Mrs. Perkins
    Grade 3 Bulletin
                                   September 2011                               

Dear Families,

Welcome to third grade!  I hope you had a relaxing, enjoyable summer.  As always, the new school year holds the promise of new discovery and learning, as well as the prospect of personal growth in all areas.  I am looking forward to an exciting year getting to know your child. The year will be filled with lots of learning and fun! My goal is to provide an environment where every child feels that he/she is free to take risks, works hard, and enjoys learning.  Maintaining each child's positive self-esteem and building a secure foundation for future growth will always remain a priority for me. 

Good communication between parent, teacher, and student is very important for your child’s academic growth.  Each day, you can expect your child to arrive at home with his/her orange homework folder and assignment book. Each day, all assignments are written in a specific place on the whiteboard, and sufficient time is given toward the end of the day for students to copy this information into their assignment books. Please review this information daily with your child, as I may write notes home occasionally in this space. Also, please feel free to use the assignment book to write notes to me, as well.  Remind your child to bring the homework folder and assignment book back to school each day. 

Together, we can help your child have a successful third grade year.  If you have any questions or concerns, you can call me at school at 527-0811 or email me at dperkins@hr-k12.org.

Mrs. Perkins

Grade 3 Bulletin

September 2011

Dear Families,

            It’s been great to see everyone back at school after a long summer.  In room 24, we’ve been busy getting to know each other better and working together to establish classroom rules.  Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves.

            Our scheduled Specials are as follows:  Monday – Art, Tuesday – Music, Wednesday – Library, Thursday – Gym, Friday – Extra Special.

            As a supplement to the third grade Social Studies program our class is using Scholastic News.  It is a weekly current events magazine designed for elementary school students at the third grade level.  The cost for this magazine is $4.25 per student.  Please consider sending in a check payable to Scholastic News to cover this expense, if you haven’t already done so.

            Thank you for your continued support in making your child’s third grade year a full and enriching one.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Mrs. Perkins

3^rd Grade Bulletin

 October 2011

Dear Families,

During the first month of school, we created our classroom rules and have practiced living by them.  These are rules that we all agree will help everyone in our class make his/her hopes and dreams for the year come true.  Our rules are:

·        Be respectful of yourself, others, and the school.

·        Try your BEST at everything and have FUN!

Our agreements are:

• Include EVERYONE!

• Be Peace Builders/Be responsible

• One speaker at a time/Use an inside voice

• Listen to others.

• Be kind to others/Remind others

• Keep personal space (hands and feet to yourself)

We recognize that no one can be expected to follow the rules 100% of the time.  When children make mistakes in following the rules, I’ll help them solve the problems caused by their mistakes through the use of “logical consequences.”  Logical consequences are not punishments.  They are ways to help children see the effects of their actions, repair the situation, and learn to do better next time.

There are three basic kinds of logical consequences:

·        Take a break – If a child is losing self-control, s/he goes to a designated spot (Think Chair) in the room to cool off.  The break is short.  The child comes back as soon as s/he has regained control.

·        Loss of privilege – If a child misuses a material or acts out during an activity, s/he will be told to stop using the material or doing the activity for a short period of time.  The privilege will be restored when the child and I have talked about how to prevent a similar problem in the future.

·        “You break it, you fix it” – If a child damages something or hurts another’s feelings, s/he will try to fix the damage.  In the case of hurting another’s feelings, the child might offer an apology of action – writing a card, helping with an activity, making an illustration, or taking some other action beyond verbally saying sorry.

·        Apology of Action – The child makes amends beyond just saying, “I’m sorry.”  It could mean the child draws a picture for the other student, does something nice for the student, says something nice to the student, writes the student a thoughtful note, or invites the student to play an activity.

My goal is to help children believe in their ability to create a caring learning environment.  Learning to live by the rules they’ve created is an important step. 

Now that the children have had time to get to know each other and practice routines and procedures, we are more involved in our third grade curriculum.  Our schedule is full and flowing smoothly.