Welcome Parents!
As you come in:
• Sign up for a conference time (located on
my desk).
•Find your child’s desk and read the paper
they wrote you.
• Fill out your side of the paper and then
look at what your child wrote
Ms. Baxter’s 3rd
Grade Class
Welcome to Back to
School Night!
Agenda
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Teacher Introduction
Classroom Expectations
Schedule
Nine Week Plans
Math Grouping
Homework
40 Book Challenge
Retakes
Vacations
General Classroom Information
Contact Information
Questions
A Little Bit About Me…
Classroom Expectations
 Students arrive promptly,
unpack, and begin morning
work.
 Students are to stay on task
and not disrupt the learning
process.
 Students are to be
respectful, responsible, and
ready.
•Students will copy their
homework in their agenda at the
end of the day and hand in
completed homework in a timely
manner
•Incomplete homework will
be done during recess.
•Bingo Points (Whole Class)
•P.A.W.S Think Sheet--filled out
in class and sent home for parent
signature.
Class Schedule
Our class schedule can be found on
Ms. Baxter’s Pinebrook class page
and in your packet
The First Nine Weeks
MATH
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Geometry
Place Value
Rounding Numbers
Addition & Subtraction
(inverse relationships)
SCIENCE
 Scientific Investigation
 Matter
 Natural Cycles (Sun, Earth,
Moon)
The First Nine Weeks
(cont’d.)
SOCIAL STUDIES
 Government
 Famous Americans
ENGLISH
LANGUAGE ARTS
 Effective Communication Skills
 Word Analysis Skills
 Reading Strategies
(fiction/non-fiction)
 Demonstrate Comprehension of
Fiction
 Descriptive Paragraphs
(Personal Narratives)
Math Grouping
 Differentiated—classes switch
 ALL students’ are taught the same
content, but activities/content are
delivered according to individual
needs.
 Meets needs of all students.
 Meeting increased demands of
SOL test.
 Fall and Spring pre-assessments
for re-placement
Homework
 Students will receive
approximately 30 minutes of
homework every night.
 Word Study and Math will be
every night.
 In addition students are
expected to read 15-20 minutes
every night.
 Students are expected to use
their agendas daily.
 Parental supervision of agenda
use is strongly encouraged.
40 Book
Challenge
-Students will be reading from a variety of genres
in order to explore books that you might not ordinarily
read and to develop an understanding of literary elements,
text features, and text structures.
-Students will record the books they are reading at school or at home.
-Any book that a student reads that has more than 350 pages
counts as 2 books.
-Students may only use 2 book from a particular series.
Ex. They cannot count more than 2 A-Z Mystery books as 2
of their fiction books.
40 Book Challenge
Grading
Teachers will use the following grading scale for student
work:
4– Consistently goes beyond established goals for achievement/contributions or
explains & justifies reasoning behind an answer
 -Consistently transfers, applies, and expands skills
 -Routinely applies problem-solving and critical-thinking skills across areas of the
curriculum
 -Consistently shows originality, creativity, and intuitive thinking beyond standard
expectations
3– Meets established goal for achievement
 -Demonstrates all required knowledge of content area
 -Frequently transfers, applies and expands skills
 -Periodically demonstrates originality, creativity, and intuitive thinking
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3 + : applies some of the “4” expectations
Grading
2– Demonstrates partial knowledge of established goal for achievement, but is
progressing toward complete knowledge of standard
 -Infrequently transfers, applies and expands skills
 -Progressing toward expressing original, creative and intuitive thinking
 -Rarely applies problem-solving and critical-thinking skills across areas of the
curriculum
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2+ : applies some of the “3” expectations
1-Has difficulty/does not meet established grade-level goals for achievement and
expectations
 -Requires support to meet established goal for achievement
 -Seldom or never understands, transfers, or applies skills
 -Does not apply problem-solving and critical-thinking skills across areas of the
curriculum
 -Rarely shows originality, creativity, or intuitive-thinking skills in completing
assignments
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1+ : applies some of the “2” expectations
How I Grade
 Formative
Assessments:
 Summative
Assessments
- Ongoing
- Check for
understanding
- Highest score is a 3
- Quizzes and Tests
- 2 level 4 questions
- Getting all questions
right earns a score
of 4
- Getting one of level
4 questions earns a
3+
Retakes on Summative
Tests
 Students will be permitted to retake a
summative assessment if they received
a score lower than a “2”
 The highest score a student can earn on
a retake is a 2+
Vacations
If you are planning on taking a vacation that
will be more than 3 days, you must
email Mr. Thiessen to have them approved.
Early Dismissal be sure to contact the office
Before 2:15 by filling out form on the web
page
Contact Information
 Please feel free to contact me via:
 Phone 703-957-4325
 Letters sent in with your
child
 Emails
dbaxter@lcps.org
 baxter3a.blogspot.com
Questions
Thank you for coming! I
look forward to a great
year!