SPECIAL CLASS SCHEDULE: 8:40 - 9:30

Monday: Art Daily:

Tuesday: Music

Wednesday: Library

Thursday:Guidance (10:30 – 11:10)

Friday: PE

Lunch 12:20-12:50

Rcess 2:30-3:00

TRANSPORTTION:

If your child changes from his or her normal routine, please send a note, or e-mail: jsigler@cj.k12.mo.us.

DISCIPLINE: Our class rules:

1. Raise your hand to speak

2. Raise your hand to get out of your seat.

3. Raise your hand if you need help.

4. Keep your hands and materials to yourself.

For each violation of a rule, the student will put a marker in his or her pocket. The first marker is a warning. Each marker after the first means he or she must sit out 5 minutes of recess. That is, 2 markers=5 minutes, 3 markers=10 minutes, etc. Good behavior will earn praise and rewards.

When students are being supervised by teachers other than me, such as in special classes, the class can earn a compliment from that teacher. We will keep track of the compliments with a marble jar, and after we fill the marble jar, the students will earn a Compliment Party.

BOOK ORDERS:

Each week I will send home book orders with your child, usually Scholastic, Carnival/Troll, or Trumpet Book Clubs. They will come home on Monday and are due on Friday. Do not feel obligated to purchase books. They are available if you want to stock your child’s personal library at very reasonable prices. We also receive points we can use toward books for the classroom. If you do send a check, please make it payable to Scholastic Book Clubs.

Some parents have asked me to hold onto books from an order so they can pick them up and use them for Christmas or birthday presents. What a great idea!

Reading to your child and with your child is one of the best things you can do for your child.

CLASSROOM FREEBIES:

Occasionally Highlights Magazine or others send teachers forms to send home with their students asking parents to subscribe to the magazine. Please sign and return these, even if you do not wish to subscribe! I send the responses in (even the “no’s”) and get all kinds of free “stuff” for the classroom: Stickers, computer software, games, pencils, etc.

SCHOOL SUPPLIES:

Please check with your child regularly to see that he or she has all the necessary supplies. It is a great distraction to disrupt class to find a pencil, ruler, etc. Additionally, we will make great use of a clipboard and a pocket thesaurus for each child. If finances for school supplies are a problem, send a note or have your child talk to me. We have resources that might be able to help.

WATER BOTTLES:

It is important to stay hydrated throughout the school day, especially on hot days. Students may bring water bottles to keep at their desks. The kind with closable spouts work best to prevent spills. Bottles may only contain water.

SNACK MILK:

We will be having snack milk in the mornings.

Birthday Treats: On you child’s birthday, if you would like to send or bring snack that would be fine. We’ll have it with our snack milk. If you send/bring a “big cookie” on your child’s birthday, it is very helpful if you or the store will cut it into squares for us. Little plates or napkins are also helpful. As much as we love homemade goodies, the school asks that we only bring store-bought snacks. At this time, we have 23 students in our class.

GRADES:

The grades your child will be receiving this year will be in Reading, English, Spelling, Math, and Science/Social Studies. The grading scale is:

A+ 97-100 B+ 86-89 C+ 76-79 D+ 66-69 F 0-59

A 93-96 B 83-85 C 73-75 D 63-65

A- 90-92 B- 80-82 C- 70-72 D- 60-62

I want your child’s early experiences with grades to be as successful as possible, so assignments that earn a grade less than a 70% (C-) will be redone. Then I average the 2 grades. Thus your child’s grade will seldom be below a C unless he or she did not do well on the redo. 4^th quarter will be a little different. So the 4^th grade teacher will be able to get a more realistic picture of your child’s performance, we will not redo assignments during 4^th quarter.

Each quarter, I’ll send home a midterm and final quarter grade report. If you wish to receive an update more often, please let me know.

Students are also given grades in areas of conduct. The grades are Outstanding, Satisfactory, Progressing, Needs Improvement, Unsatisfactory. Your child’s learning and self-esteem are precious and cannot be fully realized until a child learns to control his or her attitude and behavior.

SPELLING:

Our Word Wall contains the words most often used by 3rd graders in their reading and writing. We will have about 4 or 5 new Words from our wall each week that we practice in class. The class will take a test on Friday. There will be ten words on the test. The rest of the words will come from the Working With Words block and previous Word Wall words. Once they have had a Word Wall word, they will be expected to spell it right every time in their writing.

MATH:

We will continue using the Saxon Math program this year. The program has a homework page. We will do side A in class together. Side B has similar problems for homework. Generally, this sheet takes little time to complete. We will usually have these Monday through Thursday. There will be a weekly Math test on Friday. I try to not have Math homework on Fridays.

HOMEWORK:

We do not believe 3rd graders should have a great deal of homework each night. If your child uses his or her time wisely and effectively at school, his or her homework should be minimal. They will have some Math homework each night, a spelling test on Friday, and other occasional assignments. After they have finished their homework, please initial the sheet in their homework folder.

I believe in establishing good work ethics at an early age. This begins the framework for personal responsibility, which we emphasize in third grade. Therefore, if they forget, I ask that you do not bring in their homework. I know it is tempting, but doing it for them does not help teach them responsibility. If they do not have their homework, they will do it at recess. I tell them that missing recess is not the end of the world. Everyone forgets or makes mistakes. We just accept the consequences it, learn from it, and move on.

LUNCH/MILK MONEY:

This year, regular school lunches are $1.50. Please use the school envelopes for lunch and milk money. I have extras here at school. Please include your child’s name, my name, date, and the amount on the front of the envelope.

The Central Office will handle the crediting and debiting of your account as needed. They will send home a note when you are down to $3.00. When they reach -$3.00 they can no longer have snack milk until the debt is paid. When they reach -$5.00 you will be mailed a notice and he or she will not be able to charge snack milk or meals. They will be given a peanut butter sandwich for lunch. You may contact them or send a note through me if you have any questions.

You can find more information on our class web page at http://www.Sigler.50megs.com

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or comments. I look forward to working with you and your child. I know it will be a great year! You can contact me by talking to me before school, after school, or during my planning time (8:40-9:30), or by:

Phone E-mail

School 649-7034 jsigler@cj.k12.mo.us

Home 782-4380 sigler1@joplin.com

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