Classroom Goals/Discipline

At Northpoint, we have a school wide behavior plan. Each teacher has a clipboard containing the names of the entire class.  This clipboard travels with the class as they rotate to their area classes.  If a student is not following one of the school rules, he or she will receive a mark on the clipboard.

During the first few days of school our class worked together to create descriptors for each of our class goals.  We focused on what each goal would look like and sound like. 

As a class, students can earn marbles for the class marble jar.  Once the jar is full our class will vote on a class celebration.  Individually, students can earn ACE awards and special privileges within the classroom (extra computer time, eat with the teacher, sit at the teachers desk for a day, etc) by demonstrating excellent work habits and good citizenship.

1 Mark – Warning

2 Marks – Teacher Conference

3 Marks – Parent Phone Call

4 Marks – Principal Visit

Grading Scale

This year your child will begin receiving letter grades. Report Cards will be sent home three times this year.  Your child will be bringing home a variety of work that has been completed at school. Not all papers will be graded.  Some assignments are just for practice.  Assignments are not weighted equally.  Each assignment will have its own point value.  When grading papers I will put the number of points correct out of the total points possible.  I do not put letter grades on assignments.  However, you will be able to access SKYWARD in order to monitor your child’s progress.

Please give some thought as to how you want your child to think about grades. In the classroom, I will always expect students to do their best, but I will tell them that this might not always be an A. B’s and C’s can show effort too, especially if a concept is new or challenging.  It is my hope that students will learn the importance of trying their best and producing quality work.

A                 94 - 100%

A-               90 - 93%

B+                87 - 89%

B                 84 - 86%

B-                80 - 83%

C+                77 - 79%

C                 74 - 76%

C-                70 - 73%

D+               67 - 69%

D                 64 - 66%

D-               60 - 63%

F                 0 – 59

Progress Notes

Since the implementation of SKYWARD, I no longer send out paper progress notes.  However, I will let you know when it is mid-term time and ask that you monitor your child’s grades through the computer. If you do not have access to a computer or SKYWARD, please let me know.

Report Card Dates

Trimester                        Date Trimester Ends                  Report Card Date

1^st                                   November 14^th                           November 21st               

2^nd                                  February 27^th                           March 6th            

3^rd                                  May 22^nd                                   May 22^nd (?)         

Homework Policy

Homework will be assigned Monday through Thursday.  Homework should take your child 30 minutes to complete each night. If homework is taking your child longer than 30 minutes please let me know. Daily homework will not receive a letter grade.  It is meant to give students an opportunity to practice and reinforce skills that are taught in class. There will be times throughout the year that your child will be responsible for completing a project at home that will require several days/weeks (i.e. book reports).  I will make adjustments to daily homework assignments when students are given projects to complete at home. I also offer extension projects each trimester for students to work on at school and home. These projects are great for any student that wants to extend their won learning and earn extra credit points.

Northpoint Make-Up Work Guidelines

The Northpoint handbook states that families can request homework from the teacher for an absent child after the 3^rd consecutive day. If you are planning a trip during the school year, students can receive make-up work upon their return to school. The office has asked all teachers to strictly adhere to this policy. Thank you for your understanding.

Assignment Journal –Daily Communication

All homework assignments will be listed in the assignment journal.  Each day your child will be responsible for recording homework in their own journal.  Please check and sign your child’s assignment journal nightly.  Your signature indicates you know what the homework for the day was and that it is complete.  Please feel free to write down any questions or comments that you might have in the area marked “parent comments”.  I will check these daily.  If your note requires a quick reply I will answer in the section marked “teacher comments.”  Otherwise I will phone or email you with an answer.  Daily assignment notebooks will not be sent home on Fridays.

Friday Folders – Weekly Communication

Every Friday your child will bring home their Friday Folder.  Inside the folder you will find a stapled behavior and work checklist.  Please review the information on the form and sign it.  Students will be responsible for evaluating and recording their own performance each week.  Friday Folders will also contain graded work for the week and a note entitled Our Week in Review.  This sheet will provide you with the curriculum we have been learning throughout the week, as well as any classroom reminders.

Achievement Tests

In third grade your child will take the Illinois Standard Achievement Tests (ISAT) in the areas of reading and math.  These tests will be given March 2^nd – March 13th.  It is very important that your child be present every day during those two weeks of school.  I would greatly appreciate it if you do not schedule any appointments for your child during ISAT.  Thank you for your cooperation. Your child’s testing results will be available at the beginning of their fourth grade year.

In addition to ISAT, your child will also be taking SAT 10.  These tests will be given in early September. The purpose of this assessment is to provide schools with baseline performances. 

Spelling

Spelling pre-tests will be given on Fridays.  Post-tests will be held on the following Thursday.  Students who receive a perfect score or miss one on the pretest will be given an alternative list for the week.  Students will also work on incorporating spelling strategies into their daily writing. Some written assignments will receive spelling grades. Students will always be notified in advance if an assignment will also receive a spelling grade.  Spelling words will be sent home in the students’ Friday Folders.

Language Arts

This is the fourth year of implementation for our Harcourt Language Arts series.  Most weeks your child will receive whole class instruction on a story within the series.  Weekly comprehension tests will be administered on Fridays.  These tests are always open book.  Your child will also participate in literacy activities structured to meet individual learning needs.  Guided reading, literature circles, interactive read alouds, and shared reading will help your child acquire and utilize new reading strategies and comprehension techniques.  This year your child will be exposed to a variety of genres including information text and poetry. 

In addition, your child will learn to write in a variety of styles.  I have designed a language arts curriculum that illustrates the connection between reading and writing.  We will focus on bringing more voice into our writing with active verbs, adjectives, and the use of figurative language.  An emphasis will be placed on the writing process.  It is my goal that students will come to learn that writing is a recursive process.  Each student will participate in Writer’s Workshop.

Math

Our math program is Everyday Mathematics.  It includes many hands on activities and the use of manipulatives.  Everyday Mathematics also teaches several different algorithms for solving addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division problems.  Your child will bring home activity pages called “Home Links” for reinforcement and practice of math skills we are learning in class.  At the beginning of each unit I will send home a parent letter explaining the new concepts, vocabulary, and strategies that your child will be introduced to.  I strongly encourage students to regularly practice and memorize addition, subtraction, multiplication and division basic facts. Before each chapter test students will complete a study guide.  Answers will be discussed and corrected in class.  Students will be given a minimum of 2 nights to study for a test.

I would like to see all my students work on mastering the basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts. From my experience students can improve in this area by practicing as little as five to ten minutes each day. Time tests will be administered every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. 

Http://everydaymath.uchicago.edu/

Science

We will study the following units:

1.  Life Science of plants and animals

          -Plants and How They Grow

          -How Animals Live (Chick It Out)

          -Where Plants and Animals Live

          -Plants and Animals Living Together

2.  Earth Science

          -Water

          -Weather

          -Rocks and Soil

          -Changes on Earth

          -Natural Resources

3.  Physical Science

          -Matter and Its Properties

          -Changes in Matter

          -Forces and Motion

          -Energy

          -Sound 

4.  Space and Technology

          -Patterns in the Sky

          -The Solar System

          -Science in Our Lives

Social Studies

Students will study the following units:

1.  Mapping Skills

2.  Geography

3.  Illinois and McLean County History

4.  Local, State, and National Government

Before each unit students will complete a study guide.  Answers will be discussed and corrected in class.  Students will be given a minimum of 2 nights to study for a test.

Book Orders

Book Orders will come home several times this year.  If you want to keep them as surprises for your child, please tell me ahead of time.  Usually books are given directly to your child and they have classroom time to start enjoying them.  Please do not send in cash.  Please send a check made out to Scholastic.  If you are ordering from different forms, Scholastic allows you to combine payments onto one check.

Daily Snack

We will have a daily snack. (We have a later lunch time of 11:55 – 12:45).  Students may bring in fresh fruits and vegetables or cheese sticks.

Birthdays

Due to the increasing number of students with allergies, we no longer celebrate birthdays with edible treats. 

Our Schedule

Music – Monday @ 2:35 and Wednesday @ 9:05

Tech – Tuesday @ 2:05 – 3:00

Library – Thursday @ 9:05

Art – Wednesday @ 2:20 – 3:00

PE – Monday through Friday @ 8:35 – 8:55