Classroom Expectations
BEAR

Be respectful of others’ space and property.
Eyes and ears open during instructions.
Always do your best.
Raise your hand before speaking.

Consequences &
Behavior Interventions

BLUE - Good Behavior

1st offense
YELLOW - Warning!

2nd offense
ORANGE - Separated from classmates AND loss of recess.

3rd offense
RED - Phone call home AND write three ways to improve behavior.

THIRD GRADE POLICIES

Green Homework Folders:
Homework folders come home Monday – Thursday nights. Please sign the homework sheet every night after checking off assignments to make sure they have been completed and accounted for. The use of the homework sheet is a positive way of teaching your child organization skills and responsibility. It is also an excellent communication tool between parent and teacher.
*Please note: If your child is bringing home a lot of work to complete each day, this could be a sign that he/she is not using time wisely at school.

Seatwork & Homework:
Both seatwork and homework is written on the homework sheet that comes home nightly. The seatwork that was not completed during the day becomes homework to be finished at home. Students must have all homework completed and turned in the next day. Absences have an extra day.

Parent Help:
1) Please check over your child’s work for errors, especially spelling errors. Points will be deducted if the words are third grade level. On comprehension questions, please help your child through self-discovery. It is important that students learn on their own how to answer in complete sentences using as much information from the question as possible.
2) For Creative Writing, I need your help with editing. Please edit your child’s assignments using the editing symbols on a sheet in one of the plastics inside the homework folder.
3) For Art and Computers, if you have a love of art, technology, or a special talent, please let me know! 

Appointments:
If possible, make doctor/dentist/etc. appointments in the afternoon (preferably after school). When students come late to school, they miss several lessons that need to be made up. The missed work becomes homework. Should your student become ill, please call the office and request the day’s work for the day your child is ill. It will be sent home and your child will not fall behind.

Money:
Please send money to school in a sealed envelope with name, amount, and reason written on it. Make sure it is the exact amount or a check.

Snacks:
Please send a small snack with your student to eat during morning break time. Make sure snack is clearly labeled with a name. Try to stay away from sugary, sticky treats.

Materials:
Please send your child to school with only what is needed for class. Do NOT allow them to bring something to school that they might lose or is not appropriate for classtime.

Classroom Library:
Students are allowed to check out books from the classroom library during their free time. Please be sure that the books get returned. I have lost hundreds of dollars of books through the years as the books are taken home and are never returned!

Activity Centers:
These areas are the classroom library, listening center, art center, computers, and puzzles. These centers are mostly used during Friday’s Center Time.

Creative Writing:
We work throughout the week on creative writing skills. The Six Traits of Writing will be followed: Ideas, Organization, Voice, Word Choice, Sentence Fluency, & Conventions. Emphasize will be place upon creativity, capitalization, punctuation, spelling, and complete sentences. Students will also be introduced to Power Writing, a structure writing tool. Please, please help with editing your child’s papers.

Math Competency Time Tests:
There are standards of competency in memorization of basic math operations.
Addition/Subtraction timed test goal is 97% correct in 3 min. by December. Multiplication/Division timed test goal is 97% correct in 5 min. by May. Your child will be time tested for math facts on a regular basis. A “Basic Facts: evaluation of S (satisfactory) or N (needs improvement) will be included along with the math grade on the report card.

Grading Scale:
Honor roll begins in third grade. First Honors is all “A” grades. Second Honors is a combination of “A” and “B” grades.

A = 100 – 93
B =  92 – 85
C =  84 – 77
D =  76 – 70
F =  69 and below

Miscellaneous
Birthday Treats: Please let me know if you will be sending a treat. The last weeks of school will be used to honor summer birthdays in June and July.

Parties: For Christmas and Valentine’s Day, I will collect $1.00 per student per party and ask for a food contribution. Thank you in advance for your generosity.

Third grade is a very important year. Many new skills are covered. Keeping up with classwork and homework is extremely necessary.
            Parents, please make homework a top priority by scheduling 30 to 40 minutes each day for your child to study spelling, multiplication facts, and complete classwork and homework. Children need routine and structure to be successful. Before your child begins his/her nightly assignments, be sure to check his/her green folder and homework sheet.

Rationale for Assigning Homework:
Homework is important because it teaches responsibility and helps students develop good study habits. In addition, homework helps to reinforce lessons that have been learned in class, and helps prepare students for upcoming lessons and tests.

When is Homework Assigned?
Homework is assigned Monday through Thursday. Although homework is not assigned on Friday, your child may have classwork that needs to be completed. Students should study spelling, math facts, and read on a daily basis. This does not have to take a long time. Just 10 or 15 minutes a day spent reviewing spelling and math facts can significantly help your child's performance on tests.
If for some reason no homework is assigned on a designated homework day, your child should still spend some time reading or studying.

Homework Expectations:
Usually, homework should not take more than 30 minutes a night. In addition, time should be set aside daily for independent reading, studying spelling, and studying math facts.  
Please encourage your child to do his/her best work. Homework should be neat. All written work should be done in pencil. Homework will not be accepted if written in pen, crayon, marker, etc. When completing work on notebook paper the heading should include name, date, subject, and the page number of the assignment.

Turning in Homework Late:
If for some reason (sickness, emergencies, etc.) a student is unable to complete homework, please write a note, and the assignment will be excused until the next day or longer if needed. However, please don't write a note asking for more time to complete homework if the reason is due to lack of materials, or because your child didn't write down the assignment. Please remember, this will hurt your child in the long run because it sends the message that it is okay to not pay attention when we are going over homework. When students face the consequences of their actions it helps to prepare them to become more responsible, independent workers in the future. (I know this is hard. Please work with me on this.)

Our Mother of Sorrows Catholic School

	Summer Reading Requirement