Third Grade Procedures
Welcome to Third Grade! This year is going to be very exciting and filled with many activities. To keep the children organized, I like to inform parents of the procedures within my classroom that keep us running smoothly. The children will be responsible for their agenda, homework, and home/school communication folder. These three items will be sent home on a daily basis. Below are the A, B, C’s of third grade.
Absence—If your child is absent, call the school that morning to report his/her absence (540-751-2440). A new feature this year is to contact the school about absences via the web. On the Emerick webpage, there is an Online Absence Excuse Report that can be completed and transmitted electronically. Your child will need a written excuse for his or her absence or tardy. Taking vacations during the school year is discouraged; absences for vacations are unexcused unless they are approved in advance by the principal. If your child will be absent over an extended period of time, please send in a note prior to the absence with the dates included. EmerickElementary has a specific make-up work policy. Assignments will not be provided in advance. (Copies of this policy can be obtained from the office or from me.)
Accelerated Reader—Our school will be participating in Accelerated Reader this year. More information will be sent home about this program soon.
Arrival/Dismissal—The morning bell rings at 7:30 a.m. If your child is a car-rider or a walker, he/she should not arrive to school prior to 7:30 a.m. Students are not excused to their classrooms before the 7:30 bell rings. If your child arrives after the 7:50 a.m. bell rings, he/she will be considered tardy and must report to the office for a tardy slip.
Agenda—Homework will be written in the agenda. Please check and sign the agenda each night.
Birthdays—Loudoun County Public Schools has a policy that students cannot bring treats for their birthday. Parents should consider purchasing other items to help their child celebrate his/her special day (pencils, pens, stickers, a book for the classroom library, playground equipment, indoor recess games, etc.). Outside of school party invitations may be handed out only if all students are receiving an invitation or gender parties are given. Remember if it is a gender party, all boys or all girls must be invited in order to pass out invitations at school.
Bus Notes—A note from a parent/guardian must be sent to school if a child is to ride a different bus home. The note needs to include the date, change of procedure, and the signature of the parent or guardian. This policy is the case for any transportation change, whether it is bus, car, or walker.
Class List—21 total students
Lauren KennyNatalie
CarysLuke Lydia
Oliver AddisonJohn H.
Adam Shawn Preston
Avery Daniel Alex S
John K. Aliza Peter
Troy Elizabeth Abby
Emmitt Tommy Declan
Conferences—At the end of the first nine weeks, I will hold a conference with the parents of each child. I will discuss the third grade report card and any questions or concerns you may have at that time. Conferences may be set up at a teacher or parent request at other times of the year.
D’Nealian—The name of the manuscript and cursive we will be reviewing in the third grade is D’Nealian. By the end of the second nine weeks the students will be using cursive for the rest of the year. This is a third grade SOL.
Early Sign Out—If you wish to pick your child up prior to the end of the school day, you must report to the office to go through the sign out procedure.
Emergency Form—On the first day of school you will be asked to fill out several forms. All of these forms are very important! However, the most important form will be the Emergency Form. Please have this to school the very next day.
Field Trip—The third grade will go on a field trip in the spring.
Grading/Evaluation—Third graders will receive a cumulative letter grade on the report card as well as a 1 (below standard), 2 (progressing toward standard), 3 meets standard) or 4 (exceeds standard). Each student is assessed on his/her achievements and is not compared to other classmates. Your child will be assessed using classroom observations, discussions, work samples, projects, summative assessments including standardized tests from the state or county and teacher created tests. The report card will be discussed with you during conferences.
Hand Washing—Hand washing is vital in keeping germs from spreading. Please help me establish a routine when children cough or sneeze to immediately wash their hands, as well as any time they have used the restroom. Remember to wash your hands properly—use soap and rub hands together vigorously. One trick to making sure you have washed long enough is to sing the birthday song while washing.
Home/School Connection Folder—This is the daily maroon folder that should be looked at each day. It will include homework for that evening and any important notes. It will also be the place for you to send notes to school. In order for your child to have the best school year possible, a partnership between home and school needs to be established and maintained. Look at suggested home activities in the newsletters, ways to get involved at Emerick through the PTO and classroom volunteering. Please contact me with any questions.
Homework—You should expect that your child will have homework Monday through Thursday. You will always find the homework assignments in the agenda each week. I encourage you to set up with your child a scheduled time for homework each day. Students should be able to do most assignments independently, but do help if it is necessary. If you notice that your child is not able to do an assignment on his or her own, please send a note or jot a note to me on the assignment. I will contact you if your child is falling behind or turning in poor work.
Independence—Your child will need to become more independent this year. Help him grow and learn responsibility by encouraging him to try things on his own. (Examples: buying an item at the store using money, checking out books at the library, ordering a meal at a restaurant, putting letters in the mail, etc.)
Journal—Your child will keep a writing journal that he will use the first part of the day. Some of these ideas will generate stories to write for writing workshop.
Journalist of the Week—Each student will have an opportunity to be a star journalist for the week. During that week, he/she will share fun facts and stories about himself. More information will go home the week before your child is to be the star.
Jobs—The jobs in our class will be based on jobs in the newspaper office. Students will rotate jobs each week. Jobs include circulation supervisor (paper passer), sports clerk (recess supplies), and delivery operator (runs errands), just to name a few.
Language Arts—Loudoun County students will be given benchmark assessments in third grade. The county provides us with computer-generated assessments, which track the progress of our students within the language arts curriculum. We will be able to provide extra assistance for all students in the varying strands of the language arts curriculum. Language arts include reading from several sources, spelling, writing across the curriculum, and public speaking.
Library—The students will visit the library each week. They will be able to check out five books at a time. It is important to establish a routine at home and place library books in a familiar place so books don’t become lost or overdue.
Lunch—Lunch will be held daily in the cafeteria from 11:10-11:40. On special occasions, lunch may be held in the classroom. When writing checks for your child’s lunches, please make the check to “County of Loudoun”. On each check, please make sure to have your child’s lunch number on the memo line. Please check with your child from time to time to make sure he/she still has money on the account.
Mathematics—Our textbook publisher is Scott Foresman/Addison Wesley. The children in the third grade will be taking benchmark tests this year in math. Each semester, the county has provided computer-generated assessments to track student progress with each SOL taught. This will enable teachers to provide extra assistance to all students in the varying strands of the mathematics curriculum.
Medication—All medication must be kept with the clinic aid. Mrs. Washburn’s office is located inside the main office. Medication prescribed by a doctor must be brought to school in its original container with prescribed directions attached. This includes cough drops and throat lozenges. The children can keep Chap Stick with them and use it to their discretion.
Newsletter—I will be posting newsletter on the Emerick web page once a month. It will contain what we have done the past month and what we will be doing in the upcoming month. It will include school wide events as well as reminders of various long-term assignments.
Nine Week Plans—Nine week plans are posted on the Emerick web page.
Parties—We will have a few class parties to celebrate different events. We will celebrate the holiday season just before the winter break. We will also celebrate Valentine’s Day with a valentine exchange. The third grade will have an end of the year party as well. You will receive information on these and other events prior to their occurrences.
PE/Shoes—Please make sure that your child has shoes with them for PE. They are responsible to bring them if they decide to wear another shoe to school that day. PE is held three times each week.
Reading—The third grade reading curriculum includes guided reading, independent reading, writing reading responses as well as vocabulary studies.We will have many resources to be able to differentiate instruction more effectively. We will also be reading many fiction/nonfiction books.
Recess—Students will receive 20 minutes of recess each day. We will spend this time outside as weather permits.
Report Cards—Report cards are issued every nine weeks. You will receive four within the school year and only the last will be mailed home.
Schedule—Each day your child will get to attend one or more special classes outside of our room. Please review the schedule below.
Monday—SEARCH/Guidance, PE, Math SME
Tuesday—Art, Music
Wednesday—Reading SME, Music
Thursday—PE, Library
Friday—PE
*SME is a computer program that drills students in math and reading. It will adjust its level of difficulty according to your child’s performance. It will target areas of need and assign special lessons to specifically address them.
Science—Our science book publisher is Harcourt. It is a wonderful resource filled with many hands-on activities that lend themselves to all curricular areas. The students will learn a wealth of scientific information and will keep all work with an interactive notebook.
Snack—there will be no daily snack due to our early lunch time. Please be sure your child has a healthy breakfast. Students may keep a bottle of water on his/her desk.
Social Science—Students will learn civics, map skills, ancient civilizations, economics, famous Americans, government, national holidays, and Virginia history. There will be several long-term projects during these units.
Spelling/Word Study—Word Study is an active, hands-on approach in which students compare and contrast the features of words they are studying. By sorting words or pictures, students discover similarities in word patterns. I work with each student’s developmental level. This approach allows me to work with individuals at their levels of readiness. The children will be asked to use the words within their daily writing and each night your child will have an assignment in word study. On Friday the children will be given a spelling test to show mastery. I will also keep running records to show overall mastery through the retention of words within their writing. Bonus words will be given each week. These will be frequently-used words. No “excuse words” should be should be spelled correctly. These are words from their current word study sorts and print-handy words.
SOL (Standards of Learning)—The state of Virginia assess each child starting in third grade. The SOL tests are given in reading, math, social science, and science. We prepare for them all year long. The tests are administered in May. Please review previously taught material and current third grade concepts on a regular basis.
Thursday Folder—All student class work, tests given and PTO information will be sent home in a yellow envelope. Please sign and return this envelope on Friday.
Time Management—In third grade the students will be responsible for daily work as well as for a few long-term projects. These projects span several weeks and need to be completed within a timely manner.
Unique—Each child is unique and a special individual and they will be treated as such.
Visiting—Remember whenever visiting Emerick, you should sign in at the main office and receive a visitor’s badge. This badge needs to be displayed throughout your visit.
Volunteering—After a few weeks of school, I will set up a schedule for volunteers who want to be involved in and out of the classroom (clerical work, party planning, etc.). Parent volunteers are an excellent resource. I ask that you please keep disruptions and side conversations to a minimum while volunteering. I want to make sure that your participation has a positive impact on the children.
Websites—Loudoun County has a website that you can visit at:
Emerick Elementary has a website that you can visit at:
My website is located at:
All of these websites offer a wealth of information about your child’s education.
Thank you for sharing your child with me. I look forward to a wonderful year of learning and fun!
Sincerely,