Welcome to Parent Night!
Introductions:
Our 3EE Community this year:
My Teaching Philosophy: The goal is
growth!!!! These kids are beautiful, brilliant and amazing. Let’s
find our passion and find the wonder of living! The things you do the
most are the things you do the best.
Our
Daily Schedule:
9:15 Students may arrive
9:30 Morning Meeting-Writers Workshop
10:15
Reading (Guided Reading, Readers Theater, Take Home Selection)
11:15
Snack- Read Aloud
11:35
Specials: Day 1-Inquiry Day 2- Phy Ed,
Music
Day 3-Media Day 4-Art
Day 5- Phy Ed, Music
12:35
Spelling and Handwriting
1:00
Lunch and Recess
1:50
Show and SPELL
2:00 Math
2:45 Math Intervention Time
3:15 Social Studies and Health
3:45
Prepare for Dismissal, Planners
Communication:
Oxbow Main Office:
763-506-3800
Oxbow Absence Line: 763-506-3806
Oxbow’s Website: http://www.anoka.k12.mn.us/oxbowcreek
My Email: Neil.Eerdmans@anoka.k12.mn.us Voicemail- 506-3843
Bi-Weekly newsletter: Coming home every other Friday
Homework:
#1 piece of
homework: Read! Read! Read!
Reading Calendars: Record your minutes on your reading calendar.
Any minutes he/she reads count. Any minutes read to your child count as
well! This is your child’s #1 priority when it comes to homework.
Please return your monthly reading calendar as soon as the month ends.
The first one will be due the first week of October. We want your child
to love to read. If a reading calendar causes stress please DON’T do
it! Just be sure to read with your child every night! That is the
key!
A
homework packet will come home on most Thursdays. This packet will have
math problems that go along with what we are doing in math and a reading
selection. Spelling words come home on Wednesday and the tests will be on
the next Tuesday.
Book a Day- Volunteers!
I love “book a day,” it gets kids to practice reading with quality
literature! As far as “book a day” goes, if your child is not ready to
read certain books, read the book to them and they can tell the volunteer what
the book was about. This will show if your child is able to follow the
stories and discuss parts of the story. (Plot, setting, and characters)
Get your kids to give the starting sounds of words, words form context clues,
and have them read easy sight words. Get your child to read on their
own. Reading together will model that reading is a fun activity, and
something that we can enjoy together! If you have a book going at home,
USE THAT BOOK for book a day. The key is that we are reading! The kids
get a charge out of reading to you and with you as well. It is critical
that kids find reading to be an enjoyable activity!! I am very flexible
with times; we can work it out! I will also use volunteers for mastery
checking, although “book a night” is a great assessment tool in itself!
Have fun with this and do it regularly!!
Spelling:
Spelling
words come home every Wednesday. Our spelling tests are every
Tuesday. If a week has 3 or fewer days of school in it there will be no
list for that week. Practicing daily will help students retain the words
longer than cramming it all in Monday night!
Those of you who really want to get a jump start should start working on common
contractions. (i.e. does not=doesn’t) That’s our hardest test of
the year!
Check out this site: SpellingCity.com Students
can go to this site and test themselves with spelling words, hear a voice
pronounce the words, use the words in a sentence. There are also games to
play with the words.
What will reading look
like in 3EE?
The Daily
3: Students engage in 3 out of 4 of the following tasks:
1. Read to
self 2. Readers Theater/ Shared Reading 3. Meet with your
reading teacher 4. Respond to your reading. (Writing, filling out a graphic
organizer, etc.)
I
get to read with students 1-1 and in small groups. I am able to keep
track of progress and encourage the kids as they grow. It is great!
What will math look
like in 3EE?
Daily
Math Message, Mental Math, Using different strategies to problem solve,
Understanding vs. memorization, Spiraling skills, Math journals, Student
reference books, Math games, Homework Links and I love to challenge the kids
with new math mathematical concepts. The math curriculum that we started
a couple of years ago is great!!
Science- Our Inquiry class is going to be great!! Get
ready for crayfish!
Social Studies
Health
These will be
intermixed with the theme books and centers. They will rotate throughout
the year. We are now working on bus safety for health. The virtual
journey is an incredible way to address these objectives!!
What will grading look like in 3EE? The star
system. Keeping it simple.
Field Trip volunteers
are done by drawing names… over the years that seems to work best. I
would like to apologize in advance if you do not get to go. On our last
trip everyone gets to go!
Why do I like the MAP test so much? It is like a time
trial! It shows growth!
The Virtual Journey!!- This is a fun learning experience that I
have done for years! The learning comes to life!
E2 Quest: From Coast to Coast
This year we will be touring the United States. Each of the
students will be a local yocal and take a city along the route. They will
tell us about where they live and what is significant about the area. It
is fun and we will all learn a lot. We use the Internet to share our many
exciting adventures. The writing is real. The trip teaches
that writing is used to convey information, communicate, and to
entertain. There is a natural application to math when considering a
trip. There is the budget, miles, traveled, problems faced and solved,
packing, and transportation. There are easy ties to our science, health,
and social studies curriculum as well. Simply put, traveling is one
of the best ways to learn, even if it is virtual. The places are real and
all the situations we face teach lessons of independence and
interdependence. As we pedal we will face many celebrations and challenges.
Each of these challenges contains a lesson. We have to deal with the
weather, people, terrain, and each other. The lessons are applicable to
life and made real by the Internet. If you want a peek, check out last
year’s trip at www.e2quest.blogspot.com I will use the first two
months to insure we have a grasp of the standards and the packages. In
November we will begin to work with the theme and I hope that you can take
part!
Dates:
September
20: Picture Day (Envelopes coming soon)
October
17: No school (Staff Development)
October
8,9, 11, and 16: Goal setting conferences
October
18-19: MEA (No school)
October
31: 2EE Fall Class Party 2:30-3:30
November 22,23: Thanksgiving (No school)
December
21: 2EE Class Holiday Party 2:30-3:30
Winter Break: December 24-January 1
February 14: Valentine’s Party 2:30-3:30
February 19, 21, 26 and
28: Spring Conferences
May- Class Campout at Baker
May- Class Campout at Baker
Some practical ways to help your 3rd Grader:
1. Read
with your child: Read to them and let them read to you! Talk about what
you read. Make it pleasurable!
2. Limit
screen time: When
it comes to reading I don’t think T.V., video games, and computers are our
enemies… but they surely are our competitors!
Look at
the math if your child replaced just one ½ hour show a day with
reading: 30 minutes x 30 days = A monthly calendar with 900
minutes!
3. The
pleasure principle: Do all you can to connect pleasure with reading. Get
cozy! Curl up together. Stack books around the house. Put
books by your beds! They are watching you, story about Owen.
4. Money
Jar: Give
your child a jar with change and/or bills. Change the amount often.
Practice counting. Ask your child to show you different combinations to
make specific amounts of money.
5. Telling
Time: Time
can be very difficult for third graders. Point out the hour and minute
hands. Count the minutes around a clock. Talk about what time it is
throughout the day.
6.
Writing: In
third grade we do a lot of writing about everyday life experiences. Some
kids have a tough time trying to figure out something to write about. As
fun, interesting things happen in your child’s life remind him/her to write
about it at school!
7.
Handwriting: Help
your child to keep practicing the correct formation of their letters.
Remind him/her when to use upper and lower cases letters. We do learn
cursive writing in third grade.
8.
Learning on the Computer: Useful Links on Oxbow and 3EE’s Website:
These free links will connect you with all sorts of games and activities that
support our learning. Kids will be familiar with these websites since we
visit them during our computer time.
New Policies at Oxbow…
1. Silent Hallways, great
practice for self-discipline! (Dr. David Walsh)
2. Bullying Record Keeping
and Connection to home.
Miscellaneous:
Plastic home folder: Please
check every night and send back every morning!
Water Bottles: Our
brains need water so water bottles are very welcome in 3EE. Remind your
child to bring it home for regular washings!
Snack Time: Sending
a snack with your child is optional but the mornings do get long! Healthy (or at least
somewhat healthy!) snacks only. Students are not allowed to “share”
snacks.
Birthday Treats:
Students may bring a store bought birthday treat if they so choose
to. We presently have 29 students in our class. Going outdoors: If it is above zero
degrees we go out. Please send your child prepared! If your child
is well enough for school our school policy is that he is well enough to go
outside so staying in is not an option.
Morning media check out: Students can check out books every day of the year
from 9:15-9:30A.M. What a great privilege!
Bring home books from our classroom: Students are also allowed to borrow my
books. That’s why I have them!!! Please don’t forget to return
them!
Scholastic book orders: Almost every month I will
send home Scholastic book order flyers. These are totally optional but
usually include a lot of great deals. They are always due on the 15th
of that month! We do them online now too! It works pretty slick!
Lunch money: Try
to remember to write your child’s pin number on your check when you send lunch
money. If you have to send cash put it in an envelope and label it with
your child’s name, homeroom (3EE), and pin #.
Supply list: If
your child needs something a note will come home.
Show and SPELL: Each week your child will have a day for show and tell.
Now that they are in third grade they will need to write a script for what they
are going to tell us about. It is a great activity for practicing writing
with a purpose.
*Reading calendars: Just one more reminder…Reading calendars are due at the
beginning of each month with a record of all the minutes read in the previous
month. Don’t forget that minutes your child is read to by someone else
count as well! If this stresses your child DO NOT use this. Some
kids love it others don’t. We want to make reading a good thing!
Parties: We will have 3 parties
this year and I have a sign up for party volunteers.
If you would
like to help that would be great! We usually meet in the room a couple
of weeks
before the party to make our plan!
Field Trip volunteers
are done by drawing names… over the years that seems to work best. I
would like to apologize in advance if you do not get to go. On our last
trip everyone gets to go! We have a lot of great ideas brewing!! You have
to be registered as a volunteer with the school district. Check your folder for
signing up!
We are partners- 1/3, 1/3, 1/3
I hope we will be friends!
I need to be your partner. Please communicate with me!
If I don’t return a call during the day, I will try in the evening. Your
child is going to go through some big changes this year and will be learning a
lot. Let’s work together to make this a great year!
Call Me! Or Email Me!!
Please call if you have a concern. I am almost always check
my voicemail by 7:30. The number is 506-3843. Each night I will
leave a detailed description of the days activities so that you can discuss the
days events with your child. I am great at replying to e mail at all
hours, Neil.Eerdmans@anoka.k12.mn.us!!
Our Goal is Growth!
P.S. You may here the terms Go Green, BBA, Green, URLoved,
Highlights, Cinema, the things you do the most and others… These ideas provide the
foundation for a great year of growth!
Show and Spell List
Monday Friday-
Katherine, Isabella, Asha, Kyle
Hibo
Lexi B
Bruce
Jaden
Amber
Christina
Tuesday
Lexi G
Tucker
Isam
Zaniah
Jon
Rylen
Wednesday
Grayson
Izzy
Tommy
Jack
Ashton
Charlize
Thursday
DJ
Brandon
Ella
Madeline
Ben
Sami
Friday- Katherine, Isabella, Asha, Kyle
