2014-2015

Dear Parent(s) or Guardian,
I would like to welcome you to the exciting year of Third Grade! My name is Rachel Basham and it is my honor to be working with your child this coming year. Before I start talking about this school year, I would like to first give you some background knowledge about myself.
I am originally from Clifton and graduated from Central High School. In the spring of 2008 I graduated with my bachelor’s degree in education from Illinois State University. After graduating from college, I decided to take a year off to be a substitute teacher while my husband and I settled back into the area. During this time I gained more experience and knowledge from all the talented educators within the Central and Iroquois West school districts. My first few years of teaching, I was a Fourth Grade and Kindergarten teacher at Chebanse.
The past 3 years I was a First Grade teacher here at Iroquois West and loved every minute of it.
I am currently living in Ashkum with my husband Tim, two cats, a dog, a fish, and rabbit. Although our family is small now, we hope to grow in the future! My husband also graduated from Central and Illinois State
University. Tim now works at Heritage FS where he enjoys working in the agriculture field.
This year I hope to instill the love of learning to your child’s educational experience as we embark on new adventures. I, along with my talented Third Grade team, will be collaboratively working together to ensure the best learning environment for your child. I am truly excited to begin this year and look forward to communicating with you all. Thank you and I hope you have a great year here in third grade!
Please feel free to communicate anything to me either with an email rbasham@iwest.k12.il.us
or with a note sent with your child in their silver folder. This folder is important for parents and the teacher to communicate. Please check the folder daily to stay updated with your child’s education. I will also be adding more information on the school website under Mrs. Basham each month or more, so please check back every now and then. I will try and post as many pictures as possible.

Sincerely,
Mrs. Basham
Color: Bright Green
Animal: Cat
Flower: Daisy
Candy: Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
Pop: Pepsi
Children’s Book: Number of the Stars
Cartoon Movie: Frozen
Food: Pizza
Restaurant: Brick Stone
Store: The Gathering

A-
Attendance: A successful school experience is the responsibility of the child, the parent(s)/guardian, and the school. Your child’s progress, both academically and socially, is influenced to a great extent by daily participation. Regular attendance without tardiness is important.
B-
Birthdays: We enjoy celebrating each child’s special day. Please send treats in the morning with your child or bring them in the morning yourself. We will celebrate summer birthdays at the end of the school year. Birthday party invitations are NOT to be passed out at school unless every child in the class is invited.
Book Orders (scholastic): Approximately once a month I will send book orders home. You may use these forms to purchase books for your child’s home library. Not only is it convenient for you, it is also a wonderful way to add quality books and items to your classroom. We are able to receive bonus points, which I can redeem for merchandise used in our room. Books may be purchased with cash, but CHECKS ARE PREFERRED made payable to Scholastic Reading
Clubs. You may also order online as well.
Our class earns a FREE book every time a parent places their order online.
Box Tops: Please cut out all box tops and place 50 box tops per bag clearly labeled. You may turn in as many bags as you would like. The more the merrier!!
C-
Celebrations: We will have several celebrations throughout the school year. All children will be allowed to participate unless the parents notify the classroom teacher to decline their child’s presence due to a personal conflict or the child has had behavior problems. Any volunteers for the holiday parties are truly appreciated!!! Sign up sheets for parent volunteers for the exciting celebrations will be posted at open house. If you are unable to attend open house, just send a note stating you would like to volunteer for a job(s).
Classroom Procedures: This year in Room 147, we will be using a colored “clip chart” to monitor our behavior and our choices. Your child will have a clip that they will physically move up or down the chart, depending on their choices. If your child did not misbehave or if they moved up the clip chart, they will receive a sticker to place on our positive behavior chart. After receiving a set amount of stickers on our positive behavior chart, the student will be allowed to pick a prize from the prize bin or receive a classroom reward coupon.

D-
Discipline: Your child will have a clip that they will physically move up or down the chart, depending on their choices. Please keep in mind that your child may not move every single day for them to move up, they must go above and beyond in their behavior choices! The chart below explains how the clip chart works.
Pink-Role Model! If you move to role model, you’ll get to take a happy note home and receive a prize or reward coupon!
Purple-Outstanding!
As you continue to make good choices, you’ll advance to “Outstanding!”
Blue-Good Day! Making a good choice will help you move up to the blue section of our chart.
Green-Ready to Learn! You will get to start out each day on “Ready to Learn”. You will move your clip up or down depending on your choices each day.
Yellow-Think About It! If you receive a warning, you will move your clip down to help you remember to think about your choices.
Orange-Teachers Choice! If you continue to make poor choices, you will move to “Teachers
Choice”. You will miss five minutes of recess or teachers choice of consequence.
Red-Parent Contact! If you still choose to make bad decisions, you will move to “Parent Contact”.
You will miss an entire recess, complete a “Behavior Reflection” for mom or dad to sign, or parents will be contacted through a phone call about the behavior. Students will also visit the principal and receive a discipline referral.
I believe this will be a positive way for students to monitor their choices and will give them behavior goals to strive for! As always, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me!
E-
Encourage: Always encourage your child with all their schoolwork. Everyone knows a compliment goes a long way! Also encourage your child to have a good night’s sleep to help your child succeed in the classroom.
F-
Friendly Classmates: In our classroom, I want to encourage students to use acts of kindness amongst their classmates. Every time a student performs an act of kindness towards another classmate without wanting recognition, they will be allowed to draw a number 1-100.
When the class receives 10 numbers in a row on our 100’s behavior chart, the entire class will receive a special reward.

G-
Getting to know your silver folder: At the beginning of the school year, children will be given their own silver daily folder. This folder is to be used as a way of communication between home and school. I will send home notes, newsletters, absent work, homework, etc. in this silver folder each night. PLEASE check your child’s folder each night and return it to school the next day. Any notes from parents to teacher, office, or principal should be put into the inside pocket labeled “Return to School” side of your child’s silver folder. This makes it easier and faster for me when looking at the entire classes folders each morning. I will also send home notes that
YOU NEED to see in the inside pockets of the folder. The inside pocket labeled “Keep at Home” will be used for graded work completed in class and informational notes. The inside pocket labeled “Return to School” will be used for homework or other items that must be returned back to school. Changes in your child’s life affect their education. To enable me to better understand and work with your child, please keep me informed of any changes throughout the year in your child’s life.
H-
Homework: Essentially there is homework in Third Grade. Please check your child’s work when they are finished and return to school the next day in your child’s silver folder labeled
“Return to School.” By checking your child’s work, it allows you as a parent to be updated with what your child is learning and to spend some quality time with your child. Absent work will be sent home for your child to complete if it is not completed in class with me. The absent work should be returned the next day. If a child is absent multiple days due to illness/etc, they may take the same amount of days they were absent to complete their work. Example: If a child is absent 2 days, they may take two days to complete the assignments. I will also ask you to do a few activities throughout the year with your child at home. In September, your child will bring home a reading log. This reading log is to stay in their silver folder at all times. They will be asked to read book(s) for 10-15 minutes a night Monday thru Friday. Students will earn pizza certificates for finishing their monthly reading logs. I truly feel that you and your child will benefit from this time together! Always be positive and relaxed and don’t forget to praise your child for good reading!
I-
Important Communication: It is VERY important that “you” as the parent, and “I” as the teacher to have GREAT communication. Feel free to call or email me at school with any concerns or problems. I will do my best to help you in any way.
J-
Just give me a call: I can take calls after school. Just call the school and ask for Mrs.
Basham room 107 or leave a message with the office.

K-
Keep up the good work rewards: Stickers on the positive sticker chart, high fives, prizes, certificates, feeling good inside, pride, parties, positive words, a smile, a treat, a positive call home, classroom coupons, etc!!!!!
L-
Library Books: Students will be checking out library books on a weekly basis. On library days, books will come home. These books can be used as one book to read for their weekly homework assignment. These books MUST be returned on the next library day. It is important that the books are at school on their assigned library days. Our class will have library on
Thursdays.
Lunch Boxes: If your child is bringing a lunch to school, again have it clearly labeled.
Please place your child’s first name, last name, and class name on their lunch box. There are
MANY look a like lunch boxes amongst other Third Grade students.
M-
Mathematics: At Iroquois West, we are using a common core based curriculum. The concepts this year will include:





Place Value
Addition
Subtraction
Rounding
Estimation
 Number
Patterns
 Multiplication
 Division
 Word
Problems
 Area
 Fractions
 Time
 Mass
 Capacity




Measurement
Shapes
Perimeter
Graphing
Money: When sending money, please place all important information in a sealed envelope. On the outside, please write your child’s first and last name, Mrs. Basham, and purpose (lunch money, book money, etc.). Place the envelope in the inside pocket labeled “Return to School” of your child’s silver folder. All folders are checked first thing each day. All notes to me should be in that pocket as well. I do not check book bags.
N-
Notes: When writing a note to me, please place the note into an envelope in the inside pocket labeled “Return to School” of your child’s silver folder. All folders are checked right away in the morning each day. All notes should be in that pocket. I will do the same for you. I can not change your child’s transportation route unless I have a note or phone call in advance or that day. I can not change your child’s transportation route based off your child stating a change in transportation.

O-
Outerwear: It may be hot now, but soon the days will get colder. Please have all outer wear clearly labeled with your child’s first and last name. Things do get lost and other students may have identical items. Also show your child how to identify his/her belongings. If your child does misplace their belongings, please check the lost and found at our school on the coat hooks by the janitor’s room.
P-
Personal Items: PLEASE DO NOT allow your child to bring any of the following to school unless it is for a school assignment: toys, purses, jewelry that is valuable/distracting, money not needed for school, candy, games, electronics, trading cards, etc. Any such items that are brought to school will remain in my care until a parent can pick them up. The school and I are not responsible for any lost items that are not allowed at school.
Q-
Quite Extraordinary: Every child is Extraordinary!!!! Every student is important to me and will be cared for and listened to throughout the school year!
R-
Reading: At Iroquois West, we will be using a common core based curriculum. This year in reading, students will be studying the following units. These units include fables, myths, spiders, famous women, and traveling.
S-
Scholastic Online Book Orders: Now it's easier than ever to find the right books for your child — and help us earn FREE books for our classroom library at the same time!
With new online ordering from Scholastic Book Clubs, you can choose from a much wider selection of books than in the printed flyer. Plus, you can send your orders directly to me online and use your credit card. Best of all, our class earns a FREE book every time a parent places their order online. It's so simple! Here's how it works:
 SIGN UP at www.Scholastic.com/bookclubs . On the parent page, click the "Don't have a
User Name and Password?" link, and then register for your own username and password.
When prompted, enter the one-time Class Activation Code shown below. This code ensures that your order is sent to me.
GL8VP

T-
Transportation: Please talk to your child about how important our transportation rules are.
Talk to them about what bus they will be riding, rules to follow on the bus, and safety. Please see school handbook for other rules and regulations on transportation.
U-
United We Stand: Our rules:
 Be Respectful
 Be Responsible
 Be Productive
V-
Visits and Volunteers: You are more than welcome to visit the classroom at any time. Please notify myself a day in advanced and remember to stop by the office to sign in and out during your visit. Also, please do not bring younger children to the classroom when visiting due to distractions. If you need to speak with me about anything specifically regarding your child, please email me or call to schedule an appointment. Volunteers are greatly appreciated. To provide the most assistance and least amount of distractions to students, please pre-arrange your volunteer time. Again, because of the distraction to students, please do not bring younger children into the classroom during your volunteer time.
W-
Water Bottles: I do allow students to bring their own individual bottled water during the
warm seasons only. It is important that it be filled at home, can be opened by your child, and placed in the backpack for home again. If anything other than water is sent, I will empty it down the sink. Water can be easily cleaned and/or evaporated if spilled. Other liquids can stain and are sticky. Please do not add water flavoring. This too can cause stickiness if spilt.
X-
Xtra Special: I know your children are eXTRA special to you! They are to me too! I will treat each child with the respect and care as if they were my own.
Y-
YES!!! We Need It!: Our class would love any items you would like to donate. These may include dry erase markers, Kleenex, wipes, third grade books, craft items, etc……anything you feel would be useful and appropriate for school to enrich the learning process of your child.
Z-
Zillions, Zillions, MORE: I am sure many more questions will arise during the next 9 months. Once again, feel free to contact me anytime!