Welcome to Mrs. Luallen's

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     The New School Year is Here! 

 There is excitement in the air at Allen Park.   Not only is it exciting to begin with a new class, but we have a newly remodeled media center and cafeteria to look forward to using this year.  The media center is huge, and the cafeteria is not only bigger but it has a stage. 

What else is new this year?  Well, what could be better than P.E. every other day?   That is right...we will have P.E. everyday this school year, so students will need to wear their sneakers.                        

If you scroll down, you will find our daily schedule.  You will notice that we eat a late lunch.  (I can almost hear the tummies rumbling now.) Students may bring a healthy snack such as an apple, crackers,or granola bar to eat during the morning.  This should help to keep the energy level up.

      Keeping an open line of communication between home and school is extremely important.  If at anytime you wish to get a message to me, you can write it in your student's agenda or call the school to schedule an appointment.  I would be happy to meet with you upon request.  

Third graders will be expected to:

-always do their best.

-write in cursive.

-write neatly.

-write in complete sentences when answering questions.

-use capitalization and punctuation correctly.

-spell correctly.

                What is our schedule???

8:45 - 9:15 Children arrive, sharpen pencils, get set for the day

9:15 Announcements and Attendance

9:25 Math

10:30-11:10    Day 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 8    Writing and Read to

                         Day 2              Technology Lab

                         Day 7               Art

11:20  Physical Education (Daily)

12:00  Reading and Language Arts

12:55-1:20  Lunch

1:20  Accelerated Reader

2:30  Science or Social Studies (Monday-Thursday)

          Creative, Critical Thinking, or Physical Activities (Friday)

3:05 Prepare for home

Accelerated Reader

and

Reading Skills

     The children are given one hour of AR time in the classroom on a daily basis.  They are expected to read an additional 30 minutes at home everyday, including weekends.  Children who wish to attend the October AR Celebration must reach their point goal, have an average comprehension score of 85% or higher, and have read the genres to earn Super 2.  You will receive a weekly progress report starting with the second week of school.  Please check it over and initial next to that week's information.The report will show you where your child should be as far as percent correct and percent of goal.  In addition, you will see how many points your child has earned so far. 

                    Reading skills covered in class include making predictions, purpose for reading, supporting details, Inference, chronological order, compare and contrast characters and settings, comprehension, sequence of events, cause and effect, main idea, details, and vocabulary (Wordly Wise). 

                                                       AR Levels

Super Reader 2: Read books at level 2.0 or higher, worth at least 2 points each, and score 85% or higher on them.  Also, read books from each of the following genres: Animals, Humor, Mystery, Non-Fiction, Real People, Sports, Realistic Fiction, and Poetry.

Super Reader 3: Read books at level 2.0 or higher, worth at least 2 points each, and score 85% or higher on them.  Also, read books from each of the following genres: Biography, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Non-Fiction, Science Fiction, Mystery, Realistic Fiction, and Poetry.

Advanced Reader 2: Read books at level 3.0 or higher, worth at least 2 points each, and score 85% or higher on them.  Also, read books from each of the following genres: Biography, Fairy Tale, Folk Tale, Historical Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Humor, Mystery, Non-Fiction, Sports, and Poetry.

Advanced Reader 3: Same requirements as Advanced Reader but also read books from each of the following genres: Biography, Fantasy, Mystery, Realistic Fiction, Humor, Legend, Non-Fiction, Science Fiction, Tall Tale, and Poetry

Science

This quarter the students will study the scientific processes. They will recognize that scientists ask questions and make observations.  They will discuss the importance of record keeping and communication.    The Earth's surface, water cycle, rocks, minerals, and forces that shape the Earth will be studied along with the Sun's energy and impact on Earth.

                                         

                                        ^{Language Arts}

   ^{We will work on writing in cursive, writing  expository essays, and writing narrative essays.    We will make a pre-writing plan, discuss word choices, use adjectives, and work on noun-verb agreement.   Sentence structures will be more complex and varied.  Daily Bites, an editing program, will be used to improve editing skills, and Drops in the Bucket worksheets will help with other language areas.} 

      ^{Narrative and expository essays will be graded on a scale from 1 - 6. The following rubric will be used to assess third grade narrative and expository writings:}

 ^{*6 Points}

        ^{The writing is focused, purposeful, and reflects insight into the writing situation.  The paper conveys a sense of completeness and wholeness with adherence to the main idea, and its organizational pattern provides for a logical progression of ideas.  The support is substantial, specific, relevant, concrete, and/or illustrative.  The paper demonstrates a commitment to and an involvement with the subject, clarity in presentation of ideas, and may use creative writing strategies appropriate to the purpose of the paper.  The writing demonstrates a mature command of language (word choice) with freshness of expression.  Sentence structure is varied, and sentences are complete except when fragments are used purposefully.  Few, if any, convention errors occur in mechanics, usage, and punctuation.}

                 ^{Social Studies}     

       ^{This quarter the students will identify actions of citizens that contribute to the community.  They will explain the purpose and need for government and how it was established through a written constitution.  We will look at the levels of government and how it works.   Map skills will be reviewed and new concepts explored.}

    ^{Geography Olympics will be assigned four times per quarter and is intended as a tool for gaining knowledge not only in geography but in research skills.  Geography Olympics worksheets are given out on Mondays and are due on Thursday morning of that week.  The children are not competing with other students for points, but will be rewarded each time they accummulate a multiple of 40 points on a quarterly basis.  Geography Olympics will be scored and the points recorded weekly.  The students are expected to complete this homework assignment which counts toward their Social Studies grade.  If a child completes all of the worksheets to the best of their ability, even if they miss some answers, they will recieve a 100% for a grade in this area.}

 ^Math

      ^{This quarter we will concentrate on rapid recall of multiplication facts.  The children will be systematically tested on each table and will need to answer 24 problems correctly within one minute inorder to proceed to the next level.  Time will be given in class to study, but children need to study at home too.}  

^{Addition and subtraction skills will be reviewed, but basic facts should be mastered.  We will cover data collection and analysis,  along with whole numbers and decimals.}