Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Parent Letter

Dear Families,

Welcome to third grade. I’m excited about the opportunity to get to know you, and I’m looking forward to a happy and productive school year. As you know, you are the most important part of your child’s education. By showing your interest and enthusiasm for what occurs at school, you can help encourage your student to be a success. Within this letter I will share information about various items. Please feel free to contact me about any question you may have regarding what is shared or other concerns you may have. .

Throughout the year your student will be required to do homework. Each week your child should be studying their spelling words, math facts, and spending at least forty minutes reading aloud. Some nights a homework sheet will not be sent home however they should study spelling, math facts, and read. Your child has a student planner in their binder which reflects what needs to be accomplished each evening.

Please help your student learn how to be responsible for their work. You can do this by creating a time and a place for them to complete their studies and by helping them to remember to bring their binder and homework to school each day. In their binder under the “homework” section you will find a homework tracker. Please initial each night to show your student has completed his/her homework. Thank you in advance for your help!

Each week students will be given fifteen spelling words to complete. The spelling words will be written in their student planners. Each test will focus on a different spelling rule and the test will occur on Friday. Please help your student to study their spelling words each night. .

It is extremely important that you spend time working with multiplication facts throughout the year. I have found it impossible to insure students are proficient in their times tables if they do not practice at home. If you find your student struggling with the facts I would be glad to help come up with various activities to aid in their practice.

Each week the class will help write a letter reviewing briefly, what occurred in class. I encourage you to hold a discussion about the information found within this weekly letter with your child. I will also post this information on our third grade blog. www.watervilleclassof2018.blogspot.com Please check the blog throughout the year. I will publish student work, pictures, and other information about our classroom work. In order to publish your students picture on the blog I will need the permission form attached to this letter returned ASAP.

We will be using the Time to Teach discipline plan again this year. I have modified this program in the following manner. A student who fails to follow directions will be prompted and their name will be placed on the board. The student will receive two more prompts before being refocused. Each prompt equals a check. Three prompts equals a refocus. Three refocuses in a week equals an academy held after school on Monday. After each refocus your student will call and speak with you as to why they have received a refocus form. It is important you realize it is somewhat difficult to earn an academy. The majority of students will go through a year without having to attend academy, however some become weekly attendees. If this begins to occur with your child I want to work with you to develop a creative means to help your child develop behavior which will allow them to be a success.

Throughout the year I will need to send information home. One of the most convenient methods of communicating for me is email. If you can send me an email I will add your address to my class list. My address is jgrillo@waterville.wednet.edu . I would like to have as many addresses as possible. If you need to speak with me about any concerns you or your student has please send me a note or email me so we can set up an appointment when students are not in the room. I want to be open to hear your concerns however during class I am preoccupied with my students and can miss important information that you have to tell me.

Once again, welcome to third grade. Let’s work together to make this the best year ever!

Sincerely,


Justin Grillo