Please. . .

find your students desk.

complete the parent side-up of your childs questionnaire.
They will be excited to see how you did.
take a peek inside your students desk and the packet on
their desk.

On your students desk you will find . . .

Picture Order Form pictures are September 17
XtraMath login information to access and practice at home
Everyday Math login to assist with HomeLinks, opportunity
to review lessons, and practice math skills
Parent Homework please complete and return to Mrs.
Flack by Friday, September 11
Book order due by Friday, September 18
Why Cant I Skip My Twenty Minutes of Reading Tonight?
- please read when convenient
Leader in Me brochure please read when convenient

Mrs. Flacks 3rd Grade Class

Curriculum Night 2015

Names to know:
Nicole Tjaden,
Principal
Matt Robie,
Assistant Principal
Liz Seib, Secretary
Kim Hunt, School
Nurse

Waukees Mission and

Vision: Dedicating

to optimizing
individual learning
and potential for
success in a global
community.

Classroom Blog
Classroom updates and important information can
be found on our classroom blog at
https://blogs.waukeeschools.org/aflack
This is an excellent communication piece for what
your child is learning in 3rd grade!
Totem Tales is the building newsletter that will be

If
you need a paper copy, please let me
know!
sent via e-mail on the 1st and 3rd Fridays.

Classroom Blog

Specials
Day 1: PE (Mr. Dreyer)
Day 2: Music (Ms. Thomas) / Media (Mrs.
Matlage)
Day 3: Art (Ms. Walck) / Computer (Mr. Dean)
Day 4: PE / Computer
Day 5: Music
Day 6: Guidance (Mrs. Lightfoot)
/ Computer (Mr. Dean)

Lunch/Recess

Lunch is from 12:00-12:20

Recess begins at 12:20 and ends at 12:40
Please let the office or myself know in the morning if you
plan on eating lunch with your child.
An adult lunch costs $3.45 this year
Water and Juice is $0.65
Extra milk in $0.50

Recess Clothing: As the weather becomes cooler, please

send appropriate clothing with your child. During the early
fall days it can be on the chillier side during our lunch
recess. Please keep this in mind. Layers are the best
choice!
At or below 49: Winter-type coat
50-59: Sweatshirt/light jacket
At or above 60: Long sleeves, or appropriate
clothing for higher temperatures

Attendance
Attendance:If your child
is going to be absent or
lateplease call the
office(987-5193) with that
information rather than
contacting the teacher
directly. This helps ensure
the accuracy of our
attendance data before
phone calls are made.

How is your child getting

home??
If your childs after school plans
change please let me know as soon
as possible via a phone call, e-mail,
or note. I cant allow a student to
inform me about a change in plans
due to safety concerns.

Planners
This is an excellent school to home
connection. Your child will complete this
everyday by recording any homework and
various school reminders.
I stress that this is the childs responsibility
to get out and show you each night
Feel free to communicate through written
notes in here as well. For example: change

in transportation for the day, being picked

up early, etc.

Planners
Planner expectations:

Student needs to get an adult signature every night.

Please record nightly reading minutes in the reading
section (needs to written by an adult).
I will check weekly minutes each MONDAY morning. I
will be looking at the total from Monday through
Sunday. Our first weekly goal is 50 minutes.
The same system will be used for weekly math fact
practice. Our first goal is 25 minutes per week.
Practice flashcards or write/solve facts.

Please complete the corresponding HL as the lesson

taught each day. Your child will write the lesson in their
planner each day.
Once per 6-day cycle, your child will write their new
Work Work words down so they can practice at home.

Planners

Snacks
Your child may bring a snack to school everyday.
Snacks should be healthy, such as crackers, fruit
snacks, fresh fruit, granola bars, raisins, cheese, etc.
No peanut productsplease check the labels when
choosing a snack to send.
If your child wants to celebrate their very special
birthday or birthday with our class, they are
welcome to bring packaged treats to share. It is a
Waukee policy that peanut products are not
permitted in the classroom. We currently have 26
students in our class.

Leadership Notebooks
These are similar to the portfolios we have
used in the past with a few changes. These
changes will allow you to check in with
your child on their goals, progress, and
celebrations more frequently rather than
just at conferences.
Part of being a Leader in Me school is the
sharing of data between school and home.
Leadership Notebooks will include 2 goals
(personal & academic).
Leadership Notebooks will make an
appearance at home more frequently.

Leadership Notebook

Leadership Club

In an effort to motivate and encourage good behavior, as a third grade we do

Leadership Club.
This is a time where students are rewarded for being respectful, responsible,
safe, and caring as well as for displaying the 7 habits.
Leadership Club will most often take place on Fridays, at the end of the day for
about 15-20 minutes.
There will be activities such as: class/grade level games, dance party, video,
extra recess, etc.
Students who do not qualify (see criteria below) will go to the designated work
room to finish work and/or take part in a reteaching of behavior expectations.
Students will need to...
-Meet their weekly reading goal and weekly math goal.
(As soon as time is made-up, they may join Leadership Club)
-Get their planner signed nightly
-Have turned in all math homework by Friday
-Get 3 or less behavior tallies for the entire week. Warnings are always
given first.
(categories are: Interactions with Others, Follows Directions, Line Basics,
Body Basics, Problem Solves)
-There are instances where students will automatically not be allowed to
go

________ I did not meet my at-home math goal.

________ I did not meet my at-home reading goal.

________ I did not get my planner signed 4/5 days.

________

________

________

________

________

Notes:

I had a difficult time following directions.

I had a difficult time completing work.
I was distracting others.
I was physically aggressive.
I did not treat others respectfully.

Parent Signature: ___________________________

**Please return to school**

Please have a discussion with your child about the importance
of following these expectations. Thank you!

Leadership Club Note

Name ____________________ Date_____________________

I did not make it to Leadership Club this week because of the

following reason(s):

Reading Minutes
50 minutes of reading per week. The amount
of time will increase 5 minutes every month as
the year progresses. (October 55, November
60, etc)
I will check reading minutes from the previous
week (Monday-Sunday) on the following
Monday.
Please help your child get these reading
minutes in. 10 minutes a night before bed
time is an excellent routine to start! (see
handout)

Math Fact Minutes

25 minutes of math facts per week. The amount
of time will increase as the year progresses.
I will check math fact minutes from the previous
week (Monday-Sunday) on the following
Monday.
Please help your child get these math fact
minutes in. 3-5 minutes a night before bed time
is an excellent routine to start!
Begin with addition and subtraction facts and
then we will move to multiplication and division
as the year progresses.

Reading
Daily 5:

Read to Self
Work on Writing
Read to Someone
Listening to
Reading
Word Work

CAF

Comprehension
Accuracy
Fluency
Expanded
Vocabulary

Reading
Expected
benchmark levels
Fall: Level M
Spring: Level P

Skill Focus:

Active word solving

Fluency
Summarizing
Compare/Contrast
Questioning
Characters
Topic, Main Idea, and
Details
Determining Word
Meaning

Writing
Informative/Explan
atory
Narrative
Opinion
Short Research
Purpose
Editing
Revising

6 +1 Traits of Good
Writing

Ideas
Organization
Voice
Word Choice
Sentence Fluency
Conventions
Presentation

Science & Social

Studies

Science Units of Study: Heredity & Survival

(animals), Weather, and Forces & Interactions.
Social Studies Units: maps, communities,
economics, landforms, natural resources,
government and citizenships, identify major land
and water explorers, and individuals who had a
great impact on History.

Everyday Math
Unit 1: Routines, Review,
and Assessment
Unit 2: Adding and
Subtracting Whole
Numbers
Unit 3: Linear Measures
and Area
Unit 4: Multiplication and
Division
Unit 5: Place Value in
Whole Numbers and
Decimals
Unit 6: Geometry

Unit 7: Multiplication and

Division
Unit 8: Fractions
Unit 9: Multiplication and
Division
Unit 10: Measurement and
Data
Unit 11: Probability, End
of
Year Review
Watch for skill IPPs,
Checking Progresses,
various assessments and
Math Journal pages to
come home and show
youre your childs
understanding.

www.everydaymathonline.c
om

Main Page
Your Name
Here!

Word Work
We will be using word families to guide our
word work this year. Students will actively
help in identifying the words that contain
the word family. Students will then create
their own spelling lists to focus on that
meet their individual needs.
Additional lessons will connect to students
learning focusing on endings, prefixes,
suffixes, etc. aiding in students learning
the rules associated with the English
language.
Word work words will be written in your

GOAL SHEETS
Students will . . .
be active participants in their goal
work
interact with reading, writing, and
math goals
work on their goals through
individual tasks, small group work,
and whole group lessons
have access to their goal sheets, to
help guide their learning on a daily

GOAL SHEETS

Assessments
Benchmarking will be done three times
throughout the year to determine Independent
and Instructional reading levels.
MAP (Measures of Academic Progress) is made up
of two computer-based tests (Reading and Math)
and will be administered three times throughout
the year.
Iowa Assessments (formerly known as Iowa Test
of Basic Skills) will take place in February.
Watch for reminders of upcoming tests in your
childs planner.

Communication
It is very important to keep the lines of
communication open between school and home.
Communication is the key to a successful school
year.
Please feel free to contact me at any time with
questions, concerns, or comments via email at
aflack@waukeeschools.org, phone at 9875193, your childs planner, or through a note.

THANK YOU FOR COMING!!!!

I am looking forward to
a fun and exciting year
teaching your child!