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The Third Grade Team
3A – Tim Wu
3B – Casey Griffith
3C – Heather
Naragon
3D – Kaitie Moore
3E – Kathleen
Trueblood
The ABC’s of
Third Grade
Attendance
Many 3rd grade learning activities are group
oriented and involve interaction with
classmates. Therefore, it is next to
impossible to recreate these activities at
home. Please view school as a priority and
see to it that your child attends every day except in cases of illness or emergency.
Students must be in their seats no later than
7:50, or they will be marked tardy.
Behavior
We follow the Great Expectations model. We believe in
positive reinforcement, as well as appropriate, related
consequences. Please check your child’s agenda/planner
every night and sign. Check our websites for more
information on Great Expectations!
Birthdays
Birthday parties are not held at school. Your child may bring cookies or
cupcakes to share with the class for an afternoon snack as long as they
are store bought. For summer birthdays, you may bring a treat on your
child’s half birthday. Please bring individual or pre-cut treats. Please
drop off the birthday treats in the office no later than noon. (NO cakes,
ice cream, favors, or balloons)
Communication
Please be sure to check your child’s Mustang folder for
important papers and notes. Please sign their
agenda/planner nightly. This is our daily
communication. Please send lunch money in a
LABELED envelope.
Conferences
Parent – Teacher conferences will be held during the
month of October. Teachers will be sending out an
email with a sign up via www.signupgenius.com Please
be respectful of our time. If you need to cancel please
communicate that with us.
Dismissal
Students are dismissed at 3:05. All students should be
picked up no later than 3:15.
You must show your pink card in order to pick your child up.
No exceptions!
Please send a note if your child is to go home a different way than his/her
normal schedule, or if they will be picked up earlier than 3:05. If your
transportation plan changes, please call the office no later than 2:00,
otherwise we cannot guarantee that we will receive the message in time.
E-Time
We will have E-Time every Friday
morning until our Clusters begin.
During E-Time, we will explore
students’ interests and talents.
Sometimes we will ask for students
to bring items from home that
correlate with their interests.
Field Trips
Third grade will participate in at least one field trip
this year.
Permission slips must be returned in order for your
child to attend the trip.
Students are encouraged to wear a school shirt on
every field trip.
Parents who want to attend must have a
background check on file. These need to be
completed each school year.
GTi Testing
All students will be tested in third grade during the first
week of November.
Grading
Third grade does not assign numerical grades.
In order to give a more detailed assessment of student
performance, we use standards-based report cards. (MS, AS, IPS)
HomeFUN
Reading is the foundation of all learning. We
want to develop a life long zest for reading.
Your child should be reading for 20 minutes on
Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Spelling words for the week will be listed in
your child’s planner/agenda. Spelling
homework will be Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Math homework will be Mondays and Tuesdays.
Homework will be due the next day.
Illness
Please keep your child home if he/she is sick. It
is important that we not pass germs around to
each other.
*If your child is absent, you have two school
days to provide the office with a handwritten
note for the absence to be excused.
Internet
For important information about events at school,
please be sure to check out the Austin Elementary
website at: www.coppellisd.com/austin
Just so you
know….
There has been a change in Student Council
this year. It now will include representatives
from 3rd-5th grade. There will be more
information to come.
Kindness
In third grade, kind and respectful behavior is
expected from everyone at all times.
We are also on the lookout for VIP behavior. You
never know who has those tickets!
Lunch
Lunch is from 11:15-12:15 on Monday-Thursday.
On Fridays, We have lunch 11:20-11:50.
If you would like to eat lunch with your child we
invite you to join us on Family Friday!
If your child forgets their lunch, you may drop it
off in the office and it will be placed on the
“Forgotten Lunch Table”. Your child will look
for it there.
Mustang
Mutual
Mustang mutual is a bank that visits our school
once a month on Friday mornings. Students
have an opportunity to open a bank account to
start saving for their future. For more
information, contact your child’s homeroom
teacher.
Newsletters
Newsletters will be sent out weekly.
Please read the newsletter for
important information about what
we are doing at school.
Outdoor Recess
Students may bring 1 piece of outdoor
equipment. Please be mindful as there
are many students playing on the
playground and our biggest concern is
their safety.
Items not allowed are baseball bats,
baseballs and hula hoops.
PBL
(Project/Problem Based Learning)
In a nutshell, students learn important
content through PBL by investigating
questions, generating original ideas, and
working collaboratively to produce products
that demonstrate what they have learned.
Quick & Quiet
Hello
As you volunteer in our classroom, we
will urge your child to acknowledge you
with a “quick and quiet” hello wave.
It is important for them to greet you, but
remain involved in class activities.
Thank you for your cooperation.
Reading
A large portion of your child’s day will include
participation in small group instruction and Daily
5/Café stations.
Snack
We will have a “Working Snack” time each day. Your
child may bring one small, healthy snack.
If your child is in a “Nut Free Class”, please do not
send a snack with any kind of nut.
Students may also bring a water bottle (with a pop-top
lid), but juice and soda are not allowed during snack
time.
Tardy Policy
Students should be in their classroom by 7:50am. Arriving after
this time causes students to lose valuable instructional time – and it
is extremely disruptive to the rest of the class.
By ensuring that your child is at school on time each day, you are
helping them to become more responsible and timely citizens.
Students who are not in their seats by 7:50 must report to the office
for a tardy pass.
Students with 1-3 tardies will receive a verbal warning.
Students with 4 tardies will receive an office referral.
Students will 5 tardies will have detention during recess.
Update Portal
If your child is absent, please be sure to
send a note when they return. E-mails
will not be accepted.
** If we do not receive a note within 2
days, the absence will remain
“unexcused” and cannot be excused.**
Volunteers
We love volunteers! Moms, dads,
grandparents….look for
information on how you can help
in our classroom!
Water Bottles
Your child may bring a water bottle to school
as long as it has a pop-up top.
Water bottles without a pop-up top are easily
spilled and will not be permitted during
instruction time.
Please be sure to label all water bottles.
Writers Workshop
Your child will get to experience the stages of
publishing stories this year as we learn about the
writing process during Writer’s Workshop.
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We are excited to work with you and
your child this year!
Please be sure that your child gets
plenty of Zzzz’s each night because we
have a lot of exciting activities
awaiting them each day!