Class Handbook

Welcome to third grade! This is going to be an exciting year! We are so excited to be able to work with you and your children this year.  We are sure that along with you and your child, we will make your child's year in third grade a memorable one! We look forward to meeting you at our Back to School Night!

In this class, we set high expectations for student engagement and behavior. We know students can (and will) meet these expectations.  Below we have listed our classroom rules and student responsibilities that will guide our year. 

Our classroom goals:

• That all students feel a part of our classroom community

• That all students do their best work at all times

• That all students experience success and growth at their own level    and pace throughout the year

In order to ensure that everyone meets these goals, it is important that each student follows the rules and responsibilities outlined in our classroom. This will ensure that all of us are a part of a classroom community which will help us all to succeed.

1. Cooperate with your teachers and classmates.

2. Respect the rights and property of others.

3. Carry out your basic student responsibilities.

4. Always do your best for every task.

Students are responsible for:

• coming to school on time

• being prepared (including having devices fully charged each day)    for class 

• taking their class work seriously

• doing their very best at every task

• respecting all adults in charge (including substitute teachers)

• following all classroom and school rules at all times

• completing all work by its due date

In order to ensure a sense of community in our classroom, we will be participating in frequent class meetings. This time will allow every student a chance to settle disagreements, talk about their feelings, and compliment others. We believe that these meetings will help us to develop a sense of community and caring in our classroom. We would appreciate your help during the coming weeks in fostering a sense of credibility for this procedure if your child has not participated in class meetings before.

We expect students to treat others with respect and to be reflective of their actions.  Students do not ask you for permission to drink water or go to the bathroom. They will not ask us either. We have a digital checkout form that students will use to let us know they are leaving to use the restroom, they will leave the door open, and upon their return, they will close the door and check back in on the form. 

Students may bring their own water bottles to use throughout the day. We do not expect students to only eat at lunch or to take their recess time to eat. Snacks are allowed in class as long as they are healthy, not sticky, and do not require them to use utensils or a microwave to eat. Students will be expected to clean up after themselves and to continue to work while they eat. 

Please note that you are always welcome in our class and encouraged to volunteer. We hope that each parent volunteers at least once during the year. We welcome your time and help! Together we are partners in your child's education! Please be sure to let either of us know what you would like to do, or would be willing, to help with throughout the year. If you are unable to volunteer in class but would like to help from home please let us know this as well. 

Each full week of school (any five day week that does not have a minimum day) we will have a student of the week. The student will be the line leader and teachers' helper throughout the week.

District policy is that no sweets, candy, or homemade food are allowed in school on a regular basis. Therefore, if you wish to bring something to celebrate your child’s birthday please consider stickers, pencils, fruit, or some other inexpensive trinket. If you contact either of us, we can arrange to mark this event in a fun (and yet compliant) way.

Working together, we are going to make this a year to remember! 

Parent-school communication is a key factor in student success and it is important for parents to know what is happening in class so that you can talk to your child about his/her schoolwork throughout the week. In order to keep you informed about what is going on in class, we will regularly send updates through Class Dojo and we will email you as necessary. 

Nearly all student work will be completed through Google Classroom, KidBlog, and other digital sites. Therefore, there will not be student work sent home in the traditional sense. Please check your child's Google Classroom and blog to see what he/she is working on. You will be able to see student work, grades, and teacher feedback on their student page. 

Special reminders and/or notices from the school, and book orders may be sent home throughout the week as circumstances warrant so please check with your child daily for new notices as well. Please be sure to check your child’s backpack regularly for these notices.

If you would like to order books online you can go to scholastic.com and use the parent code: HHGGFF

You may email Ms. Ryan at stacier@fsusd.org, and Ms. Villarreal at tracyv@fsusd.org, we will respond within 24 hours. You may also reach us via the school office at (707) 864-1905, or our classroom extension at 3236. We will be unable to have extended phone conversations during the school day but you may call for emergencies, important reminders, and to schedule an appointment to meet with one, or both, of us. 

Please note that cell phones are not allowed to be on or accessed at school during school hours. If your child has a cell phone, it must be off and in his/her backpack during the school day. The school is NOT responsible for the safety of any cell phones should they become lost or stolen while at school. Other personal electronics (PSP, DS, iPods, etc.) are not allowed on school grounds and will be confiscated as outlined in the district's parent handbook.

Our districts issued Chromebooks are for student use only. They are to be used for class and homework assignments. Your child's assigned Chromebook will not be allowed to go home until a parent/guardian comes in and signs the district's acceptable use agreement. 

Students will be expected to fully charge their Chromebooks each night and to bring their devices and chargers to and from school each day. It is expected that students will practice their typing skills each night and learn to type correctly and proficiently this year.

If you would like your child to use his/her personal device rather than a school provided Chromebook please let us know.

Please be sure to read the district and school handbooks for all school rules and policies. If you have any questions about these policies please contact either Ms. Ryan or Ms. Villarreal.

We will be working towards mastery of our ELA and math standards throughout the year. This year we will be working with the  Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for California (CaCCSS). 
In ELA we will be using Benchmark Advance materials. These texts are going to be used for close reading and finding text evidence. Students will bring them home after they are done using them approximately every three weeks. 

In math, it means that we will have more hands-on cooperative learning activities and that students will be required to demonstrate their learning in many different ways as well as the fact that their work may have more than one correct answer. We are excited about this and hope you are too!

Our math program is very hands-on and involves a lot of student explanation. You can find out more about this at the Everyday Math website for parents. 

We do not believe in the traditional idea of homework. Each night, students must read 30 minutes with an adult or older student. This nightly reading will help your child build fluency and comprehension skills; it is important that your child is reading a book at his/her reading level. Reading a book that is too easy will not challenge your child to grow as a reader, and reading a book that is too difficult will frustrate your child. They should practice their math facts in order to know their x0 - x10 facts to automaticity by the end of the school year. 
If students do not finish certain assignments in class during the allotted time they may be required to take these assignments home to complete. 

We will also be completing Genius Hour projects. For each of their Genius Hour projects students will be completing a number of tasks to create/complete a project based on something they are curious, or passionate, about. Students will submit an idea, once it is approved by either of us, they will have 4 weeks to research, practice, and create or write their presentations. Students will be expected to present all projects to the class. While this may be difficult for some at the beginning of the year, they will become accustomed to presenting before long.  

We have P.E. and art this year. Please make sure that your child is wearing clothes and shoes that will allow him or her to participate fully in physical activity based on the schedule that will be sent home once we have that information.