Welcome to Back to School Night!

• Please sign up for a Parent-Teacher conference. Kindly reserve the evening times for working parents.

• Sign out the math student handbook.

• Add your email to the class list if you are interested in doing so.

• Respond to your child’s letter.

Expectations and Goals

• Positive, risk-free learning environment

• Students will feel supported and appropriately challenged

• Goals for StudentsBehavior expectations: Be kind! Work hard!Build responsibility / independenceLearn to set goals and achieve themPractice “Habits of Mind”Understand that mistakes are part of learning

• Home and school work as a team!Send in a note or call if you have a question or concern

Homework Policy• Purpose: To reinforce and maintain skills learned in

class; foster a sense of responsibility• Law of Diminishing Returns:

– The tendency for a continuing application of effort or skill toward a particular project or goal to decline in effectiveness after a certain level of result has been achieved.

• Given Monday – Thursday nights• Reading and log every night, including weekends

and vacationsTime increases throughout the year

• Usually math, reading, another subject• Parents supervise, but do not correct• Effort – Content and Appearance• Complete homework in library during recess

• Set a daily time and place (routine)• Quiet place with few distractions• Have necessary supplies (sharpened

pencils, post-its, looseleaf paper)• Pack backpack as soon as homework is

completed• Offer support and praise, but do not

complete the homework for your child

Homework Tips

What to Expect in 3rd Grade

• Classwork and Homework– Not all work is graded, but is reviewed– Students usually check themselves– Checked Work folder

• Content Area Tests– Emphasis not on grade, but what student

needs to work on– Sign and return

•Teachers College workshop model•Common Core Learning Standards

• Developing critical thinking skills• Reading many different genres• Build fluency and comprehension• Develop vocabulary!

•We need your help!• Reading levels –> M-P• Time spent reading Just Right Books!• Complete reading logs

Reading Workshop

Reading Levels ExplainedLevels K-M Levels N-Q

Plot • Single Plot Line• Problem + solution• Skill: Hold onto and retell

longer stories

• May have multiple plots• Not always a solution• Skill: Hold onto stories over a

series; more inferential and interpretive

Characters • Single Trait• Author tells the reader• Feelings change, not

character

• Multiple traits – more complex• Need to infer traits• Ambivalence• Character changes over time

Tricky Parts • Words: Need to figure out words that may not be every day vocabulary and/or words that are specific to a topic

• Phrases / paragraphs• More figurative language (e.g.

idioms)• Main character not always

truthful

Common Core

• Compare characters and plots across books

• Author’s purpose

• Compare characters and plots across books

• Author’s purpose

Reading Levels ExplainedReading Level

Characteristics of Reader

Book Titles

M • Knows the characteristics of a range of genres

• Understands more elaborate plots and multiple characters that develop and change over time

• Identifies structure of texts (description, compare and contrast, problem and solution, cause and effect)

• Word solving is smooth and automatic with both oral and silent reading

• Can read and understand descriptive words, some complex content‐specific words, and some technical words

• Horrible Harry

• Song Lee

• Arthur’s …

• Magic Tree House

• The Littles

• Junie B. Jones*

• The Bailey School Kids

• Berenstein Bears

• Sports Fiction by Matt Christopher

Reading Levels Explained

Reading Level

Characteristics of Reader

Book Titles

P • Identifies the characteristics of a full range of genres

• Identifies underlying organizational structures and uses them to help navigate through text

• Processes lengthy, complex sentences, containing prepositional phrases, introductory clauses, and lists of nouns, verbs, or adjectives

• Solves new vocabulary words, some defined in the text and some unexplained

• Most word solving is unconscious and automatic; little overt problem solving needed

• Can read and understand descriptive words, some complex content‐specific words, and some technical words

• Magic School Bus

• Encyclopedia Brown

• Time Warp Trio

• Worst Witch

K, L,and M Readers

Dorothy is friendly. The problem is she gets taken to Oz by a tornado. It gets solved when she uses her magic shoes to get home.

N, O, P & Q Readers

All of the above and…I noticed that the characters all said one thing but acted in a different way, For example, the Scarecrow said he was not smart but he always finds a way to solve their problems. I also noticed that Dorothy had to solve many little problems before she could solve her big problem of getting home.

R, S, and T Readers

All of the above and…I noticed that the setting seemed like a character, too. Let me explain…

U, V, and W Readers

All of the above and…discuss theme and symbolism.

X,Y, and Z Readers

All of the above and… The Wizard of Oz is a satire of the Depression / Dust Bowl era in American history. Let me compare that to another satire called Gulliver’s Travels.

Reading Levels ExplainedHow Readers at Each Band Would Comprehend The Wizard of Oz

• Teachers College Workshop model• Writing in different genres• Process

– Collecting seed ideas– Drafting– Revising & Editing– Publishing– Sharing

Writing Workshop

Third Grade TC Units of Study 2013-2014

Months Reading Writing

September/October Unit 1: Building a Reading Life9/3-10/11

Unit 1: Crafting True Stories9/3-10/11

October/ November Unit 2: Studying Characters Across Series in Book Clubs

10/15-11/22

Unit 2: The Art of Information Writing10/15-11/27

November/December Unit 3: Nonfiction Reading: Reading to Get the Text

11/25-12/20

Unit 3: Changing the World: Persuasive Speeches, Petitions and Editorials

12/2-1/31

December/ January Unit 4: Learning Through Reading: Countries Around the World

1/6-2/7

 

February Unit 5: Social Issues Book Clubs2/10-3/7

Unit 4: 3rd Grade Literary Essay2/3-2/28

March Unit 6: Test Preparation3/3-3/28

Unit 5: Test Preparation3/3-3/28

April/May Unit 7: Biography Book Clubs4/23-5/22

Unit 6: Poetry4/23-5/16

May/June Unit 8: Mystery Book Clubs5/27-6/20

Unit 7: Once Upon a Time: Adapting and Writing Fairy Tales

5/19-6/20

• Words Their Way program• Differentiated and

developmentally based• Word sorts• Goal is to transfer to reading and writing

Word Study

Blending of different programs with principles of Math in the City and Investigations

Student Handbook is a tool for explaining math concepts – Please sign out!

Workshop model where students explore math – working through the process builds understanding

Repertoire of different strategies Emphasis on number sense to help students

understand math concepts Algorithms taught after explorations Fact challenges

Math

Math1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 + 9 =

300- 198_______________________

open number line

56 + 42 decomposing numbers

50 + 40 6 + 2

Units of Study– Countries Around the World, Starting with the U.S.– Learning about a Far Away Country: Brazil– China: Similar in Some Ways, Different in Others– Learning About Cultures Around the World

through Literature

Units of Study– Measuring Matter– Water– Living Earth

Social Studies

Science

Field Trips

Brookville Outdoor Educational Center Wednesday, October 30th

3 chaperones per class

Green Meadows Farm: Festival of Cultures

End of May/beginning June 3 chaperones per class

Testing

• Teachers College Reading Assessments• COGAT Practice Test (October 1)• COGAT Test (October 2-4)• New York State ELA Test (April 1-3)• New York State Math Test (April 30 – May 2)• Content area tests will be announced in

advance

Miscellaneous• Communication

– Note in Boomerang folder or email – Emails:

• jharrington@hewlett-woodmere.net• nkimkowski@hewlett-woodmere.net

• Snack – Please send a healthy snack!– Allergies! We are a nut-free class!

• Lunch – Please send money in a sealed envelope labeled with the child’s

name.– Send with child – avoid drop-offs please

• Birthdays– Celebrated once per month; coordinated by class moms

• Class Moms– Mrs. Rocha– Mrs. Gerstin

• Scholastic Book Orders– Order online at any time!– Link on my teacher page

Miscellaneous

Thank you for coming to Back to School

Night!Remember…•Please sign up for a Parent-Teacher conference. Kindly reserve the evening times for working parents.•Sign out the math student handbook.•Add your email to the class list if you are interested in doing so.•Respond to your child’s letter.