Week 3

Weekly Greetings!

I hope you all have found a way to enjoy the extra day off on Monday. It will make for a short week this week! On Tuesday of this is the week, I will start sending homework that consists of math fact practice and a weekly spelling word list to practice. There will be a spelling test on Friday and daily assignments in their Spelling book during the week in preparation for the weekly test. The homework will not be entered as a grade, but the students can earn weekly and monthly rewards for doing it every night. My main reason is to have them learn to be responsible to get papers home and back to school as another way to communicate with you at home. I will be giving each student a sturdy plastic bag that needs to be returned daily. On Friday I will keep it at school, as there will not be any homework over the weekend. The only thing that will go home on Friday, is their finish assignments for you to look over.  Also, there will be a Reading Log on Monday to be returned on Friday to encourage nightly reading at home. Every three months, I will have a "Seasonal Readers" after-school party to reward students who are returning their book logs. For those of you that were not able to make it to the Open House last Tuesday, I will be sending this information and more home with my weekly parent letter. In addition, I have added it to the end of this post.

Last week we completed the Six Keys unit and I introduced the CHAMPS program along with a focus on having perseverance.  One of the classroom procedures that are in place for students completing assignments at different rates, are some choices listed on what they can do if they finish early.  Students have mostly enjoyed the "Book Nook" and reading as one of their choices.

For the students in the Alaska Native and Local Culture STARS pod, we had a special visitor on Tuesday. Amanda Attla, George Attla's daughter, will be doing Native Youth Olympics this year and was in to give a brief history of the games origins. The students got to practice one that was established to build strength at grabbing a slipper fish. She will be back this week.

On Wednesday, we started an experiment on the importance of staying healthy by washing our hands to prevent the spread of germs. The class got their hands dirty in normal ways and handled a clean potato, then washed their hands and handled another clean potato. We will check them this Wednesday to see if there is a difference in the two.

To close out our Six Keys unit, and reinforce the perseverance theme for success, the class made "Turtle Bread" after reading the old fable of The Hare and the Tortoise.  The main massage of the story is not to give up, and that each one of us can attain success if we don't quit. I hope that the loaf of bread each one made got home that day.

The story of The Hare and the Tortoise was a perfect book to read on Thursday before the first cross country meet of the school year. All but four students ran one mile for the third grade 3-5 grade group. Then we sat and watched the K-2 group cross the finish line after a 1/2 mile run. I hope the schedule I sent home the first week made it home, as there will be other races coming. Just the students that want to participate will travel to the other villages to compete.

 

Have a great week!

Kind Regards,

Julie Brown

Additional 3rd Grade Information

Weekly Communication: At the beginning of each week, I will be sending home a letter informing you of our weekly goals. As a result of this information, I am hoping we will become a team in your child’s education. The letter will also be posted in an online blog on the Tok School web page.

Homework: I will start sending weekly homework beginning the first week in September, Monday through Thursday nights. Homework will come home in a strong plastic book bag that I will keep on Friday. Everyday when they return their homework, they will get a sticker for the work, and a start on their incentive chart for returning the bag. The homework will be practice and enrichment assignments to reinforce concepts presented in class. Also home reading will be encouraged nightly, and a reading log will be sent home each Monday that will be returned on Friday. At the end of each three-month period, students that read at night will be eligible for an afterschool movie party. Please note that students will have a time slot during the day for any unfinished assignments, or make up work, so I can oversee their progress. Classwork will not be sent home as homework, unless by parent request for an extended absence.

Completed Classwork: At the end of each week I will be sending home finished assignments for parents to look over.

Field Trips:  I have a number of ideas for field trips, but it is my understanding that the class must raise the money if traveling outside of the district.  I have some ideas for raising funds, but will be looking for parent support in this area. If you have ideas, please contact me.

Discipline: I have found that most of the time, positive incentives work the best with students. I look for the behaviors that I can reward for those that are making good choices. The others usually rise to that standard.

Things I do for positive rewards are:

1.     Beans in the Bottle for group co-operation. A reward, like a longer recess or special snack, is given when the bottle fills. For transitions, I use the second song on the CD in the CD player. They have 2 and ½ minutes to put things away, get water, or leave to use the bathroom. If everyone is in their seats and quietly ready for our next steps, then I put a handful of beans in the “Bean Bottle”.

2.     Words of affirmation.

3.      Bucket Filler and Caught You Being Good tickets for acts of kindness to others. A student is picked from the bucket on Friday and receives a prize.

4.     Personal incentive chart stars for finishing their class work and respectful behaviors. When the chart is full, they can pick a prize from the prize box or get a homework pass. If someone is causing any problems, I will verbally correct them. If they continue, I will give them a second warning and put their name on the board. If the problem continues, I will put a check by their name. This will require a consequence. If it is in the morning, then the student will have lunch detention. If it is in the afternoon, then the student will miss there enrichment choice time at the end of the day.

5.     A Gold Card or special note sent home for model student behaviors.

Consequences if someone is making a poor choice are:

1.     I will verbally correct them.

2.     If they continue, I will give them a second and move their name peg on a behavior chart to a yellow zone named “Stop and Think” as another warning.

3.     If the problem continues, I will put move their name peg to an orange zone. This will require a “Teacher’s Choice” consequence.  This could be a loss of some recess time or filling out a problem and solution worksheet to think about better choices for the future,

4.     The fourth peg move will be a phone call home to inform the parent that the child has had a difficult day in class.

5.     As for more serious issues, such as hitting or fighting, I will be following the guidelines in the Tok School handbook.

Daily Schedule:  Each day has a slight variation to our schedule, so the easiest way for me to address each day is to set up a template in my lesson-planning program.

Final Thoughts: Please always feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns. I am available from 7:00am to 8:00pm. During the school day, I try to check messages but cannot always get time. If something important comes up, it is best to contact the main office. They will get a message to me. I feel we are a team in your child’s education and I will do what ever in takes to see each child have a successful year!