ABCs of our class!!
A
B
Arrival – The school doors open at 8:30am
and the day begins at 8:40am. Students
should be in the classroom before the
announcements at 8:40. Any students
arriving after this time must stop in the office
for a late pass.
Attendance – Much of our learning takes
place in cooperative groups. We do many
hands-on activities and partner work which is
difficult to make-up at home. For this reason,
it is important to attend school each day
except in the case of illness or emergencies.
To report your child’s absence, please call
973-593-3173 x. 1. Upon your child’s return
to class, a written excuse stating the cause of
absence and date signed by the parent or
legal guardian is required.
Birthdays – We celebrate birthdays in the
classroom in a variety of ways. Students
with summer birthdays may choose another
date to celebrate. Students may choose how
to celebrate their birthday. A list of ideas is
available on my classroom website.
Students are provided with a “Me” Bag to
share if they choose to do so. Please note
that no food or treats should be sent into
CAS for birthday celebrations.
C
D
Communication – I believe that
home/school communication is imperative to
your child’s success in school. Please feel
free to e-mail me (dorank@madisonnjps.org)
or call CAS (973-593-3173) and leave a
message with the secretary. I will do my best
to respond within 24 hours.
Dismissal – Students are dismissed at
3:15pm each day. Please send in a written
note or e-mail to inform the office and myself
of any change in dismissal. I am not
permitted to release students to someone
other than a parent/guardian without written
permission.
Conferences – District-wide conferences are
held in November and April. At these
conferences we will discuss your child’s
progress. However, I am happy to meet with
you at anytime throughout the school year.
We can also hold a phone conference.
Please call or e-mail me to set up a date and
time.
Character Education – At CAS, we believe
that there are six important character traits
we want to instill in our students: honesty,
independence, kindness, respect,
responsibility, and cooperation.
E
F
E-mail – This is the quickest and easiest way
to contact me. I check e-mail daily and will
do my best to respond within 24 hours.
dorank@madisonnjps.org
Field Trips – We will go on at least one field
trip in third grade. This field trip will relate to
our content objectives. Please be sure to fill
out and return all permission slips and
payment in a timely fashion.
Evaluation Codes – On report cards,
students will be given a score of 1, 2, 3, or 4.
These scores correspond to the following
report card grades:
1 – Needs Improvement
2 – Developing
3 – Consistent
4 – Exceeds Grade Level Expectations
For more information, please refer to the
elementary report card descriptors on the
CAS website.
G
Google – Students in our classroom will
have access to Chromebooks during the
year. Each student will have a Google
account, which will enable him or her to login to their Chromebook and access Google
Apps for Education (GAFE).
Friday Folders – Weekly work will be sent
home each Friday. Tests and quizzes should
be signed and returned in the folder on
Monday morning. All other work may be kept
at home.
H
Homework – Third graders will receive 3040 minutes of homework each night, not
including reading. Students will receive math
and spelling homework each night, as well as
a weekly written reading response.
Homework is an important routine to begin at
an early age. I encourage you and your child
Graded Work – We do not give letter grades to set up a scheduled time and quiet
in third grade. Much of our work is hands-on, workspace to complete homework each day.
completed together, or in journals. You may Students should be able to do most
not see many worksheets coming home, but assignments independently. If your child is
this doesn’t mean we aren’t working hard! J having a difficult time with a concept or
assignment, please send me an e-mail or
note.
I
J
Illness - If your child is not attending school
you must call roll call at 973-593-3173, leave
your child's name/teacher’s name and reason
for the absence. All students must be
accounted for each day for safety reasons.
Your child must be fever free for 24 hours
without medication and tolerating a regular
diet before returning to school.
Jobs – Students share jobs each week to
help us share responsibility in the classroom.
Sharing jobs also helps us build our
classroom community!
K
L
Kindness – Kindness is very important in our
classroom. We promote the Golden Rule.
There are consequences for students who
are not being kind. Please contact me if your
child is having a problem with another
student that you believe they have not
shared with us.
Library – Our class will visit the library once
a week. Students are permitted to check out
3 library books at a time. Please help your
child honor library due dates.
M
N
Math – Madison uses the Math in Focus
textbook and Common Core State Standards
to guide our math instruction. Students will
learn problem solving, place value, fractions,
measurement and data, area and perimeter,
and multiplication and division. It is important
that students practice their math facts nightly
in order to develop automaticity.
Music – In third grade, students learn to play
the recorder during music class. Students
are responsible for practicing each night as
well as being prepared for music class each
week with his or her recorder and music
folder.
Mystery Reader - We LOVE having mystery
readers visit our class! If you would like to
Lunch – Lunch is from 11:45am-12:10pm
each day. Students may bring their own
lunch from home or order from the cafeteria.
You have the option of paying cash each day
or prepaying into an online account.
Newsletter – Monthly newsletters can be
found posted on my website. These
newsletters highlight the upcoming
curriculum and special activities, as well as
recap the past month.
Nightly Reading – Students are expected to
read a “just-right” book for at least 30
minutes each night. They will fill in a reading
log each night and return the log to school
monthly. As we discuss often in the
classroom, the only way to become a better
reader is to read!
visit our class as a mystery reader, please
sign up for a Friday afternoon on my
website. We do mystery reader on Fridays at
2:50pm. Choose a favorite book from when
you were a child or a book that you and your
child enjoy reading together. You will have
approximately 20 minutes to read to the
class.
O
Oops – Mistakes are a great opportunity to
learn! Encourage your child not to give up if
a task is challenging.
Organization – Students are expected to
build good organization habits in third grade.
I expect students to keep their desks
organized, along with their classwork and
homework assignments. Please encourage
your child to be organized at home. Review
their Friday Folders with them, have
designated spots to complete homework, and
encourage them to pack their backpacks the
night before so they are ready to go in the
morning! “My mom didn’t put it in my
backpack” is not a valid excuse in third
grade!
Q
Questions – Please feel free to ask me any
questions. I will do my best to answer them.
If I am unable, I will steer you in the right
direction. You may contact me by e-mail,
phone, or note.
P
Physical Education – Our class has
physical education twice weekly. Students
are expected to wear appropriate footwear
on P.E. days.
PTO – Please help support CAS by joining
our PTO!!! Our PTO contributes to many
things at our school through fundraisers and
memberships. They are an integral part of
our school community!
R
Recess - Recess is 12:10-12:35pm each
day. Recess is held outdoors everyday
unless it is precipitating. This includes even
cold winter days. Please make sure that
your child comes to school with the
appropriate outdoor gear for the weather.
Report Cards – The academic year is
divided into four marking periods. At the end
of each marking period, report cards will be
sent home via backpack.
S
T
Scholastic Reading Club – I will periodically
send out Scholastic Reading Club order
forms. You can place an order online using
our classroom code: NKC99. Scholastic
offers a large selection of books at great
prices. Plus, thanks to your orders, we
receive free books for our classroom!
Tardies – Being tardy for school disrupts
your child’s learning as well as other
students. In addition, we begin each day
with a morning meeting, which helps build
classroom community. Students are
expected to be in the classroom by the 8:40
bell. If not, they must stop at the main office
to sign in and get a late pass.
Snack - We will have snack each day around
10:00am. Our classroom is NUT
Twitter – For frequent updates on what is
FREE. Please be sure that your child's
going on in our classroom, follow us on
snack does not contain nuts. Your child's
Twitter - @mrsdorancas!
snack should be healthy and an appropriate
size. Students will be asked to save any
snacks that are not healthy for lunch.
Spelling – Third grade uses Words Their
Way as our spelling program. Students will
have a word sort each week, which
introduces a specific spelling pattern.
Students will practice this spelling pattern
throughout the week through different
activities.
U
V
Unique – I believe that each child has unique
learning differences, therefore I will be
providing instruction to your child that may or
may not be different from his or her peers.
Visitors - Visitors are welcome at CAS. As a
matter of safety and precaution for our
students and staff, visitors/parents must first
report to the main office and sign-in. A Visitor
sticker is issued and MUST be worn at all
times. Upon departure, all visitors/parents
must sign-out.
w
XYZ
Website – For more information, please visit
my website. Monthly newsletters are posted
on the website. Sign-ups, such as
parent/teacher conferences, mystery reader,
and birthday celebrations, are also located
there.
I am eXcited to work with You and Your child
this Year! Please make sure he/she gets
plenty of ZZZZ’s each night as we have
eXciting days planned! Your child has lots of
choices each day to make. Please
encourage positive ones.
Workshop – In Madison, we use the
workshop approach to reading and writing
instruction. It consists of a short mini-lesson,
independent reading and writing time, oneon-one conferences with the teacher, a midworkshop teaching point, and sharing at the
conclusion of the workshop. This
differentiated workshop approach allows
students to be engaged with reading and
writing experiences appropriate to their
development.
World Language – World Language
instruction begins in third grade. Students
will be receiving lessons in Spanish for a total
of 60 minutes each week. These lessons
sometimes require students to be
responsible for Spanish homework.