Mrs. Morris’ Newsletter

Week of Sept. 5-9

**Friendly reminder NO SCHOOL on Monday***

THANK YOU parents for a great first week of school!!  

The kids did an amazing job with directions and getting to know the classroom routines!

Dates:

9/5 - No School - Labor Day

9/6 - 9/30 = iReady and Mclass BOY Assessment Window Opens

9/9 - PTA Spirit Wear Due

9/15 - BOG Assessment Reading only

9/15 - Curriculum Night 

9/26 - No School for students - Teacher Workday

9/23 - 9/30 Book Fair-Family Night is 9/27 from 3:00 - 6:30pm

9/28 - 1st Quarter Progress Reports

10/13 - Picture Day

10/28 - End of the 1st Nine Weeks

11/4 - Quarter 1 PBIS Celebration 

11/7 - No School

11/8 - No School - Election Day

11/9 - Quarter 1 Report Cards go home

11/11 - No School = Veterans Day

11/23 - 11/25 = No School - Thanksgiving Break

12/7 - Quarter 2 Progress Reports

12/21 - 1/3 - Winter Break (Return to school on 1/4)

Important News:

Change of Transportation - If your child has a change in transportation, call the front office as soon as possible then send me a Class Dojo message or email.  This MUST be communicated from you, the parent with the office and myself, or your child will go home his/her normal way.

Early Pick-Up - If you are picking up your child early, you must have them signed out by 1:45.  Parents are NOT allowed to sign out their child after 1:45. Please note that if you try to pick your child up after 1:45, you will be asked to wait in the car-rider line.

PTA Spirit Wear - Orders are due by September 9th and items will be delivered mid-October. https://odellelementary2022.itemorder.com/shop/sale/ 

Communication - Email and ClassDojo are my main forms of communication. I email parents regularly to share what is happening in the school and our classroom - look for the newsletter each Friday afternoon. I do not make phone calls home during the school day unless I need an immediate response or in case of emergency.

Assessments - Students will be required to take the Beginning of Grade Assessment (BOG) in September for reading and the End of Grade Assessments (EOG) for reading and math in late May/early June. • Students will be tested throughout the year for other measures in both reading and math using district/state assessments, such as iReady, DIBELS, and Mastery Connect Benchmarks. They will take these 3 times each throughout the year. Students will also be required to take end-of unit assessments to check understanding of content.

Snack - This year we will be having snack time..  Please send in a quick and healthy snack to eat.  This is completely optional.  SNACK ITEMS MUST BE NUT FREE! Examples: granola bar (nut free), banana, crackers (no peanut butter), etc. Parents may donate snack items to share with the entire class.

PBIS - We use a system called Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS). Students are expected to be Responsible, Respectful, Ready, and Safe! Students will earn rewards/ prizes after being acknowledged for positive behaviors as individuals and as a whole class through ClassDojo. If a student is showing behaviors that are affecting their learning negatively, they will lose Dojo points or if needed be given a referral. After a few minor referrals or a major one, a parent/teacher conference will be held. Hopefully we will never make it to that point because the students are going to be such good citizens! 

Class Dojo - Dojo is a way for me to send quick text messages out to all parents at once and to update you of your child’s behavior, both positive and negative. I also use this for reminders like returning forms, changes in the school day, etc. I will get students connected on their Chromebooks in the classroom so they can post work and activities to share with you.

If you have not connected to our class, please click on the link and join us: 

https://www.classdojo.com/invite/?c=CGURJLL

Water Bottles - Students should bring a NON-GLASS water bottle to drink from each day. We have water bottle filling stations throughout the school that they are welcome to use to refill. Please be sure bottles are tightly sealed. I prefer bottles with a pull-up spout – no caps to remove. This limits spills!

Report Cards - Students receive Standards Based Report Cards in third grade. These scores do not correlate with letter grades in any way. We grade on a scale of 1 to 4 to show how your student is meeting the curriculum standards. See beginning of the year newsletter from open house. 

Class Treat Guidelines - Thank you for your help in following the W. R. Odell guidelines for treats sent into the classrooms for birthdays and celebrations: •Items must be store bought with ingredients listed, not homemade. •Please be sure items are nut free.

Dress Code - •Shorts/skirts must come below students’ fingertips when arms are at their sides. •Straps on sleeveless shirts should be at least 3 inches across. No spaghetti straps please. •No flip-flops should be worn for any reason. •Athletic shoes (sneakers) must be worn on PE day.

Homework: We will start reading homework next week. I will model how to do it using a book from class but students are allowed to choose any type of book for reading at home including digital services. However, EPIC books will not be available after 4 p.m. Please encourage your child to have a book that they read each night. 

What we will be learning this upcoming week:

Reading: Unit 1 = Structures and Functions

This unit, Structures and Function, sets the tone for third grade by establishing routines and expectations to empower students to take ownership of their reading lives and become avid readers. Students learn procedures for working as a classroom community, reading independently, setting goals, and most importantly, working with partners. It also focuses on revisiting reading habits and behaviors and increasing volume, stamina, fluency, and conversations about text, as well as strategies to increase comprehension in both fiction and nonfiction text.  

Math: Unit 1 = Building Mathematical Community & Understanding Equal Groups

In this unit, students will understand that multiplication and division are inverse operations. This unit builds on 2nd grade work when students work with equal groups to build a foundation for multiplication through skip counting with 2, 5, and 10 as well as repeated addition. In this unit students are formally introduced to the meaning of multiplication and the symbolic notations for multiplication. 

We will begin our Science and Writing units once BOY testing is completed. 

Thank you for reading to the end of the Newsletter. Send me a message that you’ve completed reading it and your child will receive two DOJO points.  I hope you have a fantastic and safe 3-day weekend!!!