Mrs. Dillon’s 3rd Grade September 2016 Newsletter

Welcome to third grade. I hope that we can have a productive year. The students will work very hard throughout the day. The will also have homework to complete each night.

READING

Students will be asked to read every night for 15 minutes. Please help your child fill out the Reading Log and sign it each night. The Log should be kept in the homework folder so it is readily available to fill out and I can check it each morning. When your child finishes one side, (after 14 days), help them add up the minutes they read and record it on the bottom of the page.

When your child shows me a completed side, I will give him/her a ticket to put in a basket. At the end of each month, I will pull a ticket and that child will get a prize. Your child should get 2 tickets each month if they read every night.

HANDWRITING

The handwriting practice folder is expected to be done every night that we are in school. Yes, this includes Friday night. The good news is that Friday night’s work can be done anytime during the weekend. (Only 1 page should be done over the weekend) If your child is absent from school, they are expected to complete the next page in their folder. This will help them be caught up with the class. If a page is missed, 2 pages will need to be completed the next night. This folder will be finished in November.

MATH FLUENCY

It is very important that the children have their math facts memorized. It makes math so much easier for them. One way to practice math fluency is to work with flash cards or on-line games.

I will be giving your child a calendar every month to record math fluency practice. Students are to see how many flash cards or problems they can complete correctly in 3 minutes. They should be working on addition & subtraction up to 20 and 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, & 10 multiplication facts. I would encourage them to work on more than one type of fact each night. Students will be tested on the different math fluency facts weekly.

During September, students will also be assigned math homework from our regular series to practice our classwork. New weekly assignments will be given in Reading and Math starting in October.

SNACKS & BIRTHDAYS

Third Graders will not be eating lunch until 1:25 each day. It is important that they have a small healthy snack to help them get through the morning. Examples of healthy snacks are: fruit, crackers, yogurt, pretzels, & fruit snacks. Please do not send in: cookies, cupcakes, or candy for snack (I will ask the child to put these away until lunch time)

Birthdays are a special day for a birthday child. I will set aside a short amount of time for children to pass out birthday treats after lunch. Examples of appropriate treats are: soft pretzels, cupcakes, brownies, or Munchkins. Please do not send in sheet cakes, big cookies, or anything that needs to be cut or scooped.

SUPPLIES

Please have all supplies into school by September 6th. If you are having trouble getting anything, please let me know.

WEBSITES

MRS. DILLON’S WEB PAGE

Please check out my school website. It can be found at or you can find me under Staff on the Ferderbar website. The daily homework will be posted on this site along with reminders about the following websites, the supply list, specials schedule, Science News, Monthly Newsletters, and the Scholastic Book Order.

FIRST IN MATH

Earn ribbons and medals, while practicing math facts and building math skills. take you to the site. Individual usernames and passwords will be coming home soon, however students should have the same ones as last year.

RAZ-KIDS

This is the same site the children were encouraged to use over the summer to improve reading with short stories. should take you to the log-in page. The teacher username is bdillonk and the child’s student number is their log-in number.

VOCABULARY WORKSHOP

Every few weeks we will be working on a new lesson in our Vocabulary Workbooks. The students will work with 10 new words. They can use these words and play games. take you to the site. Click @2011-13, choose Green, and click on student. Your Username will be your student number (same as Raz-Kids) the Password is vocabisfun.

THINK CENTRAL

This site allows you to see the student textbook, student workbook and virtual manipulatives. I have also opened up the 1st and 2nd grade student books as a reference. is the address. Usernames will be coming home soon (Should be their student number). The Password is Mathisfun1! (1) Click on Mathematics, (2) Scroll down and click on Math in Focus, (3) Choose our state, district and school, then Username and Password, (4) Once you get into Think Central, click on “My Library” to see the resources.

QUIZLET

This site allows you to practice vocabulary from our Science Units and PSSA terms for Reading and Math. Type bdillonk where it says Search Quizlet and all of my lists will show up. Click on a vocab set and you can get flashcards, play games, practice, and take tests.

Please look for the yellow paper coming home with student website log-ins and passwords.

IMPORTANT SEPTEMBER DATES

September 1st – 3rd graders 1st day of school

- Home and School Meeting 6:00 PM in the cafeteria

September 5st– No School Labor Day

September 8th – Back to School Night. If I didn’t see you at the open house for new students on August 29th, this is a great opportunity to meet me. I will be going over the curriculum and daily schedule. If you want to talk to me about your child, please e-mail me to set up a personal meeting. We will not have time to talk privately on the 8th.

- Fundraising Assembly

- Instrument Recruitment Assembly – Students will be shown the instruments they may play this year. Information will come home that day or the next about the instruments and with rental agreements.

September 13th – Back to School Picnic 6-8. This is a great time to meet the teachers, other parents and students in a casual, outdoor atmosphere. You provide your own dinner and the school will provide dessert.

September 23rd – Mad Science Lunchtime Preview

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions, comments or concerns throughout the school year. The best way to contact me is through e-mail .

TO SAVE PAPER, FUTURE NEWSLETTERS WILL COME TO YOU OVER THE INTERNET THROUGH E-MAIL AND ON MY WEB PAGE.