

This year your child makes the transition from “learning to read” to

“reading to learn.”My goal is to help your child feel and be successful and prepare him/her for the

challenges ahead.

Will be assigned Monday-ThursdayA homework grade will be given in each subjectWritten assignments should take approximately

30 minutesAll homework is written in the front of the roomHomework Procedure/Copy & FaxHome Link Binder is designed to be your child’s

link between home and schoolRecord “Next Week’s” Tests and QuizzesMissing Homework Sheet in Monday Marks FolderMonday Marks Folder

Your child will be graded from all of the following:

Class ParticipationI love to hear what your child has to say. Their comments are valuable and will add a lot to every lesson.

HomeworkAssessments (Tests & Quizzes)Classwork

First time having letter grades

A+ 98-100 C+ 78-79A 97-93 C 77-73A- 92-90 C- 72-70

B+ 88-89 D 60-69 B 87-83B- 82-80 F 59 or less

Respect all people and property.

Be Responsible.

Think

Be a good listener.

Class Dojo Every student starts out on the week on zero

Loses points for disrupting class and not following class or school rules.

Gains points for following class rules.

At the end of each week you get sent a report about their week.

Try to focus on the positive and not necessarily the negative.

Parent VolunteersMust fill out Classroom Helper Form

Book TalkBook BasketMystery ReaderSnack ParentsCraft Parents

Books for BirthdaysAllowed to bring in a treat, as long as it fits in

the school’s nutrition policy.If you want you can come in to be a birthday

reader.If you want you can donate the book you read

to the class to our library.

Please feel free to contact me via phone or e-mail.

My e-mail address is millerj@millstone.k12.nj.us

Visit my webpage!www.millstone.k12.nj.us/teachers/millerj

• Greeting• Activity

Morning Meeting not only builds community but also reinforces both social and academic skills.

.SOCIAL STUDIES ALIVE

Our Community and Beyondawareness about local and global

communities where they liveresponsibilities within those

communitiesbasics of geography to locate

communities on a globe. different cultures and public service

roles

What is the format of Reader's Workshop?Reader's Workshop uses a similar format to Writer’s

Workshop. There are several consistent components but there is much variation on how it is implemented in different classrooms.

• Mini-lessons on some aspect of literature or a reading strategy.• Independent Reading Time, where students keep a journal and respond to the literature in terms of what they think or how they feel about what they are reading.• Sharing Time where students share with another person their journal entries and the other person gives feedback.

During Independent Reading Time, the teacher engages in student conferences on an individual or group basis. Teachers can also engage in guided reading with groups of students who need additional support.

Shared Reading Shared reading allows students to participate in reading material that may be

beyond their reading levels. The teacher models a reading strategy to the whole class using enlarged text (ex. big books, basal anthology story, morning message on chart paper, Smart board message). Students all have access to and can interact with the text.

Guided Reading Guided reading is designed to help students learn how to problem solve

increasingly challenging texts with understanding and fluency.The teacher works with small groups of students reading at similar levels, selects and introduces texts to readers, supports individual students as they read instructional level texts and engages the readers in a discussion after reading.

Students are grouped and regrouped according to ongoing observation and assessment by the teacher. The amount of support given by the teacher varies with the reading skill of students in a group. Each child is responsible for problem solving the entire text (or portion of it if reading a longer book) with support from the teacher as needed.

Writers Workshop is a framework for writing instruction and practice in the classroom.

“Writers read. Writers read texts of all sorts, and we read as insiders, aiming to learn specific strategies for writing well.”

Lucy Caulkins

“For me, writing is exploration; and most of the time, I'm surprised where the journey takes me.” Jack Dann, Writer, Editor, Writing Teacher

Writers Workshop follows a predictable pattern of: Mini-lessons (5-10 minutes)Independent Writing (20-30 minutes)Conferencing (during independent writing)Sharing (5-10 minutes)

TOTAL WRITING WORKSHOP TIME: 30-50 minutes

Writers Notebook

• Constant composition - These may lead to larger pieces of writing … they may not.

A place to writeWhat moves you?

Heart Mapping What really matters? What in my life, in this world, do I never want to forget? What haunts me?

• Odd facts, questions, odds and ends, lists, insights, quotes

• Stop and smell the roses• Conversations, language, words

it contributes to intelligence it develops initiative it develops courage it contributes to reading by encouraging the

student to be an active participant in the learning process, by helping the student to know sound-symbol relations, and by contributing to their reading comprehension

it contributes to learning in the field of mathematics

5 Ways writing contributes to the development of a person

“Writers do not write with words and convention alone; writers write above all with meaning. Children will invest themselves more in their writing if they are allowed – indeed, if they are taught – to select their own topics and to write about subjects that are important to them.”

-Lucy Caulkins

Words Their WayWord Study: A word study approach is one which includes spelling, phonics and vocabulary. Each part supports a learner as a reader and a writer. Our approach to word study includes:

•Spelling Patterns: Knowing spelling patterns helps students notice and use larger parts of words. Patterns are helpful to students in writing words because they can quickly produce the patterns rather than work with individual sounds or letters.

•High Frequency Words: Knowing a large number of high frequency words is extremely useful for students as they grow as readers and writers. Automatically recognizing these words allows students time to solve other new words. Students continually add to their bank of high frequency words.

Words Their Way•Meaning and Vocabulary: It is important for students to know the meanings of the words in texts they read and write. This is central to comprehension. It is essential that students expand their listening, speaking, reading and writing vocabularies so that they can develop more complex understandings of words they already know. Meanings of words are often determined by context, along with pronouncing words correctly.

•Word Structure: Since words are built according to rules, looking at the structure of words will help students learn how words are related to one another and how they can be changed by adding letters, letter clusters, and larger word parts.

•Word Solving Actions: This focuses on the strategic moves readers and writers make when they use their knowledge of the language system while reading and writing continuous text.

Adapted from: The Continuum of Literacy Learning by

Irene Fountas and Gay Sue Pinnell, 2007 Words their Way by Donald Bear

**Writing counts in all subject areas.

Topics to be Covered this year:Review Subtraction Facts and Number SenseSubtraction with regroupingGraphingMultiplication and DivisionGeometryProbabilityProblem Solving and Open Ended Responses All of these concepts will be reinforced with fun

games and manipulatives.

In Everyday Math you can expect to see…A problem solving approach based on

everyday situationsAn instructional approach that revisits

concepts regularly (spiral curriculum)Frequent practice of basic skills, often

through gamesLessons based on activities and

discussion, not a textbookMathematical content that goes

beyond basic arithmetic

A Spiraling Curriculum…Mastery of mathematics

concepts and skills comes with repeated exposure and practice, not after just one lesson

Enables new connections and building on what has already been learned while learning more difficult and challenging content

Third Grade Curriculum

Science

Topics to be Covered this year:

The Solar System (Sun, Moon, and Earth)EnergyAnimals and their habitatPlant Life

Scientific Method

Projects ExperimentsCorrelate with

unitsSpacesuit

CreationVirtual ZooTerrariumsEnergy Homes

Completed in class

Benefits of hands-on learningUnderstandingProvide real world

application of material

Parent Volunteers