Welcome to third grade! Mrs. Wexler
KEEP SMILING BOARD
Independent responsibility is a very important quality that each student
will be strengthening this year. To encourage this, our class has a KEEP
SMILING STUDENT BOARD. Each student has a pocket with three index cards in
it. The first card is green with a smiley face on it. The object is to
remain "smiling" throughout the day by following class and school rules. The
second card is yellow indicating a warning and the student needs to think
about his/her behavior. The third red card means that we need to have a
conversation to discuss what is happening and why. If a student gets to the
red card, the consequence is that a behavior slip will be sent home to be
signed by a parent/quardian and returned the following day. This will keep
the lines of communication open about daily social/academic behaviors. Each
child who continues to "KEEP SMILING" will receive a raffle ticket to be put
into a drawing on Friday. On occasion, we hand out additional raffle
tickets. On Monday, we will choose five raffle tickets and the winners get to
pick from our class treasure box!
TEAMWORK BEADS
Responsibility is a character trait that develops over time. It is
important to help children to realize that they are not only individuals but
also members of many groups - friends, the class, their families, the
community. For any group to "work", each member has a responsibility to
cooperate with other members to achieve a common goal. The class has daily
opportunities to "earn" beads. For example: as the class walks to and from
their special, the can earn two beads. When the class has earned all the
beads, they have earned a reward. Some past examples are: extra recess, ice
cream party, pizza party, movie and popcorn. The class will vote on some
choices when the year begins.
TREASURE BOX
The treasure box includes: stickers, free ice cream from the cafeteria at
lunch, toys, homework passes, pencils, candy and lots more!!
CHARACTER EDUCATION
Our class will be discussing six blocks of character education:
trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship.
This fall, we will integrating some activities to help the students to begin
to think critically and become successful students within a positive
classroom environment.
ZIPPER PROGRAM
Zip Mouth
Identify Problem
Pause
Put Yourself in Charge
Explore Options
Restart Buttons
We are working towards becoming responsible and dependable "4th" graders
through the "Zipper Program." Simple ways to help us independently work on
sharpening listening skills for greater success.
MAGIC MOMENTS
You know what they are...when something UNBELIEVABLE happens and you are
speechless....a student will receive a "Caught Being Good Coin".
HOMEWORK
The school provides each student with a Vassar Road Homework Planner. Each
morning upon arrival, the student will copy their homework in their planner.
It is critical that the homework is correctly and completely copied.
A parent/guardian needs to sign the planner each night to indicate that the
homework is completed. The planner will be checked and stamped each morning
to verify that the planner was is signed. Also, planners will be checked
every Monday morning for the previous Friday. Planners will be highlighted
with missing or incomplete assignments.
Reading each night is also part of homework. In the beginning of school,
students must read fifteen minutes each night. The student must write the
title of the book and the pages read each night. Reminder: capitalize
important words and underline title of the book. Also, do not forget to
capitalize first and last name of the author of the book. The student must
then fill out the reading journal - also supplied by the district. This
reading journal must also be initialed or signed by the parent/guardian.
Any written homework not completed will result in an automatic loss of five
minutes of recess for each incomplete/missing assignment. The assignment will
be made up at home the next night. The student will not be able to earn a
pass for that week. If homework is not done consistently, parents will be
notified and a resolution will be agreed upon. Although the homework will
not be graded, a homework grade will be given each of the four quarters. The
student will earned a 100% each quarter if all homework is done each night.
For every homework assignment that is not turned in, the student will lose
one point from the grade. The homework is corrected together daily in class
as a reinforcement of the concept taught the previous day for follow-up
discussion and questions. The students will correct their own homework with
a red pen and make any corrections. The top of the homework will be
labeled “C.I.C.” to indicate that we went over it in class as a group.
(C.I.C. = “Corrected In Class”) If your child is having difficulties with
the homework concept, please feel free to explain it to them. In addition,
please jot a note in the planner or on the actual worksheet to let me know
that they had difficulty with the assignment so that I can address that in
school.
HOMEWORK PASSES
The students can earn a “night off” homework pass for two consecutive weeks
of complete homework and planner/reading log (spelled correctly, completely
filled out as well as, SIGNED EVERY NIGHT. I stress to the students that it
is THEIR responsibility to bring the planner and reading log to the parents
(with a pen/pencil)to get them signed. These passes may not be used for
study guides, pretests, long term assignments, or any concept that the
student needs reinforcement with. The student must hand in the pass the day
s/he wishes to redeem it. At times, there will be an assignment where the
homework pass is NOT redeemable. These assignments will be
announced in advance.
T.I.C. NOTATION
When assignments are completed together, in class, as a group lesson, the
students will write T.I.C. on the top of the paper. The students are
expected to follow along.
T.I.C. = Completed “Together in Class”
C.I.C. NOTATION
When assignments are corrected together, in class, as a group lesson, the
students will write C.I.C. on the top of the paper. The students are
expected to follow along.
C.I.C. = "Corrected in Class”
If the student brings home a paper/worksheet without either of these
notations or a grade/marking from me, there is a possibility that I have not
seen it. Please return it to school with your child to give to me so that
there is not the possibility that it will be counted as missing work. I will
explain this more thoroughly at Parents As Partners night.
CHARACTER EDUCATION
Our class will be discussing six blocks of character education:
trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship.
This fall, we will integrating some activities to help the students to begin
to think critically and become successful students within a positive
classroom environment. We will be doing in our morning meeting possible
scenarios to discuss the use of various character traits.
