Please feel free to contact me anytime you have a question or a concern that you would like to discuss. Our classroom website is also a great way to check in and see what we’re up to in class. I look forward to working with you and your child this year and building a relationship that allows us to provide the best education that we can provide. Together we can make a difference.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Gerber
ngerber@sahuarita.net
Phone: 625-3502
Classroom Web Site
You will find our classroom web site filled with valuable information for parents and students. I try my best update the site at least twice a month, so the information you are reading will be up-to-date. In the past, I've had parent volunteers help me keep the site updated and I welcome anyone who is interested in volunteering. Our site contains monthly newsletters, homework assignments, a calendar of events, our curriculum, helpful sites to reinforce grade level skills, our supply list, schedule and much more! Be sure to bookmark our site or add it to your favorites list for quick access.
Address:
http://www.teacherweb.com/AZ/AnzaTrailSchool/NadiaGerber/
Agendas
Organization is one of the key elements to being a successful student. To help students become more organized we will be using agendas this year. Each student agenda will contain study materials, independent reading logs, spelling lists and other important information. It contains a communication section for parents and teachers. Please check the agenda
each night and
sign it. The agenda is to be brought to school each day and it is the student’s responsibility to be sure it is maintained. More information is included inside the folder itself.
Communication
Like I have already mentioned, honest and open lines of communication is very important to the success of your child's learning experience. Please be sure to share information that is pertinent to your child's well being. It is important to let me know of any major changes in your child's life (new baby, a move, divorce, death, remarriage, etc) because it may impact how your child is behaving while at school. Likewise, I will also contact you if I notice any changes that may interfere with your child's learning. All information shared between myself and parents is completely confidential.
I will communicate with you in a variety of ways. One great communication tool is e-mail. I check my email all throughout the day. It is a convenient way to get quick feedback on questions or comments. For more serious concerns, please call me at school so that we can talk or set up an appointment. My email address is
ngerber@sahuarita.net . The office number is 625-3502. I may also write a quick note in the agenda, so check it nightly. Monthly newsletters are sent home at the beginning of each month and information will be posted on the website.
CONFERENCES
We will hold conferences twice during the year, October 21-27 and Mar. 24-25. I will send home a conference schedule. If you would like to set up an additional conference any time during the school year, please contact me to set up an appointment.
Volunteering
Weather helping out with a special project, chaperoning a field trip, providing supplies, or helping with our everyday activities, I welcome and encourage parents to help out. Please contact me if you are interested in volunteering and let me know how you would like to help and when.
Goals and Objectives for the year:
READING
Our goal for third graders in reading is that they continue to learn to enjoy reading as a life-long endeavor and realize how it affects all areas of their lives. We strive to help students become more independent in their reading and in their work study skills. We stress that students should utilize their reading skills in other academic areas as well as in reading for enjoyment.
We will be incorporating the Harcort Reading Series in our daily reading activities and you can reinforce what we are doing in class by going to the harcourt. There you will find various activities to go a long with our seris. Using a literature enriched reading program, we can provide opportunities to integrate listening, speaking, reading, and writing, which has a positive effect on comprehension and promotes enjoyable reading experiences.
Reading Objectives:
* Help children value reading for understanding.
* Increase the amount of personal reading and to create a life-long interest in reading.
* Acquire skills and be able to apply them in reading for pleasure and information.
* Help students become self-motivated learners.
* Learn new words and understand the role they play in a story.
* Differentiate between fact and opinion, fiction and nonfiction.
* Relate cause and effect.
* Introduce and understand the author’s purpose.
* Summarize and sequence ideas.
* Make predictions, draw conclusions, and improve word attack skills.
* Improve comprehension skills: literal, inferential, interpretive
* Identify: main ideas and characteristics of main characters
* Use table of contents, glossaries, and indexes.
Accelerated Reader
Accelerated Reader® is a computer-based program that tests reading comprehension. Each book has been analyzed and a reading level has been assigned to it . Goals are set for each student, based on his or her reading level, to encourage not only quantity, but quality reading. Students will be required to read books on their independent reading level and take tests passing at an average of 80% or above. At the end of each quarter, the students will receive a grade based on the amount of their goal met. This grade is worth 25% of the total reading grade. Reading should be FUN! And by giving our students the tools to find books they're interested in, we're one step closer to the overall goal of our Accelerated Reader® program -- instilling a lifelong passion for reading. Reading is a basic skill, important to every other field of study. Accelerated Reader® is one way we hope to encourage students to read.
LANGUAGE ARTS
Our district has recently adopted a new writing progam called Write Up a Storm. Every teacher in the district will soon be trained using this new program that teaches kids how to become excellent writers.
Writing and English is also taught in conjunction with our other subjects such as Science and Social Studies. The function of the program is to encourage students to better express themselves in speaking and writing.
Objectives:
* Use correct punctuation and capitalization.
* Identity simple nouns and verbs in simple sentences and be aware of other parts of speech.
* Produce complete sentences of different types (statements, questions, commands, and exclamatory).
* Reinforce differentiating between complete sentences, phrases and run-on sentences using commas and connecting words.
* Reinforce use of synonyms, antonyms, and homophones.
* Be able to write a paragraph using correct grammar and related language skills.
* Learn how to give speeches, talks, reports and other oral language skills.
* Set up and write a friendly letter and invitation, as well as address an envelope.
* Learn how to utilize library resources and do research.
* Introduce different forms of poetry:
Couplets, Haiku, and Cinquains
* Apply the writing process and writing techniques:
- awareness of audience
- good beginnings/endings
- prewriting
- writing
- revising
- proofreading
- final copies
* Complete writing projects:
- reports
- business letter
- character sketches
- book reviews
We use our creative writing activities and journal writing to practice these skills. Many of our reading, science, and social studies assignments give students additional opportunities to utilize skills in this area.
SPELLING
The focus in spelling is to develop phonemic awareness and learn patterns/ rules. Spelling lists are in the agenda for the whole quarter and posted online each week. Tests are given on Fridays. Students are required to study at home each night. Tests will consist of 15 words and 5 challenge words.
MATHEMATICS
We will be using the Harcourt math series as well as other supplemental materials to maximize student learning. You can access the Harcourt math website from home.
http://www.harcourtschool.com/menus/math_advantage.html
Objectives:
* Understand and apply numbers, ways of representing numbers, the relationships among numbers
and different number systems.
* Understand and apply numerical operations and their relationship to one another.
* Use estimation strategies reasonably and fluently.
* Understand and apply data collection, organization and representation to analyze and sort data.
* Understand and apply the basic concepts of probability.
* Understand and demonstrate the systematic listing and counting of possible outcomes.
* Understand and apply vertex-edge graphs.
* Identify patterns and apply pattern recognition to reason mathematically.
* Describe and model functions and their relationships.
* Represent and analyze mathematical situations and structures using algebraic representations
* Analyze change in a variable over time and in various contexts.
* Analyze the attributes and properties of 2- and 3-dimensional shapes and develop mathematical arguments about their relationships.
* Apply spatial reasoning to create transformations and use symmetry to analyze mathematical situations.
* Specify and describe spatial relationships using coordinate geometry and other
representational systems.
* Understand and apply appropriate units of measure, measurement techniques, and formulas to determine measurements.
* Use reasoning to solve mathematical problems in contextual situations.
* Evaluate situations, select problem-solving strategies, draw logical conclusions, develop and describe solutions and recognize their applications.
SOCIAL STUDIES
Third Grade History Strands introduce the reasons for and effects of the exploration of North America to provide a foundation for further study in fourth and fifth grades. The idea of freedom is explored through the study of our nation from the Civil War through late 19th and early 20 th century immigration. The development of cultures and civilizations and their contributions are expanded through the introduction of ancient Greece and Rome.